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UMASS/AMHERST 


312066  0333  2995   1 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 

AGRICULTURAL 

COLLEGE 

NO._3_82_34_  DATE  J^_-_g.5.-i?»J2^ 

SO  u  RCE  __Ca\.W^e-— 5.ymds_. 


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JOURNAL 


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DEVOTED   TO 


HOE.TICULTUEE,    LANDSCAPE      GARDENING,    RURAL     ARCHITECTURE,     BOTANY, 
POMOLOGY,    ENTOMOLOGY,    RURAL    ECONOMY,     &c. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS. 


VOLUME    XXI.— January    to    December     1866. 


J».SCB/ILO^-U    ^ 


§m  fork: 

PUBLISHED  BY  GEO.  E.  &  F.  W.  WOODWARD, 
Ko.  37  PARK  KOW,   , 

1866.  y 


PRINTERS, 


per 
HT9 


INDEX. 


For  small  paragraphs  not  indexed,  see  Editor's  Table  and  Correspondence. 


A 

PAGE. 

A  Trip  to  Vineland,  N.J 20 

A  Discourse  on  Winter 65 

Antirrhinum  "  Silver  Belt," 76 

A  New  Pear,  "  Mary," 78 

Apples  and  Pears 91 

Abbott  Pear 109 

About  the  Grape 129 

Among  the  Raspberries 264 

A  Chat  about  Early  Summer  Apples,.  292 
A  brief  retrospective  View  of  the  Past 
Season's  Fruits     359 

B 

Buerre  Van  IMons'  Pear 42 

Box  or  Basket  Layers  —  their  True 
Value  and  Proper  Use 311 

C 

Cleft  Grafting Ill 

Cordon  Dwarf  Apple  Trees 143 


Designs  in  Rural  Architecture,  No.  13,  101 
No.  14,  164 
"  "  "  No.  15,  196 
"  "  "  No.  16,  230 
"  "  "  No.  17,  260 
"  "  "  No.  18,  324 
"  "  "  No.  19,  356 
136 


Design  for  a  Grape  Arbor  

Design  for  a  House  for  Drying  Fruits . 
Discrepancies  of  the  Grape  Culture,. . 
Design  for  Country  House  or  Parson- 
age  , 68, 

Diagonal  Training  in  Vineyard  Culture 

84, 

Disease  of  the  Vine  and  its  Remedy. . 


167 
39 


132 


106 

237 


PAGE. 

Esthetics  of  Rural  Life 47 

E.  W.  Bull  on  Grape  Culture 202,  246 

Early  Fall  Transplanting 271 

Experience  with  Grape  Seedlings,....  337 

F 

Fire  on  the  Hearth 33 

Flower  Pots   43 

February 58 

Fowls  Around  a  Country  Home 178 

Forcing  Strawberries 215 

G 

Grapes  in  1865 10,  45 

Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. .  .17, 

49,  87,  117 

Gleanings 44,  119,  277,  313 

Greely  Prizes 89 

Grape  Cuttings  from  History 144 

Glazed  vs,  Unglazed  Flower  Pots  ....  181 

Grapes  at  Avon  Point 262 

Grape    Mildew   versus   the   Essential 

Oils 270 

Grapevine  Mildew 307 

Grape  Memoranda 327 

Growing  Asparagus 339 

Grapes  in  City  Yards 340 

Greely  Prize  on  Grapes 341 

Grapes  in  Kansas 357 

H 

How  to  Remodel  an  Old  Farmhouse. .  4 

Heartt's  Pippin 168 

Horticultural  Matters  at  the  Hawaiian 

Islands 174 

Hebe  Pear igg 

Hints  on  Transplanting  Evergreens. . .  201 

Hicks'  Apple 333 


General  Index. 


I 

PAGE, 

Inside  Grape  Borders 213,  242 

Importing  Englisli  Sparrows 332 

Ives'  Seedling  Grape 358 

I. 

Longevity  of  Trees —  .     13 

Leaves 55 

Letter  to  Cousin  Selina— 11 248 

Laws   of    Association    in    Ornamental 

Gardening 257,  289 

Low-Priced  Country  Homes 300 

Ladies'  Ear-Drop  Apple 359 

Letter  to  Hugh  Blank,  Esq 368 

m 

My  Neighbors  and  Myself (.' 

Mildew  and  Grape  Culture 103 

Masten's  Seedling  Apple 110 

Margaret  Pear 172 

My  Neighbor  and  his  Guu 176 

Materials  for  Frame  and  Roof  of  Green- 
Houses  214 

My  Experience  with  Gooseberries. .. .  275 
^Ir.   Neubert  and   the   Essential  Oils 

against  Grapevine  Mildew 365 


New  Hybrid  Pink  "  Sarah  Howard,".     22 
Notes  on  the  January  Number,  ......     82 

»  February      "         113 

"  March  "         148 

"  April  "         173 

«  May  "         206 

«  .June  "         244 

"  .July  "         273 

"  August         "         308 

"  September    "         335 

"  October         "         364 

New  Seedling  Carnations 77 

Notes  on  Grape  Culture 151 

Norton's  Virginia  Grape 232 

New  Strawberries 234 

Notes  on  Raspberries  and  Currants.  ..   272 
Notes  on  Magnolias 3f)4 


O 

PAGE. 

On  not  Doing  x'\.ll  at  Once 1 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  an  Acre  Lot  . .  -  .     16 

Peach  Trees  in  Pots 70 

Plan  for  Improvement  of  Grounds . .  80,  134 

Pears — General  Totleben 138 

"         Emile  D'Heyst 138 

Planting  Street  Trees 141 

Protection  of  Peach  Trees  in  Winter, .  168 
Plan  for  Laying-out  a  Square  Acre  Lot  170 

Pots  should  be  Drained 177 

Plan  for  Laying- Out  a  Three  Acre  Lot  197 
Plan  for  Laying-Out  Five  Acres  for  a 

Suburban  Villa, 239 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  a  Ten  Acre  Lot 

for  Suburban  Occupation 266 

Pulverized  Clay  as  a  Remedy  for  Mil- 
dew on  the  Grapevine. 306 

R 

Remodeling  Old  Buildings  &  Grounds,     36 
Report  on  Grapes  in  Missouri  during 

the  Summer  of  1865 115 

Raising  Grapes  from  Seeds 165 

Ruskins'  Cloud  and  Torrent 179 

Rogers'  Hybri  d  No.  4  Grape 325 

S 

Should  Plants  be  Crocked 149 

Sir  Thomas  Brown's  Garden  of  Cyrus,  208 
Southward  Ho  !     Fruit  Culture  in  the 

Southern  States 240 

Strawberry  and  Raspberry  Notes  ....  276 

Street  Shades 362 

Sulphur  and  the  Essential  Oils 367 

Salt  as  a  Remedy  for  Pear  Blight, 369 

T 

The  New  Era  in  Grape  Culture 52 

The  Circulation  of  the  Sap  in  Trees..  54 

The  Currant  Worm 75 

The  Reading  Pear 79 

The  Enemy 97 

The  Propagation  of  the  Delaware,  and 
other   Hard-Wooded    kinds    of    the 

Grape,  Made  Easy 140 


General  Index.  v 
T 

PAGE.  PAGE. 

Trees  in  Assemblages 193     Ventilation 161 

The  Canker  "Worm 199     Varieties  of  Strawberries 225 

The  Original  Red  Beech  Tree 204 

The  Campanula 210  ^^ 

The  Delphiniums 268     ^^at  Not  to  Do 12 

The  Birds  of  Brightside 305     Wharton's  Early  Pear 171 

The  Dorson  Pear 334    Within  Doors 321 

The  Orchard 353     Willis  Sweeting 361 


f  nto  to  €0m^p0nd^nW, 


A  H 

PAGE,  PAGE. 

Author  of  "  My  Farm  at  Edgewood,"       1  Henderson,  Peter 12,  22,  76,  149 

Author  of  "Ten  Acres  Enough,"... 6,     39  Husmann,  Geo 52.115 

A.  D.  G 65,  161,  193,  257,  290  Howatt,  Gerald .'     70 

A.  S.  F 176  Harney,  Geo.  E 101,164,196,230, 

Amon,  Frank 292  260,324,356' 

Hobson,  J.  C 167 

B  Horticola 204,307,365 

Houghton,  J.  S 213,  339 

Baumann,  E.  A 80,  134,  136  Hicks,  Isaac 276,  333,  334,  361 

Balch,  D.  M 84,106 

Burns,  A.  M 357  I 

^  I.H 141 

Tvins,  E 337 

Caywood,  A.  J 165 

Cowan,  James 177  J 

Chatauqua  201  j.^i,;       j,i,„  H 168 

Crmkshanks,  Geo 215  j^^^^^^,  ^   g 240 

J.  S.H 333 

D.S.D Ill  I. 

Downing,  Charles 138,272  ^     ,     ,,  „c 

T^  n   1    T^    e  inn  L.  A.   M 75 

Dewey,Col.D.S ^ 199  ^^^^^.^^^ ^37 

^  Lewis,  M.  H 262 

Elliott,  F.  R 129,  225,  264,  304,  325  ^' 


F 


Merrick,  J.  M.,  Jr 45,  202,  234,  246 

Masten,  C.  R.  C 110 


Fuller,A.S 10  M.  H.  L 327 

Perrand,  E 143, 170,  197,  239,  266 

P.  R.  E 178  " 

Fox  Meadow, 242  Oakey,  Rev.  P.  D 68,  132 

CJ  P 

Gridley,  A.  D 13  Parkman,  P 210,  268 


Index  to  Correspondents.  vii 

PAGE.  PAGE. 

Quinn,P.T 20    Tyrus, 275 


Root,  Prof.  E.  W 17,  49,  87,  117    Viticola 270.  306,  311.  367 

Reid,  J.S 144,148 

Reid,S 181  W 

Ridgely,  Charles  W 340 

Woodward,  G.E 4,     36 

S  Waybridge,  W 3C5 

Slade,  D.D 33,321  ^ 

Saunders,  Wm 103 

Sumner,  W 198    Young,  H.  L 151 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXT JANUARY,    1866. 


,N0.  CCXXXV. 


ON  NOT  DOING  ALL  AT  ONCE. 


There  are  a  great  many  ardently  pro- 
gressive people  who  will  be  shocked  by  the 
caption  under  which  I  write.  The  current 
American  theory  is,  that  if  a  thing  needs  to 
be  done,  it  should  be  done  at  once, — with 
rail-road  speed,  no  matter  whether  it  re- 
gards politics,  morals,  religion,  or  horticul- 
ture. And  I  wantonly  take  the  risk  of 
being  condemned  for  an  arrant  conservative, 
when  I  express  my  belief  that  there  are  a 
great  many  good  objects  in  life  which  are 
accomplished  better  by  gradual  progression 
toward  them  than  by  sudden  seizure.  I 
shall  not  stay  to  argue  the  point  with  re- 
spect to  negro  suffi-age,  or  female  suffrage, 
or  a  temperance  reformation,  or  the  clear- 
ing-out of  Maximilian's  Mexican  Imperial- 
ism,— which  are  a  little  removed  from  the 
horticultural  arena,  where  our  humbler 
questions  are  discussed, — but  I  shall  urge 
a  graduation  and  culmination  of  triumphs 
in  what  relates  to  rural  life  and  its  charms. 

One  meets,  from  time  to  time,  with  a 
gentleman  from  the  city,  smitten  with  a 
sudden  rural  fancy,  who  is  in  eager  search 


for  a  place  "made  to  his  hand,"'  with  the 
walks  all  laid  down,  the  entrance- ways  es- 
tablished, the  dwarf  trees  regularly  planted, 
the  conservatory  a-steam,  and  the  crochet- 
ed turrets  fretting  the  sky-line  of  the  sub- 
urban villa.  But  I  never  heard  of  any  such 
seeker  after  perfected  beauties  who  was  an 
enthusiast  in  country  pursuits,  or  who  did 
not  speedily  grow  weary  of  his  phantasy. 
He  may  take  a  pride  in  his  cheap  bargain; 
he  may  regale  himself  with  the  fruits  and 
enjoy  the  vistas  of  his  arbor ;  but  he  has 
none  of  that  exquisitely-wrought  satisfac- 
tion which  belongs  to  the  man  who  has 
planted  his  own  trees,  who  has  laid  down 
his  own  walks,  and  who  has  seen,  year 
after  year,  successive  features  of  beauty  in 
shrub,  or  flower,  or  pathwaj^,  mature  under 
his  ministering  hand,  and  lend  their  at- 
tractions to  the  cumulating  charms  of  his 
home.  The  man  of  capital,  who  buys  into 
an  established  business,  where  the  system 
is  perfected,  the  trade  regular  and  con- 
stant, the  details  unvaried,  may  very  pos- 
sibly congratulate  himself  upon  the  security 


ExTEREB  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  "WooDWAEn,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 

1 


The  Horticulturist. 


of  bis  gains  ;  but  he  knows  nothing  of  that 
ardent  and  intoxicating  enthrallment  which 
belongs  to  one  who  has  grown  up  with  the 
business— suggested  its  enterprises— shared 
its  anxieties,  and  by  thought,  and  struggle, 
and  adventure,  made  himself  a  part  of  its 
successes. 

A  man  may  enjoy  a  little  complacency 
in  wearing  the  coat  of  another,  (if  he  gets 
it  cheap,)  but  there  can't  be  much  pride 
in  it. 

Therefore,  I  would  say  to  any  one  who  is 
thoroughly  in  earnest  about  a  country 
home— make  it  for  yourself.  Xenophon,  who 
lived  in  a  time  when  Greeks  were  Greeks, 
advised  people  in  search  of  a  country  place, 
to  buy  of  a  slatternly  and  careless  farmer, 
since,  in  that  event  they  might  be  sure  of 
seeing  the  worst,  and  of  making  their  labor 
and  care,  work  the  largest  results.  Cato,* 
on  the  other  hand,  who  represented  a  more 
effeminate  and  scheming  race,  advised  the 
purchase  of  a  country  home  from  a  good 
farmer  and  judicious  house-builder,  so  that 
the  buyer  might  be  sure  of  nice  culture  and 
equipments,— possibly  at  a  bargain.  It  il- 
lustrates, I  think,  rather  finely,  an  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  two  races  and 
ages :— the  Greek,  earnest  to  make  his  own 
brain  tell,  and  the  Latin,  eager  to  make  as 
much  as  he  could  out  of  the  brains  of  other 
people. 

I  must  say  that  I  like  the  Greek  view 
best.  I  never  knew  of  an  enthusiast  in 
any  pursuit,— whether  grape  growing,  or 
literature,  or  ballooning,  or  politics,— who 
did  not  find  his  chiefest  pleasure  in  fore- 
casting successes,  not  yet  made,  but  only 
dimly  conceived  of,  and  ardently  struggled 
for.  The  more  enthusiasm,  the  more  evi- 
dence, I  should  say,  in  a  general  way,  of 
«ncompletion  and  apparent  confusion. 

Show  me  a  cultivator,  whose  vines  are 
well  trained  by  plumb  and  line,  whose 
trees  are  every  one  planted  mathematically 

*I  shall  make  no  apology  for  the  introduction  of 
these  two  heathen  names,  since  both  authors  have 
written  capitally  well  on  subjects  connected  with  hus- 
bandry and  rural  life. 


in  quincunx  order,  whose  dwarfs  are  all 
clipped  and  braced  after  the  best  pyramidal 
pattern,  and  1  feel  somehow  that  he  is  a 
fashionist,  that  he  reposes,  upon  certain 
formulas  beyond  which  he  does  not  think 
it  necessary  to  explore.  But  where  I  see, 
with  an  equal  degree  of  attention,  irreg- 
ularity and  variety  of  treatment, — tendrils 
a-droop  and  fruit-spurs  apparently  neglect- 
ed,— I  am  not  unfrequently  impressed  with 
the  belief  that  the  cultivator  is  regardless 
of  old  and  patent  truths,  because  their 
truth  is  proven,  and  because  his  eye  and 
mind  are  on  the  strain  toward  some  new 
development. 

When  a  good,  kind  horticultural  gentle- 
man takes  me  by  the  button-hole,  and  tells 
me  by  the  hour,  of  what  length  it  is  neces- 
sary to  cut  the  new  wood  in  order  to  in- 
sure a  good  start  for  the  buds  at  the  base, 
and  how  the  sap  has  a  tendency  to  flow 
strongest  into  the  taller  shoots,  and  other 
such  truisms,  which  have  been  in  the  books 
these  ten  years,  I  listen  respectfully,  but 
cannot  help  thinking, — "my  dear  good  sir, 
you  will  never  set  the  river  a-fire." 

Nor  indeed  do  we  want  the  river  set  on 
fire ;  but  we  want  progress.  And  all  I  have 
said  thus  far  is  but  preliminary  to  the 
truth  on  which  I  wish  to  insist — that  a  grad- 
uated progress  is  essential  to  all  rational 
enjoyment,  whether  in  thing-s  rural,  christ- 
ian, or  commercial. 

And  for  this  reason  I  allege  thatall  things 
which  are  proper  to  be  done  about  a  country 
house,  are  not  to  be  done  at  once.  Half 
the  charm  of  life  in  such  a  home,  is  in  every 
week's  and  every  season's  succeeding  devel- 
opments. If,  for  instance,  my  friend  Lack- 
land, whose  place  I  have  described  in  pre- 
vious paper?,  had  found  a  landscape  gardener 
capable  of  inaugurating  all  the  changes  I 
have  described,  and  had  established  his 
garden,  his  mall,  his  shrubberies,  and  had 
made  the  cliff  in  the  coriier  nod  with  its 
blooming  columbines,  within  a  month  after 
occupation,  and  established  his  dwarf  pears 
in  full  growth  and  fruitage,  there  may  have 
been  a  glad  surprise;    but   the  very  com- 


On  not 


all  at  once. 


pleteness  of  the  change  would  have  left  no 
room  for  that  exhilaration  of  spirits,  with 
which  we  pursue  favorite  aims  to  their 
attainment.  No  trout-fisher,  who  is  worthy 
the  name,  wants  his  creel  loaded  in  the  be- 
ginning ;  he  wants  the  pursuit — the  alter- 
nations of  hope  and  fear;  the  coy  rest  of 
his  fly  upon  this  pool — the  whisk  of  its 
brown  hackle  down  yonder  rapid — its  play 
upon  the  eddies  where  possibly  some  swift 
strike  may  be  made — the  sway  of  liis  rod,, 
and  the  whiz  of  his  reel  under  the  dash  of 
some  struggling  victim. 

It  is  a  mistake,  therefore,  I  think,  to  aim 
at  the  completion  of  a  country  home  in  a 
season,  or  in  two,  or  some  half  a  dozen. 
Its  attractiveness  lies,  or  should  lie,  in  its 
prospective  growth  of  charms.  Your  city 
horne — when  once  the  architect,  and 
plumber,  and  upholsterer  have  done  their 
work,  is  in  a  sense  complete,  and  the  added 
charms  must  lie  in  the  genial  socialities  and 
hospitalities  with  which  you  can  invest  it; 
but  with  a  country  home,  the  fields,  the 
flowers,  the  paths,  the  hundred  rural  em- 
bellishments, may  be  made  to  develop  a 
constantly  recurring  succession  of  attractive 
features.  This  year,  a  new  thicket  of  shrub- 
bery, or  a  new  gateway  on  some  foot-path  ; 
next  year,  the  investment  of  some  out-lying 
ledge  with  floral  wonders ;  the  season  after 
may  come  the  establishment  of  a  meadow, 
(by  judicious  drainage)  where  some  ugly 
marsh  has  offended  the  eye ;  and  the  suc- 
ceeding summer  may  show  the  redemption 
of  the  harsh  briary  up-land  that  you  have 
scourged  into  fertility  and  greenness.  This 
year,  a  thatched  rooflet  to  some  out-lying 
stile;  next  year,  a  rustic  seat  under  the 
trees  which  have  begun  to  offer  a  tempting 
shade.  This  year,  the  curbing  of  the  limbs 
of  some  over-growing  poplar;  and  next 
year, — if  need  be-r-a  lopping  away  of  the 
tree  itself  to  expose  a  fresher  beauty  in  the 
shrubbery  beneath.  Most  planters  about 
a  country  home  are  too  much  afraid  of  the 
axe ;  yet  judicious  cutting  is  of  as  much  im- 
portance as  planting;  and  I  have  seen 
charming  thickets  shoot  up  into  raw,  lank 


assemblage  of  boles  of  trees  without  grace 
or  comeliness,  for  lack  of  the  courage  to 
cut  trees  at  the  root.  For  all  good  effects 
of  foliage  in  landscape  gardening, — after  the 
fifth  year — the  axe  is  quite  as  important  an 
implement  as  the  spade'.  Even  young  trees 
of  eight  or  ten  years  growth, — which  stool 
freely, — (such  as  the  soft  maple,  birch, 
chestnut  and  locust,)  when  planted  upon 
declivities,  may  often  be  cutaway  entirely, 
with  the  assurance  that  the  young  sprouts 
within  a  season  will  more  than  supply  their 
efficiency.  Due  care,  however,  should  be 
taken  that  such  trees  be  cut  either  in  win- 
ter or  in  early  spring,  in  order  to  ensure 
free  stooling  or  (as  we  say)  sprouting. 
The  black  birch,  which  I  have  named,  and 
which  is  a  very  beautiful  tree, — not  as  yet, 
I  think,  fairly  appreciated  by  our  land- 
scapists — will  not  stool  with  vigor,  if  cut 
after  it  has  attained  considerable  size  ;  but 
the  saplings  of  three  or  four  years,  if  cut 
within  a  foot  of  the  ground,  will  branch  off 
into  a  rampant  growth  of  boughs,  whose 
fine  spray,  even  in  the  winter,  is  almost 
equal  to  its  glossy  show  of  summer  foliage. 

I  do  not  know  if  I  have  made  my  case 
clear  ;  but  what  I  have  wished  has  been  to 
guard  purchasers,  who  are  really  in  earnest, 
against  being  disturbed  or  rebuffed  by  the 
rough  aspect  of  such  country  places  as  com- 
mend themselves  in  other  respects.  The 
subjugation  of  roughness,  or  rather,  the 
alleviation  of  it  by  a  thousand  little  dain- 
tinesses of  treatment,  is  what  serves  chiefly 
to  keep  alive  interest  in  a  country  home- 
stead. 

Some  old  wall  is  to  disappear  one  month  ; 
an  unsightly  patch  of  ground  is  to  be  healed 
the  next  month;  some  capital  spot  for 
propagating  purposes  is  to  be  trenched 
another  month.  Thus  every  sun  brings  its 
prospective  delights  and  treasures. 

I  must  say,  for  my  own  part,  that  I  enjoy 
often  for  months  together,  some  startling 
defect  in  my  grounds — so  deep  is  my  assur- 
ance, that  two  days  of  honest  labor  will 
remove  it  all,  and  startle  on-lookers  by  the 
change.    Thus,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


we  are  accustomed  to  regard  some  favorite 
sin — thinking  with  ourselves — it  will  be 
so  easy  to  mend  tliat^  so  simple  to  reform  it 
all ;  and  we  go  on  coddling  the  familiar 
pipe,  or  glass,  or  the  trifling  stretch  of  our 
credit,  meditating  with  high  glee  upon  the 
profound  satisfaction  with  which  we  will 
come  down  upon  it  all  some  fine  morning — 
as  farmers  do,  by  spasms,  upon  their  weed 
patches.  But  (and  herein  lies  the  excellence 
of  the  rural  activities  I  commend)  we  keep 
the  sins  green  and  growing,  and  the  sweep 
never  comes ; — while  the  old  wall,  and  the 
riotous  weeds  are  one  day  whisked  away 
under  the  besom  of  a  new  purpose,  and 
the  change  is  magical,  inspiring  and  ex- 
hilarating. 


I  don't  mean  to  say  the  conquest  of  a 
favorite  sin  would  be  any  the  less  so ;  I 
only  mean  to  say,  that  your  chances  of 
making  the  conquest  are  far  less. 

An  horticultural  writer,  to  be  sure,  has 
no  right  to  talk  on  such  topics ; — "  let  him 
keep  to  his  weeds  " — you  say.    And  I  will. 

But  let  no  rural  enthusiast  hope  to  up- 
root all  the  ill-growth,  or  to  smooth  all  the 
roughnesses  in  a  year.  He  would  be  none 
the  happier  if  he  could.  We  find  our  high- 
est pleasure  in  conquest  of  difficulties. — 
And  he  who  has  none  to  conquer,  or  does 
not  meet  them,  must  be  either  fool  or 
craven. 

Edgeicood,  Dec,  18G5. 


HOW  TO  REMODEL  AN  OLD    FARM  HOUSE. 

E.     WOODWARD,     AUTHOR    OF    "  WOODWARDS    COUNTRY    HOMES.' 


We  never  build  a  house  for  our  own  use, 
but  what  somebody  fancies  it.  Just  as  soon 
as  vv-e  are  comfortably  settled,  our  roads  in 
fine  order,  our  lawn  in  handsome  shape, 
vines,  flowers,  trees,  &c.,  growing,  it  cap- 
tivates some  one.  Accidentally  naming 
a  price  for  our  former  home,  before  we  had 
time  to  reflect,  it  became  the  home  of 
another.  Adjoining  the  property  thus  sold, 
was  a  six  acre  tract,  and  on  it  an  old  stone 
farm  house,  whose  foundations  were  laid 
a   century  ago.     On  the   broad   and  ample 


hearth  the  fire  blazed  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, "  In  old  colony  times,  when  we  were 
under  the  king."  The  massive  walls  two 
feet  thick,  were  as  solid  as  the  day  they 
were  laid,  the  timbers  and  floors  staunch 
and  good  for  a  century  to  come  ;  but  all 
else  gave  evidence  of  the  wear  and  tear  of 
time,  the  shingles  were  literally  worn 
through,  and  all  exposed  wood  work  in  a 
state  of  dilapidation.  It  might  be  termed 
a  very  hard  subject. 


Fig.  1.-  new  of  the  old  Farm  Souse.  Fio-  2  .-P'an  of  the  old  House, 

Making  up  our  mind  at  once,  what  could     took  possession,  surprising  the  owner  even 
be  dose  with  it,  we  made  the  purchase  and     more  than  we  were  surprised. 


Holo  to  Re-model  an  Old  Farm  House. 


Those  who  are  suddenly  turned  out  on 
the  world,  in  these  days  of  scarce  houses, 
or  rather  no  houses,  can  appreciate  such  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  main  building,  as  represented  by  the 
heavy  walls  in  the  plan,  we  modernized 
only  so  far  as  to  make  it  useful,  and  to 
harmonize  with    the  necessary   additions. 

In  the  parlor  was  retained  all  the  original 


features  :  a  moderately  low  ceiling,  the  old 
fire-place,  four  by  six  feet,  each  jamb  a  solid 
block  of  stone,  and  the  deep  windows,  with 
twenty-four  panes  of  glass.  The  only  change 
in  the  exterior  was  to  project  the  cornice 
two  feet  on  all  sides,  and  to  construct  the 
Dormer  window  to  light  the  hitherto  un- 
finished attic.  A  chimney  was  added,  and 
the  roof  entirely  reshingled. 


Fio.  3.— r/te  old  Farm  SCouse  Re-modtkd.— Residence  of  Geo.  E.  iVoodwxrd. 


The  first  addition  containing  the  dining- 
room  was  changed,  by  putting  a  spacious 
bay  window  on  the  front,  which  was 
carried  up,  and  covered  by  the  centre 
gable,  thus  giving  a  convenient,  pleasant 
room  above  ;  this,  some  day,  can  be 
again  raised,  and  converted  into  a  tower, 
giving  greater  variety  to  the  sky-lines,  and 
but  for  a  single  hill,  affording  a  view  of  the 


domes  and  spires  of  seven  cities,  and  the 
passing  trains  on  six  different  lines  of  rail- 
roads. The  kitchen  apartments  were  en- 
tirely reconstructed,  with  cellar,  &c.,  and 
so  arranged  that  they  may  be  occupied  in- 
dependently by  the  gardener  and  family, 
if  we  choose  to  lock  up  the  house  and  spend 
the  winters  in  New  York. 


Fig.  i.— Plan  first  floor  improved. 

If  we  had  been  required  to  draft  such  a 
ground  plan  as  is  shown,  we  should  have 
advanced  several  objections,  but  a  practical 
use  proves  it  to  be  exceedingly  convenient, 
comfortable  and  satisfactory  ;  and  it  is  of- 
ten the  case  in  rearranging  and  adding  to 


Fig.  5. — Plan  of  second  floor. 

old  houses,  that  plans  are  developed  that 
prove  to  bo  better  than  most  that  are  de- 
vised for  new  buildings. 

The  plan  of  the  grounds  and  the  changes 
made  we  will  show  in  our  next  number. 

Boiling  Spring,  New   Jersey,  where  this 


The  Horticulturist. 


bouse  is  located,  is  situated  on  the  Erie 
Railway,  ten  miles  from  the  City  Hall, 
New  York,  on  high  ground,  being  on  the 
dividing  ridge  between  the  Hackensack 
and  Passaic  rivers.  The;  Erie  Railway  run 
their  "  broad  guage  palace  cars"  almost 
hourly  each  way,  over  a  double  track, 
straight  and  level.  Twenty-four  minutes 
is  the  running  time  to  Pavonia  ferry,  and 
fifteen  minutes  more  to  Chamber-street, 
New  York.  The  fare,  per  annum  is  ^49.75., 
which  is  eight  cents  per  trip,  or  20  per  cent, 
less  than  omnibus  fare  in  the  city.  To  those 
who  do  business  in  town  and  love  to  live  in 
the  country,  rapid  and  convenient  access 
is  necessar}^,  and  a  double  track  national 
highway,  like  that  of  the  Erie  road,  with 
its  immense  resources,  affords  facilities 
more  reliable  than  any  existing  between 
the  upper  and  lower  portions  of  New  York 
city.  Those  who  live  above  SOth  street, 
are  more  remote  from  business  ;  and  before 
any  of  the  northern  and  eastern  lines  of 
railroad  get  clear  of  the  city,  we  are  fairly 
at  home  in  the  country.  Whoever  wishes 
to  verify  this  statement,  should  cross  the 
Pavonia  feny  from  foot  of  Chamber  street, 
New  York.  Ifa  traveler  of  some  experience, 
and  so  fortunate  as  to  take  the  train  drawn 
by  engine  No.  7,  you  will  soon  discover  there 
is  a  master  hand  on  the  throttle  valve,  and 
that  the  conductor  is  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place.  Twenty-four  minutes  pre- 
cisely, and  the  Boiling  Spring  Station  is 
reached.  The  station-house  is  the  prettiest 
one  of  its  size  in  the  United  States,  finished 


throughout  in  hard  woods,  oiled  and  var- 
nished, with  roof  laid  in  bands  of  colored 
slate;  has  telegraphic  communication  with 
all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  an  attentive  and 
obliging  agent.  If  you  expect  to  see  a 
village,  or  even  the  beginning  of  one,  you 
will  be  disappointed.  You  have  landed  in 
a  quiet  country  locality,  where  the  land  is 
good,  high,  rolling  and  handsome  ;  views 
extensive  and  beautiful;  situation  healthy, 
and  desirable ;  fine  farms,  magnificent 
springs,  good  roads,  &c.  ;  but  had  one  been 
dropped  down  blindfolded,  the  wisest  head 
would  have  been  puzzled  to  say  whether 
he  was  ten  miles  or  one  thousand  from  the 
pulsating  heart  of  the  great  Metropolis. 
The  place  has  been  overlooked  ;  the  rail- 
road was  built  35  years  ago,  before  the  days 
of  commutation  travel.  Those  who  own  the 
property  say  nothing  about  it;  the  world 
wags  on,  we  live  in  rural  privacy  ;  the 
din  of  business  hours  is  enough.  But 
farm|  life,  half  an  hour  from  Broadway, 
cannot  last  always.  New  York  is  over- 
flowing ;  the  fever-nests,  are  full  and  life  too 
short  to  travel  Spuyten-Dui/vel-wavd,  daily, 
in  a  horse  car.  Yes,  citizens  of  New  York, 
you  have  had  your  fan  out  of  New  Jersey, 
but  your  overflowing  thousands  will  have  to 
go  there,  where  thousands  of  your  business 
men  now  go  to  and  fro  daily.  More  than 
all  the  avenues  of  travel  convey  in  other 
directions,  Brooklyn  excepted,  where  bet- 
ter land  can  be  had  for  one-fourth  the 
money,  and  where  you  can  live  as  well  for 
one-half  the  price. 


MY  NEIGHBORS  AND  MYSELF. 


BY    THE    AUTHOR    OF     "TEN    ACRI 


The  little,  unpretending  domain  upon 
which  I  have  been  contentedly  operating 
for  several  years,  lies  within  five  minutes' 
walk  of  the  gas  lights  and  the  post  ofBce 
at  Burlington,  New  Jersey.  The  trains 
upon  the  great  railroad  pass  hourly  within 
sight  of  my  door,  rattling  every  window  in 


the  house,  and  giving  constant  cause  for  won- 
der as  to  where  so  many  people  can  be  going 
to.  It  fronts  on  what  was  once  the  old  royal 
highway,  the  first  great  thoroughfare  laid 
out  in  colonial  days,  to  facilitate  communi- 
cation between  the  sea-shore  settlements. 
The  last  twenty  years  have  revolutionized 


My  Neighbors  and  Myself. 


its  condition,. as  well  as  the  appearance  of 
the  country  through  which  it  passes.  It  is 
now  a  graveled_jturnpike  all  the.  way  from 
Burlington  to  Camden.  The  road  bed  is 
level,  smooth  and  hard,  almost  equaling  a 
tenpin  alley,  and  superior  to  any  race 
course.  A  dash  of  iron  contained  in  the 
gravel,  imparts  to  it  a  remarkable  soli- 
dity. It  is  so  well  cared  for  by  its  owners, 
that  a  bad  road  is  altogether  unknown. 
Its  construction  has  doubled  the  value  of 
every  farm  upon  its  track.  Everywhere  it 
is  lined  with  improved  dwellings,  better 
fences,  finer  orchards,  and  more  productive 
fields.  Loaded  wagons  roll  over  it  by  aid 
of  a  single  horse,  where  two  were  formerly 
required,  and  the  pleasure  carriages  of  the 
neighboring  gentry  invariably  select  it 
for  an  evening  drive.  There  could  be  no 
more  convincing  illustration  of  the  trans- 
formation in  improvement  and  population 
which  follows  the  creation  of  a  superior 
road.  It  draws  old  settlers  from  remote 
neighborhoods  to  locate  upon  it,  and  with 
strangers  looking  for  a  lodgment  it  is  the  de- 
termining element  which  fixes  their  choice. 
Thus  population  clusters  about  it;  and  as  it 
is  population  that  gives  value  to  land,  so 
as  that  thickens  do  values  increase. 

My  neighbors  on  this  favorite  thorough- 
fare have  been  far  more  careful  of  the  out- 
side finish  of  their  farms  than  myself. 
They  put  up  fancy  fences,  establish  graveled 
avenues,  and  crowd  their  lawns  with  ever- 
greens and  shrubbery;  and  even  in  these  days 
of  extravagant  prices,  are  profuse  consumers 
of  paint  and  whitewash — all  this,  more- 
over, without  having  an  acre  to  sell.  Still, 
while  these  really  cheap  embellishments 
are  introduced,  they  attend  with  wonder- 
ful assiduity  to  their  farms,  using  fertilizers 
in  prodigious  quantities,  and  harvesting 
Imge  crops  of  everything  for  which  the 
two  great  cities  are  clamoring  daily.  Long 
practice  has  taught  them  what  pays  best. 
They  raise  corn  and  wheat  enough  for  home 
consumption,  and  strain  every  nerve  for 
crops  of  fruit  and  early  vegetables.  The 
successes  of  some  of  these  men   are   truly 


remarkable,  and  they   can  afford   to  make 
their  homesteads  attractive. 

I  have  done  but  little  at  embellishment. 
The  useful,  the  practical,  have  occupied 
most  of  my  time  and  attention.  One  may 
have  abundance  of  taste,  and  long  as  keenly 
as  his  neighbors  for  the  ornamental,  with- 
out being  ready  to  indulge  in  it.  Hence  my 
extensive  front  upon  the  road  has  received 
no  tasteful  touches  such  as  my  neighbors 
have  long  since  given  to  theirs.  But  even 
my  time  is  coming.  An  adjoining  swamp 
of  a  few  acres  has  been  added  to  my 
ground,  not  because  ten  were  not  really 
enough,  but  because  it  was  a  neighborhood 
nuisance,  grown  up,  since  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  with  ferns  and  skunk  root. 
Some  patriot  must  abate  it,  and  why  not 
devolve  the  task  on  me  1  It  is  now,  after 
three  years'  labor  and  attention,  drained, 
filled  in,  and  producing,  on  a  four  feet  deep 
foundation  of  clear  peat,  a  strawberry  crop 
which  annually  refunds  the  entire  cost  of 
reclamation.  Drought  never  pinches  the 
plants,  and  manure  is  wholly  unnecessary. 
Wherever  the  raspberries  come  within  reach 
of  this  deep,  rich,  and  ever  moist  deposit, 
the  grojvth  of  canes  may  be  said  to  be 
amazing.  My  Philadelphias,  thus  situated, 
have  been  the  admiration  of  all  who  have 
examined  them.  It  has  been  a  great  suc- 
cess, though  it  drew  down  upon  me  the 
hearty  pity  of  my  neighbors,  as  they  drove 
by  and  noticed  my  incomprehensible  be- 
ginning ;  but  now,  when  fully  completed, 
securing  their  equally  hearty  commenda- 
tion. 

It  is  success  that  makes  one  famous, 
even  in  ditching.  Thus,  they  consider  me 
a  sort  of  swamp  hero.  So  strong  is  the 
imitative  faculty  in  man,  that  I  even  hear 
that  some  of  them  are  thinking  of  reclaim- 
ing little  bogs  of  their  own.  Some  have  con- 
sulted me  quite  seriously  as  to  the  cost  of 
such  an  operation,  as  they  are  now  disposed 
to  consider  me  something  of  an  authority 
on  the  subject  of  pitching  dirt.  Little 
confidences  of  this  kind  are  extremely 
flattering  to  one's  pride,  the  more  especially 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


after  having  persevered,  in  the  face  of  in- 
numerable warnings  that  the  improve- 
ment wouldn't  pay.  But  the  truth  is, 
that  the  cost  of  reclaiming  even  a  stub- 
born swamp  is  not  so  serious  a  matter  as 
is  generaly  supposed.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  the  doing  of  it  will  find  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  all  who  once  undertake  it.  It 
is  true  the  mud  may  stick  to  one's  garments, 
but  sticking  to  the  mud  will  be  found  to 
pay.  Nearly  all  this  work  of  repairing 
these  waste  places  of  the  earth  was  done 
during  winter,  when  there  was  nothing  else 
on  hand.  In  this  genial  climate,  we  have 
but  few  snow  storms,  and  can  plow,  at 
brief  intervals,  throughout  the  winter. 
The  Indian  summer  stretches  itself,  with 
grateful  attenuativeness,  all  through  De- 
cember. In  the  dead  of  winter  we  may 
encounter  a  cold  snap  of  a  few  days,  some- 
times of  a  week,  but  rarely  longer.  Then 
comes  a  thaw  which  loosens  everything  by 
extracting  the  frost,  and  then  out-o-door 
work  is  resumed.  We  survive  the  winter 
without  suffering,  and  at  the  earliest  sing- 
ing of  the  blue  bird  we  begin  the  regular 
spring  varieties  of  planting. 

Such  a  neighborhood,  as  may  be  supposed, 
is  very  thickly  settled.  One  never  hears 
of  the  sheriff  being  called  in  to  sell  a  farm, 
except  his  action  is  necessary  to  unravel 
some  domestic  difficulty.  I  can  hardly 
call  my  neighbors  horticulturists,  yet  all 
of  them  are  famous  fruit  growers.  Some 
have  risen  from  the  humblest  beginnings, 
and  are  now  owners  of  noble  farms,  Avith 
spacious  buildings,  and  are  annually  loan- 
ing money  on  mortgage  to  others  of  the 
craft,  whose  feet  are  only  on  the  bottom 
round  of  fortune's  ladder.  Not  more  than 
half  cannon  shot  from  me  is  one  of  these 
self-made  men.  Nine  years  ago  he  was 
a  journeyman  shoemaker,  in  our  city,  with 
health  so  feeble  that  he  would  soon  have 
died  if  much  longer  confined  to  the  close 
atmosphere  of  the  workshop.  Breaking 
away  from  it,  he  took  up  a  few  acres  of 
only  half  improved  land,  without  a  shed 
upon  it,  running  in   debt  for  almost  every 


thing,  and  struck  out  largely  into  straw- 
berries. But  character  was  capital,  for 
whenever  a  helping  hand  was  needed,  he 
could  find  one  by  merely  reaching  his  own 
across  the  nearest  fence.  He  prospered 
hugely  in  every  way,  though  having  every- 
thing to  learn.  Renewed  and  vigorous 
health  came  bravely  to  his  aid  ;  he  worked 
intelligent!}'-,  having  a  passion  for  both 
fruit  and  flower,  crops  were  consequently 
good  ;  prices  were  even  better,  and  he  has 
gone  on  prosperously  to  independence. 
New  and  beautiful  buildings,  surrounded 
with  shade  trees  of  his  own  planting,  now 
give  elegance  and  grace  to  what,  ten  years 
ago,  was  covered  with  the  debris  of  a  pine 
clearing.  Like  most  of  us,  the  passion  for 
more  land  seized  upon  him,  and  he  has  gone 
on  absorbing  the  adjoining  fields,  until  he 
now  counts  fifty-five  acres.  But  here  he 
wisely  paused.  Every  inch  of  it  is  paid 
for,  and  he  is  lending  to  others,  who  in 
their  turn  are  beginners.  A  ramble  over 
his  beautiful  fruit  farm  would  teach  an 
instructive  lesson  even  to  the  most  exten- 
sive fruit  grower,  while  to  pioneers  it  would 
be  invaluable.  There  are  thirteen  acres 
of  strawberries,  ten  of  blackberries,  and 
six  of  raspberries,  with  peaches  in  abund- 
ance, and  great  fields  of  asparagus.  His 
gross  annual  I'eceipts  are  nearly  five  thou- 
sand dollars.  Temptation  to  part  with  this 
productive  home  has  repeatedly  been  pre- 
sented in  the  shape  of  an  enormous  price, 
but  the  fiimily  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  all  se- 
duction. They  are  happy  on  a  home  of 
their  own  creating  ;  there  their  children 
were  born;  there  the  father  renewed  his 
health  ;  there  the  mother  is  supremely  con- 
tented ;  and  how  could  they  be  bettered 
by  selling?  In  this  world,  mere  money 
is  far  from  being  the  only  good. 

Another,  a  young  man  of  six-and- twenty, 
rejoices  in  the  ownership  of  fifty  acres,  all 
which,  except  the  small  mortgage  yet  re- 
maining on  it,  is  the  work  of  his  own  in- 
telligent industry.  His  forte,  also,  is  the 
berry  culture,  interspersed  with  corn  for 
his  own  use,  melons,  truck,  and  peas   for 


My  Neighbors  and  Myself. 


the  Philadelphia  seed  stores.  There  is, 
moreover,  an  extensive  trellis  which  is  an- 
nually loaded  with  the  Isabella  grape. 
Until  tasting  these  this  fall,  perfectly 
ripened  as  they  were,  I  never  knew  the 
Isabella  grape  was  fit  to  eat.  Struck  with 
the  admirable  flavor  of  the  fruit,  as  well  as 
with  the  perfect  condition  of  each  particu- 
lar grape.  I  inquired  why  the  fruit  nf 
these  vines  was  so  remarkably  fine.  The 
owner  smiled  as  he  told  us  that  the  earth 
around  the  roots  was  the  general  burial 
ground  for  all  the  cats,  and  dogs,  and  pigs, 
and  mules,  and  horses  which  had  there 
shuffled  oft  their  mortal  coils  since  he  had 
been  upon  the  farm.  What  marvellous 
elaboration  there  is  in  nature,  I  concluded — 
"from  seeming  evil  still  educing  good." 
Try  as  one  might,  he  could  detect  no  twang 
of  pork,  not  the  faintest  flavor  of  a  mule 
steak. 

Only  this  summer  a  stranger  from  the 
bleaker  climate  of  New  England,  went 
over  his  farm  and  oft'ered  to  buy.  While 
debating  pros  and  cons,  his  visitor  inquired 
as  to  the  gross  amount  of  liis  sales  the  pre- 
vious year.  He  was  unable  to  answer, 
having  kept  no  books,  nor  could  he  even 
conjecture  the  amount. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  you  owe  a  mortgage 
on  your  farm  V 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  four  thousand 
dollars." 

"  Were  you  able  to  reduce  the  amount 
last  year  ?"     I  inquired. 

"  Oh,  certainl}',"  he  answered,  as  if  it 
were  a  matter  of  course.  "  I  paid  five 
hundred  dollars  in  July,  then  three  hun- 
dred more,  and  I  think,  three  hundred 
more." 

"  How  about  the  present  year  ?"  I 
continued. 

"  Why,  Sir,  in  July  I  paid  five  hundred, 
and  with  what  cash  I  have,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  my  crops,  I  shall  make  another 
equal  payment  at  new  year." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  added  the  New  Eng- 
lander,  "  that  you  kept  your  family,  main- 
tained the  condition  of  your  farm,  and  paid 


off  a   thousand  dollars    of  your  mortgage 
without  going  into  debt  somewhere  else  V 

"  I  do,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  in  three 
years,  my  farm  will  be  clear." 

Taking  out  a  pencil,  we  figured  it  up 
that  this  farm  was  clearing  nearly  ten  per 
cent,  of  its  estimated  value,  after  keeping 
the  family  of  the  owner.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  getting  over  the  facts,  for  he  was 
known  among  us  as  a  sincere  and  truthful 
man.  Thus,  though  keeping  no  record  of 
his  crops,  yet  the  mortgage  he  owed  was 
the  great  account-book  in  whi 
ory  had  posted  up  the  true  balance  sheet 
of  his  business.  Brought  up  to  that  test, 
his  operations  became  perfectly  intelligible. 
Since  this  interview  I  have  seen  his  crop  of 
seed  peas,  raised  for  a  city  retailer,  and 
learned  that  it  produced  him  very  nearly 
six  hundred  dollars. 

But  in  the  lottery  of  this  horticultural 
life,  there  arc  blanks  as  well  as  prizes.  Not 
many  minutes'  ride  from  me  is  a  gentle- 
man of  education,  possessed  of  a  fine  horti- 
cultural taste,  who  anchored  himself  some 
three  years  ago  upon  a  farm  of  forty-six 
acres,  directly  on  the  level  turnpike  referred 
to.  His  hobby  was  the  fruit  culture  ;  but, 
considerably  advanced  in  life,  he  has  dis- 
covered, that  for  one  of  his  years,  he  has 
too  much  land.  Ten  acres,  he  believes  to 
be  enough,  at  least  for  him.  Yet  the  en- 
thusiasm with  which  he  began  continues 
unabated,  and  he  grieves  over  the  prospect 
of  selling.  His  predecessor  also,  was  not 
deficient  in  taste.  Between  them  theie 
are  no  less  than  four  hundred  of  the 
choicest  pear  trees  in  bearing,  peach  trees 
by  the  hundred,  all  the  best  blackberries  by 
the  acre,  strawberries  and  raspberries  in 
large  quantities,  with  apple  trees,  and  very 
productive  grape  vines.  Just  behind  the 
dwelling  is  a  natural  spring,  which  fills  a 
pond  containing  fish  of  various  kinds,  and 
which  a  fortnight's  labor  would  convert  into 
a  pond  quadruple  the  present  size. 

There  is  a  boat  upon  it,  and  a  grove  of 
pines,  covering  an  acre,  runs  down  to  the 
margin  of  the  pond,  a  charming  feature  of 


10 


The  Horticulturist, 


the  summer  landscape.  Few  places  can  be 
found  in  this  region  which  a  small  expendi- 
ture would  convert  into  a  more  delightful 
retreat.  Better,  perhaps,  than  all,  there 
is  an  inexhaustible  bed  of  superior  muck, 
easily  and  cheaply  obtained,  with  which 
the  whole  farm  could  be  fertilized  to  the 
highest  point  of  productiveness.  Yet  all 
these  rare  facilities  have  been  left  com- 
paratively unappropriated  because  the  owner 
has  too  much  land.  Instead  of  a  gross 
product  of  some  three  thousand  a  year,  he 
shall  have  half  as  much  more.  It  is  abroad 
foundation  he  has  laid,  on  which  whoever 
succeeds  him  may  build  to  any  reasonable 
height.  If  to  him  his  farm  has  proved  a 
comparative  blank,  to  a  j^ounger  and  more 
driving  man  it  will   yet   prove   a   brilliant 


prize.  But  having  discovered  the  extent 
of  his  capacity  as  a  manager,  he  is  content 
to  give  way,  and  instead  of  half  cultivating 
a  large  farm,  intends  to  convert  a  small  one 
into  a  perfect  garden  spot. 
.  I  know  that  little  bits  of  personal  gos- 
sip of  this  character  are  somewhat  out 
of  place  in  the  classic  pages  of  The  Horti- 
culturist ;  but  one  always  likes  to  know 
what  his  neighbor  is  doing.  The  scientific 
gentleman,  who,  in  speaking  of  the  arti- 
choke, must  call  it  helianihus  tuberosus, 
will  doubtless  smile  over  these  homelj'- 
details  of  New  Jersey  life,  and  wonder  at 
the  simple,  though  successful  lives  we  are 
living.  But  a  true  picture,  be  it  never  so 
homely,  will  nevertheless  possess  a  certain 
interest  with  the  masses. 


GEAPES  IN  1805. 


BY  A.  S.  FULLKR,  AUTHOR  OF  FULLER'S  GRAPE  CULTURIST. 


Rotted  badly;  mildewed  some;  very 
poor;  rose-bugs  played  the  mischief;  ex- 
cellent in  our  section,  and  brought  a  good 
price. 

The  above,  I  believe,  is  a  fair  report  of 
the  grape  crop  of  1865, 

Shall  I  attempt  to  locate  these  reports  ? 
if  so,  I  fear  that  some  of  the  much  lauded 
natural  grape  lands  and  situations  would 
be  found  among  the  "  rotted  badly."  How 
is  it,  in  those  wonderful  locations,  where 
land  is  so  cheap,  and  vines  grow  so  rapidly, 
and  produce  such  prodigious  crops,  that 
ordinary  vineyards  pay  a  profit  of  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  per  acre  the  third  year 
after  planting,  provided  the  mildew  don't 
come,  or  a  late  spring  frost  don't  cut  off  the 
blossoms,  or  the  very  severe  winter  did  not 
kill  the  fruit-buds  ? 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  partial,  therefore  I 
have  thought  best  to  give  a  list  of  excuses 
usually  made  by  the  grape  growers  of  these 
peculiar  regions,  that  are  said  to  have  been 
made  especially  for  vineyards.  Here,  down 
east,  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  grapes  grow  in 


soils,  which,  at  the  creation,  were  not  in- 
tended for  such  a  purpose,  consequently  we 
have  very  little  trouble  with  grape  rot, 
late  spring  frosts,  or  winter  killing  of  the 
fruit-buds. 

Occasionally,  a  few  leaves  are  attacked 
by  mildew,  or  a  stray  Catawba,  (which 
originally  came  from  one  of  the  more  favor- 
able regions,)  shows  a  few  grapes  with  the 
black  rot. 

I  believe  that  the  only  disease  that  is  at 
all  fatal  to  the  grape,  east  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  is  one  that  is  also  often  found  west  of 
them,  viz  :  neglect.  Vines  that  are  properly 
pruned  and  cultivated  seldom  fail  to  pro- 
duce a  good  crop ;  not  always  a  crop  of 
good  fruit,  for  there  are  but  few  varieties 
which  can  be  called  good.  And  I  think  it 
is  time  for  our  eastern  vineyardists  to  try 
and  decide  which  are  the  best  varieties  of 
our  native  grapes, — not  which  varieties  suc- 
ceed best,  for  there  are  but  few  that  will 
not  succeed  if  properly  cared  for. 

Please  remember  that  I  am  speaking  of 
localities  that  have  not  been  surveyed  and 


Grapes  in  1865. 


11 


offered  for  sale  as  grape  lands,  but  such  as 
can  be  found  almost  any  where  within  one 
or  two  hundred  miles  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
from  jMassachusetts  to  Georgia. 

And  there  are  thousands  of  acres  of  as 
fine  grape  lands  within  fifty  or  a  hundred 
miles  of  New  York  city,  as  there  is  in  the 
United  States,  and  cheaper  than  they  can 
be  had  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  all  for 
less  than  it  cost  to  make  the  improvements 
now  on  them.  So  my  young  friend,  if  you 
want  to  plant  a  vineyard,  and  have  but 
little  capital  to  begin  with,  just  take  a  look 
in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  or  even  Delaware.  But  if  you 
have  capital,  and  wish  to  spend  it  in  clear- 
ing up  new  lands,  far  away  from  market, 
go  west,  by  all  means,  and  spend  it. 

Keally,  is  it  not  time  that  this  theory  of 
particular  locations  for  grape  growing  was 
checked?  or  to  put  it  in  another  shape  :  can- 
not grapes  be  grown  profitably,  except  in 
localities  where  Mr.  X  or  Y  has  accidentally 
©r  purposely  planted  a  vineyard,  and  by 
proper  care  made  it  produce  a  line  crop,  and 
then  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  must  be 
all  in  locality  and  soil  ?  Consequently,  land 
goes  up  in  the  vicinity,  and  plenty  more  of 
the  same  kind  is  for  sale  at  five  times  of  its 
real  value. 

Will  not  grapes  grow  over  as  wide  an 
extent  of  country  as  apples  or  pears  ? — 
certainly.  Will  they  not  grow  in  as  great 
a  variety  of  soils'?  If  any  one  doubts  it, 
let  him  travel  over  the  country  and  see  in 
how  many  different  situations  and  soils  he 
can  find  vines  growing  luxuriantly. 

That  some  soils  and  situations  are  more 
favorable  than  others,  no  one  will  deny; 
but  that  there  is  such  a  great  difference  as 
fashionable  grape  culture  at  the  present  day 
would  have  us  believe,  I,  for  one,  doubt. 

But  the  question  arises,  what  shall  we 
plant?  This  question  is  difficult  to  an- 
swer, because  we  have  so  many  that  are 
good.  For  my  part,  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  plant  for  profit  any  of  the  following: 
Delaware,  lona,  Israella,  Concord,  Crevel- 
ing,  Hartford  and  Rogers'  Nos.  3,  4,  15  and 


19.     If  this  is  not  variety  enough,  you  may 
add  Adirondac,  Clinton,  and  Isabella. 

Among  the  newer  varieties,  we  shall 
probably  get"  some  that  will  prove  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  any  of  the  old  ones. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  Moore's  new 
hybrids,  as  they  show  more  distinctly  that 
they  are  hybrids  than  anything  we  have 
before  seen.  If  the  Diana  Hamburg  proves 
to  be  hardy  and  does  not  mildew,  I  certainly 
shall  give  it  the  preference  over  anything 
I  have  seen  among  the  hardy  grapes.  Mr.  , 
Moore  has  also  several  others  that  give 
promise  of  great  excellence,  among  which  is 
Moore's  Black,  Clover-street  Black,  &c. 

lona  must  look  well  to  her  laurels,  or 
Clover-street,  Rochester,  will  make  a  call 
for  them  some  of  these  fine  days. 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  Renselaer  grape, 
that  I  mentioned  in  my  last,  has  proved  to 
be  Isabella.  After  traveling  some  two  hun- 
dred miles  to  see  a  new  grape,  and  there 
find  old  mother  Isabella.^  instead  of  a  fine 
young  miss,  it's  too  bad,  but  this  old  lady 
is  always  to  be  met  when  and  where  she  is 
not  wanted. 

I  think  this  was  the  twenty-fifth  time 
that  I  have  met  her  under  like  circum- 
stances, and  it  only  goes  to  prove  that  she 
dresses  very  differently  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  just  to  suit  the  climate. 

The  Fancher  was  excellent  again  this 
year,  and  will  have  to  be  admitted  as  dis- 
tinct from  Catawba,  as  it  grows  and  ripens 
well  at  Lansingburgh,  N.  Y.,  where  the 
Catawba  does  not  succeed.  F.  B.  Fancher, 
of  the  above  place,  is  indefatigable  in  hunt- 
ing up  the  new  fruits  in  his  region.  He  has 
lately  discovered  another  which  he  calls 
Saratoga,  a  large  red  grape  of  the  Catawba 
flavor,  but  fine. 

The  Maguire  is  another  new  variety  of 
the  Hartford  Prolific  style,  but  will  prob- 
ably be  too  foxy  to  go  among -the  good 
varieties. 

Aiken  grape,  of  which  so  much  has  been 
said  at  the  West,  is  Isabella;  Richmond, 
is  Isabella ;  German  grape  from  Indiana,  is 
Clinton  ;  Emma,  another  new  and  wonder- 


12 


The  Horticulturist. 


fill  grape,  is  Catawba,  or  so  near  like  it  tliat 
I  cannot  see  the  difierence. 

Haskel,  from  Michigan,  is  Concord;  but 
really,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  Aiust  drop  my 
pencil,  or  I  shall  hurt  somebody's  feelings, 
and  prevent  some  enterprising  fellow  making 


a  few  thousands  out  of  some  old  variety 
with  a  new  name.  But  how  can  one  write 
about  grapes  without  hurting  somebody, 
especially  when  mixed  up  in  grape  culture? 
Woodside,  Dec.  1st,  18C5. 


WHAT  NOT  TO  DO. 


BY    PETER    HENDERSON,    JERSEY  CITY,    N.  J. 


I  HAVE  long  believed  that  more  real  good 
is  often  done  to  the  novice  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  by  telling  him  what  not  to 
do,  than  by  telling  what  to  do.  Agi-icul- 
ture  and  Horticulture  are  prolific  of  charla- 
tans. I  know  not  whether  it  is  so  in  other 
departments  of  trade ;  but,  if  so,  a  great 
part  of  the  industry  of  the  world  must  be 
wasted  in  labor  Avorse  than  useless. 

A  rascal  j;^!  a  tree  peddler,  not  content 
with  ri'^timizing  a  poor  farmer  near  me 
in  the  sale  of  two  hundred  worthless 
apple  trees,  added  still  further  to  the 
injury  by  inducing  him  to  put  a  bushel  of 
stones  in  the  bottom  of  each  hole  for  drain- 
age ;  which  was  done  at  an  expense  that 
the  poor  man  was  ill-able  to  bear.  I  need 
not  tell  your  intelligent  readers  that  the 
advice  had  better  not  been  given.  Apro- 
pos to  this  subject  is  the  so-called  draining 
of  plants  grown  in  flower  pots,  almost  uni- 
versally practiced  by  amateurs  and  private 
gardeners,  and  recommended  carefull^r  in 
detail  by  nearly  all  writers  on  green-house 
j)lants.  Now,  in  the  face  of  all  these  hosts 
of  instructors,  I  contend  that  this  practise 
is  not  only  useless,  but  something  worse, 
as  it  robs  the  plant  of  just  so  raiich  soil  as 
is  displaced  b}'  the  drainage  (?)  without 
benefitting  it  in  any  way  whatever.  Yet, 
such  has  been  the  practice  of  thousands  for 
a  century,  each  one  following  the  lead  of 
his  predecessor,  stupidly  and  blindly,  as  we 
think. 

This  practice  has  long  been  discontinued 
by  all  the  large  nurserymen  and  florists  in 
the  neighborhood  of  New  York,  who  it  is 


well-known  grow  plants  equal  to  any  in  the 
world.  This  is  another  negative  item. — 
Again,  when  some  of  your  lady  readers,  in 
trj'ing  to  increase  by  slips  the  number  of 
some  favorite  geranium,  rose,  carnation,  or 
fuchsia,  turning  to  the  "book"  for  in- 
structions, she  finds  herself  bewildered  by 
a  score  of  conditions  that  has  got  no  more 
to  do  with  the  successful  result  of  her  op- 
eration than  the  man  in  the  moon  ;  but  she 
naturally  enough  ascribes  her  want  of  suc- 
cess to  the  "  want  of  silver  sand,"  or  "  not 
having  cut  at  the  right  joint,"  or  "  not 
having  held  the  cutting  by  the  right  finger 
and  thumb,"  or  some  such  nonsense  as  the 
writer  has  laid  down  as  necessary  to  suc- 
cess. 

Or  a  farmer  or  gardener,  whose  experi- 
ence and  practice  has  been  confined  within 
the  bounds  of  his  own  fence,  sees  under  a 
hot  July  or  August  sun,  the  leaves  of  his 
cabbage  or  cauliflower  crop  "wilt."  Past 
experience  tells  him  what's  the  matter  ; 
the  plants  have  become  club-rooted,  and 
he  knows  that  all  his  labor  and  expense  in 
getting  the  crop  to  this  stage  is  lost,  or 
nearly  so,  and  he  looks  around  (as  he  has 
often  done  before,  but  without  success,)  for 
the  cause. 

He  is  again  at  fault,  but  goes  and  con- 
sults with  a  new  neighbor  who  is  already 
renowned  for  being  a  savant  in  all  such 
matters.  The  case  is  simple,  for  the  adviser 
is  deep-read  in  horticultural  lore,  and  it  is 
too  often  repeated  to  be  easily  forgot  by 
him,  that  club-root  is  caused  by  the  use  of 
manure  from  the  hog-pen ;    and  it  so  hap- 


Plan  for  Laying-out  a  Square  Acre  Lot. 


13 


pens  iliat  liis  advice-seeking  friend  did 
allow  bis  pigs  to  run  over  bis  manure  beap, 
and  tbey  at  once  jumped  at  tbe  conclusion 
tbat  tbis  is  only  another  corroboration  of  tbe 
popular  belief. 

I  will  state  tbat  our  lai'ge  experience  in 
tbe  cultivation  of  cabbage  and  cauliflower 


for  market,  has  well  proved  to  us,  tbat  tbis , 
in  common  witb  many  other  horticultural 
dogmas,  is  an  error;  and  tbat  "club-root" 
is  assignable  to  another  cause.  But  as  tbis 
is  only  a  negative  article,  I  will  give  you 
more  positive  information  on  club-root  in 
my  next. 


THE  LONGEVITY  OF  TREES. 


BY    REV.  A.  D.  GRIDLET,  CLINTON,  N.  Y. 


"We  do  not  introduce  this  topic  witb  tbe 
expectation  of  being  able  to  say  anything 
new  to  scholars,  but  in  tbe  hope  of  suggest- 
ing an  agreeable  train  of  thought  to  those 
who  have  not  hitherto  given  the  subject 
much  attention. 

How  long  do  trees  live  1  or  rather,  bow 
long  would  tbey  live,  if  not  accidentally 
injured ;  if  disease  did  not  invade  them, 
or  if  they  did  not  fall  by  the  wood- 
man's axe  ?  Might  they  not  live  forever  1 
Is  there  a  necessary  limit  to  their  exist- 
ence? Tbe  common  opinion  is,  tbat  like 
the  animal  races,  tbey  have  their  periods 
of  infancy,  youth,  maturity,  decline,  and 
old  age.  They  die  not  by  acci  dent,  but  in 
obedience  to  certain  original  laws  of  their 
being;  their  cells  become  hardened  and  in- 
crusted,  tbe  fluids  cease  to  flow  in  a  healthy 
manner,  and  the  organism  perishes.  It 
wears  out,  and  runs-down  like  an  old  clock. 

So  far  as  the  theory  of  vegetable  life  and 
growth  is  concerned,  it  would  seem  tbat  a 
tree  ought  to  live  for  an  indefinite  period. 
Tbe  parts  of  a  tree  which  carry  on  the 
processes  of  life  and  growth,  are  the  ex- 
tremities of  tbe  stem  and  branches,  includ- 
ing the  buds ;  the  extremities  of  tbe  roots 
and  rootlets,  and  the  newest  strata  of  wood 
and  bark.  These  are  renewed  every  year. 
Not  so  in  an  animal ;  tbe  functions  of  ex- 
istance  are  carried  on  for  a  whole  life-time 
in  one  set  of  organs,  and  when  these  wear 
out  tbe  animal  dies.  But  as  tbe  life  pro- 
cesses in  a  plant  are  carried   on  through 


organs  never  more  than  one  year  old,  it 
would  seem  to  follow  tbat  tbis  order  of 
things  might  be  continued  indefinitely. — 
There  is  no  necessary  reason,  no  cause  in- 
herent in  the  tree  itself,  why  it  should  die. 

Furthermore ;  a  tree,  as  viewed  by  tbe 
vegetable  physiologist,  is  not  an  individual, 
but  a  communitjr,  an  aggregat'  n  of  indi- 
viduals. The  orAj  real  individuiiltafn  tbe 
case,  is  the  first  cell  of  which  the  plant 
was  originally  composed.  Every  bud  since 
formed,  and  indeed  QYevj  leaf  may  be  con- 
sidered an  individual,  since  it  has  in  itself 
all  the  elements  of  an  independant  plant, 
and  may  be  made  to  produce  one.  And  so, 
even  though  the  inner  parts  of  a  tree  be- 
come inactive  and  practically  dead,  the 
outer  do  not.  Individuals  may  perish,  but 
the  community  lives,  and  is  renewed  and 
augmented  every  year. 

Trees  have  been  happily  compared  *  to 
tbe  "branching  and  arborescent  coral." — 
Tbis  structure  is  built  up  by  the  combined 
labors  of  a  multitude  of  individuals, — "  the 
successive  labors  of  a  great  number  of  gen- 
erations. Tbe  surface  or  the  recent  shoots 
alone  are  alive ;  all  underneath  consists  of 
tbe  dead  remains  of  former  generations. — 
It  is  the  same  witb  the  vegetable,  except 
that  it  makes  a  dowuwai'd  growth  also,  and 
by  constant  renewal  of  fresh  tissues  main- 
tains the  communication  between  the  two 
growing  extremities,    tbe    buds    and    the 

*  By  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  to  whom  we  are  much  indebted 
in  the  preparation  of  this  article. 


14 


The  Horticulturist. 


rootlfcts."  Now,  as  the  coral  structure  lives 
and  grows  indefinitely,  though  the  individ- 
uals composing  it  perish,  so  a  tree,  consid- 
ered as  a  composite  structure,  may  live  on 
in  the  same  way,  without  any  assignable 
limit  to  its  life.  Every  joint  in  its  root,  as 
well  as  every  bud  on  its  branches,  might 
be  taken  off  and  set  up  for  itself  to  form  a 
separate  and  independent  tree  ;  but  if  all 
the  children  choose  to  remain  on  the  home- 
stead, need  the  family  die  out  1 

So  much  for  theory ;  and  there  are  some 
facts  which  go  far  to  sustain  it.  But  there  is 
another  side  to  this  question.  So  far  as  theory 
goes,  the  human  body  is  the  same  in  its 
constitution  now,  as  in  antediluvian  times, 
when  men  lived  eight  or  nine  centuries; 
but  the  stubborn  fact  is,  that  "•  the  days  of 
our  years  are  three  score  and  ten,  and  if  by 
reason  of  strength,  they  be  four  score,  yet 
is  their  strength,  labor  and  sorrow,  for  it  is 
soon  cut  off'  and  we  fly  away."  We  occa- 
sionally see  a  man  who  inherits  no  perceptible 
disease  from  his  parents,  and  who  continues 
in  good  health  to  eighty  and  ninety,  and 
even  one  hundred  years.  Up  to  this  period, 
nature's  laws  work  with  a  good  degree  of 
regularity.  He  eats,  drinks,  digests  and 
sleeps  about  as  Avell  as  ever ;  and  no  one 
can  tell  why  he  may  not  live  for  an  indefi- 
nite period  longer.  Yet  every  body  knows 
that  this  is  an  exception  to  the  general 
rule,  and  that  the  general  rule  will  soon 
assert  its  sway.  The  old  gentleman  takes 
a  slight  cold,  or  he  stumbles  and  falls,  or 
his  digestion  becomes  impaired,  or  some 
other  ailment  sets  in,  and  he  suddenly  dies. 
Nature  could  hold  out  no  longer.  Theo- 
retically, he  should  have  lived  on  for  many 
years,  but  another  law  prevailed,  (call  that 
law  what  you  may)  and  he  died.  So  in  the 
vegetable  kingdon ;  by  theory,  a  tree  has 
no  assignable  limit  of  life,  but  practically, 
it  has.  Cases  of  extreme  longevity  some- 
times occur,  but  they  are  rare  exceptions, 
and  even  these  trees  finally  perish.  The 
biography  of  many  an  old  tree  is  like  this : 
the  tree  grows  to  its  allotted  height,  then 


expands  laterally,  both  in  its  branches  and 
girth.  After  a  period,  it  begins  to  die  at 
the  centre.  The  rotten  portion  within  in- 
creases faster  than  the  new  wood  is  formed 
without.  The  tree,  though  now  old  and 
hollow,  still  looks  healthy.  (It  represents 
the  vigorous  old  gentleman  of  eighty  years). 
At  length  the  strong  winds  sway  it  about, 
and  rack  it  violently,  and  a  fissure  is  made 
somewhere  in  trunk  or  branch,  into  which 
air  and  rain  soon  penetrate.  By  and  by 
the  decay  of  the  centre  crojis  through  the 
bark  near  the  ground — (The  old  man  takes 
a  cold).  The  leaves  expand  bravely  every 
spring,  but  the  rot  in  the  trunk  annually 
increases ;  limbs  decay  and  are  blown  off", 
one  after  another,  until  at  length  the  rot 
extends  all  along  the  trunk,  and  before 
many  years  a  gale  prostrates  the  old  tree 
upon  the  ground,  a  total  ruin.  (The  aged 
man  dies  a  hundred  and  ten  years  old). 
Now,  theoretically,  that  tree  ought  to  have 
lived,  but  another  law  supervened,  and  the 
tree  succumbed. 

In  considering  facts  like  these,  the 
thoughtful  man  will  be  impelled  to  say, 
surely  something  evil  has  happened  to  the 
earth  since  its  creation.  The  natural  world 
seems  to  sympathise  with  its  chief  inhab- 
itant and  lord,  bearing  part  of  the  woe 
which  has  fallen  upon  him. 

"  O  earth  !  dost  thou,  too,  sorrow  for  the  past, 
Like  man,  thy  offspring  ?        *  *  * 

*  *  *  *        Dost  thou  wail 

For  that  fair  age  of  which  the  poets  toll, 
Ere  yet  the  winds  grew  keen  with  frosts,  or  fire 
Fell  with  the  rains,  or  spouted  from  the  hills, 
To  blast  thy  greenness  ?" 

But  pei^haps  we  have  dwelt  too  long 
upon  the  theoretical  aspects  of  our  subject. 
One  way  to  ascertain  the  age  of  trees,  is 
by  measurement  of  their  girth  at  a  fixed 
point  from  the  ground.  This  does  not  give 
a  perfectly  reliable  result,  because  some 
species  grow  more  rapidly  than  others,  and 
among  the  same  species,  difference  of  soil 
and  exposure  produces  a  difference  in  vigor 
of  growth ;  yet  it  helps  to  an  approxima- 
tion. 


Tlie  Longevity  of  Trees. 


15 


The  "  Washington  Elm,"  at  Cambridge, 
is  supposed  to  be  upwards  of  140  years  old, 
because  it  is  known  that  the  celebrated 
Whitefield  preached  under  its  shade  in  the 
year  1744.  The  Aspinwall  Elm,  at  Brook- 
lino,  is  known  from  historical  data,  to  be 
about  200  years  old.  The  great  Elm  on 
Boston  Common,  is  believed  to  be  of  about 
the  same  age.  Now,  of  these  trees,  the 
first  measures  14  feet  in  girth,  at  four  feet 
from  the  ground  ;  the  second  measures  17 
feet,  at  five  feet  from  the  ground ;  and  the 
third,  sixteen  and  a-half  at  the  same  height. 
With  such  data,  one  can  go  about  the 
country,  (as  the  "  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast 
Table"  has  done,)  and  with  tape-line  in 
hand,  determine  the  age  of  trees,  with  con- 
siderable accurac}^. 

Another  method  is  by  counting  the  an- 
nual concentric  layers  of  a  tree.  (Of  course, 
the  palms  and  their  allies  are  excepted  here). 
But  this  cannot  well  be  done  without  first 
cutting  down  the  tree ;  and  even  then,  the 
centre  of  many  old  trees  is  found  rotten  or 
hollow,  so  that  a  little  guessing  has  to  be 
resorted  to.  When  the  tree  is  sound,  and 
the  rings  can  be  accurately  deciphered,  this 
mode  is  quite  reliable.  The  old  age  of  trees 
is  perhaps  most  commonly  arrived  at, 
wholly  or  in  part,  through  historical  evi- 
dence or  tradition ;  but  it  is  necessary  to 
sift  this  evidence  with  great  care. 

Every  reader  of  newspapers  and  books 
meets  with  occasional  instances  of  remark- 
able longevity  in  trees.  The  following, 
therefore,  may  not  be  wholly  new  to  the 
readers  of  the  Horticulturist:  An  Oak, 
lately  cut  down  in  Poland,  was  found  to 
have  700  distinct  rings,  and  the  hollow 
centre  of  the  tree  was  estimated  to  repre- 
sent 200  years  more. 

A  Sycamore  Maple,  now  standing  near 
the  village  of  Trons,  among  the  Alps,  is 
believed  to  be  550  years  old.  It  is  known 
that  the  famous  "  Grey  League  "  was  rati- 
fied beneath  its  spreading  branches,  in 
March,  1424.  It  must  have  been  a  century 
old  then.     There  is  a  remarkable  Linden  in 


Neustadt,  Wurtemberg,  which  was  so  noted 
in  the  13th  century,  as  to  be  called  "  The 
Great  Linden."  An  old  poem,  dated  1408, 
mentions  that  "before  the  gate  of  the  city 
of  Neustadt,  rises  a  Linden,  whose  branches 
are  sustained  by  67  columns."  These  col- 
umns were  pillars  of  stone,  set  up  to  sup- 
port the  immense  branches,  one  of  which 
extended  horizontally  more  than  one  hun- 
dred feet!  Ita  age  is  computed  at  about 
820  years. 

The  celebrated  "  Tortworth  Chestnut,"  is 
probably  the  oldest  and  largest  tree  in 
England.  In  the  reign  of  Stephen,  which 
began  1135,  it  was  remarkable  for  its  size. 
It  is  now  55  feet  in  girth,  at  five  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  is  doubtless  1000  years  old. 
One  of  the  oldest  oaks  in  England,  is  the 
"  Parliament  Oak,"  in  Clifstone  Park,  so 
called  from  a  Parliament  held  under  it  by 
Edward  the  1st,  in  1290.  Who  has  not  heard 
of  the  immense  oak  near  Cozes,  in  France, 
90  feet  in  circumference  at  the  ground,  out 
of  whose  hollow  centre,  a  room  10  feet  in 
diameter  and  9  feet  high  has  been  cut  out? 
It  is  put  down  at  1500  years  from  the  acorn. 
The  Olive  tree  attains  a  great  age.  One, 
lately  cut  down  in  the  suburbs  of  Nice,  in 
Italy,  showed  nearly  a  1000  years.  Of  the 
four  now  standing  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
tradition  may  not  greatly  exaggerate  in 
making  them  1500  years  old.  The  Yew  is 
the  longest  lived  tree  of  Northern  Europe. 
Several  specimens  at  Fountains  Abbey,  in 
Yorkshire,  England,  are  believed  to  be  1215 
years  old.  The  famous  "  Darley  Yew,"  in 
Derbyshire,  has  reached  1350  years.  The 
famous  "Big  Trees"  of  California,  (Sequoia 
gigantea)  are  among  the  most  remarkable 
curiosities  in  the  vegetable  world.  The 
evidence  is  reliable,  that  some  of  them  are 
90  feet  in  circumference,  and  450  feet  from 
the  roots  to  the  extremities  of  the  branches ! 

We  wonder  not  at  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  late  Dr.  Lindley,  on  first  hearing 
of  this  discovery,  exclaimed,  "What  a  tree 
is  this  !  Of  what  portentous  aspect,  and 
almost  fabulous  antiquity  !     They  say  that 


16 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


the  specimen  felled  at  the  junction  of  the 
Stanislaus  and  San  Antonia,  was  above  3000 
years  old ;  that  is  to  say,  it  must  have  been 
a  little  plant  when  Samson  was  slaying  the 
Philistines,  or   Paris   running   away  with 


Helen,  or  Aeneas  running  away  with  good 
pater  Anchises  upon  his  filial  shoulders." 

But  there  is  no  end  to  facts  and  state- 
ments like  these,  and  here  our  record  may 
as  well  be  closed. 


PLAN  FOR  LAYING-OUT  A  SQUARE  ACRE  LOT. 


Dear  Friend  Aqellus  : 

Yours  of  last  month  is  received.  You 
want  me  to  answer  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
to  send  you  a  plan  for  laying-out  the  acre 
vou  have  just  bought.  One  acre  !  That's 
more  than  I  have.  "We  have  books  now, 
entitled,  "Ten  Acres  Enough,"  "Our  Farm 
of  Four  Acres."  "  Our  Farm  of  Two  Acres." 
I  hope  we'll  soon  have  one,  "  One  Acre 
Enough." 


Well,  I  have  tried  my  best;  but  I  don't 
know  whether  it  is  according  to  your  taste. 
"  De  gicstibus  non  est  disputandum,''''  or,  as 
some  would  say,  to  have  a  rhyme,  '■'■dispzi- 
tandihus.''^  But  I  hope  your  taste  will  not 
very  much  differ  from  mine.  We  are  both 
lovers  of  a  promenade.  You  must  have  as 
many  walks  as  possible ;  it  is  necessary  for 
your  health.  I  have  arranged  the  walks  so 
as  to  satisfy  the  eye,  the  nose  and  the  pal- 


Plan. 

ate.     When  I  shall  come   and   visit  your        I  don't  write  anything  about  the  house 

new  home  with  our  mutual  friend  Agricola,  (A),  as  you  don't  want  my  advice  about 

we  may,  when  walking,  not  only  have  a  full  that.     But,  friend,  don't  forget  the  porches 

view  of  your  floral  beauties,   and   inhale  (B);    at  least,   you    should    have    one. — 

their  sweet  fragrance,  but  may  also  very  Around  the  house   you  should  put  gravel 

conveniently  pick  your  berries.  and  sand    (G);    nothing  is   healthier  for 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


17 


your  bo3's  and  girls  to  play  on.  The  stable, 
(C)  with  sbed,  you  will  put  in  the  rear 
on  the  north  side,  and  the  poultry  house 
(E)  on  the  other.  A  shed  should  be  an- 
nexed to  it  for  the  chickens  on  wet  days. 
Next  to  that  a  house  for  pigeons  (F).  The 
place  I  have  assigned  for  the  poultry  house, 
you  will  find  out  to  be  a  good  one  in  after 


THE    EXPL 


A — House. 

B— Porch. 

C — Stable  and  shed. 

D — Place  for  wood. 

E — Poultry-house. 

F — Pigeon-house. 

G — Gravel-sand. 

H — Board  fence. 

1 — Bed  of  Verbenas. 

2 — Bedding  plants,  tender  roses,  &c. 

3 — Bulbs,  annuals,  perennials,  &c. 

RurL  Nov.  13,  1865. 


years;  your  chickens,  running  at  large 
under  your  plum  trees,  will  save  you  many 
a  plum  from  the,  curculio.  North  of  the 
stable  will  be  a  good  place  for  wood  (D). 

The  symmetry  of  the  plan  will,  I  think 
have  your  full  approbation.  I  need  only 
add  now 

ANATIOX. 

4— Climbing  plants. 

5 — Shade  trees. 

G — Ornamental  shrubs,  roses,  &c. 

7 — Evergreens. 

8 — Fruit  trees,  dwarf. 

9 — Small  fruits,  currants,  &c. 

10 — S  trawberries. 

11 — Vegetables. 

12 — Grape  vines. 

13— Hot-bed. 

14— Grass. 

I  remain,  yours  truly, 

Aqellulus. 


GARDENS  AND  PARKS  OF  GERMANY. 


Editors  of  the  Horticulturist: — 

I  send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  an  essay, 
read  before  the  members  of  the  Rural  Art 
Association,  of  this  place,  which  I  hope 
may  prove  as  acceptable  to  your  readers  as 
it  was  to  us  who  had  the  pleasure  of  listen- 
ing to  its  reading.  It  was  prepared  by 
Mr.  Edward  W.  Root,  who  has  spent  the 
past  two  years  at  Berlin  and  Heidelberg, 
Germanj^j  and  who  has  recently  been  ap- 
pointed an  assistant  professor  of  Chemistrj', 
in  the  school  of  Mines,  connected  with 
Columbia  College  of  your  city. 

J.  C.  H.,  Sec. 

Clinton,  Oneida  Co.,  Nov.  20th,  1865. 

"I  have  been  very  kindly  invited  by  the 
Rural  Art  Association,  to  occupy  a  portion 
of  this  meeting  with  a  rambling  description 
of  any  thing  of  interest  which  might  bave 
attracted  my  attention  during  my  residence 
abroad.  But,  in  order  to  av'oid  an  utter 
confusion  of  heterogeneous  topics  and  scenes, 
January,  1860. 


it  will,  I  think,  be  best  to  confine  myself 
within  some  limits. 

As  tlie  object  of  this  Association  is  the 
promotion  of  Horticulture  and  Floriculture; 
of  rural  embellishment  and  rural  comfort; 
as  its  object  is  to  aid  nature  in  beautifying 
our  homes  and  cultivating  our  sense  of  the 
beautiful,  I  think  it  will  be  most  fitting  for 
me  to  ask  your  attention  to  some  simple 
remarks  on  the  gardens  and  parks,  on  the 
rural  scenes  and  love  of  Nature  in  Ger- 
many. 

One  of  the  first  things  which  attract  the 
attention  of  a  sti-anger  upon  entering  Ger- 
manjr,  is  the  universal  love  of  flowers. 
Everywhere  you  see  them,  and  often  in  the 
greatest  profusion.  In  all  the  large  tosvns^ 
the  flower  dealers  and  flower-girls  are  es- 
tablished and  well  patronized  persons.— 
Wherever  you  go  you  are  sure  to  meet 
them ;  at  the  cars,  on  the  steamboat,  at 
the  table  d'hote,  the  concert  and  the  ball, 
in  the  streets   and   in  the  reading-rooms. 


18 


The  Horticulturist. 


In  large  cities,  if  there  be  a  bit  of  vacant 
ground  attached  to  a  dwelling,  it  is  con- 
verted into  a  flower-bed;  but  as  people 
seldom  live  in  a  house  by  themselves,  but 
several  families  upon  the  various  floors 
of  the  same  building,  all  cannot  enjoy  even 
a  miniature  garden,  and  to  make  up  for 
this,  you  find  the  windows  filled  with 
beautiful  flowers.  I  have  seen  large  build- 
ings in  which  every  window  had  its  floral 
screen.  And  way  up  in  the  attic  windows, 
which  look  like  loop  holes  in  the  steep  roof, 
you  see  carefully  cherished  plants,  and 
gracefully  trained  vines,  their  lively  re- 
freshing green  contrasting  very  compli- 
mentary with  the  red,  dusty  tiles  around 
them.  And  who  know.-s  what  a  blessing 
these  flowers  may  be  to  some  lone,  wearied 
seamstress,  who  year  after  year  sits  at 
her  lonely  window,  with  naught  for 
a  prospect  save  the  glaring  sea  of  roofs 
around  her,  or  to  some  poor  invalid,  who, 
month  after  month  longs  in  vain  for  the 
pure  air  and  green  fields  of  a  childhood's 
happy  home.  I  remember  one  poor  woman 
in  Munich,  whose  rooms  were  so  small  that 
tliere  was  scarce  space  enough  to  turn 
round  in  them,  who  showed  me  with  a  just 
pride,  a  collection  of  plants  which  would 
have  graced  any  conservatory.  The  German 
gentlemen  delight  to  wear  flowers  in  their 
button-holes.  And  I  used  to  meet,  day 
after  day,  certain  gentlemen,  who  never 
failed  to  have  some  beautiful  fresh  flowers 
in  their  coats.  Some  seemed  to  show  a 
preference  for  some  particular  flower,  for 
you  always  saw  this  one  with  a  rose,  that 
one  with  a  geranium,  while  others  would 
wear  little  clusters  of  violets  or  lilies  of 
the  valley. 

The  ladies  delight  to  adorn  their  hair 
with  beautiful  flowers,  preferring  often 
some  single  fair  flower  to  a  profusion  of 
glass  beads,  or  steel  nonsense ;  and  T  have 
seen  fairy-like  exotic  blossoms,  strangely 
beautiful,  deliciously  fragrant,  which 
formed  more  fitting  ornaments  for  a  brow 
of  beauty  than  the  rarest  gems. 

No   present   is  more   acceptable   than  a 


beautiful  boquet,  and  upon  one's  birthday 
it  is  a  customary  one.  But  the  flowers  are 
not  always  from  the  green-house  or  the 
garden.  They  are  fond  of  wild  flowers, 
and  no  German  family  ever  returns  from  a 
rural  ramble  without  an  armful  of  them. 
They  delight  to  gather  beautiful  grasses 
and  ferns,  and  interspersing  them  tastefully 
with  flowers  to  form  immense  boquets.  I 
had  one  presented  to  me  upon  my  birthday, 
which  was  at  least  five  feet  in  diameter 
and  proportionally  high.  In  summer,  the 
Germans  love  to  live  as  much  as  possible 
out  of  doors,  to  take  their  meals  and  spend 
their  evenings  in  the  pure  air  and  along 
with  nature.  In  cities,  where  possible,  they 
have  gardens  and  arbors,  where  they  love 
to  linger,  to  read,  and  to  sing,  or  perhaps  a 
spacious  balcony,  covered  with  trailing 
vines,  will  be  the  scene  of  their  tea-parties  ; 
but  if  these  be  wanting,  the  whole  family 
will  visit  some  large  public  concert  or  tea 
garden,  and  securing  a  table  under  some 
spacious  tree,  will  gather  around  it,  and 
looking  up  at  the  over-spreading  branches 
above  them,  will  forget  the  brick  walls  and 
paved  thoroughfares  which  every  where  en- 
circles them,  while  the  tuneful  orchestra, 
which  ever  and  anon  sends  forth  its  clear 
strains  of  sweetest  music,  makes  them  for- 
get for  the  while,  the  petty  cares  and  sor- 
I'ows  which  pamper  their  existence.  And 
so  in  every  German  city  you  will  find  a 
multitude  of  these  pleasant  gardens,  and 
every  fine  day  you  will  find  them  filled 
with  families.  The  mothers,  the  sisters 
and  the  whole  young  portion  of  the  family 
— for  the  whole  family  goes — will  go  in  the 
afternoon,  taking  their  work  with  them, 
while  later  in  the  evening,  after  the  day's 
business  is  ended,  the  father  and  elder 
brother  drops  in  and  accompanies  them 
home.  In  the  smaller  towns,  you  find 
almost  universally  a  garden  connected  with 
every  house,  and  in  this  garden  a  never- 
failing  arbor  where  the  family  can  take 
their  meals.  In  a  drive  upon  a  pleasant 
afternoon  in  the  environs  of  a  large  city,  I 
have  seen  scores  of  families  sitting  out  of 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


19 


doors  drinking  their  afternoon  coffee;  some 
in  gardens,  some  on  lawns,  and  some  on 
little  plots  of  grass  in  front  of  their  houses, 
just  large  enough  to  place  their  chairs  and 
tables.  The  Germans  are  very  fond  of  little 
family  excursions  into  the  country,  both 
for  their  own  pleasure  and  that  of  their 
children.  If  some  pleasant  spot  is  to  be 
found  within  no  very  great  distance,  per- 
haps the}'-  will  walk,  taking  with  them  a 
bounteous  luncheon,  and  sitting  around 
upon  the  green  grass,  under  noble  trees, 
they  listen  to  the  cheery  warble  of  the 
birds,  and  drink  in  the  pure  air  and 
sunshine,  while  the  children  romp  and 
play,  chasing  butterflies  and  gathering 
flowers.  And  thus  they  pass  a  pleasant 
afternoon,  until  the  evening  shadows  begin 
to  gather  round  them,  when  they  turn  their 
steps  homeward,  all  the  better  and  happier 
for  their  communion  with  nature.  Sunday 
being  the  day  when  almost  every  one  is  at 
leisure,  you  will  see  car  loads  of  people 
dressed  in  their  best,  starting  out  in  the 
morning  for  some  favorite  rural  resort,  and 
the  highway  thither  will  be  lined  with 
carriages  and  pedestrians.  And  often  in 
some  of  these  resorts,  you  will  see  the  rich 
and  the  poor  all  mingled  together, — the 
laborer  who  has  ridden  out  with  his  child- 
ren upon  a  hard  uncushioned  third-class 
seat,  and  the  rich  man  who  has  come  with 
his  coach  and  liveried  footman. 

I  recollect  one  beautiful  Sunday  after- 
noon in  Munich,  seeing  a  strange  but  inter- 
esting sight.  It  was  in  a  beautiful  park, 
called  the  English  Garden.  I  had  been 
strolling  along  the  broad  walks,  passing 
groups  of  elegantly  attired  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  and  fine  equipages  with  well 
groomed  horses  and  liveried  coachmen, 
whose  occupants  represented  the  wealth 
and  aristocracy  of  the  capital  of  Bavaria, 
when  sounds  of  music  met  my  ear.  Direct- 
ing my  course  towards  the  sound  of  the 
music,  I  soon  reached  a  large  open  lawn, 
with  an  undulating  surface,  and  diversified 
here  and  there  by  clumps  of  trees.     About 


in  the  centre  stood  a  .tail  open  tower,  and 

here   were  seated  a  band   of  musicians 

Right  around  the  tower  were  numerous 
benches,  all  occupied,  while  in  all  direc- 
tions, upon  every  side,  laying  and  sitting 
on  the  green  sward,  were  hundreds  of  men, 
women  and  children,  some  in  groups,  some 
apart  eating  their  frugal  lunch,  drinking 
beer,  and  listening  to  the  music.  I  judged 
that  there  were  several  thousand  there  as- 
sembled, and  all  from  the  lower  classes, — 
day  laborers  and  private  soldiers  with  their 
families.  There  was  not  an  unhappy  fiice 
among  them,  and  they  seemed  as  contented 
as  the  occupants  of  the  splendid  carriages, 
which  every  now  and  then  went  rolling  by 
them.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  population 
of  a  German  city,  and  every  grade  of  it, 
you  have  only  to  visit  such  a  park  on  Sun- 
day. Here  you  will  see  the  prince  and  the 
peasant,  the  general  and  the  private,  the 
peer  and  the  artisan,  all  together,  all  pur- 
suing the  same  object,  but  still  as  separated 
as  by  walls  of  iron.  Kings  and  princes, 
knowing  that  their  subjects  are  more  con- 
tented when  allowed  such  pleasure,  have 
fitted  up  magnificent  royal  parks  and  gar- 
dens, and  thrown  them  open  to  the  public. 
And  thus  you  find  all  throughout  Germany, 
wherever  you  go,  extensive  public  grounds. 
In  our  own  country,  such  efibrts  must 
either  be  the  result  of  corporations,  or  of 
individual  enterprise.  In  Europe,  they 
belong  to  and  are  cared  for  by  royalty.  In 
the  kingdom  of  Prussia  alone,  I  believe 
there  are  over  forty  royal  castles,  and  each 
of  these  has  its  gardens  and  parks,  its  con- 
servatories and  hothouses. 

In  this  way  the  poor  and  middle  class  in 
Germany,  although  unable  to  do  anything 
in  this  way  themselves,  become  familiar 
with,  and  grow  into  love  of  horticulture. 
The  German  princes  pay  a  great  deal  of  at- 
tention to  their  parks  and  conservatories. 
Their  dwellings  are  often  tasteless  and  un- 
pretending, but  they  are  made  beautiful  by 
their  surroundings. 

[To  he  continued.) 


20 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


A  TRIP  TO  VINELAND,  NEW  JERSEY. 

BY    P.    T.    QUINN. 


Have  jou  been  to  Vinelaud  ?  Do  you 
intend  going  7  Have  you  talked  witli  per- 
sons who  have  been  there  ?  What  have 
they  said  about  it  ?  Is  it  not  an  enormous 
swindle  on  the  public,  with  a  smart  en- 
gineer who  makes  free  use  of  printer's  ink, 
and  keeps  the  machinery  oiled,  and  whose 
sole  object  is  to  make  money  ?  Those  and 
numerous  other  queries,  are  constantly 
asked  by  persons  who  are  searching  for 
cheap  homes  in  the  country. 

Having  heard  so  many  conflicting  stories 
about  this  new  settlement,  I  determined  to 
go  there  and  make  a  personal  examination, 
to  satisfy  my  own  curiosity,  and  if  as  I  was 
led  to  believe,  it  was  a  monstrous  hum- 
bug, I  would  do  all  I  could  to  place  the 
matter  before  the  public  in  its  true  light, 
and  ray  object  now  is  to  state  briefly  what 
I  have  seen  there  on  a  recent  visit. 

I  started  from  New  York  with  a  party  of 
six  gentlemen,  and  we  reached  Vineland  late 
on  the  evening  of  October  27th.  We  drove 
from  Hammonton  in  wagons  a  distance  of 
20  miles,  which  gave  us  a  good  chance  of 
observing  the  character  of  the  adjoining 
country,  before  the  axe,  grub  hoe,  and 
stump  puller,  were  made  use  of.  I  flat- 
tered myself  during  this  drive,  that  my 
convictions  about  Vineland  Avould  be  fully 
confirmed,  and  that  Mr.  Solon  Robinson 
had  been  hood-winked  by  the  proprietor  of 
the  Vineland  tract.  Some  time  after  our 
party  reached  the  hotel,  I  accidentally  met 
a  friend  whom  I  had  lost  sight  of  for  the 
last  three  years,  and  who  now  is  connected 
with  Mr.  Landis.  I  told  him  at  once  my 
impressions  about  Vineland,  and  said  I  un- 
derstood every  other  man  wanted  to  sell 
and  get  away  from  the  place.  lie  asked 
me  on  what  terms  a  person  would  sell,  who 
was  "  sick"  of  his  bargain.  I  said  if  very 
much  so,  at  half  cost,  and  if  only  moderately 
tired,  at  actual  cost ;  that  is,  the  price  paid 
for  the  land,  clearing,  cost  of  building,  trees. 


fences,  &c.,  &c.  He  said  if  you  find  a  man 
on  this  tract  that  will  sell  on  those  terms, 
I  will  pay  you  double  the  amount.  I  said 
it  was  a  bargain,  and  early  next  morning 
two  others  started  with  me  in  search  of 
persons  who  had  been  "  taken  in,"  but  to 
our  surprise  we  could  find  no  such  indivi- 
dual, although  we  walked  more  than  eight 
miles.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  men 
who  would  sell,  they  invariably  asked 
twice  and  three  times  the  original  cost ; 
that  is,  if  the  entire  outlay  on  a  place  was 
^1,500,  their  selling  price  would  be  $3,000 
to  $3,800.  I  then  made  up  my  mind  "sick- 
ness" did  not  prevail  to  any  great  extent 
on  the  settlement  of  Vineland.  At  first  I 
thought  Mr.  Landis  bought  up  all  the  "  dis- 
contents," but  on  close  inquiry  and  con- 
versation with  actual  settlers,  hailing  from 
all  parts  of  the  country,  I  learned  that  the 
location,  soil,  and  climate  gave  satisfac- 
tion. 

After  breakfast  our  party  started  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Landis  and  a  number  of  citi- 
zens, to  drive  through  a  portion  of  this  ex- 
tensive tract,  to  witness  what  has  been 
growing  on  the  past  two  seasons  prepara- 
tions, for  the  coming  and  otlier  novel  fea- 
tures exclusively  belonging  to  Vineland. 
To  a  stranger  the  place  gives  an  impression 
of  newness,  wliich  is  in  fact,  true,  but  at 
once  you  wonder  how  so  much  could  have 
been  done  in  the  short  space  of  three  years. 
Then  a  wilderness  of  pine  and  scrub  oak, 
now  a  busy,  bustling,  thriving  town,  sur- 
rounded by  a  fine  agricultural  country. 
How  to  fully  describe  all  I  saAV  would  be 
a  difficult  task  in  one  short  article,  but  I 
saw  sufficient  to  satisfy  me  and  each  mem- 
ber of  our  party,  that  Vineland  is  not  a 
humbug.  And  an  industrious  man,  with 
moderate  means,  can  do  better  in  Vineland 
than  to  go  to  the  far  West  in  search  of  cheap 
and  fertile  lands  for  the  following  reasons : 
1st. — lie  has  the  advantage  of  good  society. 


A  Trip  to  Vineland,  Neiu  Jersey. 


21 


2nd. — He  is  close  to  a  place  of  worship. 
3d. — His  children  can  be  educated  at  a  very 
small  expense,  and  4th. — He  is  within  3C 
miles  of  a  good  market  for  all  his  produce, 
with  the  prospect  of  having  direct  com- 
munication with  New  York  at  au  early 
date. 

This  land  appears  to  be  especially  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  small  fruits,  and  just  so 
soon  as  direct  communication  is  opened 
with  New  York,  this  section  of  the  country 
is  destined  to  become  the  fruit  garden  of 
the  Metropolis. 

The  strawberry  is  being  extensively  plant- 
ed, and  for  the  present  the  growers  look  to 
Philadelphia  for  their  market.  Thesame  lux- 
uriant growth  of  vine  can  be  seen  here  as 
in  Hammonton,  and  the  settlers  are  begin- 
ning to  learn  that  one  acre  of  strawberries 
well  taken  care  of,  will  pay  more  profit  than 
three  acres  of  potatoes,  or  five  acres  of 
common  com. 

The  soil  is  well  adapted  to  the  grape. 
We  examined  various  lots  on  different  parts 
of  the  tract,  and  in  all  cases  were  satisfied 
from  what  we  saw,  that  the  vine  will  be 
made  a  leading  feature  in  this  section,  and 
the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  Vineland 
will  be  as  noted  for  extensive  vineyards  as 
Cincinnati,  or  other  grape  growing  dis- 
tricts. This  locality  will  have  many  ad- 
vantages over  other  places  in  being  so 
near  New  York,  the  best  fruit  market  in 
the  world. 

The  young  orchards  of  pears,  apples,  and 
peaches  that  our  attention  was  called  to, 
give  promise  that  the  soil  is  equally  adapt- 
ed to  large  as  well  as  small  fruits.  These 
trees,  many  of  them  planted  last  spring,  have 
made  a  good  growth,  and  would  reflect  credit 
on  any  soil  or  location.  I  was  assured  by 
many  of  the  owners,  that  the  trees  received 
very  little  manure,  in  some  cases  none,  and 
no  extra  care. 

Cucumbers,  melons,  and  sweet  potatoes 

flourish  in  this  soil,  and  as    the  season  is 

two  weeks  earlier  than  the  vicinity  of  New 

.  York,   growing    early   vegetables  for  that 

market  will  become  a  profitable  business. 


On  the  south-east  part  of  the  tract,  we 
were  shown  a  fleld  of  common  field  corn, 
and  after  a  careful  examination  it  was  ar- 
gued that  the  yield  would  be  40  to  50 
bushels  shelled  corn  to  the  acre.  Along 
side  of  this  lot  was  a  field  containing  17,000 
cabbages,  looking  very  well,  the  heads 
firm  and  solid.  The  owner,  whose  name  I 
have  forgotten,  settled  three  or  four  years 
ago,  with  only  sufiicient  means  to  make 
the  first  payment  on  four  acres,  and  build 
a  cheap  house  to  live  in,  but  he  persevered, 
and  each  year  bought  and  cleared  a  little 
more  land,  until  now  he  has  GO  acres,  tilla- 
ble and  entirely  free  from  debt.  He  has 
devoted  a  certain  portion  of  his  farm  to 
vegetables,  for  which  he  has  a  good  market 
a  few  miles  distant. 

The  rapidity  with  which  Vineland  has 
grown  is  quite  surprising  ;  it  reminds  a 
person  of  fairy  tales.  Three  years  ago 
a  wilderness,  and  according  to  the  cen- 
sus taken  in  July  last,  there  was  then 
5,200  inhabitants,  and  if  immigration 
continues  for  the  next  five  as  it  has 
for  the  past  year,  there  will  be  a 
population  of  25,000  people.  To  give  an 
idea  how  the  place  is  being  settled,  I  was 
assured  on  good  authority,  that  from  Jan. 
1st,  1865,  to  January  1st,  18G6,  1,000  new 
houses  will  be  built  on  the  Vineland  tract. 

Mr.  Landis  has  already  opened  160  miles 
of  road  at  his  own  expense.  This  of  course 
is  a  great  advantage  to  settlers,  as  their 
time  may  be  employed  in  improving  their 
respective  places  instead  of  making  new 
roads. 

There  are  five  public  schools  in  successful 
operation,  so  that  every  resident  can  have 
his  children  educated  at  a  very  small  ex- 
pense. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  advice  persons  in 
search  of  cheap  lands  to  visit  this  section  of 
country,  and  remain  long  enough  to  examine 
for  themselves  and  witness  what  this  sandy 
soil  will  produce  even  under  very  indifferent 
treatment. 


22 


The  Horticulturist 


NEW  HYBRID  PINK,   "SARAH  HOWARD." 


BY    PKTER    HENDERSON. 


This  valuable  addition  to  our  new  plants 
was  originated  by  A.  G.  Howard,  Florist, 
of  Utica,  New  York,  wbo  is  well  known  as 
an  accurate  and  close  observer  in  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  Floriculture.  It  is  some- 
thing of  a  nondescript,  evidently  a  hybrid 
between  some  white  China  pink  and  Car- 
nation. From  seed  sown  last  Marcli,  95 
per  cent,  came  double ;  they  began  to 
flower  in  August,  and  continued  in  wonder- 
ful profusion  until  October,  when  they 
were  carefully  lifted  and  potted,  and  are 
now  literally  covered  with  buds  and  flowers. 
The  color  is  of  the  purest  white,  most  sy- 
metrical  in  form,  fringed,  and  in  the  different 
varieties,  (for  there  are  many  varieties), 
varying  from  2  to  3  inches  in  diameter ;  as 
a  white  pink  for  winter  blooming,  in  beauty 
of  form  and  profusion  of  bloom,  it  will  fill 
up  a  blank  that  has  been  long  wanting 
On  some  of  the  varieties  as  many  as  200 
buds  and  flowers  have  been  counted  on  one 
plant. 

Mr.  Howard  informs  me  that  it  is  quite 
hardy  even  in  TJtica,  where  the  thermome- 
ter occasionally  runs  down  to  20  below  zero, 
and  that  when  struck  from  cuttings,  or 
sown  early,  say  in  January,  it  will  bloom 
continued!}'  from  inly  throughout  the 
season.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  it 
can  be  hybridized  by  colored  varieties  of 
the  Monthly  Carnation,  when  we  may  ex- 
pect a  rich  treat  from  the  opening  up  of  a 
new  class  in  this  most  beautiful  tribe. 


Editor's  Table. 


23 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


The  Nursery  Trade.— The  results  of 
the  past  year  have  developed  some  very  cu- 
rious examples  of  timidity  in  this  line  of 
business — a  business  that  now  stands  on  a 
broad  and  permanent  foundation,  and  is  as 
legitimate  in  its  pursuits  and  results  as  any 
other  business  that  can  be  named,  and  yet, 
by  a  very  large  number,  evidently  carried 
on  with  the  moraentarj^  expectation  that 
all  demand  will  suddenly  cease.  The  ques- 
tion was  asked,  upwards  of  twenty  years 
ago,  of  a  nursery-man  who  stocked  an  acre 
near  Hartford,  Conn.,  "  Where  will  you 
find  a  market  for  all  your  trees  ?"  and  since 
then  nurseries  have  gone  on  increasing  in 
numbers  and  extent,  year  after  year,  and 
now  the  public  are  clamorous  to  know 
where  they  can  find  peach  trees,  plum  trees, 
crab  apples,  quinces,  evergreen  seeds.  Con- 
cord grape  vines,  and  grape  vines  of  all 
kinds.  This  kind  of  questioning  is  getting 
to  be  quite  an  important  part  of  our  cor- 
respondence, and  we  must  decline  answer- 
ing it  in  any  other  manner  except  through 
our  advertising  columns.  But  the  men 
who  trembled  the  most  were  those  who 
propagated  grape  vines  the  most  exten- 
sively. They  evidently  thought  that  a 
small  matter  of  two  or  three  hundre^l  thous- 
and vines  would  glut  the  market  ;  and  the 
cut-throat  game  of  seven  or  eight  cents  a 
piece  for  Concoi-d  vines  was  an  evidence  of 
fear  by  which  the  buyer  profited  largely. — 
Now,  in  the  month  of  December,  when 
prudent  buyers  are  looking  out  for  next 
spring.  Concord  vines  are  scarce  at  four 
times  the  price.  We  hear  a  great  deal  of 
talk  about  grape  fever,  but  what  does  the 
whole  of  it  amount  to  ?  About  one  of  the 
most  imperceptible  things  in  existence. — 
How  many  farmers  in   all  this  broad  land 


have  a  single  grape  vine?  Take  all  the 
acres  of  vineyard  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  put  them  together,  and  how 
many  townships  in  this  State  would  they 
cover  1  Grow  all  the  fruit,  and  make  all 
the  wine  possible,  and  this  city  would  call 
for  more.  This  grape  business  is  only  in  its 
infancy,  and  its  progress  will  not  end  with 
this  generation.  How  many  farmers  take 
an  agricultural  paper?  Not  one  in  ten. 
The  balance  know  nothing — they  don't 
want  to  know  anything — and  it  will  take 
years  to  educate  such  men  to  know  the 
difference  between  good  grapes  and  poor 
ones;  but  it  can  be  done.  It  requires  per- 
sistent application.  There  is  steady  pro- 
gress ;  we  have  full  faith  in  it.  The  time 
will  come  when  every  one  will  not  be  satis- 
fied with  a  single  vine ;  they  will  require 
dozens  and  hundreds.  What  our  grape 
vine  propagators  ought  to  do  is  to  raise 
first-rate  vines,  then  let  the  public  know 
they  have  them  for  sale.  Advertise  boldly, 
liberally,  persistently ;  keep  at  it  week 
after  week,  month  after  month  ;  spend  your 
profits  in  printer's  ink;  it  will  all  come 
back  in  time,  and  a  goodly  fortune  besides. 


Appreciation  of  Home  Productions. — 
100  Dollars  for  six  Verbenas. —  Dexter 
Snow,  of  Chicopee,  Mass.,  sold  last  Septem- 
ber, the  stock,  consisting  of  six  single  plants 
of  seedling  Verbenas,  to  Peter  Henderson, 
of  Jersey  City.  The  varieties  are  of  the 
Italian  strain  ;  striped,  spotted  and  mot- 
tled, and  have  been  brought  to  their  high 
state  of  perfection,  by  the  hybridizing 
of  Mr,  Snow,  who  has  devoted  many 
years  to  the  cultivation  of  the  Verbena, 
and  to  whom  we  are  already  indebted  for 
many  of  our  leading  varieties. 


24 


The  Horticulturist. 


Lychni's  Senno. — One  of  the  novelties 
that  will  be  issued  in  the  Spring  of  1866. 
It  has  been  grown  in  England  for  the  past 
three  years,  and  figured  in  most  of  the 
illustrated  magazines.  In  our  brighter  sun- 
shine it  will,  no  doubt,  become  more  de- 
cided in  its  markings  than  in  England.  In 
specimens  of  it  that  we  saw  last  summer  in 
the  grounds  of  Peter  Henderson,  the  colors 
were  clearly  defined,  scarlet  and  white 
striped,  presenting  a  most  novel  and  beau- 
tiful feature  in  this  class  of  plants. 

The  plant  is  continuous  blooming,  and 
like  others  of  the  genus,  Avill,  no  doubt, 
prove  entirely  hardy. 


Reclaiming  Drowned  Lands  has  be- 
come a  branch  of  knowledge  where  the  ap- 
plication of  skill  and  industry  is  as  sure  of 
the  promised  result  as  in  any  of  the  de- 
monstrable sciences.  It  has  been  a  subject 
of  interest  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world, 
and  experiments  in  this  direction  have  been 
almost  uniformly  crowned  with  success. 
The  histories  of  Rome,  Holland,  Russia,  Eng- 
land, and  indeed,  of  almost  every  country, 
supply  innumerable  examples  of  lands  res- 
cued from  the  dominion  of  the  ocean  ;  and 
the  success  of  human  skill  in  redeeming 
them  is  commensurate  only  with  the  pa- 
tience and  perseverance  with  which  they 
have  been  applied.  It  is  stated  that  the 
Bedford  Level  in  England,  once  a  waste, 
contains  300,000  acres  of  unreclaimed  soil  ; 
the  Romney  Marsh,  40,000 ;  in  the  counties 
of  York,  Lincoln  and  Cambridge,  hundreds 
of  thousands.  In  the  county  of  Norfolk 
more  than  30,000  acres,  composed  like  the 
Bergen  meadows,  of  muddy  depositions  left 
by  the  tides  and  floods,  have  been  reclaim- 
ed ;  and  from  scenes  of  utter  desolation 
display  rich  fields  and  gardens,  yielding,  in 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  simply,  from  ten  to 
fifteen  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested. 
Holland  is  an  instance  on  a  grand  scale. 
But  it  is  useless  to  enumerate  the  enter- 
prises in  foreign  countries  which  have  been 


succesful.  Many  such  have  been  made  in 
our  own  land  with  a  similar  result.  As, 
for  instance,  those  marshes  which  formerly 
surrounded  the  '•  Old  Milldam"  in  Boston, 
now  reclaimed  and  occupied  by  solid,  sub- 
stantial, and  in  some  cases  positively  mas- 
sive edifices  of  brown  stone.  —  Journal  of 
Commerce. 


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ers, with  the  invitation  to  those  who  have 
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do  so  without  delay.  This  volume  will  be 
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reading  matter  and  instruction  that  the  coun- 
try will  afford.  In  all  matters  of  horticulture 
and  rural  art,  we  mean  to  make  the  Horti- 
culturist the  best  authority  that  can  be 
consulted. 


YoLUNTARY  CONTRIBUTORS  Can  aid  us  very 
much  by  choosing  thoroughly  practical  sub- 
jects. We  shall  have  to  omit  hereafter  all  ar- 
ticles that  do  not  convey  instruction  of  some 
kind.  Essays,  speculations,  theories,  &c.,  we 
consider  of  little  or  no  value.  The  best  and 
most  valuable  writers  for  the  Press,  those  who 
command  the  highest  price  and  the  most 
readers,  by  nature  or  culture  possess  the  fa- 
culty of  expressing  themselves  in  the  least 
possible  number  of  words. 


Editor's  Table. 


25 


Parties  who  have  ordered  Volume  IV  of 
"  Rural  Affairs,"  and  "  Cochrane's  Farm 
Bookkeeping."  cannot  be  supplied  until  some 
time  during  the  month  of  January.  The  diffi- 
culty of  getting  paper  is  the  cause  of  delay. 
We  find  it  impossible  to  get  our  volumes  for 
1864:  and  1865  bound  as  fast  as  called  for,  and 
the  delay  of  a  few  days  is  from  this  cause. — 
After  this  week,  we  shall  be  fully  prepared  to 
meet  the  demand,  though  from  present  indi- 
cations the  volume  for  1864  Avill  soon  be  ex- 
hausted. Our  number  for  November,  1865, 
was  printed  on  foreign  paper  made  in  Bre- 
men. Our  regular  supply  of  paper  was  de- 
layed by  the  accident  to  the  St.  John,  Bre- 
men paper  and  only  just  enough  for  our  edi- 
tion was  all  that  could  be  found  in  this  mar- 
ket. With  our  best  endeavors,  we  were  fully 
ten  days  behind  time.  Publishers  must  look 
well  into  the  future  now  if  they  need  supplies 
of  any  class. 


The  "Greely  Prize"  Committee  have  given 
the  premium  to  the  Baldwin  apple  and  Bart- 
lettpeai-j  as  best  adapted  for  general  cultiva- 
tion. The  Committee  were  not  unanimous. — 
The  vote  was  four  for  Baldwin,  and  three  for 
R.  I.  Greening.  The  Hubbardston  Nonsuch 
was  ruled  out,  as  it  was  said  the  fruit  would 
not  keep  in  good  condition  until  the  first  Of 
February.  Tlie  vote  on  pears  was  four  for 
Bartlett,  and  three  for  Sheldon.  The  Com- 
mittee then  recommended  six  varieties  of  ap- 
ple%  and  six  of  pear  for  general  cultivation,  to 
consist  of  two  Summer,  two  Fall,  and  two 
Winter  varieties.  Summer  Apples — Primate, 
Red  Astrican.  Fall — Porter,  Gravenstein. — 
Winter  —  Hubbardston  Nonsuch,  Northern 
Spy.  Summer  Pears — Manning's  Elizabeth, 
Rostiezer.  Fall — Sheldon,  Seckle.  Winter — 
Lawrence,  Dana's  Hovey. 


Dead  and  gone  !  dead  and  gone  !  never 
more  cans't  thou  come  back  to  us,  poor 
Old  Year !  What  brave  promises  were 
thine  ?  What  weak  fulfillments  ?  There 
were  violets  that  the  night  frosts  withered  ; 
there  were  orchard  blooms  where  never 
came  fruit ;  there  were  rosy  morning  clouds 
that  grew  into  tempests,  and  dews  that 
congealed    into    hoar-frosts ;     there    were 


fancies  that  faded  into  nothingness  before 
cold  realities ;  there  were  hopes,  and  plans, 
and  endeavors  without  fruition;  there  were 
loves  that  decayed  into  forgetfulness,  or 
that  ended  in  hatred,  and  good  intentions 
that  froze  into  hardness  of  heart. 

Shall  we  lament  thee,  then,  dead  de- 
ceiver, hollow  professor?  Let  us  rejoice 
that  thou  art  gone.  But  were  there  no 
good  movings  in  thy  heart  towards  us  ? 
Dids't  thou  really  bring  us  no  positive  bles- 
sings? Sunshine  made  every  day  a  glory; 
winds  swept  away  the  deforming  tempests 
from  the  sky;  some  good  desires  were 
prospered,  and  worked  themselves  out  into 
good  deeds;  some  good  will  was  trans- 
formed into  action.  The  dark  cloud  of  war 
has  disappeared  and  peace  smiles  again  upon 
our  dear  land ;  and  if  we  remember,  that 
during  the  whole  time  thou  wert  with  us. 
Old  Year,  Gon  did  not  once  forget  us  ;  we 
have  much  to  be  grateful  for.  Let  us,  then, 
stand  on  thy  grave  with  holy  thoughts,  and 
forgiving  all  thy  short-comings,  like  a  true 
friend,  and  weeping  over  our  own,  like  a 
true  christian,  buiy  in  oblivion  that  thou 
hads't  not,  and  cherish  in  grateful  memory 
that  thou  hads't. 


The  year  has  almost  fled  ; 
Let's  utter  a  prayer  for  the  well-nigh  dead  ; 
Oh,  eve  and  dawn  ! 
Oh,  night  and  morn  ! 
Three  hundred  times  ye  have  come  and  gone, 
While  round  the  fiery-featured  sun, 
One  course  our  ancient  earth  has  ran. 
For  each  bright  day 
Now  swept  away, 
Wherein  we  wrought  not, 
Thought  not. 
Prayed  not, 

For  the  greater  gloi-y  of  Thee,  our  God  ; 
Oh,  let  its  record  swift  be  trod 
Beneath  Thy  foot,  while  we  anew 
Begin  our  lives  with  purpose  true ! 

We  come  to  bury  the  old  and  worn  ; 

His  brow  is  furi^owed,  his  garments  torn. 
We  write  on  his  headstone— pause  and  see, 
Where  thou  a  twelve-month  hence  may  be  ! 

Toll  for  the  dead, -toll  for  the  dead  ; 

The  frozen  earth  is  over  his  head. 
Heaven  pardon  his  sins,  he  meant  so  well ; 
Toll,  toll  the  bell ! 


26 


The  Horticulturist. 


"  I  NEVER  had  any  other  desire  so  strong 
and  so  like  to  covetousness,  as  that  one 
which  I  have  had  always, — that  I  might  be 
master,  at  least  of  a  small  house  and  large 
garden,  with  very  moderate  conveniences 
joined  to  them,  and  there  dedicate  the  re- 
mainder of  my  life  only  to  the  culture  of 
them  and  the  study  of  nature. 

And  there,  -ft-itli  no  design  beyond  my  wall 

Whole  and  entire  to  lye, 

In  no  inactive  ease  and  no  unglorious  poverty." 

Cowley's  wish  is,  like  Pope's  Universal 
Prayer,  adapted  to  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  How  many  thousand  times,  in 
each  of  the  two  hundred  years  since  the 
ejyistle  to  John  Eveli/n,  Esq.  was  written,  has 
the  same  ardent  longing  been  breathed  by 
lips  that  pant  to  inhale  the  fresh  breezes  of 
the  country,  instead  of  the  impure  air  of 
the  town!  Give  me  but  a  garden!  is  the 
aspiration  sighed  forth,  with  more  or  less 
of  hope,  in  cities  and  in  solitudes,  by 
children  and  by  their  grandsires.  From 
Punch's  indication  of  the  season,  when  to 
rake  mignonette  with  a  silver  fork,  pass  to 
a  sketch  like  this  of  an  Australian  ex- 
plorer : 

"  Mr.  Philips  is  rather  singular  in  his 
habits;  he  erects  his  tent  generally  at  a 
distance  from  the  rest,  under  a  shady  tree, 
or  in  a  green  bower  of  shrubs,  where  he 
makes  himself  as  comfortable  as  the  place 
will  allow,  by  spreading  branches  and  grass 
under  his  couch,  and  covering  his  tent  with 
them,  to  keep  it  shady  and  cool,  and  even 
planting  lilies  in  blossom  before  his  tent,  to 
enjoy  their  sight  during  the  short  time  of 
our  stay." 

All  this  industry  repeated  night  after 
night,  by  a  weary  foot-sore  man,  merely  in 
the  hope  to  have  something  like  the  shred 
of  a  garden  to  look  at  on  waking  in  the 
morning.  Could  there  be  a  more  touching 
expression  of  the  "  hortulan"  passion 
which,  whether  latent,  or  in  full  action, 
remains,  like  hope,  ineradicable  from  the 
human  breast?  It  is  a  natural  consequence, 
too,  that  those  who  cannot  taste  the  actual 
fruition  of  a  garden,  should  take  the  greater 


delight  in  reading  about  one.  But  the  en- 
joyment next  below  actual  possession  seems 
to  be  derived  from  writing  on  the  topic. 

"  Had  I  not  observed,"  says  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  is  his  Garden  of  Cyrus,  "  that 
purblind  men  have  discoursed  well  of  sight, 
and  some,  without  issue,  excellently  of 
generation,  I,  that  never  was  master  of  any 
considerable  garden,  had  not  attempted 
this  subject.  But  the  earth  is  the  garden 
of  nature,  and  each  fruitful  country  a 
Paradise." 

The  love  of  flowers  is  a  universal  passion. 
As  John  Ray  expresses  it,  "All  the  world 
are  jjhilobotanoV 

The  most  highly  esteemed  favor  which 
the  early  missionaries  at  Tahiti  could  confer 
on  the  king  and  queen,  was  to  furnish 
them  each,  on  State  occasions,  with  a  speci- 
men of  that  splendid  novelt}^,  the  sun- 
flower, to  be  worn  in  their  dusky  bosoms. 
The  men  of  St.  Kilder,  who  went  to  pay 
their  duty  to  their  lord,  in  the  far  southern 
island  of  Skye,  could  hardly  proceed  on 
their  journey  when  approaching  Dunvegan 
Castle,  because,  they  said,  the  trees, — such 
beautiful  things  had  never  been  seen  even 
in  their  dreams — the  trees  kept  pulling  them 
back.  Be  grateful,  then,  ye  who  live  in 
the  country,  in  a  temperate  clime,  and 
endeavor  to  enjoy  your  Eden  truly,  by 
fencing  off  every  unhallowed  intrusion,  and 
by  the  remembrance  that  for  you  and  yours 
there  grows  in  the  midst  a  tree  of  evil,  as 
well  as  a  tree  of  good. 


Verily,  now-a-days,  "  the  poor  we  have 
Avith  us  always."  When  I  open  a  volume 
of  poems,  I  prefer  to  find  a  digression  from 
the  ordinary  talk  of  this  weary  working 
world ;  from  rhythmical  sermons  and  Dor- 
cal  Society  addresses  in  verse.  Do  good 
with  all  your  might,  fervently,  effectually, 
thoroughly,  but  do  not  talk  about  it  all  the 
time ;  at  least,  do  not  make  poetry  the 
vehicle  in  which  you  go  about  to  trumpet 
your  deeds.  Alas  !  the  old  triumphal 
chariot,  with  its  laurels,  its  milk-white 
steeds,  and  the  clarion  blast  that  heralded 


Editor's  Table. 


27'- 


it,  is  turned  into  a  Connecticut  pedler's 
wagon,  with  iron  candlesticks,  brooms  and 
patent  medicines  inside,  while  a  big  tin 
dinner-horn  announces  its  approach.  The 
Muses  have  become  Sisters  of  Charity,  and 
tramp  about  with  great  baskets  of  clothes 
and  phials.  Mars  is  in  prison  for  fighting 
a  duel,  and  Bacchus,  having  suffered  re- 
peated attacks  of  delirium  tremens,  has 
joined  the  Temperance  Society.  Nimble- 
footed  Mercury  goes  round  with  subscrip- 
tion papers  ;  Venus  has  been  sent  to  the 
House  of  Correction.  The  Graces  have  put 
on  high-necked  dresses,  and  write  for  the 
magazines ;  Juno  has  taken  the  manage- 
ment of  an  Orphan  Asylum,  and  Jupiter 
has  been  elected  to  Congi-ess  to  legislate 
for  the  Freedmen,  Reconstruction,  general 
reform,  and  woman's  rights.  Alas  !  for  the 
good  old  times,  and  the  romance  of  the  old 
Mythology. 


A  YEAR  is  not  only  an  astronomical, 
but  a  natural  division  of  time.  The  first 
imperfect  year  of  ancient  times,  must,  no 
doubt,  have  originated  from  observing  the 
regular  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold,  of  the 
leafing,  flowering  and  fruiting  of  the  various 
tribes  of  plants;  and  the  coincidence  of 
these  appearances  with  the  laying  and 
hatching  of  birds,  and  the  production  of 
the  young  of  quadrupeds.  This  way  of 
reckoning,  however,  was  subject  to  so  many 
variations,  that  it  was  necessary  to  make 
choice  of  some  more  constant  periodical 
occurrence  hj  which  to  mark  the  annual 
revolution. 

The  ancient  year  began  in  the  month  of 
March,  and  it  may  seem  singular  that  mod- 
ern civilized  nations  should  choose  to  com- 
mence their  year  at  a  period  when  nature 
lies  almost  dormant,  in  preference  to  that 
season  when  the  race  of  vegetables  and 
animals  is  actually  renewed.  In  defence  of 
the  present  custom,  it  may,  however,  be 
said  that  the  time  of  the  renovation  of 
nature  varies  in  different  countries,  and  is 
affected  so  much  by  accidental  circum- 
stances, as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  an 


exact  calculation ;  that  now  the  year  does 
not  commence  till  ten  days  after  the  win- 
ter solstice,  and  that  the  lengthening  of 
the  day,  as  it  is  the  chief  cause,  so  in  fact, 
it  is  the  commencement  of  the  spring. 

So  little  influence,  however,  has  this 
change  at  first,  that  the  month  of  January 
is  usually  found  to  be  that  in  which  the 
cold  is  most  intense. 


It  used  formally  to  be  a  subject  of  much 
dispute  among  natural  pliilosophers,  wheth- 
er frost  was  a  particular  substance,  or 
merely  the  absence  of  a  certain  degree  of 
heat.  The  latter  opinion  is  now  most  gen- 
erally entertained.  The  little  hooked  salts, 
or  spiculse,  which  in  frosty  mornings  are 
found  floating  in  the  atmosphere,  or  ad- 
hering to  the  surfaces  of  bodies,  being  found 
by  experiment  to  be  nothing  more  than 
small  crystals  of  ice,  capable  of  being  re- 
solved by  heat  into  pure  water. 

The  process  of  congelation  is  curious  and 
interesting,  and  it  may  be  that  the  laws 
which  govern  it  are  too  familiar  to  need 
repetition.  It  is  well  known  that  water, 
when  frozen,  is  expanded,  and  occupies 
more  space  than  it  did  before,  and  hence, 
that  ice  is  lighter  than  water,  and  swims 
upon  it.  If  a  bottle  full  of  water,  tightly 
corked,  be  left  to  freeze,  the  bottle  will  be 
broken  for  want  of  room  for  the  expansion 
of  the  water  while  assuming  the  solid  form. 
Water-pipes  often  bui'st  from  the  same 
cause,  and  hoops  fly  off  from  barrels ;  and 
in  the  intense  frosts  of  the  northern  regions, 
cannons  and  bomb  shells  filled  with  water, 
and  the  apertures  strongly  plugged  up 
have,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  been 
burst. 

The  explanation  of  this  is,  that  in  the 
process  of  the  congelation  of  water,  needle- 
like crystals  are  formed,  which  unite  to 
each  other  at  angles  of  a  certain  size;  hence 
the  space  between  these  crystals  is  much 
more  considerable  than  between  the  par- 
ticles of  water ;  and  on  this  account,  water, 
when  frozen,  occupies  more  space  than  be- 
fore, but  with  no  increase  of  weight. 


28 


The  HorticuUicrist. 


This  same  property  of  water,  wlien 
frozen,  tends  every  year  to  diminisli  the 
height  of  the  Alps  and  other  lofty  moun- 
tains. The  fissures  and  crevices  become 
filled  vpith  water  during  the  summer,  which 
is  frozen  in  the  winier,  and  by  its  irresist- 
ible expansive  power,  detaches  huge  masses 
of  rock  from  the  summits  of  the  mountains, 
and  rolls  them  down  into  the  valleys  below, 
to  the  terror  of  the  inhabitants. 

In  its  more  moderate  and  minute  effects, 
the  operation  of  this  general  law  is  produc- 
tive of  a  very  beneficial  consequence  to  the 
gardener  or  husbandman.  For  the  hard 
clods  of  the  ploughed  lands  are  loosened 
and  broken  in  pieces  by  the  expansion  of 
the  water  within  them  when  frozen.  The 
earth  is  crumbled  and  prepared  for  receiving 
the  seed.  Hence  the  reason  and  the  utility 
of  trenching  our  gardens  in  the  autumn 
before  the  frosts  set  in. 

That  must  be  a  cold  and  forlorn  heart 
that  does  not  love  flowers.  While  reading, 
the  other  day,  in  one  of  our  dailies,  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  trade  in  cut  flowers,  in 
the  city  of  New  Yoik,  we  were  reminded 
of  the  following  little  poem,  which  was 
written  several  years  since  by  one  who 
dearly  loved  flowers,  and  knew  them  well, 
who  has  since  passed  from  the  enjoyments 
of  the  delightful  associations  of  earth,  to 
the  higher  and  purer  enjoyments  of  the 
"  Courts  above  "  : 

More  flowers,  moro  beauty  in  my  path, 

More  light  along  my  way  ; 
A  deeper  hue  the  sunshine  hath, 

A  richer  glow  the  day  ; 
And  every  breeze  that  sweepoth  by, 

Speaks  with  a  gayer  tone, 
And  bcareth  with  it  perfumes  rare. 

Which  these  sweet  flowers  have  strown. 

Ay,  bring  them  forth  into  the  sun ; 

They  were  not  born  to  be 
Hidden  away  from  mortal  eyes, 

What  joy  such  flowers  to  see. 
Bring  crystal  water-drops  to  fling, 

Xike  pearls  upon  each  leaf ; 
So  let  them  rest  in  yonder  vase, 

A  green  and  golden  sheaf. 


Father  !  who  gavest  these  gems  to  shine, 

These  buds  in  bliss  to  grow, 
What  must  adorn  Thy  courts  above, 

If  such  are  found  below  ? 
They  say  that  there  e'en  rainbow  hues 

Are  pale  and  dim  to  see  ; 
Then  what,  O  Father  !  dyes  Thy  flowers  ? 

What  must  their  radiance  be  ? 


The  glorious  and  genial  autumn  has 
but  the  remembrance  of  its  bright 
golden  days  comes  back  to  its  by  the  winter 
fire-side,  like  the  memory  of  the  sweet 
fragrance  we  inhaled  in  the  leafy  months 
which  are  gone.  Of  all  the  delicious  states 
of  feeling  that  ever  cross  our  monotonous 
pathway, — said  the  gentle  friend  whom  we 
have  just  copied — commend  me  to  a  wood- 
land reverie  in  a  sunny  day  of  autumn.  To 
sit  on  the  warm  green  turf,  just  at  the 
edge  of  a  noble  old  wood,  and  feel  the 
grateful  glow  of  the  unclouded  sunshine, 
while  the  rustling  of  the  leaves  is  in  your 
ears  ;  to  watch  the  slow,  rocking  descent 
of  one  brown  leaf  after  another,  and  listen 
to  the  quick  droppings  of  the  acorns,  each 
with  its  own  distinct  little  crashing;  to 
hear  the  short,  satisfied  chiripngs  of  the 
numberless  small  birds  that  swarm  on  the 
bushes,  each  bush  bearing  a  double  burden 
of  berries  and  of  birds ;  to  note  the  cease- 
less labors  of  the  wild  bee  and  the  ant,  the 
busy  crickets,  the  careful  butterflies ;  yet 
neither  to  think,  moralize,  nor  meditate 
upon  either  of  these  in  particular,  nor  upon 
other  things  in  general ;  but  merely  to 
exist,  conscious  that  you  are  somehow  re- 
markably well-off, — and  not  very  certain 
how  it  came  about.  This  is  a  true  wood- 
land reverie. 


Contrast  this  dolcefar  niente  condition 
of  the  writer  with  the  positive,  outspoken 
feeling  of  discomfort  and  dislike  of  the 
same,  for  the  inhospitable  winter,  the  glit- 
tering snows,  and  the  glaring,  treacherous 
ce  of  our  northern  climes. 

But  such  weather  as  we  have  !  Oh,  that 
it  was  blotted  out  of  the  almanac!  First 
snow,  then  hail,  then  rain,  then  "splosh," 
keeping  me  in  the  house  all  the  time.    The 


Editor's  Tahle. 


29 


cold  has,  for  the  last  three  clays,  been  ter- 
rible, and  the  suffering  among  the  poor, 
great.  How  I  dread  the  winter  and  the 
snow;  I  never  loved  it.  It  is  so  cold,  so 
glittering,  so  shroud-like.  I  think  of  the 
earth  as  one  great  charnel-house,  wherein 
decay  jostles  the  dead  with  rudeness.  I 
feel  the  slow  procession  of  the  hours,  as 
separately  they  pass  along  in  one  vast 
funeral  train.  I  fear  the  snow,  for  it  turns 
to  a  blank  all  the  beautiful  book  that  the 
south  wind  and  the  west  wind,  and  the 
warm  rain  opens  for  us  to  read.  It  fright- 
ens all  my  little  lovers,  the  ground-sparrow 
and  the  tree-sparrow,  and  the  katy-did,  and 
the  bee,  and  it  hides  all  the  summer-brooks 
so  deftly  that  none  can  find  them,  save 
sweet  spring,  and  she  sleeps.  "Why  should 
I  love  the  snow  ?  I  am  faint  and  shivering 
when  it  falls  upon  me,  and  I  loathe  the 
heavy  garments  I  must  don.  When  I  fold 
away  the  pretty  ado^nings  that  are  fitted 
to  the  season  of  the  morning-glory  and  the 
sweet-pea,  when  I  consign  to  the  dark 
wardrobe,  the  transparent  scarf  and  the 
pearl-white  dres?,  I  wrap  up  in  their  fold- 
ings many  a  tear  that  will  fall,  despite  my 
Avomanly  courage.  Maj'-  it  please  Gou,  1 
die  not  in  the  days  of  the  hoar-frost  and 
the  black-frost,  of  sleet  and  white  driving 
snow !  I  should  leave  the  world  gladly, 
forgetting  to  thank  heaven  for  its  beauty 
and  exceeding  loveliness.  I  should  stretch 
out  my  hands  towards  the  bannered  golden 
city,  builded  of  emerald,  and  amethyst,  and 
sapphire,  forgetting  that  even  with  such 
had  my  pathway  here  been  paved.  I  sliould 
lie  impatiently  on  my  sick  couch,  "  biding 
my  time."  I  would  listen  for  the  melody 
of  the  rapt  seraphs  near  the  throne,  not 
remembering  that  the  Lord  had  prepared 


richest  music  for  my  ear  many  thousand 
times,  when  I  had  not  even  prayed  for  it. 
I  should  say,  "Thank  God,  I  die!"  rather 
than,  "Bless  God  that  I  have  lived." 

(Incapacity,)    like  murder,  "will  out." 

Some   say    the   defect    is   in   m)^  head 

1  think  it  is  in  m}^  heel,  where  there  is 
such  a  shocking  chilblain.  I  think  Thetis 
must  have  plunged  me  in  the  Styx,  as  she 
did  Achilles,  all  but  my  heel  by  which  she 
held  me,  and  that  this  spot  is  the  only  one 
vulnerable  to  Jack  Frost. 

I  have  had  only  one  sleigh-ride  this  win- 
ter. Judge  whether  it  was  a  joyful  one 
when  it  led  me  to  a  hovel  where  an  insuffi- 
ciency of  lights,  fire,  food  and  clothing 
made  winter  dreadful.  You  know  I  hate 
sleighing,  and  snow,  and  ice,  and  all  other 
manifestations  of  cold  weather.  When  I 
am  queen,  in  my  realm  there  shall  be  no 
winter,  but  one  long,  golden,  glowing  sum- 
mer. There  shall  be  a  perpetual  shower  of 
rose  leaves  on  mij  grass,  and  the  poplar 
leaves  shall  be  the  only  creatures  to  skiver 
all  the  3^ear  round.  There  shall  be  a  violet- 
colored  twilight  to  last  all  night,  and  sweet 
south  winds  in  the  morning.  I  am  a  sum- 
mer child,  and  true  to  the  season  that  gave 
me  birth.  How  can  you  like  snow  ?  It  is 
so  unmeaning,  dead,  stifling.  I  would 
rather  see  the  coarsest  brown  furrow  in 
dear  mother  earth's  wrinkled  face,  than  all 
the  brilliancy  of  frost,  and  ice,  and  snow  in 
which  poor  shivering  mortals  rejoice. 


The  Editor's  Table  closes  this  month 
with  cordial  salutations  to  the  readers  of 
the  Horticulturist  ;  A  Merry  Christ- 
mas and  a  Happy  New  Year.  Till  we 
meet  ao;ain,  Salvete  et  Valete. 


CORR-ESPONDENOE. 


Ithaca,  N.Y.,  December  6th,  1865. 

Messrs.  Editors — Thegi'eat  Agricultural 

College  of  the  State  of  New  York,  with  its 

magnificent  endowment  of  half  a  million  of 

dollars,  distinguished  by  the  name  of  its 


founder,  and  known  as  the  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, is  fast  developing  into  a  reality.  Arch- 
chitects  and  committees  are  now  consider- 
ing and  preparing  plans  of  the  buildings 
which  are  to  be  erected,  and  the  opening 


30 


The  Horticulturist. 


spring  of  186G  will  witness  the  hum  of 
tlie  busy  artisan  and  laborer  laying  the 
foundations.  The  present  arrangements 
contemplate  the  erection  of  five  principal 
college  buildings  in  the  foreground,  upon  an 
elevation  of  about  150  feet  above  the  level 
of  Cayuga  Lake,  commanding  a  fine  view  in 
a  northerly  direction  for  thirty  miles  over 
its  surface,  and  of  the  village  of  Ithaca, 
'•  its  lovely  valleys,  and  its  hills  of  green," 
in  a  south-easterly  course.  The  situation 
selected  is  one  of  surpassing  beauty. 

On  the  north  and  south,  at  right-angles 
from  the  college  buildings,  foi'ming  two 
sides  of  a  hollow  square,  will  be  erected  the 
dwelling-houses  for  the  professors,  which 
will  ultimately  furnish  accommodations  for 
upwards  of  one  hundred  families;  while  in 
the  rear,  and  upon  higher  ground,  are  the 
sites  for  the  observatory.  President's  man- 
sion, (fcc.  The  approach  will  be  by  well- 
constructed  roads,  curving  by  easy  grades, 
so  as  to  reach  all  parts  of  the  plateau  with 
facility  and  comfort.  The  grounds  thus  en- 
closed will  be  ornamented  and  planted  af- 
ter the  plans  of  the  most  skilful  horticul- 
tural and  landscape  engineers.  Upon  the 
college  farm  adjoining  are  already  enough 
f^xrm  buildings  for  immediate  use.  These 
will  be  increased  with  all  modern  improve- 
ments as  they  are  needed.  The  plans  of 
the  horticultural  buildings  are  yet  in  em- 
bryo, but  it  is  understood  that  they  are  to 
be  in  keeping  vrith  the  whole  design,  and 
will  be  of  the  best  character.  The  model 
horticultural  farm  of  Mr.  Cornell  is  situ- 
ated on  Crowbar  Point,  about  seven  miles 
distant  on  the  west  bank  of  the  lake,  con- 
sisting of  nearly  four  hundred  acres,  with  a 
south-easterly  exposure.  This  is  already 
planted  with  the  best  well-known  varieties 
of  fruits  suited  to  the  locality,  and  others 
of  declared  merit  are  on  trial.  These  or- 
chards and  vineyards  are  under  the  charge 
of  a  competent  horticulturist,  and  here  the 
student  can  practically  acquire  knowledge, 
while  comparing  the  teachings  of  Mcintosh, 
Loudon,  and  Van  Mons  with  actual  results 
on  American  soil.  The  water  of  Cayuga 
Lake  is  a  deep  spring,  which  does  not  freeze 
over  in  the  severest  winters  :  and  this  has 


a  meliorating  influence  upon  the  climate. — 
Here  the  delicate  peach  ripens  without  fail- 
ure, and  here  we  may  expect  one  day  to 
drink  the  delicious  Gunyardo  *  wines,  ri- 
valing the  "  delightful  poison  "  of  Jeru- 
sheed. 

Ithaca  will  hereafter  be  known  by  its 
literary  institutions  and  its  literary  society, 
attracting  people  of  refinement  and  taste, 
many  of  whom  will  seek  a  lesidence  here 
for  the  enjoyment  of  kindred  fellowship, 
and  for  the  education  of  their  children. — 
And  here  the  denizen  of  the  city  may  re- 
tire from  the  unhealthy  summer  atmos- 
phere, or  avoid  the  approach  of  the  cholera, 
locating  himself  on  the  borders  of  a  lovely 
lake,  among  the  finest  scenery,  with  roman- 
tic walks  and  rambles  among  numerous 
waterfalls,  and  through  ravines  of  the  wild- 
est beauty  %  with  which  this  country 
abounds ;  botanizing,  mineralizing,  or  en- 
joying the  country  sports — driving,  fishing, 
rowing,  sailing,  &c. ;  avoiding  or  inviting 
society  at  his  own  pleasure. 

W.  A.  W. 

*  Poetic  Indian  for  Crorohar  ;  probably  by  the  same 
student  who  consulted  the  "Old  Authors"  to  find  the 
Indian  name  of  Cayuga. 

X  Nearly  one  hundred  of  these  picluresaue  views  have 
been  photographed,  embracing  some  of  the  finest  stere- 
oscopic views  of  American  scenery. 


Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  4,  1865. 
Gentlemen : — 

In  your  December  number,  a  correspond- 
ent "  C,"  writing  from  Pittsburg,  enquires 
about  Rea's  Seedling  Quince,  and  says  he 
had  written  to  us  for  it,  but  we  knew 
nothing  about  it.  This  is  a  mistake.  We 
have  grown  Rea's  seedling  quince  exten- 
sively for  more  than  10  years,  and  sold  both 
at  wholesale  and  retail  during  all  that 
time. 

We  have  some  20  large  bearing  trees  of 
it  in  our  specimen  grounds.  We  consider 
it  the  best  of  the  quinces.  The  Chinese 
quince  your  correspondent  refers  to,  is  not 
grown  in  this  country  for  its  fruit,  but  for 
ornament,  and  rarely  produces  fruit. 
Yours, 
Ellwanger  &  Barry. 


Editor's  Table. 


31 


Detroit,  Mich.,  Dec.  9,  1865 
Messrs.  Woodward: 

Gentlemen,— The  November  number  of 
the  Horticulturist  was  not  handed  to 
me  until  that  for  December  came.  In  an- 
swer to  G.  S's  enquiry,  I  will  say  that  we 
always  planted  the  bulblets  of  gladioli  in 
the  spring  ensuing  their  gathering,  at  the 
same  time  as  planting  the  large  bulbs. — 
They  generally  come  up,  but  I  have  no 
doubt  that  they  can  be  kept  for  eighteen 
months,  and  possibly  longer,  as  these  bulb- 
lets,  physiologically  speaking,  are  nothing 
but  seeds.  It  is  also  possible,  that  by  being 
kept  over,  their  germinating  qualities  are 
perfected. 

We  have  seeds  that  generally  fail  to 
grow  the  first  year  after  gathering,  as  we 
have  plants,  the  qualities  of  the  blooming 
of  which  are  increased  by  keeping  as  long 
as  possible. 

I  shall  take  pleasure  in  sending  you  de- 
signs for  the  premiums. 

E.  Ferrand. 


Resolutions  of  the  Ohio  State  Pomo- 
logical  society  on  the  department  of 
Agriculture. — The  following  resolutions 
were  adopted  unanimously  by  the  Ohio 
Pomological  Society,  which  has  just  closed 
its  session  in  this  city: 

Resolved^  That  we  feel  deeply  interested 
in  the  great  Department  of  Agriculture 
connected  with  our  Federal  Government; 
that  we  desire  its  entire  success,  and  be- 
lieve it  destined  to  contribute  immensely 
to  the  advancement  of  Agriculture  in  the 
country;  that  we  earnestly  entreat  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  appoint 
a  competent  man  to  be  the  head  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture ;  the  incom- 
petency of  the  present  incumbent  being 
a  source  of  general  remark  and  complaint 
from  the  intelligent  agriculturists  of  all 
parts  of  our  extended  country.  It  is 
therefore 

Resolved^  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  con- 
vention, a  change  in  the  head  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  is  imperatively^  needed 


for  the  best  interests  of  tlie  producing 
classes  of  the  country,  and  the  President 
of  the  United  States  is  most  respectfully 
petitioned  to  listen  to  the  complaints  em- 
bodied in  the  foregoing  resolutions. 
(Signed,)     John  A.  Warder, 

President. 
M.  B.  Bateham,  Secretary. 


Officers  and  Directors  of  theMilford 
and  Orange  Agricultural  Society,  elected  at 
the  annual  meeting,  held  Nov.  7,  1865. 
officers  : 
David  Miles,  President. 
Fiber  J.  Treat,  . 

Caleb  T.  Merwin,      (  Vice  Presidents. 
Elisha  E.  Benhan,     ) 
Wm.  H.  Pond,  Secretary. 
Charles  F.  Smith,  Treastirer. 
directors: 


milford. 
Wm.  S.  Pond, 
Isaac  0.  Smith, 
Chas.  S.  Baird, 
Geo.  Cornwall,  2d. 
Miles  B.  Merwin, 
David  B.  Piatt, 
Wm.  M.  Merwin, 
Elijah  B.  Tibballs, 
Joiah  P.  Isbell, 


orange. 
Enoch  Clark, 
Isaac  A.  Smith, 
Dennis  Andrew, 
Merwin  Andrew, 
Albert  F.  Miles, 
Nelson  Tyler, 
Geo.  S.  Kelsey, 
Leveret  B.  Treat. 
Jay  L.  Northrop. 


BOOKS,  &c.,  RECEIVED. 

Companion  Poets  for  the  people  in 
illustrated  volumes.  This  series  contains 
popular  selections  from  the  best  American 
and  English  poets;  each  volume  of  about 
100  pages  and  12  to  20  illustrations  by  the 
best  artists.  The  volumes  are  handsomely 
printed  on  tinted  paper,  and  bound  in  neat 
pamphlet  form, — price  50  cts.  each.  Thus 
far  have  been  issued : 

Household  Poeins,  by  Longfellow. 

Songs  for  all  Ssasons,  by  Tennyson. 

National  Lyrics,  by  John  G.  Whittier. 

Lyrics  of  Life.,  hj  Robert  Browning. 
Humoro-us  Poems,  by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

Other  popular  poets  will  be  added  to  the 
series. — Messrs.  Ticknor  &  Fields,  publish- 
ers, Boston. 


32 


The  Horticulturist. 


Ohio  Farmer. — Cleveland,  Ohio,  week- 
ly, ^2  50  per  annum.  The  Agricultural 
Department  of  this  paper  is  presided  over 
by  Col.  S.  D.  Harris,  one  of  the  most  in- 
dustrious and  popular  writers  on  agricul- 
tural subjects.  He  keeps  himself  thoroughlj^ 
informed,  by  travel  and  otherwise,  of  all 
that  is  new  and  interesting.  We  commend 
the  Ohio  Farmer  *as  a  paper  that  can  be 
read  with  profit  by  the  farming  community 
in  all  sections  of  the  country. 


The  Prairie  Farmer. — Weekly  ;  Em- 
ery &  Co.,  Chicago ;  two  dollars  per  an- 
num. This  is  a  wide-awake  journal,  repre- 
senting the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
Great  West,  now  entering  on  its  twenty- 
sixth  year.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  en- 
terprising publishers  to  come  out  in  a  new 
dress.  We  notice  they  have  secured  some 
of  the  leading  writers  on  agriculture  and 
hoi'ticulture,  and  mean  to  maintain  a  high 
standard.  They  also  propose  to  publish 
monthly  a  German  edition  of  the  Prairie 
Farmer,  the  first  number  of  which  is  now 
ready ;  two  dollars  per  annum.  See  their 
advertisement. 


Atlantic  Monthly. — To  those  of  our 
readers  who  take  this  valuable  periodical  it 
is  quite  unnecessary  for  us  to  say  anything. 
Few  who  know  its  value  are  willing  to  live 
on  without  it.  Those  who  can  be  induced 
to  take  it  may  place  implicit  confidence  in 
our  recommendation.  We  lead  no  one 
astray  hy  calling  their  attention  to  this 
very  valuable  publication,  price  four  dollars 
per  annum,  and  well  worth  the  money. 
Ticknor  &  Fields,  Boston. 


We  notice,  also,  that  Messrs.  Ticknor 
and  Fields  announce  a  new  literary  weekly, 
to  be  called  Every  Saturday.  Well,  they 
understand  precisely  the  art  of  making 
money  in  periodical  literature.  It  is  sim- 
ple enough  ;  this  is  all  of  it :  publish  a  first 
class  paper,  employ  the  best  talent  in  the 
country  to  write  for  it,  and  let  the  world 
know  it,  that  is,  advertise. 


Our  Young  Folks. — The  New  Year  be- 
gins the  second  volume  of  this  completely 
successful  magazine.  The  first  six  months 
of  its  publication  it  obtained  a  circulation 
of  upwards  of  50,000,  proof  enough  of  its 
popularity.  It  is  decidedly  the  best  of  all 
the  magazines  for  the  young,  and  one  that 
deserves  a  universal  circulation  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Two 
dollars  per  annum  ;  with  the  Atlantic,  five 
dollars  per  annum.  Ticknor  &  Fields, 
Boston. 


Hours  at  Home. — A  popular  monthly, 
devoted  to  religious  and  useful  literature, 
edited  by  J.  M.  Sherwood,  published  by 
Chas.  Scribner  &  Co.,  No.  124  Grand  St. 
New  York.  Three  Dollars  per  annum, 
with  the  usual  discount  to  Clubs. 

This  magazine,  now  in  its  second  volume, 
bids  fair  to  become  a  popular  standard  and 
welcome  addition  to  the  magazine  literature 
of  the  country.  It  is  ably  edited,  articles, 
well  arranged  and  varied,  and  the  publish- 
ers rank  among  the  solid  men  of  this  city. 


Harris'  Rural  Annual,  now  owned  and 
published  by  Orange,  Judd  &  Co.,  will  be  sent 
immediately  after  publication  to  those  who 
have  ordered  them. 


Dkpartment  of  Agriculture  Report 
for  1864. — We  are  indebted  to  James  S. 
Greunell,  Esq.,  late  chief  clerk  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Department,  for  an  advance  copy  of 
th  s  report.  The  great  value  of  these  re- 
ports of  late  years,  is  attributable  mainly  to 
the  talent  and  industry  of  Mr.  Grennell, 
a  gentleman  of  rare  ability  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  agriculture,  and  whom  we 
hope  to  see  placed  in  the  position  he  is 
better  qualified  to  fill  than  any  other  man 
in  this  country, — that  of  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture.  So  important  are  our  agri_ 
cultural  interests,  and  so  vast  is  the  influ- 
ence of  the  agricultural  bureau  for  good  or 
evil,  that  the  removal  of  Mr.'  Grennell  from 
the  position  he  so  ably  filled,  can  only  be 
considered  as  a  serious  loss  to  the  country. 


Designs  and   Plans  for 
Prepared  for  the  HORTICULTURIST,  Feb,,  1866. 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXL 


.FEBRUARY,   1866  ...  NO.  CCXXXVL 


THE  FIRE  ON  THE   HEARTH. 


At  this  present  season  of  the  year,  we 
may  well  turn  our  attention  from  without 
to  within  doors,  and  see  by  what  means  we 
may  contrive  to  make  tJie  country  home 
more  attractive  not  only  to  its  inmates,  but 
to  the  stranger  within  its  walls.  And 
here  at  the  outset,  let  it  be  well  understood 
that  our  suggestions  are  intended  for  those 
who  not  only  live  in  the  country,  but 
whose  tastes  and  predilections  are  decided- 
ly for  rural  life.  We  are  writing  not  only  for 
those  who  are  obliged  from  circumstances 
to  live  in  an  humble  manner,  but  for  those 
who,  with  ample  means,  prefer  real  solid 
home  comfort  to  pretence  and  empty  show. 
As  we  can  often  form  an  opinion  of  the 
character  of  a  man,  from  the  expression  of 
his  countenance,  so,  not  unfrequently,  we 
are  able  to  judge,  from  the  exterior  of  a 
country  dwelling,  what  may  be  the  charac- 
ter of  its  internal  arrangement,  and  what 
may  be  the  peculiar  tastes  of  its  occupants. 


Some  homes  are  so  cold  and  forbidding 
in  their  external  aspect,  that  it  would  seem 
as  if  no  amount  of  cheerfulness  could  ever 
light  up  their  hearth-  stones  ;  while  others 
habitually  wear  such  a  smiling  and  benig- 
nant expression,  that  we  long  to  cross  their 
thresholds  and  make  ourselves  familiar 
with  every  nook  and  corner  they  contain  ; 
and  is  not  this  the  case  with  old  country 
houses  ?  Is  not  this  their  peculiar  charac- 
teristic ?  We  rarely  see  one  that  it  does 
not  awaken  ideas  of  true  home  comfort, 
which  a  more  modern  structure  fails  to  im- 
part ;  and  we  think  this  feeling  is  common 
to  all  persons  of  cultivation,  more  especial- 
ly if  they  possess  strong  rural  tastes.  No 
matter  what  may  be  the  peculiar  architec- 
tural arrangement  of  the  house,  if  time  has 
mellowed  it,  this  home  feeling  is  almost 
sure  to  spring  up  at  first  sight.  It  may  be 
the  Gambrel  roof,  with  or  without  its 
quaint  balustrade  ;  it  may  be  the  old  New 


Enteked  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


34 


The  Horticulturist. 


England  mansion,  with  its  two  stories  in 
front,  and  its  roof  sloping  almost  to  tlie 
ground  behind  and  overshadowed  by  some 
venerable  elm ;  or  it  may  be  the  humble 
red  farm-house,  with  its  moss-covered  roof. 
If  these  old  dwellings  possess  so  winning 
an  exterior,  in  most  cases  we  are  not  disap- 
pointed on  entering  them.  We  shall  find 
that  everything  within  comports  with  that 
air  of  quiet  ease  and  comfort  which  is  inher- 
ent, and  to  which  no  one  thing  contributes 
more  than  the  open  chimney  place  with  its 
blazing  wood-fire.  The  sight  of  this  makes 
us  perfectly  at  our  ease — we  want  no  more 
cordial  welcome ;  and  herein  lies  the  essence 
of  our  present  paper — the  importance  of 
the  fire  on  the  hearth,  as  a  means  of  im- 
parting health,  cheerfulness  and  sociability 
to  the  inmates  of  the  dwelling. 

Let  there  be  one  room  at  least  in  every 
home,  where  the  family,  particularly  if  there 
be  children,  can  gather  around  the  chimney 
place,  and  watch,  as  they  sit  musing  or 
talking,  the  fiitting  flame  of  either  the 
hickory  log,  or,  for  lack  of  that,  the  bitu- 
minous coal;  and  by  all  means,  let  that  fire- 
place be  generous  in  its  size — not,  perhaps, 
so  capacious  as  to  allow  all  to  sit  within  its 
very  jaws,  and  to  look  up  at  the  bright  stars 
of  heaven  shining  down  from  above — such 
a  one  we  remember,  years  ago,  in  a  rude 
cottage  in  the  wilds  of  Maine,  where  w^ 
passed  a  night — but  still  ample  enough  for 
a  good-sized  log  to  be  rolled  behind  and 
committed  to  its  bed  of  ashes. 

It  is  not  often  that  we  now  see  those 
rousing  wood-fires  of  a  former  generation. 
They  are  no  longer  an  actual  necessity. 
Modern  science  has  introduced  many  other 
methods  for  warding  oft"  the  searching 
bla*:ts  of  winter.  The  screens  that  were 
set  up  at  our  backs,  as  an  additional  means 
of  attaining  warmth  and  comfort,  have  now 
been  folded  up  and  laid  aside.  The  innumer- 
able logs  of  wood,  usually  sawed  in  the 
hottest  days  of  July,  by  men  who  were 
part  and  parcel  of  the  saw,  and  who  never 
tired,  however  long  and  hot  might  be  the 
day,   are   rarely  wanted   now.     The  large 


stout  leathern  apron,  with  its  convenient 
handles,  by  which  the  wood  was  carried 
to  the  fire-place,  is  no  longer  called  for. 

Our  thoughts  wander  back  to  youthful 
days,  and  we  call  to  mind  a  bar-room  wood 
fire  of  a  country  inn  in  New  Hampshire — 
a  fire  which  never  slumbered  night  or  day 
through  the  cold  season,  and  which  was  al- 
ways ready,  with  its  more  than  genial 
warmth,  to  welcome  the  shivering  stage- 
passenger. 

No  one  of  the  rising  generation,  we  ven- 
ture to  say,  ever  saw  such  a  fire  upon  the 
hearth — its  huge  logs  piled  one  above  the 
other,  and  sending  up  such  volumes  of  flame 
that  no  near  approach  was  possible.  That 
fire  has  gone  out  now,  and  a  cold,  black  fu- 
nereal stove  has  usurped  its  place.  So,  too, 
have  gone  out  the  liberal  wood  tires  of  our 
fathers'  kitchens,  before  which  were  roast- 
ed such  ample  sirloins,  and  over  whose  liv- 
ing coMs  such  savory  steaks  were  pre- 
pared. 

But  if  these  open  fires  are  no  longer  a 
necessity  as  a  means  of  aifording  warmth, 
are  they  not  necessary  as  promoters  of  ven- 
tilation, cheerfulness  and  gladness  in  the 
household  ?  We  may  easily  decide  this  by 
comparing  the  atmosphere  and  cheerfulness 
of  a  room  lighted  up  by  a  bright  blazing 
fire,  and  one  heated  only  by  a  furnace  or  by 
a  closed  stove,  with  every  means  of  obtain- 
ing fresh  air  carefully  cut  oft'.  No  matter 
how  high  may  be  the  temperature  of  such 
a  room,  if  we  enter  it  upon  a  cold  day,  and 
see  no  open  fire,  an  involuntary  shudder 
comes  over  us — more  especially  if  no  rays 
of  sun-light  enter  to  dispel  the  gloom. 

HoAV  pleasant  to  those  who  dwell  in 
cities,  and  who  never  know  thebrightness  of 
a  fire  on  their  own  hearths,  is  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  cosy  wood-fire  over  which  they 
sat  in  those  frosty  evenings  of  early  au- 
tumn, following  the  bright,  clear  sunny 
days,  in  the  distant  farm-house  among  the 
mountains  or  by  the  sea-shore!  The  thoughts 
and  aspirations  of  those  happy  hours  will 
be  far  more  lasting  than  the  embers  by  the 
light  of  which  they  were  kindled. 


Fire  on  the  Heartli. 


35 


Let  every  man,  tben,  who  builds  or  oc- 
cupies a  house,  particularly  if  it  be  in  the 
country,  see  that  he  has  at  least  one  open 
chimney  place  or  grate  for  either  wood  or 
coal.  If  he  has  any  desire  that  his  children 
should  ever  have  happy  associations  with 
home,  and  that  in  after  years  their  thoughts 
should  revert  with  pleasure  to  the  scenes 
of  their  youth,  let  the  family  fireside  be 
something  more  than  a  name.  If  it  be  in 
any  way  practicable,  let  there  be  an  open 
fire-place  in  every  room  in  the  house  as  a 
means  of  ventilation,  especially  in  case  of 
sickness  ;  and  in  the  chamber,  what  can  be 
more  genial  or  more  conducive  to  that  quiet 
repose  which  we  seek,  than  watching  the 
fire-light  flashing  upon  the  ceiling  ;  and  in 
the  tedious  hours  of  illness,  what  a  friend 
and  companion  is  this  same  fire-light. 

Does  not  delightful  Irving  tell  us  that  it 
was  by  the  light  of  the  open  fire  that  the 
bold  dragoon  saw,  as  he  lay  snug  in  bed, 
the  movements  of  the  portrait,  and  al- 
though we  may  not  desire  to  see  anything 
so  terrifying,  it  is  at  such  times  that  por- 
trait and  picture  exert  a  new  influence 
upon  our  imagination,  however  familiar 
they  may  be  to  us.  Yes,  we  should  wil- 
lingly part  with  many  a  luxury  before  we 
relinquish  what  we  consider  a  necessity  as 
well  as  perhaps  a  luxury. 

In  the  construction  of  the  fire  place  in 
the  country  house,  good,  even,  well-burnt 
bricks  answer  every  purpose,  not  only  for 
the  back  and  jambs,  but  also  for  the  hearth. 
Soap-stone  as  well  as  freestone  are  now, 
however,  widely  used,  and  in  point  of  ele- 
gance are,  perhaps,  to  be  preferred.  Tiles 
of  various  patterns  and  colors  make  very 
pleasing  hearths,  which  we  in  every  way 
prefer  to  marble.  If  the  old  Dutch  tiles 
can  be  procured,  let  them  by  all  means 
adorn  the  fire-place.  Your  children  will 
form  strong  associations  with  their  quaint 
illustrations  of  Scripture,     If  they  already 


exist  in  the  old  house  which  you  have  pur- 
chased, consider  them  as  sacred. 

In  the  majority  of  country  dwellings, 
particularly  if  they  have  any  claims  to  an- 
tiquity, we  should  advise  the  use  of  wood 
in  the  construction  of  the  mantle-piece.  It 
seems  far  the  most  appropriate  article  for 
the  purpose — certainly,  much  more  so  than 
marble.  The  wood  may  be  chestnut,  oak, 
walnut,  butternut,  or  even  pine,  and  it 
should  be  simply  rubbed  down  and  polished, 
but  never  varnished.  The  mantel-shelf 
should  be  deep  and  capacious,  so  that  the 
articles  placed  upon  it  may  not  easily  be 
thrown  oft'.  It  is  often,  as  we  well  know, 
a  temporary  resting  place  for  almost  every 
thing  which  goes  astray;  we  should  not 
forget  to  mention  those  necessary  accom- 
paniments to  the  open  fire-place,  and  which 
are  so  intimately  associated  with  it,  the 
andirons,  formerly  iron,  or  of  highly  polish- 
ed brass  or  steel,  the  more  or  less  elaborate- 
ly constructed  fender,  and  the  ever  useful 
bellows. 

Where,  from  any  cause,  an  open  fire- 
place in  the  chimney  is  not  practicable,  its 
place  may  be  supplied  by  the  open  grate 
set  out  into  the  room,  constructed  either  of 
soap-stone  or  of  iron.  Those  known  as  the 
Franklin  Grate  answer  an  admirable  pur- 
pose, or,  perhaps,  still  better,  those  manu- 
factured in  Philadelphia,  of  which  the  Edi- 
tors of  the  Horticulturist  speak  in  their 
columns. 

The  closed  stove  and  the  furnace  are  well 
in  their  places.  As  Americans,  we  must 
have  them,  and  we  confess  that  they  are 
often  extremely  convenient  and  useful,  but 
they  should  not  monopolize  every  room.  If 
we  value  the  health  which  good  air,  cheer- 
fulness, and  abundant  ventilation  are  sure 
to  give  us  and  our  children,  in  one  apart- 
ment at  least  let  us  keep  up  a  bright  fire 
on  the  hearth. 

Chestnut  Hill,  Dec,  1865. 


36 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


REMODELING    OLD    BUILDINGS   AND  GROUNDS. 


BY  GEO.  E.  WOODWARD,  AUTHOR  OF  "  WOODWARD  S  COUNTRY  HOMES." 

The  farm  we  own  and  occupy  consists  of    and  the  balance  is  devoted  to  ornamental 


twenty-four  acres  of  handsome  upland,  ly- 
ing upon  the  great  broad  guage  Erie  Rail- 
way, ten  miles  from  the  business  centre  of 
the  commercial  Metropolis.  Twenty-two 
acres  are  in  grass  for  pasturage  and  hay, 


grounds  and  garden.  We  show,  in  Fig.  G,  the 
plan  of  two  acres  about  the  house  at  time 
of  purchase,  which  by  a  former  owner  had 
been  fenced  into  seven  different  enclosures, 
in   accordance  with  the    prevailing    taste. 


Pio.  G.—Original  PUiii  of   Two  Acres. 


1   r 


The  house  is  quite  close  to  the  road,  which 
is  some  six  or  eight  feet  lower  than  the 
grounds.     This  we  propose  to  treat  in  such 


a  way  by  planting  as  to  make  the  existence 
of  the  road  unnoticeable  to  one  sitting  on 
the  verandah,  except,  perhaps,  by  the  rattle 


Fio.  l.—rian  of  Two  Acres  impi-oved. 


Remodeling  Old  Buildings  and  Grounds. 


37 


ol  a  passing  vehicle.  The  house  faces  the 
south-east,  and  the  slope  is  gradual  to  the 
cross-road  in  front  of  the  house.  The  gar- 
den spot,  in  location,  protection,  and  expo- 
sure, is  perfect,  and  its  products,  in  quan- 
tity, quality  and  appearance,  not  to  be  ex- 
celled. 

In  Fig.  7  is  shown  the  plan  of  the  grounds 


Fig.  i.—Old  Plan  nf  Barn. 

The  old  barn,  3G  feet  square,  built  in 
1806,  again  covered  forty  years  later,  is 
still  a  thoroughly  substantial  affair.  The 
old  mode  of  getting  to  it  from  the  road 
was  to  drive  around  three  sides  of  it.  "We 
changed  the  plan  of  it  so  as  to  go  direct. 
See  Fig.  8  and  9. 

The  removal  of  the  barn-yard,  poul- 
try house,  etc.,  from  the  front  of  the  barn 
and  out  of  sight  of  the  house,  w^as  one  of 
the  most  effective  improvements.      These 


Fig.  lO.-TheoU  Well  House. 


The  old  well,  built  of  cut  stone,  and  laid 
up  at  a  time  when  work  was  done  honestly, 
stands  about  30  feet  from  the  front  of  the 
house.     The  old  well-house  is  shown  in  Fig. 


as  altered ;  with  all  fences  removed.  The 
effect  of  this  was  to  increase  the  apparent 
size  and  extent  of  the  grounds.  The  darker 
shade  on  plan  represents  the  part  devoted 
to  lawn  and  ornamental  planting,  and  the 
lighter  shade  the  fruit  and  vegetable  gar- 
den. The  fruit  garden  lying  next  the 
lawn. 


HA  V, 

12X12 

1 

3 


Fig.  ^.—New  Plan  of  Bam. 

enclosures  which  now  hide  all  wood-piles, 
wagons,  compost  heaps,  rubbish,  etc.,  are 
entirely  out  of  way  of  the  orderly  neatness 
of  the  dress  grounds.  Tlie  fence  on  the  left 
divides  the  lawn  and  garden  from  the  pas- 
ture ;  this  fence,  being  a  light  one,  does 
not  obstruct  the  view,  so  that  the  lawn, 
apparently  uniting  with  pasture  and  hay 
lands,  gives  great  extent  of  view.  The 
surplus  of  the  garden  is  easily  fed  out  to 
the  cattle  in  adjoining  pasture. 


Fig.  11.— r;i«  old  WeU  House  improved. 
10,  and  in  Fig.  11  we  show  what  we  did 
to  it  at  a  total  expense  of  four  dollars  in 
these  high-priced  times. 


38 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


Directly  opposite  the  end  of  the  veran- 
dah was  the  small  entrance  gate,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  12.  The  path  from  this  gate  led 
straight  to  the  corner  post  and  along  the 
edge  of  the  platform.  This  point  of  en- 
trance we  removed  twenty  feet,  and  now 
approach   the  house  by  a    ourved  line   of 


walk.  Fig.  13  shows  the  style  of  entrance 
we  have  planned  for  erection  in  the  spring. 
For  this  we  are  indebted  to  the  serviceable 
hints  of  the  accomplished  author  of  "  My 
Farm  of  Edgewood"  in  the  valuable  illus- 
trated articles  from  his  pen,  for  which  sec 
volume  of  the  Horticulturist  for  18G5. 


Fig.  12.— r/ie  old  Gate 


It  must  not  be  supposed  that  in  the  short 
space  of  eight  months  all  these  changes 
have  been  completely  finished,  but  the 
heavy  work  has  been  done,  and  a  season 
or  two  must  elapse  for  the  new  planting  to 
develope  itself  and  the  twining  vine  to  add 
its  beauties  to  the  different  structures. 
Other  alterations  and  improvements  are 
being  studied  out,  which  at  some  future 
time  we  shall  illustrate. 

The  question  might  be  asked  us,  why 
not  put  these  24  acres  into  small  fruits  ? — 
tomatoes,  nursery  stock,  etc., —  would  it 
not  pay  better  than  for  haj^  ?  "We  answer 
decidedly,  yes,  the  income  could  be  made  a 
very  large  one ;  but  farming  is  our  amuse- 
aaent.  Our  business  is  to  make  and  publish 
the  best  Horticultural  and  Rural  Art  Maga- 
zine in  the  country,  and  we  make  farming  pay 
in  this  manner.  The  labor  is  reduced  to  the 
capacity  of  one  man ;  the  hay  lands  require 


top-dressing  in  winter,  and  by  machinery 
the  crop,  when  read}',  is  quickly  harvested 
and  stored,  with  extra  assistance  for  a  few 
days  ;  the  garden  is  cultivated  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  and  horses  and  cows  are  fed  from 
the  products  of  the  farm  the  year  round. 

Ahouse  of  similar  capacity  (see. Jan'y  No.) 
in  New  York  city,  would  cost  us  an  an- 
nual rent  of  ^1,500.  The  interest  on 
the  cost  or  capital  invested  in  our  farm 
and  the  expenses  of  labor  in  working  it, 
amounts  to  $1,500.  Our  profit  consists  in 
family  supplies  and  comforts,  as  follows  : — 
Milk,  butter,  eggs,  pouitiy,  summer  and 
winter  vegetables,  fruits,  fire  wood,  water, 
ice,  the  keeping  of,  and  attendance  on  a  span 
of  horses,  increase  of  stock,  etc. — items 
which  in  New  York  would  cost  at  least 
$1,500  to  $2,000  per  annum.  Add  to  this 
the  annual  increasing  value  of  the  fiirm, 
amounting  to  fully  20  per  cent.,  per  annum. 


Discrepancies  of  the  Grape  Culture. 


39 


and  it  lias  been  more  than  this  for  three 
years  past,  and  it  shows  how  we  make 
farming  profitable — a  queer  way  of  rea- 
soning,  some  might  say,  but  nevertheless 


a  true  one  for  us.  It  pays  well  to  own 
and  hold  on  to  a  farm  near  a  great  city, 
if  it  is  but  24  acres. 

Wayside.  N.  /.,  January,  1866. 


DISCREPANCIES  OF  THE  GRAPE  CULTURE. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "  TEN  ACRES  ENOUGH." 


Novices  are  by  no  means  useless  crea- 
tures. One  can  rarely  encounter  them, 
whether  in  politics,  mechanics,  or  horticul- 
ture, without  learning  something,  either 
from  their  acquisitions  or  their  crudities. — 
Taking  position  with  them  on  the  grape 
culture,  I  admit  my  experience  to  be  limit- 
ed, though  my  crudities  are  extensive.  The 
doctors  of  the  art  may  learn  nothing  from 
the  latter,  yet  they  will  be  courteous 
enough  to  bear  with  me  while  I  set  them 
forth. 

Touching  the  planting  of  grape  vines  in 
swampy  ground.  I  have  a  meadow  just  re- 
claimed from  the  dominion  of  a  thousand 
springs,  which  had  no  outlet  until  a  ditch, 
800  feet  in  length,  was  opened  for  the  exit  of 
their  perpetual  overflow.  Under-drains,  laid 
down  30  feet  apart,  stretch  away  from  the 
ditch  into  the  upland,  and  have  so  redeem- 
ed the  soil  that  what  was  once  a  worthless 
jungle  is  now  productive  land,  yielding 
crops  of  turnips,  corn,  and  strawberries. — 
On  both  sides  of  this  miraculous  ditch  two 
hundred  vines  of  Delaware  and  Concord 
grapes  were  planted,  just  two  years  ago. 
The  soil  below  them  is  pure  muck,  several 
feet  in  depth,  covered  by  at  least  six  to 
eight  inches  of  sand,  placed  there  to  raise 
the  meadow  to  a  proper  level.  Repeated 
plowings  have  so  thoroughly  combined  the 
muck  and  sand  that  the  dark  color  of  the 
former  now  predominates  over  most  of  the 
surface.  This  whole  field  is  mellow  as  an 
ash-heap,  nor  does  it  ever  suffer  from  drouth. 
All  stagnant  water  has  been  banished  by 
drainage,  hence  it  is  into  living  water  only 
that  the  vines  project  their  roots. 

These  rows  of  vines  have  been  subjects  of 


innumerable  remarks  from  visitors,  many  of 
whom  were  experts  in  the  grape  culture. — 
Quite  a  number  declared  they  would  be  a 
success,  and  quite  as  many  that  they  would 
be  a  failure.  But  they  were  planted  in  the 
swamp  as  much  for  ornament  as  for  use, 
hence  it  was  not  especially  important  whe- 
ther they  succeeded  or  failed — they  would 
become  an  imposing  feature  in  the  land- 
scape, even  if  they  produced  no  grapes.  But 
they  have  grown  prodigiously,  the  Concords 
at  least,  and  last  season  bore  a  reasonable 
crop.  Those  where  most  sand  was  laid 
upon  the  muck,  have  outstripped  such  as 
received  none.  They  have  made  a  profu- 
sion of  wood,  but  only  one  or  two  of  the 
Delawares  have  grown  with  any  degree  of 
vigor  ;  the  soil  may  be  right  for  Concords, 
but  wrong  for  the  Delawares.  I  can  dis- 
cover no  sufficient  reason,  as  yet,  for  believ- 
ing that  this  moist  location  will  prove  un- 
suitable. No  mildew  attacked  either  va- 
riety— in  fact,  I  never  saw  a  case  of  mildew 
— but  the  leaves  of  nearly  all  the  Delawares 
were  skeletonised  by  insects. 

A  friend  writes  me  from  Pennsylvania — 
"I  always  thought  that  moisture  combined 
with  heat  was  the  cause  of  mildew.  When 
we  have  a  dry  spell  in  July  and  August, 
then  my  grapes  always  do  well,  ripening 
perfectly,  unless  it  becomes  wet  and  cool  in 
September.  Now,  at  Boston  they  had  heat 
and  aridity,  yet  they  also  had  much  mil- 
dew. All  over  the  West  they  complain  of 
rot  and  mildew;  even  at  Kelly's  Island, 
where  the  Catawba  rarely  fails,  this  year 
they  had  rot  and  mildew.  I  now  know  less 
of  the  requirements  of  the  grape  vine  than 
I  thought  I  did  forty  years  ago.   Mr.  Saun- 


40 


The  Ho7'ticulturist. 


ders,  foreman  of  the  Propagating  Garden  at 
Washington,  for  a  long  time  contended  that 
aridity  was  the  cause  of  mildew,  then  wa- 
vered, and  confined  his  remarks  about  arid- 
ity to  the  exotic  grape,  gooseberry,  and 
certain  other  exotic  plants,  now  says  that 
humidity  is  the  cause  of  mildew  on  our  na- 
tive grapes,  and  by  a  covering  to  keep  off 
moisture  from  the  foliage,  we  can  entirely 
prevent  mildew." 

The  same  intelligent  correspondent  is 
confounded  by  certain  unexplainable  discre- 
pancies which  he  witnessed  during  the  past 
season.  A  friend  of  his,  five  years  ago, 
planted  three  hundred  extra  quality  Dela- 
wares,  which  cost  him  $400.  The  ground  in 
which  they  were  planted  was  trenched  two 
to  three  feet  deep,  and  the  best  culture  was 
bestowed  upon  them.  This  last  season,  in- 
stead of  tons  of  grapes,  there  were  not  ten 
pounds  of  perfect  bunches.  The  leaves 
were  all  off  by  the  middle  of  August,  and 
no  new  wood  for  the  next  year.  Other  va- 
rieties were  in  equally  bad  condition. — 
"While  these  out-door  grapes  were  thus  a 
total  failure,  yet  on  the  same  soil,  without 
extra  preparation,  a  grape-house  containing 
many  foreign  varieties  were  in  perfect 
health,  bearing  abundance  of  perfect  fruit. 
At  the  same  time,  and  on  the  same  farm, 
the  Isabella,  Concord,  and  Catawba  were 
bearing  largely,  free  from  defects,  no  mil- 
dew, fruit  ripe  a  week  or  more  earlier  than 
at  other  places,  and  yet  these  vines  are 
growing  in  water  !  He  says — "  There  are 
some  twenty  or  more  large  vines  planted 
along  a  water-course,  some  of  them  sur- 
rounded with  water,  most  of  their  roots 
under  water  the  whole  year.  Some  are 
close  to  the  spring-house,  on  a  strip  of  soil 
two  feet  wide,  water  all  round,  and  under- 
mined with  muskrat  holes.  The  soil  is 
sand,  gravel,  rocks;  never  has  been  trench- 
ed, drained,  or  cultivated.  There  is  a  close 
sod  of  grass,  which  is  mowed  two  or  three 
times  every  season.  The  man  simply  dug 
holes  to  thrust  in  the  plants,  put  up  a  trel- 
lis eight  or  nine  feet  high,  ties  up  the  vines, 


and  takes  off'loads  of  fruit  for  market  every 
year.  Nature  does  all  that  the  vines  require. 
Here  were  the  finest,  largest,  and  most  per- 
fect and  luscious  Isabellas, CatawbasandCon- 
cords  that  I  have  seen  for  many  a  day,  if 
ever.  The  foliage  was  exposed  to  the 
drenching  rains  in  July  and  August  equally 
with  all  others,  and  yet  was  free  from  mil- 
dew. How  are  we  to  explain  these  various 
results?  Your  vines  growing  so  near  a 
drain  may  prove  a  similar  success." 

Certainly  they  may ;  for,  excepting  the 
soil  and  drainage,  all  the  conditions  just  re- 
lated are  present.  After  the  foregoing  re- 
cital, I  have  strong  faith  in  their  succeed- 
ing. Up  to  this  time  it  is  an  astonishment 
to  the  grape  doctors  that  they  were  ever 
planted  there.  Hereafter,  they  may  be  an 
equal  astonishment  to  them  that  their  own 
vines  had  not  been  planted  in  a  similar  lo- 
cality. My  friend  recites  these  discrepan- 
cies as  nuts  for  other  folks  to  crack,  being 
harder  ones  than  he  can  manage,  though  for 
forty  years  he  has  been  a  successful  enthu- 
siast in  the  grape  culture.  I  content  my- 
self with  merely  putting  them  on  record, 
being  but  a  humble  follower  at  the  heels 
of  many  illustrious  predecessors. 

It  strikes  me  there  must  be  discrepancies 
of  taste  as  well  as  of  practice.  There  are 
those  whose  palates  riot  in  the  rank  musk- 
iness  of  the  Fox  grape,  but  I  eschew  it  as  I 
would  physic.  So  all  round  the  catalogue 
there  is  the  same  contrariety  of  taste.  Two 
years  ago  a  friend  gave  me  a  cutting  from 
No.  3  of  Rogers'  Hybrids.  I  cut  off  an  old 
Isabella  that  rarely  ripened  its  fruit,  some 
two  inches  below  the  ground,  split  the 
stump,  inserted  the  graft,  covered  it  up,  and 
that  season  the  graft  made  a  growth  of  ten 
feet,  ripening  one  bunch  of  grapes.  The 
next  season,  1865,  it  ripened  thirty  bunches, 
not  very  large  ones,  but  perfect.  It  was 
the  treasure  of  my  garden.  A  multitude  of 
gentlemen  tasted  of  the  fruit,  no  one  being 
permitted  the  luxury  of  more  than  three  or 
four  grapes.  The  testimony  in  its  favor 
was  unanimous — it  was  the  most  delightful 


Discrepancies  of  the  Grape  Culture. 


41 


native  grape  they  had  ever  eaten,  and  I 
agreed  with  them.  Yet  the  grape  writers, 
as  I  occasionally  see,  pronounce  it  a  poor 
affair,  inferior  to  a  dozen  others  which  they 
name.  How  do  such  discrepancies  occur  ? 
Is  my  taste  so  uneducated  that  I  do  not 
know  what  a  good  grape  is  when  I  taste  it, 
and  are  my  friends  alike  unsophisticated  ? 
Can  it  be  because  most  of  us  eschew  all 
foxiness  ? 

A  recent  writer  declares  that  trenching 
is  too  costly  an  operation,  and  that  the  re- 
sulting crops  will  not  be  sufficiently  remu- 
nerative to  warrant  the  outlay.  But  my 
idea  is,  that  if  we  expect  the  top  of  a  plant 
to  feed  us,  we  must  first  feed  it  at  the  bot- 
tom. Four  years  ago  I  took  up  a  Concord 
vine  entire,  some  forty  feet  in  length,  and 
laid  it  down  in  a  prepared  border  sixty  feet 
long,  six  feet  wide,  and  two  and  a  half  feet 
deep,  allowing  the  branches  to  stand  up  for 
future  vines.  The  earth  from  this  trench  was 
all  carted  away,  except  the  top  soil,  which 
was  mixed  with  half  decayed  sods  from  a 
meadow,  and  with  this  preparation  the 
trench  was  filled.  The  sods  had  been  co- 
piously limed,  and  several  barrels  of  bones 
had  been  gathered  up,  and  were  scattered 
through  the  mass.  The  growth  of  this  vine 
was  perfectly  amazing.  A  trellis  sixty  feet 
long  was  very  soon  required,  and  the  past 
season's  yield  was  equal  to  anything  within 
my  knowledge.  One  could  scarcely  touch 
the  vine  without  coming  in  contact  with  a 
bunch  of  grapes.  The  bunches,  moreover, 
were  very  large,  not  one  of  them  showing 
an  imperfect  berry.  As  regards  flavor, 
there  was  an  unmistakable  superiority  over 
any  other  Concord  I  have  ever  eaten.  The 
quantity  yielded  was  not  ascertained,  but 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  crop,  if  sent 
to  Philadelphia,  would  have  sold  for  fifty 
dollars.  The  preparation  of  this  border  cost 
a  week's  work ;  but  its  products  have  afford- 
ed convincing  evidence  of  the  value  of  proper 
preparation  of  the  ground — feeding  below  as 
the  condition  for  harvesting  overhead.  The 
soil,  when  all  had  been  combined,  was  a 


deep  black.  Many  bunches  ripened  within 
six  inches  of  the  surface,  and,  thus  affected 
by  the  higher  temperature  reflected  from 
the  ground,  possessed  a  luscious  flavor  which 
the  most  uneducated  palate  could  not  fail 
to  recognise  and  appreciate.  In  one  end  of 
the  same  border  are  two  Delawares,  two 
years  planted,  which  refused  to  grow.  As 
they  happen  to  be  quite  out  of  the  way, 
thoy  may  remain  where  they  are,  a  little 
longer,  on  trial.  Should  they  refuse  to 
flourish  under  such  elaborate  care,  the  fact 
will  develope  a  discrepancy  for  which  a  nov- 
ice like  myself  will  be  unable  to  account. 

"While  thus  unprofitably  gossiping  of 
grapes,  let  me  describe  a  monster  vine 
which  is  growing  wild  within  two  miles  of 
me.  This  vine,  by  measurement  made  some 
years  ago,  was  ascertained  to  be  six  feet 
one  inch  round  the  trunk  at  three  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  at  ten  feet  high  it  is  three 
feet  in  circumference.  It  has  never  pro- 
duced fruit,  being  a  male  vine.  Its  branches 
cover  four  large  forest  trees.  It  is  the  great 
wonder  of  the  neighboihood,  and  has  been  ' 
for  generations  past,  as  it  is  an  un- 
doubted remnant  of  the  aboriginal  forest, 
spared  by  some  thoughtful  proprietor  when 
clearing  up  the  land,  probably  because  of 
its  enormous  dimensions,  a  hundred  years 
ago.  The  celebrated  vine  at  Hampton 
Court  is  a  comparative  dwarf  beside  this 
monster.  It  was  probably  growing  vigor- 
ously before  the  continent  was  discovered, 
but  old  age  is  fast  developing  evidences  of 
decay.  The  centre  is  becoming  spongy  and 
rotten,  affording  strong  temptation  for  some 
wandering  sportsman  to  apply  his  wanton 
match,  and  precipitate  its  doom.  I  have 
thought  of  preserving  its  huge  trunk,  and 
having  it  sawed  into  sections,  for  distribu- 
tion among  the  archives  of  our  numerous 
horticultural  societies,  to  be  labeled,  pre- 
served, and  exhibited  to  the  curious  enquirer 
as  mementoes  of  what  the  soil  of  New  Jer- 
sey is  capable  of  producing  in  the  way  of 
grape  vines. 


42 


The  Horticulturist. 


BEURRE  VAN  MONS. 


Fkom  a  specimen  of  this  excellent  pear, 
sent  to  us  from  the  Mount  Hope  Nurseries, 
we  have  had  the  annexed  engraving  made. 


The  tree  is  described  as  vigorous  and  heal- 
thy, having  an  upright  growth  with  yellow- 
brown  wood. 


Fio.  \.~Beurre  Van  Mons  Pear, 

Fruit  rather  large.  Skin  smooth.  Color 
yellowish,  and  a  faint  tinge  of  red  on  sunny 
side,  with  minute  dots  and  sprinklings  of 
russet.  Calyx  small,  open,  set  in  a  smooth 
basin.  Stem  varying,  seeds  broad  ovate. 
Flesh  white,  fine-grained,  high-flavored  and 
juicy  ;  ripens  in  October. 

From  another  authority  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

Barronne  de  Mello  ;  Adele  de  St. 
Denis  ;  Beurre  Van  Mous — Tree  vigorous, 
upright,  productive — an  excellent  variety 


Fio.  i.— Section. 

of  foreign  origin  ;  fruit  medium  size,  olo- 
vate,  pyramidal,  inclining  to  turbinate, 
slightly  angular :  skin  yellow,  nearly  cov- 
ered with  cinnamon  russet ;  stalk  rather 
short,  inserted  at  an  inclination  by  a  fleshy 
lip,  or  elongation  of  the  fruit  to  the  stalk 
by  rings  ;  calyx  open,  or  partially  closed  ; 
segments  of  medium  length,  a  little  recurv- 
ed ;  basin  small,  shallow,  uneven ;  flesh 
whitish,  a  little  coarse,  very  juicy,  melting, 
with  a  rich  vinous  flavor,  slightly  perfumed, 
quality  very  good,  ripe  in  October. 


Flower  Pots. 


43 


FLOWER  POTS. 


Plants  and  liow  to  grow  them  have  been 
the  theme  of  many  an  interesting  article 
in  the  pages  of  the  Horticulturist  ;  the 
various  compounds  of  soils  are  frequently- 
discussed  ;  we  are  told  that  the  pots 
must  be  well  and  thoroughly  drained,  and 
the  mode  of  placing  the  earth  about  the 
roots  of  the  plants  is  given  with  consider- 
able detail,  but  we  have  little  or  nothing 
about  the  pots  themselves,  or  the  best 
material  to  be  used  in  their  construction. 

A  late  writer  on  flowers  states  that  the 
common  pot  must  be  selected  —  "  those 
which  are  light-colored  rather  than  those 
which  are  brick-red  ;  the  former  are  soft- 
baked,  and  are  more  porous  ;  in  these  the 
plants  thrive  better."  We  are  further  cau- 
tioned against  the  use  of  "  glazed,  china, 
glass  or  fancy  painted  pots,  they  being  not 
porous,  and  the  plants  seldom  thrive  in 
them."  If  this  advice  is  given,  after  a  series 
of  carefully  conducted  experiments  have 
demonstrated  its  soundness,  then  it  is  wor- 
thy of  all  attention.  But  is  it  so  ?  Is  it 
not  one  of  the  old  theories  like  the  drainage 
subject  (so  ably  disposed  of  by  Peter  Hen- 
derson, in  a  late  number)  handed  down  to 
us,  untested,  for  generations  ?  It  is  argued 
that  the  roots  of  plants  need  air,  which  is 
supplied  through  the  pores  of  the  pot. — 
How  do  the  roots  of  plants  obtain  air,  if  it 
is  necessary  to  their  existence,  in  a  state  of 
nature  ?  Is  it  not  from  the  surface  of  the 
ground  ?  Culture  in  pots  is  an  unnatural 
and  forced  process  ;  but  those  succeed  best 
in  such  cultivation  who  imitate  nature 
nearest  in  soils,  moisture  and  temperature. 

In  the  propagation  of  cuttings  in  pots, 
they  are  generally  placed  around  the  edge, 
under  the  supposition  that  they  root  more 
readily  than  if  in  the  centre.  This  is  not 
the  case  if  the  cuttings  are  properly  treat- 
ed, and  not  over-watered  or  neglected,  as 
they  generally  are.  In  the  former  case, 
those  in  the  centre   damp  off,  while  those 


at  the  sides,  having  the  benefit  of  the  evap- 
oration through  the  pores  of  the  earthen- 
ware, do  not  receive  any  great  surplus  of 
moisture.  By  plunging  the  pots  to  the  rim 
in  sand  or  earth,  and  watering  with  moder- 
tion,  all  root  equally  well.  Our  large  prop- 
agators discard  the  use  of  pots  altogether, 
and  plant  their  cuttings  thickly  in  sand 
beds,  where  success  is  uniform.  Now, 
Messrs.  Editors,  I,  for  one,  do  not  believe 
in  following  in  the  old  beaten  track  be- 
cause all  that  have  gone  before  us  have 
done  so.  If  thei'e  is  a  better  way,  let  us 
find  it  out,  and  when  we  are  satisfied  that 
we  are  right,  stick  to  our  results  at  all  haz- 
ards. I  have  been  trying  experiments} 
and  my  experiments  have  fully  satisfied  me 
that  to  attain  the  highest  perfection  in 
plant-growing,  we  must  have  something 
better  than  the  common  brick  clay  pot.  In 
the  room  where  I  now  write  are  two  pots, 
containing  bulbs  of  that  charming  winter- 
blooming  plant,  Cyclamen  Persicum.  One 
of  the  pots  is  glazed ;  this  requires  water 
but  twice  a  week ;  the  outside  surface  is  of 
the  temperature  of  the  room,  or  nearly  so; 
while  its  fellow,  a  soft,  baked  affair,  re- 
quires water  once  a  day,  and  then,  even  if 
the  room  is  quite  warm,  the  plant  droops 
by  night-fall ;  the  surface  is  many  degrees 
colder  than  the  air,  and  the  condition  of  the 
plant  is  inferior  to  the  other. 

Gardeners  are  considered  slovenly  when 
they  allow  green  slimy  growth  on  the  out- 
side of  their  pots  ;  but  they  well  know  that 
this  conduces  to  the  health  of  their  plants, 
preventing,  to  some  extent,  the  evaporation 
from  their  surface  that  would  be  otherwise 
constantly  going  on,  thus  keeping  the  roots 
in  a  much  lower  temperature  than  they 
would  be  if  planted  in  the  earth. 

The  editor  of  the  London  Cottage  Gar- 
dener truly  says  :  "  It  was  formerly  con- 
sidered important  to  have  pots  made  of  a 
material  as  porous  as  possible  ;  but  a  more 


44 


The  Eorticultuy-ist. 


miserable  delusion  never  was  banded  down 
untested,  from  one  generation  to  another. 
Stone-ware  and  china-ware  are  infinitely 
preferable,  for  they  keep  the  roots  more  uni- 
formly moist  and  warm.  Common  garden 
pots,  if  not  plunged,  should  be  thickly 
painted." 

All  practical   men   know,  or  ought   to 


know,  the  superior  growth  of  plants  in 
plunged  pots  over  those  exposed  in  the 
usual  way ;  but  few  are  willing  to  admit 
the  true  cause,  which  is  that  the  evapora- 
tion from  the  surface  of  the  common  pot  is 
thus  prevented,  and  the  roots  of  the  plants 
are  kept  in  a  more  equable  condition  as  re- 
gards heat  and  moisture. 


GLEANINGS. 


Among  the  most  striking  scenes  of  na- 
ture, I  would  instance  the  calm  sublimity 
of  a  tropical  night,  when  the  stars,  not 
sparkling,  as  in  our  northern  skies,  shed 
their  soft  and  planetary  light  over  the 
gently-heaving  ocean;  or  I  would  recall 
the  deep  valleys  of  the  Cordilleras,  where 
the  tall  and  slender  palms  pierce  the  leafy 
veil  around  them,  and  waving  on  high  their 
feathery  and  arrow-like  branches,  form,  as 
it  were,  a  "  forest  above  a  forest ; "  or  I 
would  describe  the  summit  of  the  peak  of 
Teneriffe,  when  a  horizontal  layer  of  clouds, 
dazzling  in  whiteness,  has  separated  the 
cone  of  cinders  from  the  plain  below,  and 
suddenly  the  ascending  current  pierces  the 
cloudy  veil,  so  that  the  eye  of  the  traveler 
may  range  from  the  brink  of  the  crater, 
along  the  vine-clad  slopes  of  Orotava, 
to  the  orange-gardens  and  banana-groves 
that  skirt  the  shore.  In  scenes  like  these, 
it  is  not  the  peaceful  charm  spread  over 
the  face  of  nature  that  moves  the  heart, 
but  rather  the  peculiar  physiognomy  and 
conformation  of  the  land,  the  features  of 
the  landscape,  the  ever-vai'ying  outline  of 
the  clouds,  and  their  blending  with  the 
horizon  of  the  sea,  whether  it  lies  spread 
before  us  like  a  smooth  and  shining  mirror, 
or  is  dimly  seen  through  the  morning  mist. 
All  that  the  senses  can  but  imperfectly 
comprehend,  all  that  is  most  awful  in  such 
romantic  scenes  of  nature,  may  become  a 
source  of  enjoyment  to  man,  by  opening  a 
wild  field  to  the  creative  powers  of  his 
imagination.  Impressions  change  with  the 
varying  movements  of  the  mind,  and  we 
are  led  by  a  happy  illusion  to  believe  that 


we  receive   from  the  external  world  that 

with  which  we  have  ourselves  invested  it. 

II. 

Science  proves,  and  we  believe,  such 
miracles  as  the  following : — 

The  air  is  capable  of  solidification,  lique- 
faction and  color.  A  pressure  from  without 
of  fifty  miles  deep  of  such  air  surrounds  the 
earth. 

Every  adult  supports  a  pressure  on  his 
own  person  of  thirty  thousand  pounds' 
weight  of  this  air. 

Except  for  such  an  enormous  compres- 
sion from  without,  man  would  explode. 

Except  for  this  air,  sound  and  life,  in- 
cluding within  them  reason  and  language 
could  not  exist. 

Many  plants  breathe,  perspire,  propagate 
by  sexual  distinctions,  and  possess  a  circu- 
lation of  sensitive  life. 

The  age  of  many  trees  which  are,  as  it 
were,  the  aristocracy  of  plants,  exceeds 
four  thousand  years. 

There  are,  at  least,  no  less  than  seventy 
tliousand  distinct  species  of  such  trees  and 
plants. 

The  smallest  insects  are  the  architects 
by  whom  islands  and  continents  have  been 
built  up  out  of  the  water. 

The  pyramids  are  constructed  of  stones 
formed  of  the  concretions  of  minute  shells 
of  these  insects ;  and  all  the  chalk  hills  and 
chalk  strata  of  the  world  are  nothing  but 
their  excrements  and  remains. 

Among  land  insects,  the  white  ant  and 
the  bee  have  lived  for  thousands  of  years 
under  hereditary  institutions  of  established 
loyalty  and  order. 


Grapes  in  1865. 


45 


Others  of  these  insects  have  thirty  thous- 
and eyes. 

There  have  existed  tribes  of  frogs,  lizards, 
flying  dragons,  equal  in  dimensions  to 
bisons,  hippopotami,  elephants. 

The  whole  earth  was  once  nothing  but 
slime. 

The  earth,  fifty  miles  beneath  its  surface, 
is  in  a  state  of  fiery  fusion. 

The  earth,  and  as  far  as  we  can  infer, 
nature  itself,  has  been  at  least  a  dozen 
times  destroyed  and  again  created. 

If  the  earth  were  a  little  nearer  the  sun, 
it  would  be  liquefied,  and  pass  away  in 
smoke  by  evaporation. 

If  the  earth  were  where  any  other  planet 
is,  or  any  other  planet  where  the  earth  is, 
the  whole  solar  system  would  be  thrown 
back  into  chaos. 

The  moon  is  a  world  destitute  of  all 
vital  air,  water,  vegetation  and  verdure — 
a  horror  of.unbreathing  lifelessness. 

Mercury  is  a  world  where  granite  would 
instantly  fuse. 

The  sun  attracts  and  discharges  comets 
to  and  from  distances  of  70,000,000,000 
miles  from  itself. 

The  moon  revolves  round  the  earth,  the 
earth  round  the  sun,  the  sun  round  a  centre 
in  the  Pleiades,  that  centre  round  some 
other,  and  so  on  from  centre  to  centre,  in 
the  invisible  Infinite. 

There  are  eighteen  millions  such  suns  and 
systems  as  ours  in  the  Milky  Way  alone. 

The  Nebulfe,  or  sun-stars  of  Orion,  give  us 
light  at  a  distance  requiring  sizti/  thousand 
years  for  its  transit.  This  light  travels  at 
the  rate  of  ficelve  million  miles  per  minute. 

Beyond  the  furthest  fields  of  telescopic 


vision,  there  are  other  systems  never  to  be 
visible  to  us  on  earth,  because  the  light 
proceeding  from  them  is,  from  their  i^emote- 
ness,  decomposed  in  its  transit,  before  it 
reaches  us.  That  part  of  the  universe,  the 
vision  of  which  is  commanded  by  the  earth, 
is  thus  necessarily  limited ; — it  may  not  be 
1,000,000,000th  part  of  it, 

There  are  behind  these  physical  worlds, 
invisible  and  semi-immaterial  powers: — 
heat,  light,  ether,  galvanism,  electricity, 
life. 

in. 

Cicero,  in  his  work  de  Natura  Deonim, 
ii,  37,  furnishes  the  following  striking  pas- 
sage from  a  lost  work  of  Aristotle : 

"  If  there  were  beings  who  lived  in  the 
depth  of  the  earth,  in  dwellings  adorned 
with  statues  and  paintings,  and  every 
thing  which  is  possessed  in  rich  abundance 
by  those  whom  we  esteem  fortunate ;  and 
if  these  beings  could  receive  tidings  of  the 
power  and  might  of  the  Gods,  and  could 
then  emerge  from  their  hidden  dwellings 
through  the  open  fissures  of  the  earth,  to 
the  places  which  we  inhabit ;  if  they  could 
suddenly  behold  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and 
the  vault  of  heaven ;  could  recognize  the 
expanse  of  the  cloudy  firmament,  and  the 
might  of  the  winds  of  heaven, and  "admire 
the  sun  in  his  majesty,  beauty  and  radiant 
effulgence;  and,  lastly,  when  night  veiled 
the  earth  in  darkness,  they  could  behold 
the  starry  heavens,  the  changing  moon,  and 
the  stars  rising  and  setting  in  the  unvary- 
ing course  ordained  from  eternity,  they 
would  surely  exclaim,  '  there  are  Gods,  and 
such  great  things  must  be  the  work  of 
their  hands !'  " 


GRAPES  IN   1865. 


BY    J.    M.    MERRICK,    JR.,    WALPOLE,    MASS. 


I  propose  to  give,  as  briefly  as  possible, 
a  resume  of  the  behavior  of  the  various 
kinds  of  vines  I  have  had  under  cultivation 
during  the  past  year. 

The  fall  of  1864  was  very  favorable  to 


the  ripening  of  grape-wood.  The  summer 
had  been  very  hot  and  dry,  so  that  the 
vines  made  less  wood  than  usual,  but  what 
did  grow  was  very  firm  and  hard.  Then 
frost  kept  off  wonderfully.     Here,  eighteen 


46 


The  Horticulturist. 


miles  south  of  Boston,  vines,  tomato  plants, 
and  tender  vegetables  were  as  green  on  the 
ninth  of  October  as  they  vpere  in  June. 
The  first  frost  that  visited  gardens  occurred 
on  the  night  of  the  ninth.  Not  a  speck  of 
mildew,  nor  a  sign  of  leaf-blight  or  rot  had 
been  seen  up  to  the  last  moment,  and  every- 
thing looked  well  for  1865. 

The  season  which  has  just  ended  has 
been  characterised  by  a  very  early  spring, 
immunity  from  late  frosts  in  May,  very 
changeable  weather  until  the  middle  of 
August,  a  hot  and  dry  spell,  lasting  till  the 
twentieth  of  September,  and  by  the  preva- 
lence of  mildew  from  the  nineteenth  of 
July  till  the  first  week  in  September. 

Setting  aside  the  ravages  of  the  mildew, 
the  season  has  been  an  excellent  one  for 
grapes,  and  very  early  withal — Concords 
and  Delawares,  for  instance,  ripening  full 
three  weeks  earlier  than  the  year  before. 

The  vines  which  suffered  from  mildew 
with  me  are  the  following,  which  were  af- 
fected in  various  degrees,  those  that  were 
the  most  injured  being  named  first,  viz.  : — 
Seedlings  from  the  Catawba,  Union  Vil- 
lage, Concord,  Diana  and  Rogers'  19  ;  then 
Diana,  Isabella,  Adirondac,  Israella  and 
Concord.  lonas,  Allen's  Hybrid  and  Clin- 
ton were  untouched  by  mildew,  and  Con- 
cords only  very  slightly. 

allen's  hybrid. 
This  vine  has  made  an  excellent  growth 
the  past  year,  strong,  healthy  and  vigor- 
ous— appears  to  be  proof  against  mildew, 
and  is,  I  think,  the  handsomest  vine  culti- 
vated. 

ADIRONDAC. 

This  I  have  not  fruited,  and  all  I  can  say 
of  it  is  that  it  mildews  very  badly. 


The  Concord,  of  course,  maintains  its 
well-earned  reputation  for  hardiness,  health 
and  vigor  of  growth.  Mine  were  fully  ripe 
on  the  fifth  of  September  last  year,  instead 
of  between  the  twentieth  and  twenty- 
sixth,  as  in  1864. 


CREVELING. 

My  vines  are  too  young  to  bear,  but  they 
have  made  an  excellent  growth  of  healthy 
short-jointed  wood. 

DELAWARE. 

A  few  leaves  mildewed  and  fell  off  in 
August,  but  the  growth  of  the  vines  was 
splendid,  and  the  fruit  simply  perfect. — • 
Some  of  my  vines  made  twelve  feet  of  good 
wood,  and  would  have  gone  further  had 
they  not  been  pinched  off. 

Fruit  ripe  September  third. 

DIANA. 

Growth  exceedingly  vigorous,  requiring 
frequent  pinching ;  leaves  a  little  touched 
with  mildew,  and  most  of  the  bunches 
ripened,  with  tolerable  evenness,  between 
the  fifteenth  and  twentieth  of  September. 

lONA 

Not  in  fruit,  healthy,  strong,  and  free 
from  mildew. 

ISRAELLA. 

A  free  grower,  mildews  badly,  wood  ri- 
pened well. 

ISABELLA. 

I  have  cut  down  all  my  Isabella  vines 
save  one,  as  worthless  incumbrances.  I 
never  saw  a  ripe  berry  of  this  variety  raised 
out-doors  near  Boston.  The  Catawba  is 
cultivated  a  little  here,  under  glass. 

REBECCA. 

Growth  tolerable  ;  vine  somewhat  af- 
fected with  mildew. 

ROGERS'     HYBRIDS. 

All  the  numbers  I  have  under  cultiva- 
tion that  were  not  touched  by  mildew,  made 
an  excellent  growth,  and  No.  15  ripened  its 
fruit  very  early. 

These  vines,  for  excellence,  vigor,  ease  of 
propagation  and  elegance  of  growth,  must 
be  ranked  very  high,  and  are  gaining  a  hold 
upon  public  confidence  which  will  be  hard 
to  shake. 

UNION    VILLAGE. 

Growth  strong  and  vigorous,  the  leaves 
showing  hardly   a  speck   of  mildew,   and 


Esthetics  of  Bural  Life. 


47 


making  quite  a  contrast  with  my  seedlings, 
from  the  same,  which  were  fairly  eaten 
up. 

I  have  not  seen  on  my  own  vines  more 
than  a  dozen  berries  touched  with  the  rot, 
and  these  were  all  Concords;  but  my  next 
neighbor,  whose  Concords  are  trained  upon 
a  S.  "W.  wall,  loses  two-thirds  of  his  crop 
by  rot  every  year. 

A  slight  sensation  has  been  created  here 
by  a  vine  called  Mains'  Seedling,  stated  to 
possess  wonderfully  good  qualities ;  but  Mr. 
E.  W.  Bull  has  shown,  in  the  Ploughman^ 
that  it  is  in  all  probability  nothing  but  the 
Concord.  The  "  Sanbornton"  grape,  which 
has  made  some  stir  in  the  papers,  has  been 
pronounced  to  be  "  the  veritable  Isabella'' 
by  Mr.  Bull,  and  we  here  think  twice  be- 
fore we  question  any  of  his  dicta. 


When  we  look  over  a  book  like  Prince's 
on  the  Cultivation  of  the  Vine,  and  see  the 
enormous  number  of  out-door  vines  men- 
tioned by  the  author — vines  even  the  names 
of  which  have  utterly  perished — we  are  re- 
minded how  very  far  we  are  from  having 
reached  the  perfect  grape,  and  how  well  it 
becomes  us  to  continue  our  experiments 
and  researches. 

If  I  thought  that  any  reader  of  the  Hor- 
ticulturist would  give  me  an  answer,  I 
should  ask  whether  there  is  any  known 
method  of  expediting  the  germination  of 
grape  seeds,  chemically  or  otherwise,  and 
I  should  ask,  too,  whether  any  unknown 
friend  is  anxious  to  make  me  happy  by  a 
present  of  some  seed  of  the  lona,  Israella, 
or  Adirondac. 


ESTHETICS  OF  RURAL    LIFE. 


BY  ALGERNON  SIDNEY  AGRICOLA. 


Messrs.  Editors  : — 

You  have  applied  to  me  to  write  an  article 
for  theHoRTicuLTURisT,  on  the  Esthetics  of 
Rural  Life.  You  have  applied  to  the  right 
man.  Have  I  not  lived  and  reveled  in 
rural  esthethics  for  two  years?  Have  I 
not  learned  to  distinguish  a  hen  from  a 
hawk,  and  a  hawk  from  a  handsaw  7  Have 
I  not  spent  large  sums  for  worthless  ma- 
nures ?  Have  I  not  labored  to  conform 
to  the  impossible  modes  of  culture  laid 
down  in  the  books  ?  Have  I  not  raised 
wheat  at  a  cost  of  five  dollars  per  bushel  1 
Have  I  not  eaten  my  own  grapes,  unripe 
to  be  sure,  but  the  product  of  my  own 
vines  1  Have  I  not  spent  twice  as  much 
for  clothing  as  I  did  when  I  lived  in  the 
city,  owing  to  the  fact  that  broadcloth 
and  fine  linen  have  a  tendency  to  get  soiled 
in  the  barnyard,  and  that  patent  leather 
hath  an  affinity  for  lime  ?  And  do  I  not 
keep  a  dog  ?  You  have  certainly  come  to 
the  right  man  whether  he  is  in  the  right 
place  or  not. 


Friendly  reader,  who  art  confined  amid 
brick  and  mortar,  and  brown  stone  and 
marble,  come  to  the  country  for  which  you 
so  often  sigh,  and  contemplate  with  me 
some  specimens  of  rural  esthetics.  Come 
with  me  to  the  hennery  and  behold  four 
white,  round,  beautiful  fresh  laid  eggs,  the 
product  of  forty-eight  hens.  Does  it  take 
twelve  hens  to  make  one  egg,  do  you  ask  ? 
My  friend,  esthetics  have  little  to  do  with 
philosophy  ?  Philosophy  inquires  into  the 
origin  and  causes  of  things.  Esthetics  ai'e 
content  to  admire. 

Admire  the  eggs.  How  beautiful  in 
themselves  !  How  suggestive  of  good 
coffee,  buckwheat  cakes,  and  amorningchat 
with  Anna  I 

My  neighbor  Franco  who  has  not  made 
esthetics  a  study,  afiirms  that  his  white 
Camelias,  now  in  bloom,  are  more  beautiful 
than  eggs.  This  wild  opinion  is  not,  after 
all,  owing  so  much  to  his  want  of  taste  as 
to  the  fact  that  his  hens  do  not  lay  ! 

Do  you  call  that  an  egg,  do  you  ask  1 


48 


The  Horticulturist. 


No,  it  is  a  miserable  imitation  in  porcelain. 
The  featherless  biped  tbouglit  he  could  de- 
ceive the  feathered  one.  None  are  deceived 
by  them  but  the  purchasers. 

Did'nt  think  hens  knew  so  much  '^  I 
am  afraid  you  adopted  your  opinion  as  to 
their  shallowness,  from  Old  Tifi".  Hens  are 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  political  economy.  What 
principles  1  The  principle  that  the  pro- 
duct belongs  to  the  producer,  when  the 
producer  furnishes  the  materials.  How 
does  it  appear  that  they  know  this  princi- 
ple? Deeds  speak  louder  than  words. 
The  hens  often  eat  their  own  eggs. 

Connected  with  the  beauty  of  eggs  is  the 
beauty  of  sounds.  The  poet  informs  us, 
that  rural  sounds,  as  well  as  rural  sights, 
are  delightful.  The  reader  may  not  per- 
haps know,  that  whenever  a  hen  has  laid  an 
egg,  she  makes  a  vocal  announcement  of  the 
fact  by  a  scries  of  notes,  running  nearly 
through  the  entire  scale,  and  more  striking 
if  not  more  beautiful  than  those  oft  times 
issuing  from  the  lips  of  young  ladies  bend- 
ing backwards  from  a  piano.  The  other 
inhabitants  of  the  hennery  join  in  the 
chorus,  and  repeiit  the  swelling  joy.  There 
are  few  sounds  more  pleasant  than  the 
cackling  of  a  hen  when  you  are  waiting  for 
a  newly  laid  egg. 

Behold  another  specimen  of  rural  esthe- 
tics in  the  shape  of  milk,  warm  from  the 
cow!  The  Alderney  gives  eight  quarts  a 
day.  That's  not  much,  do  you  say.  The 
quantity  is  not  great,  but  its  qualitj^ !  Whj'- 
the  milk  is  richer  than  any  cream  that  was 
ever  sold  in  the  New  York  market,  if  there 
ever  was  any  sold  there,  a  point  which  I 
do  not  regard  as  settled.  Does  it  make 
good  butter  ?  Good  is  not  an  epithet  to  be 
applied  to  it — nor  better  nor  best.  It 
would  be  necessary  to  invent  a  fourth  de- 
gree of  comparison  to  do  it  justice.  And 
the  beauty  of  it  is,  that  it  costs  no  more  to 
make  it  now  when  butter  is  sixty  cents  a 
pound  in  the  city,  than  it  did  when  it  was 
twenty  cents  a  pound  1  What  did  I  give 
for  the  cow  ?     Two  hundred  dollars.    How 


much  meal  does  she  eat  a  day  ?  You  would 
lead  me  into  statistics:  I  am  dealing 
with  esthetics.  Cost  is  not  an  element 
of  beauty. 

What  is  more  beautiful  than  cream  in 
combination  with  coffee  ?  How  few  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  have  witnessed  that 
combination  1  What  more  beautiful  than 
fair,  round,  puffy  biscuit  mixed  wholly 
with  cream  1  How  multiplied  are  the  es- 
thetics of  rural  life  ? 

Behold  another  choice  specimen.  That 
is  beautiful  honey.  You  may  well  say  so. 
What  element  of  beauty  is  wanting  in  it. 
Did  I  make  it?  No,  the  bees  made  it.  I  may 
remark,  that  when  I  lived  in  the  city,  I  was 
not  celebrated  for  quickness  at  repartee, 
but  it  is  wonderful  what  rural  esthetics 
can  do  for  a  man.  Where  are  the  bees, 
now  ?  They  are  spending  the  cold  weather 
within  doors,  like  sensible  beings  as  they 
are.  When  do  they  swarm,  do  you  ask  ? 
Well,  mine  have  always  swarmed  on  pleas- 
ant Sunday  mornings,  just  as  we  were  ready 
to  set  out  for  church.  I  always  stopped 
and  hived  them,  but  owing  to  some  cause, 
they  would  never  stay  in  the  hive.  My 
swarms  have  always  gone  off,  but  the 
original  stock  remains. 

Behold  another  specimen  or  other  speci- 
mens. Pears  in  winter  !  Yes,  the  Vicar  of 
Winkfield  is  just  in  perfection  now.  Every 
man  and  woman  of  taste,  who  makes  a  suf- 
ficiently near  approach  to  it  is  charmed 
with  it.  Margaret  admires  it  on  account 
of  its  beauty  and  its  romantic  name  ;  al- 
though she  has  sought  in  vain  through  the 
pages  of  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield  for  some 
account  of  its  origin.  Nice  distinctions 
sometimes  escape  the  female  mind. 

Behold  another  specimen  in  some  res- 
pect superior  to  all, — -the  bird  of  Jove, 
Minerva,  Venus  and  Mercury  combined  ; 
Nothing  but  a  turkey,  do  you  say  ?  Why 
not  say  of  that  brilliant  that  cost  fifty 
bales  of  stolen  cotton,  nothing  but  a  dia- 
mond? Why  not  say,  nothing  but  a  nug- 
get of  gold  weighing  six  hundred  pounds  ! 
Nothing  but  a  turkey  !  Oh  shame  1  Where 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


49 


is  tliy  blusli  1  Can  see  plenty  of  them  in 
the  city  1  Did  you  ever  see  in  the  city,  a 
form  like  that,  so  fair,  so  smooth,  so  plump ! 
so  powerful  to  awaken  recollections  of  the 
past  and  anticipations  of  the  future  ?  We 
have  read  about  the  fuII-bosomed  nymphs  of 
other  days.  Homer  and  Horace  were  ig- 
norant of  turkeys  or  we  should  have  numer- 
ous allusions  to  their  soft  and  esculent 
bosoms.      If    3'ou    wish,   0   inhabitant   of 


the  metropolis,  to  add  to  your  knowledge, 
that  of  the  true  flavor  of  the  turkey  as  he 
was  made  to  be  eaten,  come  and  dine  with 
me  on  a  corn  fed  rural  turkey.  We  will  make 
you  comfortable.  We  have  no  furnace  to 
give  out  on  a  cold  day.  A  blazing  wood 
fire  will  look  you  honestly  in  the  face.  A 
wife  whose  voice  of  affection  has  never  been 
out  of  tune  ;for  more  than  thirty  years 
shall  welcome  you. 


GARDENS  AND  PARKS  OF  GEmi ANY.— (Continued.) 


The  finest  public  garden  in  Germany  is 
that  of  the  Sansoussci,  'at  Potsdam,  a 
town  of  about  fifty  thousand  inhabitants, 
situated  some  twenty  miles  from  Berlin, 
the  capital  of  Prussia.  These  grounds 
belong  to  the  royal  family,  and  contain  two 
royal  palaces,  built  by  Frederick  the  Great, 
under  whom  the  gardens  were  laid  out. — 
They  are  over  a  mile  in  length,  and  about 
two-thirds  of  a  mile  in  breadth ;  but  though 
so  extensive,  the  whole  aspect  is  much  more 
that  of  a  large  garden  than  a  park.  The 
whole  surface  is  laid  out  in  winding  walks, 
while  through  the  centre  runs  a  long  broad 
avenue,  cutting  the  garden  into  two  parts. 
After  entering  through  the  porter's  lodge, 
you  pass  through  an  avenue  of  trees  along 
one  side  of  the  private  garden  of  the  king, 
and  passing  between  two  colassal  white 
marble  sphinxes,  enter  the  garden.  Passing 
by  a  few  parquettes  ornamented  with  bronze 
fountains,  you  reach  the  grand  fountain, 
which  throws  a  single  jet  120  feet  in  height. 
This  is  surrounded  by  a  number  of  allegor- 
ical statues  in  white  marble.  Just  at  the 
foot  of  the  fountain  rise  the  magnificent 
terraces  which  lead  to  the  old  castle  of 
Sansoussci.  They  are  six  in  number,  rising 
one  above  the  other,  to  a  height  of  sixty 
feet.  They  are  very  wide,  and  extend  out 
for  many  rods  on  either  side  of  the  broad 
steps  by  which  you  ascend  them.  They 
are  laid  out  with  beautiful  beds  of  flowers, 
and  covered  with  orange  trees ;  at  the 
time  I  saw  them  ladened  with  golden  fruit  j 


and  among  the  oranges  were  lemon,  and  fig, 
and  olive  trees,  while  up  the  walls  of  the 
terrace,  the  grape  and  ornamental  vines 
were  trained.  The  whole  effect  produced 
by  this  combination  of  terraces,  as  you 
view  them  either  from  above  or  below,  was 
striking  and  beautiful,  and  equalled  in  no 
other  garden  that  I  have  seen.  Just  at  the 
summit  stands  the  palace,  a  long,  low 
edifice,  with  no  pretentions  to  architectural 
beauty.  It  is  adorned  in  front  and  shut  off 
from  the  terraced  ascent  by  an  elegant 
marble  colonade.  Leaving  the  palace,  you 
pass  on  through  groves  and  clumps  of 
shrubbery,  by  gracefully  laid  out  parquettes 
and  artistic  arbors,  among  fountains,  and 
marble  and  bronze  groups  in  almost  endless 
profusion,  through  the  Sicilian  garden  de- 
voted to  tropical  plants,  and  by  tlie  pine- 
tum,  losing  yourself  in  the  intricate  maze 
of  walks  and  shrubbery,  only  to  come  un- 
awares upon  some  unexpected  beauty.  At 
length,  ascending  a  broad  flight  of  marble 
steps,  you  reach  a  spacious  terrace,  adorned 
with  fountains,  statues  and  urns. 

It  is  fi-onted  by  an  elegant  balustrade  of 
light  grey  marble,  while  back  of  it,  rises 
the  orangery,  a  splendid  building,  one 
thousand  feet  in  length,  and  designed  as 
the  winter  residence  of  the  orange  trees 
which  adorn  the  terraces.  Not  far  from 
here  you  see  an  old  wind-mill,  with  great 
feather-like  sails,  rising  up  above  the  trees ; 
and  this  old  mill  has  its  history. 

When  Frederick  the  Great  laid  out  these 


50 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


grounds,  this  mill  stood  in  Lis  way,  but  the 
miller  owned  the  mill  and  the  ground  upon 
which  it  stood,  and  would  not  sell  even  to 
the  king;  so  the  king  took  it,  and  the 
miller  sued  him,  and  won  his  mill  back. 
This  pleased  the  whimsical  king,  and  buy- 
ing the  mill  sometime  after,  he  pensioned 
the  miller,  and  declared  that  the  wind-mill 
should  always  remain  in  the  gardens  of 
Sansoussci. 

After  wandering  through  beautifully 
laid  out  grounds,  for  perhaps  half  an  hour, 
you  reach  the  New  Palace,  which  is  not 
new  by  any  means,  being  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  old.  It  is  a  very  ugly  looking 
immense  building  of  red  brick,  surmounted 
by  hundreds  of  stucco  statues,  causing  the 
palace  to  look  as  if  a  regiment  of  men  had 
been  petrified  upon  its  parapets. 

The  garden  contains  a  multitude  of  grot- 
tos, temples  and  ruins ;  here  a  Chinese, 
there  an  antique  temple.  In  one  place  a 
mausoleum  containing  a  beautiful  statue  of 
Queen  Louise  of  Prussia,  while  a  little  at 
the  side  of  the  garden  proper  is  an  Italian 
villa,  situated  in  an  Italian  garden,  and 
finished  with  very  ornamental  Romish 
baths.  To  one  wandering  through  this 
garden  it  seems  quite  endless,  and  one 
stops  so  often  to  look  at  the  various  objects 
around  him,  that  a  whole  day  will  pass 
without  your  having  completed  your  sur- 
vey. After  going  through  the  new  palace, 
which  is  as  magnificent  internally  as  it  is 
unpromising  without,  we  walked  straight 
back  through  the  garden,  down  an  avenue 
of  grand  old  lindens  a  mile  in  length.  Just 
as  we  reached  the  grand  fountain,  the  sun 
was  setting,  and  the  mighty  stream  of 
water  as  it  rose  in  the  air  caught  the 
slanting  sunbeams  in  its  embrace,  breaking 
them  into  a  thousand  prismatic  rays,  and 
then  bending  gracefully  beneath  its  own 
weight,  it  descended,  each  liquid  drop 
bathed  in  a  flood  of  sunlit  glory. 

It  has  often  struck  me  as  strange,  that 
we  hear  so  little  about  these  grounds,  and 
that  so  few  comparative!}'  ever  visit  them. 
They  are   certainly   the   most   interesting 


that  I  have  ever  visited.  Other  gardens 
may  surpass  this  in  some  one  particular, 
but  there  are  here  a  greater  combination  of 
beauties.  It  seems  to  be  a  peculiaiity  of 
the  Germans  to  fill  their  gardens  with  all 
manner  of  little  temples,  and  ruins,  and 
grottos;  some  of  them  displaying  a  great 
degree  of  taste,  and  serving  really  as  or- 
naments, while  others  mar  rather  than 
beautify. 

Not  far  from  the  city  of  Heidelberg  is  the 
ducal  garden  of  Schwebgingen.  It  was  laid 
out  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
by  the  Grand  Duke  Charles  Theodore,  and 
is  partly  in  the  old  French  stj^le.  It  con- 
tains nearly  three  hundred  acres,  and  for- 
merly some  ^20,000  were  yearly  expended 
upon  it.  Of  late  years  it  has  not  received 
so  much  attention,  but  the  grounds  are  still 
well  kept,  and  are  very  beautiful.  It  is 
situated  just  back  of  an  ugly  old  castle, 
through  which  you  pass  by  means  of  large 
arched  corridors.  Upon  entering  the  gar- 
den, you  look  down  a  broad  vista,  and  see 
with  a  glance  a  part  of  the  plan.  The  part 
nearest  you  is  laid  out  in  the  form  of  an  im- 
mense circle,  cut  into  eight  sectors  by  di- 
verging walks.  A  broad  avenue  of  trees 
bisects  this  circle,  and  loses  itself  in  the 
groves  at  either  side  of  you  ;  while  straight 
ahead  a  broad  walk,  lined  with  flower  beds, 
leads  to  the  centre  of  the  circle.  The  cen- 
tre-piece is  formed  by  a  large  bronze  foun- 
tain, representing  Arion  upon  a  Dolphin ; 
while  surrounding  this  are  a  number  of 
children  holding  swans  in  their  arms. — 
Leading  away  from  the  fountain  are  eight 
beautiful  grass  plats,  and  in  the  centre  of 
each  a  tasteful  bronze  fountain.  Around 
the  periphery  of  the  circle,  upon  the  one 
half,  run  two  of  the  most  beautiful  arbors 
that  I  have  ever  seen.  They  were  built 
very  simply  of  small  slats,  and  were  many 
rods  in  length,  forming  arcs  of  circles,  and 
arcs  of  living  green.  They  were  so  com- 
pletely covered  with  luxuriant  vines,  that 
every  vestige  of  a  support  was  concealed. — 
Leaving  the  circle,  you  pass  by  four  colos- 
sal groups,  emblematic  of  the  four  seasons  ; 
by  fine  bronze  groups  and  urns  of  flowers, 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


51 


and  reach  a  narrow  lawn,bordered  on  either 
side  by  rows  of  stately  old  lindens  dipt  in  the 
French  style,  so  that,  as  you  looked  down 
the  vista,  you  saw  a  curved  and  regular  fa- 
cade of  dense  green  foliage  on  either  side. 
To  the  right  and  left  of  the  lawu  were 
groves  of  fine  trees,  laid  out  with  walks  in 
regular  geometrical  forms ;  and  here  the 
French  style  ended,  for  the  remainder  of 
the  garden  was  laid  out  in  winding  walks, 
and  clumps  of  trees  opening  upon  green  and 
irregular  lawns.  At  the  end  of  the  long 
lawn  was  a  small  lake,  and  just  here  two 
colossal  figures,  reclining  among  high 
grasses  and  weeds,  typical  of  the  rivers 
Rhine  and  Danube.  The  lake  branches  out 
into  broad  outlets,  forming  charming  little 
islands  ;  and  over  these  arms  were  thrown 
graceful  rustic  bridges.  Everywhere  as  you 
pass  along  you  chance  upon  pretty  marble 
statues,  and  groups  and  fountains.  In  one 
place,  surrounded  by  a  dense  thicket,  was  a 
huge  Pan,  seated  upon  a  great  rock,  play- 
ing his  pipe  of  reeds ;  and  I  remember  once 
being  very  much  amused  by  the  remarks  of 
some  peasant  women  concerning  harmless 
Pan,  for  they  had  concluded,  after  due  de- 
liberation, that  he  was  a  personification  of 
the  Devil.  In  another  part  of  the  garden 
was  a  round  temple,  built  on  a  grotto  of 
tufa,  and  dedicated  to  Apollo,  whose  statue 
adorned  it.  In  front  of  the  grotto  two  re- 
clining maidens  formed  a  fountain,  by  pour- 
ing water  from  urns  over  a  series  of  low 
stone  terraces.  To  the  right  of  this  was 
an  elegant  bath-house,  which  was  connected 
by  an  arbor  with  a  very  curious  fountain. 
In  the  basin  of  the  fountain  sat  a  bronze 
hawk,  holding  in  its  claws  an  unfortunate 
chicken  of  bronze  ;  while  around  above,  at 
a  height  of  some  twenty  feet,  stood  a  circle 
of  enraged  and  bristling  bronze  hens  and 
cocks,  upon  a  bronze  roost,  in  every  atti- 
tude of  defiance  and  rage.  From  the  mouths 
of  these  twenty  fowls  streams  of  water  were 
pouring  down  upon  the  guilty  hawk,  who 
in  return  was  sending  aloft,  as  if  in  defiance, 
a  solitary  opposing  stream.  But  these  are 
not  half  of  the  many  wonders  of  this  won- 


derful garden.  Here,  embosomed  in  shrub- 
bery, is  an  artificial  ruin ;  there  an  ancient 
Roman  aqueduct;  here  a  mosque,  with 
towering  minarets  and  gilded  courts  ;  and 
there  a  temple  of  botany,  designed  to  re- 
present a  segment  of  an  immense   tree 

This  garden,  in  part,  resembles  Versailles, 
and  in  part  Sansoussci ;  but  it  lacks  the  ele- 
gance and  the  fountains  of  the  one,  and 
the  extent  and  terraces  of  the  other. 

It  is  not  alone  the  princes,  however,  who 
thus  seek  to  beautify  their  residences.  At 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  in  the  beginning 
of  this  century,  the  old  fortifications  which 
surrounded  the  city  were  torn  down,  and 
where  they  once  stood  are  now  smiling  gar- 
dens and  lawns,  neatly-trimmed  walks  and 
hedges  encircling  the  city.  One  can  take  a 
carriage  and  drive  for  miles  through  beauti- 
ful avenues,  with  elegant  mansions  amid 
spacious  grounds  on  the  one  side,  and  these 
public  promenades  on  the  other. 

Certainly  the  wealth  of  this  great  finan- 
cial centre  has  been  well  expended  in  mak- 
ing its  environs  to  vie  in  beauty  with  those 
of  any  other  European  city.  And  so  it  is 
in  the  free  city  of  Hamburgh.  The  old 
walls  have  long  since  been  leveled  to  the 
ground,  the  moat  filled,  and  in  their  places 
have  sprung  up  beautiful  gardens  and  shady 
groves — a  delight  to  the  stranger,  and  a 
source  of  health  and  continued  pleasure  to 
the  citizen.  Nowhere  have  I  seen  such  a 
profusion  of  palatial  city  residences,  with 
beautiful  grounds,  as  at  Berlin.  There  are 
many  streets  in  the  new  part  of  the  city 
which  are  made  up  entirely  of  these  private 
palaces.  The  houses  are  all  of  brick,  and 
are  covered  with  stucco,  but  so  well  is  this 
done,  that  they  at  the  first  glance  appear  to 
be  of  solid  stone.  The  Berlin  artisans  are 
very  skillful  in  their  use  of  stucco ;  and  the 
houses  are  often  most  elaborately  orna- 
mented with  statues,  caryatides,  and  re- 
lieves. The  stucco  work  is  always  painted, 
and  much  taste  is  displayed  in  the  various 
shades  of  coloring,  giving  an  agreeable 
variety,  and  avoiding  monotony. 

(7b  he  continued.) 


52 


The  Horticulturist 


THE  I>IEW  ERA  IN  GRAPE  CULTURE.— IV. 


BY    GEORGE  HUSMANN. 

But  after  all  this  talk  of  making  gsape  better  ?     With  all  the  costly  preparation 

culture  easy,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  suppose  tliat  of  soil,  Thomery  system   of  training,  &c., 

your  readers  wish  to  know  something  about  can  thej"-  do  more  ?      By-the-bye,  Messrs. 

its  results.     They  will  naturally  sa}?-:    All  Editors,  allow  me  through  your  columns,  to 

this    talk    may    look    well    and    enticing  ask    Dr.  Grant,    my    friend    Fuller,    and 

enough,  but  if  the  work  is   made  so  easy,  others  to  answer  a  single  question.      It  is 

will  not  its  results  be  comparatively  light?  this:     How  is  it,  that   they   can   give   us 

A  natural  question ;  and  one  which  I  will  theories,   very  practical  even,  which   look 

endeavor  to  answer,  by  giving  the   returns  very   fine  on   paper,  read   very   plausible, 

of  this  season,  generally  conceded   to  have  ^^et  we  never  hear  of  the  results  ?     If  their 

been  the  worst  for  rot  and  mildew  we  have  niethod  is  so  very  profitable,  they  would, 

ever  had  at  the  West ;  from  the  same  vine-  I  am  sure,  do  the  public   a  favor,   if  they 

yard,  which  was  prepared  with  the  plough,  would  give    us   statistics  of  the  growths, 

at  a  cost  of  .^25  per  acre,  and   which  my  -^viH  not  our  brother  grapegrowers  gener- 

tenant  has  been  working  on  shares  for  four  ally,  give  us  a  little  bit  of  history,    and 

years  now.     Here  they  are :  more    facts,    through    your  columns  1      I 

500  vines  of  Concord,  planted  1861,  distance  am    sure    your  readers   would   appreciate 

6x6,  about  4-tenths  of  an  acre,   pro-  ,  •. 
duoed  1,030  gallons  cf  wine  ;  average 

value,  $2.50  per  gallon $2,575  CO        And  now  let  mc  give  a  few  hints  to  our 

1,200  vines  of  Norton's  Virginia,  planted  f^j^^^  Reuben,  in  all  friendliness  and  kind- 

same  distance,  about  an  acre,  produced  ,  .  .   .    .  , 

1,300  gallons  of  mne,  average  value,  "ess,  as  I  am  sure  his  criticisms  are   made 

4doiiars 5,200  00  in  the  Same  Spirit.      He   makes   objections 

100  vinos  of  Herbemont,  planted  same  dis-  ^^  adding  the  value  of  the  plants  grown,  to 

tance,   produced  125  gallons,   average  , ,  i      j_       /•  ^i  •  t  i        •  i 

value,  3  dollars  per  gallon 375  00  ^^^^^  products  of  the  Vineyard  ;  and  wishes 

50  vines  Cunningham,  produced  30  gallons,  to  have  Only   the  returns   from   the.  fruit. 

average  value,  4  dollars.. 120  00  "Well,  possibly,  this  looks  a  little  like  fault- 

350vinesDelaware,  planted  4x6    about  g^^j  ^j^^^    hlTX^QTS    him,    or    anybody 

one-fifth  of  an  acre,  produced  40  gal-  °  i  j  j 

Ions,  average  value,  6  dollars 240  00  else,  to  figure  it  up  separately,  should  they 

12  bearing  vines  of  Hartford  Prolific,  pro-  SO  choOSe.   To  US,  and  I  think,  to  every  one 

duced  336  lbs.   of  grapes,  marketed   at  ^j^^     ^^^    ^^^   g^j^    ^^^       j^^^       ^^^ 

20eentsperlb 67^0  '  .  ^.  ^■^      •  ^^ 

12  vines  Clinton,  produced  lO.gallons  wine,  WOOd  IS   qmte   an    object,   whlch    it   WOUld 

value,  3  dollars 30  00  surcly  be  folly  not  to  use,  and  let  me  tell 

Wine  made  from  other  varieties,  about  50  ^Lim,  that  this   season's   experience  shows 

gallons,  at  3  dollars 150  00  -       ^.i     ^  ^i  ^ -t     ^t•  -l.     c  ^x, 

again,  that  there  are  not  half  enough  of  the 

Total  in  bearing,  about  2  acres   8,757  20  really  valuable  varieties  in  the  market  yet, 

Deduct  from  this  for  interest  from  capital,  ^^  ^lect  the  demand.      I   know  that  I  am 

labor,  casks 1,000  00  ,.  .      ,  •    *         j.    i 

speaking  against  my  own    interest  here. 

Leaves  a  clear  profit  of $7,757  20  as  a  propagator  of  vines  ;  but  I    do   wish 

To  which  may  be  added  57,000  vines  grown  (and    will    do    all   in   my  pOWer     tO    teach 

from  the  cuttings  clipped  from  the  .^ineyard,  them  how    to  do   it;)    that   every  grape 

at  an  average  of  100  dollars  per  1,000 5,700  00  ''  J     o     r 

grower  should  raise  his  own  plants,  at  least 

Total $13,457  20  to  enlarge  his   vineyard.      The  process  is 

How  do  you  like  this   record  of  a  bad  simple  enough.     Let  him  prune  his  vines  in 

season?     Can  Grant,  Mead  &  Co.  show  a  the  fall,  as  soon  as  they  have  dropped  their 


The  New  Era  in  Grape  Culture. 


53 


leaves,  and  cut  all  the  sound,  Avell-ripened 
wood  of  the  summer's  growth,  into  cuttings 
of  from  two  to  three  buds  each.  These 
are  cut  close  below  the  lowest  eye,  tied 
into  convenient  bundles,  and  buried  in  the 
ground,  until  next  spring.  As  soon  in 
spring  as  the  condition  of  the  soil  will  per- 
mit, a  good  mellow  piece  of  soil  is  prepared 
by  plowing  deeply,  and  mellowing  up  well; 
then  take  a  spade,  and  set  it  down  per- 
pendicularlj^,  moving  it  a  little,  so  as  to  open 
the  cut,  and  let  one  follow  with  the  cut- 
tings, insert  them  into  the  cut  made  with 
the  spade,  and  press  them  down  firmly,  so 
that  the  upper  eye  or  bud  is  even  with  the 
ground,  and  then  press  the  ground  firmly 
against  the  cuttings  with  your  foot  ;  make 
the  rows  two  feet  apart ;  and  put  the  cut- 
tings about  two  inches  apart  in  the  rows. 
Mulch  the  bed  with  straw  or  litter,  about 
two  inches  deep,  and  pull  out  the  weeds 
whenever  it  is  necessary  during  the  sum- 
mer. You  may  take  my  word  for  it,  that 
you  can  raise  an  abundance  of  good,  healthy 
and  thrifty  plants  in  this  way,  which 
will  answer  your  purpose  better  than  the 
majority  of  plants  raised  by  professional 
growers  under  glass,  and  which  are  arro- 
gantly lauded  and  puffed  as  "  superior  to 
all  others  grown."  In  sober  truth,  Messrs. 
Editors,  I  begin  to  have  a  horror  of  these 
so-called  "  superior  plants,"  and  "  layers  for 
immediate  bearing,"  which  some  of  our 
professional  men  will  advertise  with  a  great 
flourish  of  trumpets  ;  and  which  a  good 
many  simple,  confiding  souls  will  buy, 
with  a  vision  of  a  fine  crop  of  grapes  the 
same  summer  before  their  eyes,  and  for 
which  they  will  pay  from  three  to  five  dol- 
lars a  piece.  The  whole  idea  of  "  immediate 
bearing"  is  wrong.  Even  if  they  succeed 
in  getting  a  few  sickly  bunches  from  a 
newly  transplanted  vine,  it  is  done  at  an 
immense  cost  of  the  vitality  and  vigor  of 
the  plant.  No  fruit  should  be  required 
from  a  vine  until  the  third  summer  after 
planting,  and  then,  if  it  has  been  taken  good 
care  of,  it  is  able  to  produce  a  good  crop, 
whereas  you  may  force  a  vine  to  bear  a  few 


bunches  prematurely,  but  you  will  do  so  at 
the  cost  of  almost  its  life,  and  stunt  it  for 
several  years  to  come.  It  is  like  putting 
the  burden  of  a  full-grown  man  on  the 
shoulders  of  a  little  child.  While  I  would 
advise  every  one  to  plant  good,  strong,  vig- 
orous plants,  I  would  caution  him  also 
against  too  early  bearing.  Let  the  vine 
first  have  the  vigor  necessary  for  the  task, 
and  it  will  bear  its  burden  willingly,  and 
bear  such  fruit  as  will  rejoice  the  eye,  tickle 
the  palate,  and  make  wine  which  will 
truly  "  gladden  the  heart  of  man."  It  is 
time  that  our  grape  growing  public  under- 
stand this  ;  that  they  comprehend  when 
they  task  their  vines  too  early,  they  do  so 
at  a  fearful  cost  of  vitality  and  vigor.  Many 
promising  young  vineyards  are  ruined  an- 
nually, by  their  ownei''s  over-impatience 
for  a  crop  ;  and  it  will  not  do  for  profes- 
sional men,  who  ought  to,  and  do  know 
better,  to  tell  their  confiding  customers 
stories  of  "  immediate  bearing,"  simply  be- 
cause it  will  induce  them  to  pay  an  addi- 
tional dollar  or  so,  to  put  into  the  propa- 
gator's pocket.  Onr  customers  should  pay 
us,  who  grow  vines  for  their  benefit,  well  for 
reall]/  good  plants,  but  do  not  let  us  mislead 
them  into  false  practices,  simply  because  it 
may  be  for  our  benefit.  Aud  let  us  be  a 
little  more  charitable  towards  each  other. 
We  can  all  grow  good  plant-!,  as  near  per- 
fection as  may  be,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  do 
so.  And  let  us  not  be  afraid  to  let  the  pub- 
lic know  a  little  of  our  propagating  prac- 
tices. Even  if  they  do  grow  a  good  many 
plants  themselves,  we  will  find  enough 
to  do  yet,  to  supply  those  who  do  not.  Let 
us  make  grape-growing  easy,  wherever  we 
can,  so  that  it  may  increase  and  spread 
over  the  whole  length  of  the  land,  from 
Maine  to  California. 

A  few  words  more  about  friend  Reu- 
ben's criticism  on  the  October  number,  and 
I  shall  not  inflict  any  stronger  dose  of 
"  grape-growing  made  easy"  upon  your  read- 
ers. It  is  his  remark  on  my  method  of 
summer  pruning,  which  ho  has  evidently 
not  clearly  understood.  Please  bear  in  mind. 


54 


27^6  Horticulturist. 


friend  Reuben,  that  the  pinching  is  done 
very  early ;  but  instead  of  robbing  the  plant 
of  its  leaves,  the  young  shoots  are  pinched 
lefore  the  leaves  have  developed,  and  by 
checking  the  growth  of  the  leading  shoot, 
we  force  the  laterals  out,  and  form  and  de- 
"^elope  new  and  vigorous  leaves  on  them, 
just  where  they  ought  to  be,  opposite  each 
bunch,  and  that  these  new  leaves  will 
serve  as  conductors  of  sap  to  the  young 
bunch.  It  is  only  a  gentle  checking,  not 
rdblmg  of  leaves,  in  fact  it  "  makes  four 
leaves  grow,  and  in  a  better  place,  where 
there  was  one  before.  This  is,  in  my 
opinion,  perfectly  in  harmony  with  the 
"  laws  of  vegetable  physiology,"  and  the 
same  principle  lays  at  the  root  of  it,  which 
we  follow  in  pinching  in  dwarf  pear  trees. 
Please  try  it,  friend  Reuben,  on  only  a  sin- 
gle vine,  if  you  will  not  risk  it  on  more, 
and  report  progress  ;  or  what  is  better 
still,  come  and  visit  me  next  summer,  and  I 
will  show  you  its  results.     I  think  anyhow. 


that  the  greatest  success  is  an  indication  of 
the  best  method  and  theory,  and  really, 
some  of  our  artists  remind  me  of  one  of 
my  neighbors,  an  old  vintner,  grown  grey 
in  the  business,  but  who  follows  his  method 
and  old  fogy  practice  strictly.  He  will 
come  and  look  at  my  grapes  several  times 
every  summer,  and  will  admit  that  1  grow  a 
great  many  more,  and  much  finer  grapes 
than  he  does,  "  But  neighbor,"  he  will  say, 
"  you  are  wrong  anyway,  your  method  is 
not  right."  My  "  method"  is  to  find  how 
I  can  grow  the  most  and  best  fruit, with  the 
least  labor  and  cost,  and  as  long  as  I  suc- 
ceed in  this,  I  do  not  mind  the  old  rules  so 
very  strictly. 

In  another  paper,  I  may  give  your  readers 
a  report  on  the  different  varieties  of  grapes, 
and  how  each  of  them  has  behaved  during 
this,  the  most  trying  summer  we  have  had, 
as  long  as  we  have  grown  grapes  here. 

Hermann,  Mo.,  Dec.  14,  1865. 


THE  CIRCULATION  OF  THE  SAP  IN  TREES. 


The  first  vital  function  in  trees,  after  the 
frost  is  moderated,  and  the  earth  is  suflS- 
ciently  thawed,  is  the  ascent  of  the  sap, 
which  is  taken  up  by  the  absorbent  vessels 
composing  the  inner  bark  of  the  tree,  and 
reaching  to  the  extremity  of  the  fibres  of 
the  roots.  The  water  thus  imbibed  by 
the  roots  is  there  mixed  with  a  quantity  of 
saccharine  matter,  and  formed  into  sap, 
whence  it  is  distributed  in  great  abundance 
to  every  individual  bud.  The  great  quan- 
tity of  sweet  liquid  sap  provided  for  the 
nourishment  of  some  trees  is  evident  from 
the  prevalent  custom  of  tapping  trees,  to 
draw  off  their  fluids  for  various  purposes. — 
In  the  tropical  regions  this  method  is  em- 
ployed by  the  inhabitants  to  procure  their 
favorite  liquor — palm  oil,  and  also  the  sap 
from  which  they  make  India  rubber  and 
gutta  percha.  In  the  Northern  States  and 
Canada  the  sap  of  the  sugar  maple  is  pro- 
cured in  the  same  way,  which,  being  boiled 


down,  yields  sugar  of  a  well-known  pecu- 
liar flavor  and  richness. 

This  great  accession  of  nourishment, 
when  the  sap  begins  to  flow  freely,  causes 
the  bud  to  swell,  to  break  through  its  cov- 
ering, and  to  spread  into  blossoms,  or  to 
lengthen  into  a  shoot  bearing  leaves.  This 
is  the  first  process,  and,  properly  speaking, 
is  all  that  belongs  to  the  springing  or  elon- 
gation of  trees ;  and  in  many  plants,  that  is, 
all  those  which  are  annual  or  deciduous, 
there  is  no  other  process.  The  plant  ab- 
sorbs juices  from  the  earth,  and  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  of  these  juices,  in- 
creases in  size ;  it  expands  its  blossoms, 
perfects  its  fruit,  and  when  the  ground  is 
incapable,  by  drought  or  frost,  of  yielding 
any  more  moisture,  or  when  the  vessels  of 
the  plant  are  not  able  to  draw  it  up,  the 
plant  perishes.  But  in  trees,  though  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  first  process  is  ex- 
actly similar  to  that  which  takes  place  in 


Leaves. 


55 


vegetables,  yet  there  is  a  second  process 
wliicli,  at  the  same  time  that  it  adds  to 
their  bulk,  enables  them  to  endure,  and  go 
on  increasing  through  a  long  series  of 
years. 

The  second  process  begins  soon  after  the 
first,  in  this  way  : — At  the  base  of  the  foot- 
stalk of  each  leaf  a  small  bud  is  gradually 
formed,  but  the  absorbent  vessels  of  the 
leaf  have  exhausted  themselves  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  bud,  and  are  unable  to  bring 
it  nearer  to  maturity.  In  this  state  it 
resembles  exactly  a  seed,  containing  with- 
in it  the  rudiments  of  vegetation,  but  des- 
titute of  absorbent  vessels  to  nourish  and 
evolve  the  embryo.  Being  surrounded, 
however,  by  sap,  like  a  seed  in  moist  earth, 
it  is  in  a  proper  situation  for  growing ;  the 
influence  of  the  sun  sets  in  motion  the 
juices  of  the  bud  and  of  the  seed,  and  the 
first  operation  in  both  of  them  is  to  send 
down  roots  a  certain  depth  into  the  ground, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  necessary 
moisture.  The  bud,  accordingly,  shoots 
down  its  roots,  so  to  say,  upon  the  inner 
bark  of  the  tree,  till  they  reach  the  part 
covered  by  the  earth.  "Winter  now  arriv- 
ing, the  cold  and  defect' of  moisture,  owing 
to  the  clogged  condition  of  the  absorbent 
vessels,  cause  the  fruit  and  leaves  to  fall,  so 
that,  except  the  provision  of  buds  with 
roots  along  the  inner  bark,  the  remainder 


of  the  tree,  like  an  annual  plant,  is  dead. — 
The  leaves,  the  flowers,  the  fruit  are  gone  ; 
and  what  was  the  inner  bark  is  no  longer 
organized,  while  the  roots  of  the  buds  form 
a  new  inner  bark ;  and  thus  the  buds  with 
their  roots  contain  all  that  remains  alive  of 
the  whole  tree.  It  is  owing  to  this  annual 
renovation  of  the  inner  bark  that  the  tree 
increases  in  bulk  ;  and  a  new  coating  being 
added  everj'-  year,  we  are  hence  furnished 
with  an  easy  and  exact  method  of  ascertain- 
ing the  age  of  a  tree,  by  counting  the  num- 
ber of  concentric  circles  of  which  the  trunk 
is  composed. 

A  tree,  therefore,  properly  speaking,  is 
rather  a  congeries  of  a  multitude  of  annual 
plants  than  a  perennial  individual.  The 
sap  in  trees  always  rises  as  soon  as  the  frost 
is  abated,  so  that  when  the  stimulus  of  the 
warm  weather  in  the  early  spring  acts  upon 
the  bud,  there  should  be  at  hand  a  supply 
of  food  for  its  nourishment ;  and  if  by  any 
means  the  sap  is  prevented  from  ascending 
at  the  proper  time,  the  tree  infallibly  per- 
ishes. Remarkable  examples  of  this  method 
of  destroying  the  life  of  trees  are  seen 
everywhere  in  our  new  western  country,  ' 
where  immense  forests  are  killed  by  the 
simple  process  of  girdling^  that  is,  cutting  a 
ring  around  the  tree  through  the  nmer  bark, 
and  thus  interrupting  the  circulation  of  the 
sap. 


LEAVES. 


We  are  all  familiar  with  leaves^  in  the 
various  stages  of  their  life,  growth  and  de- 
cay. We  watch,  with  interest,  their  out- 
bursting  in  spring,  their  tender  and  deli- 
cate beauty,  so  refreshing  to  the  eye,  after 
the  desolations  of  the  long  winter.  We 
admire  them  in  their  full  summer  develop- 
ment, their  rich,  luxuriant  greenness,  and 
the  exuberance  in  which  they  clothe  the 
stems  on  which  they  grow.  Their  autumn 
beauty  is  not  less  attractive  to  the  thought- 
ful mind,  when,  many-tinted,  golden,  rus- 
set, pale-yelloWj  brown,  and  scarlet,  they 


hang,  a  crown  of  glory,  upon  the  woods. 
Has  it  ever  occurred  to  us  to  inquire,  what 
is  a  leaf? 

Every  leaf  is  in  itself  a  distinct  indivi- 
dual, the  blossoms  themselves  being  mere 
leaves  adapted  for  a  special  purpose.  A 
tree,  like  a  compound  zoophyte,  is  a  colony 
of  individuals,  bound  into  a  community, 
or  body  corporate,  by  means  of  the  living 
bark  enclosing  and  producing  a  woody  skel- 
eton or  support. 

The  leaves  of  a  tree,  like  the  polypes  of 
the  coralline,  are  distinct  from  each  other, 


56 


The  Horticulturist. 


yet  united  by  means  of  a  living  tissue,  wliicli 
commenced  its  development  in  the  seed — 
in  the  pip,  in  the  acorn,  or  the  beechmast. 
Moreover,  as  in  the  polypes  of  the  coral, 
some  are  destined  for  nutrition,  others  for 
reproduction ;  so  in  the  tree  or  shrub,  some 
of  the  leaves  are  intended  as  organs  of  respi- 
ration, secretion,  and  the  digestion  of  the  flu- 
ids conveyed  to  them  through  the  inner  bark, 
converting  them  into  either  bitters  or 
sweets,  or  acids,  into  nutriment  or  poison, 
so  far  as  the  animal  kingdom  is  concerned. 
Others  again  are  modified,  and  become 
what  we  term  flowers,  exhaling  delicious 
odors,  or  repellant  efiluvia  ;  and  these  flow- 
ers are  designed  for  the  continuance  of  the 
species. 

Professor  Forbes  says,  "  "We  are  not  in 
the  habit  of  regarding  the  leaf  as  the  in- 
dividual ;  popularly  we  look  at  the  whole 
plant  as  the  individual ;  yet  every  botanist 
knows  that  it  is  a  combination  of  individu- 
als, and  if  so,  each  series  of  buds  must  cer- 
tainly be  regarded  as  generations." 

No  leaf  falls  until  provision  is  made  for  a 
successor ;  and  the  bud  which  is  developed 
before  the  face  of  the  decaying  leaf,  may 
be,  in  its  turn,  either  a  leaf  only,  or  that 
modification  of  a  leaf  which  we  term  a 
flower.  Such,  then,  is  a  leaf;  dying,  it 
leaves  its  embryo  successors ;  and  the  tree 
may  be  truly  said  to  pass  then  into  a  state 
of  hybernation.  There  are  no  longer  leaves 
requiring  food  from  the  vessels  of  the  in- 
ner rind  ;  hence  the  activity  of  these  tubes 
would  be  to  no  purpose ;  the  bark  sleeps  ; 
the  woody  skeleton  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
possess  organic  life  ;  of  the  pith  we  know 
little.  Yet  in  such  trees  as  the  alder,  in 
the  youngest  branches  of  which  the  pith  is 
abundant,  and  is  at  this  time  juicy,  though 
it  becomes  dry  afterwards,  we  cannot  but 
suppose  that  it  subserves  some  important 
purpose.  This  pith,  or  medulla,  it  may  be 
observed,  is  usually  most  abundant  in 
young  and  growing  branches  ;  and  some  na- 
turalists have  deemed  it  the  seat  of  that  ir- 
ritability which  many  plants  so  remarkably 
display.  Others,  again,  suppose  it  to  be  a  re- 


servoir of  moisture,  as  a  supply  to  the 
leaves,  whenever  an  excess  of  perspiration 
renders  such  assistance  necessary.  It  is 
said  that  a  direct  communication  by  ves- 
sels has  been  actually  traced  between  the 
pith  and  the  leaf.  "  Plants  seem  to  require 
some  such  reservoir ;  for  their  young  leaves 
are  excessively  tender;  they  perspire  much, 
and  cannot,  like  animals,  fly  to  the  shade  or 
brook." 

But  it  must  be  observed  in  reference  to 
this  theory,  that  all  the  moisture  in  the 
pith  of  a  whole  branch,  is  in  some  cases 
too  little  to  supply  one  hour's  perspiration 
for  a  single  leaf.  Nor  does  observation 
show  that  this  moisture  of  the  pith  varies, 
let  the  leaves  be  ever  so  flaccid.  It  is  prob- 
able, therefore,  that  the  pith  is  in  some 
way,  a  reservoir  of  vital  energy,  but  not  as 
supplying  moisture  to  the  exhausted  leaves. 

But  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to 
follow  up  any  mooted  point  in  vegetable 
physiology,  but  rather  to  indicate  some  of 
the  more  obvious  phenomena  of  leaves. 
Sufiice  it  to  say,  that  having  fulfilled  their 
duties,  like  all  organic  things,  they  begin 
to  fade,  and  dying  are  scattered  by  the 
winds  from  olf  the  rind  or  bark,  between 
which  and  themselves  a  line  of  demarca- 
tion is  drawn.  For  at  a  definite  point  the 
sap-vessels  lose  their  vital  energy,  and  be- 
coming obliterated  the  supply  to  the  leaf 
is  arrested.  A  mere  touch  will  cause  the 
leaf  to  fall  at  the  axillary  junction  of  its 
stalk  or  twig  ;  but  then  the  bud  has  been 
duly  elaborated,  a  bud  to  be  unfolded  on 
the  return  of  spring. 

How  cheerless  is  the  garden  in  Novem- 
ber ;  the  sear  and  yellow  leaves  are  fallen 
in  showers  from  the  trees,  and  drifted  by 
the  wind  they  strew  the  gravelled  paths, 
— cover  the  flower  beds,  collect  around  the 
roots  of  shrubs  and  bushes,  or  are  driven 
into  heaps  in  corners.  The  summer  flow- 
ers have  faded,  but  here  and  there  a  pale 
blossom  of  the  monthly  rose  still  lingers  on 
its  stem ;  the  showy  Dahlia  yet  holds 
out,  struggling  against  fate,  and  the  Asters 
and  Chrysanthemums  flaunt  in  colors  of 
regal  beauty.     The   Barberry  bush   hangs 


February. 


57 


out  its  pendant  streamers  of  wax-like  ber- 
ries, coral  red.  The  holly  looks  fresher 
even  than  ever,  and  its  berries  are  rud- 
dy and  beautiful.  Green  is  the  hedge  of 
Privet,  with  its  jet-black  clusters  of  berries, 
producing  a  pleasing  contrast. 

Rapidly,  at  this  season,  the  deciduous 
trees  and  shrubs  lose  their  foliage — their 
leaves  cover  the  ground  as  with  a  garment, 
affording  protection  from  the  cold  to  the 
buried  roots  of  plants  which  need  defence 
from  the  winter  ;  but  this  is  not  their  only 
use,  they  serve  a  second  important  purpose. 
As  the  spring  comes  on  with  its  warm 
showers,  they  fall  into  decomposition,  and 
afford  a  rich  manure  to  the  roots  which 
they  shielded  during  the  severe  season. 
They  form  in  their  decay  a  rich  vegetable 
mould — a  natural  top-dressing  to  the  sub- 
jacent soil,  and  thus  render  it   lighter  and 


richer.  Well  does  the  gardener  know  the 
value  of  decomposed  vegetable  matter  as 
manure ;  and  one  reason  why  many  of  our 
rarer  wild  flowers  seldom  flourish  when  in- 
troduced into  the  garden,  is  the  deficiency 
in  the  soil  of  pure  vegetable  mould ;  for 
gardens  are  usually  cleared  from  time  to 
time  of  their  leafy  litter,  while  in  our 
woods  and  copses,  and  along  our  fences  and 
hedges,  the  decaying  foliage  remains  where 
it  fell,  and  year  after  year  adds  fresh  nu- 
triment to  the  sandy  or  argillaceous  sub- 
stratum. Thus  it  is  that  nature  manures 
the  soil,  and  adds  successive  coverings  of 
vogetable  mould  to  the  surface  of  the  ster- 
ile ground,  or  the  rocky  bed,  until  plants 
of  a  higher  order  succeed  the  lichens  and 
mosses  which  first  spread  upon  the  once 
naked  surface,  and  in  their  turn  add  to  the 
increase  of  the  fertile  layer. 


FEBRUARY. 


The  month  of  February,  according  to 
Verstegan,  was  called  by  our  Saxon  ances- 
tors, Sjjrouf-Me.  The  kele-wort,  which  is 
now  called  cole  wort,  was,  in  times  long  past, 
the  most  common  pot-herb  used  by  our  an- 
cestors, and  the  broth  made  with  it  was 
therefore  called  kele-broth.  This  broth  sup- 
plied to  a  large  extent,  the  winter  suste- 
nance of  the  Saxon  husbandman  and  his 
family.  During  this  month  the  plant  began 
to  put  forth  its  young  and  tender  sprouts, 
and  hence  the  name,  Sprout-kele. 

February  had,  also,  in  those  early  times  the 
name  of  Sohnonath,  which  on  the  authority 
of  the  venerable  Bede,  means  Pan-cake- 
monih.  Because  at  this  season  the  Pagan 
Saxons  were  accustomed  to  offer  up  "  cakes" 
in  their  worship  of  the  sun. 

The  Latin  Februarius,  the  original  of  the 
name  by  which  we  designate  the  month,  is 
derived  from  the  word  februa,  which  signi- 
fied an  expiatory,  or  purifying  sacrifice 
offered  to  the  Manes,  because  in  this  month 
the  Luperci,  or  priests  of  Pan,  perambu- 
lated the  city,  carrying  thongs  of  goat- 


skin,with  which  they  scourged  delinquents, 
and  this  was  received  for  an  expiation. 

On  Candlemas  eve,  the  1st  of  February, 
was  kindled  the  Yule-brand,  which  was 
allowed  to  burn  till  sunset,  when  it  was  ex- 
tinguished and  carefully  laid  aside  and 
preserved,  to  be  used  for  lighting  the  Christ- 
mas log  at  the  next  return  of  the  season. 
The  prevailing  superstition  connected  with 
the  preservation  of  the  Yule-brand  is  thus 
noticed  by  Ilerrick : 

And,  where  'tis  safely  kept,  the  fiend 
Can  do  no  mischief  there. 

February  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a 
pleasant  or  comfortable  month  in  any  part 
of  the  country  north  of  latitude  35  degs. 
Indeed  in  some  of  our  northern  States  the 
cold  and  tempest  are  most  severe ;  the 
snow  lies  in  deep  drifts  ;  the  waters  are 
fast  bound  in  icy  fetters  ;  and  there  are  no 
signs  except,  perhaps,  in  the  perceptible 
lengthening  of  the  days,  and  the  increase 
of  meridian  brightness  and  heat,  of  the  ap- 
proach of  Spring.      In  the   milder  middle 


58 


The  Horticulturist. 


regions,  tlie  breaking  up  of  winter ;  tlie 
elemental  conflict  between  the  retiring  and 
the  incoming  seasons  ;  the  freezing  and  the 
thawing,  are  vividly  enough  described  in 
HowUfs  Book  of  the  Seasons : — There  is  a  lack 
of  comfort  felt  everywhere.  In  real  win- 
ter weather  the  clear,  pure  frosty  air 
sharply  saluted  the  face  by  day,  and  re- 
vealed to  the  eye  at  night,  a  scene  of  pure 
and  sublime  splendor  in  the  lofty  and  in- 
tensely blue  sky,  glittering  with  congre- 
gated stars,  or  irradiated  with  the  placid 
moon.  There  was  a  sense  of  vigor,  of  elas- 
ticity, of  freshness  about  you,  which  made 
it  welcome ;  but  now,  most  commonly,  by 
day  or  by  night,  the  sky  is  hidden  in 
impenetrable  vapor  ;  the  earth  is  sodden, 
and  splashy  and  wet  ;  even  the  fireside 
does  not  escape  the  comfortless  sense  of 
humidity.  Everj'thing  presents  to  the  eye, 
accustomed  so  long  to  the  brightness  of 
clearfrosts,  and  the  pure  whiteness  of  snow, 
a  dingy  and  soiled  aspect.  All  things  are 
dripping  with  wet ;  it  hangs  upon  the 
walls  like  heavy  dew  ;  it  penetrates  into 
the  drawers  and  wardrobes  of  your  warm- 
est chambers ;  and  you  are  surprised  at  the 
unusual  dampness  of  your  clothes,  linen, 
books,  and  papers  ;  and  in  short,  almost 
everything  you  have  occasion  to  examine. 
Brick  and  stone  floors  are  now  dangerous 
things  for  thinly-clad  people  to  stand 
upon.  To  this  source,  and,  in  fact,  to  the 
dampness  of  this  month,  operating  in  va- 
rious ways,  may  be  attributed  not  a  few  of 


the  colds,  coughs,  and  consumptions  so 
prevalent  in  England.  Pavements  are  fre- 
quently so  much  elevated  by  the  expan- 
sion of  the  moisture  beneath,  as  to  ob- 
struct the  opening  and  shutting  of  doors 
and  gates  ;  and  your  gravel  walks  resem- 
ble saturated  sponges.  Abroad,  the  streets 
are  flooded  with  muddy  water,  and  slip- 
pery with  patches  of  half-thawed  ice  and 
snow,  which  strikes  through  your  shoes  in 
a  moment. 

The  houses,  and  all  objects  whatever, 
have  a  dirty  and  disconsolate  aspect ;  and 
clouds  of  dim,  smoky  haze  hover  over  the 
whole  dispiriting  scene.  In  the  country 
the  prospect  is  not  much  better  ;  the  roads 
are  full  of  mire.  In  the  woods  and  copses 
you  hear  a  continual  dripping  and  pattering 
of  wet ;  while  the  fieldfares,  instead  of  fly- 
ing across  the  country  with  a  pleasant 
chattering,  sit  solitarily  among  the  com- 
fortless trees,  uttering  their  plaintive  cry 
of  "  cock-shute,"  "  cock-shute,"  and  the 
very  rooks  peer  about  after  worms  in  the 
fields  with  a  drooping  air.  Instead  of  the 
enchantment  of  hoar-frost,  you  have  naked 
hedges,  sallow  and  decaying  weeds  beneath 
them,  brown  and  wet  pastures,  and  sheets 
of  ice,  but  recently  affording  so  much  fine 
exercise  to  skaters  and  sliders,  half  sub- 
merged in  water,  full  of  great  cracks,  scat- 
tered with  straws  and  dirty  patches,  and 
stones  half  liberated  by  the  thaw.  Such 
are  the  miserable  features  of  the  time. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  "W".  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Woodward's  Country  Homes.  —  This 
popular  and  elegantly  illustrated  book  has 
passed  through  three  editions,  and  a  fourth 
is  now  on  the  press,  which  we  hope  to  have 
ready  in  a  week  or  two.  The  demand  is 
unabated  ;  in  fact,  it  increases  as  the  work 


becomes  better  known.  It  has  taken  its 
rank  now  among  the  very  few  successful 
books  of  the  day,  and  supplies  the  want 
long  felt  of  a  guide  to  the  construction  of 
houses  of  moderate  cost. 


Editor's  Table. 


59 


The  Delaware  Grape,— The  original 
painting  for  our  plate  of  the  Delaware 
Grape  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  litho- 
grapher, who  means  to  make  a  first-class 
picture  of  it — one  suitable  for  the  adorn- 
ment of  any  room.  We  hope  to  have  it 
read}-  for  delivery  early  in  February.  Price, 
mailed  free,  Three  Dollars  ;  but  any  sub- 
scriber who  sends  us  two  new  names  and  five 
dollars,  in  addition  to  his  own  subscription, 
will  have  a  copy  sent  him  free  of  cost. 


prolific  and  larger  fruit,  similar  in  shape, 
color,  and  flavor,  and  are  no  doubt  im- 
proved chance  seedlings  or  Hybrids. 

Chas.  Downing. 


This  Volume  of  the  Horticulturist 
will  be  fully  illustrated.  Architectural  de- 
signs, and  plans  for  laying  out  small  tracts 
of  land  will  be  freely  given,  and,  in  accord- 
ance with  many  requests,  these  designs 
will  contemplate  only  moderate  expendi- 
tures. We  also  propose  to  illustrate  fully 
all  the  newer  fruits,  flowers,  etc.,  and  shall 
be  pleased  to  receive  from  our  readers  draw- 
ings or  specimens  for  this  purpose. 


We  Call  the  Attention  of  our  readers 
to  the  advertisement  of  the  Prairie  Far- 
mer and  the  Tilden  Tomato.  By  some 
unaccountable  oversight,  this  advertisement 
was  omitted  from  our  January  number ; 
but  let  not  this  error  prevent  any  one  of 
our  readers  from  taking  the  Prairie  Far- 
mer. Send  Two  Dollars  at  once  to  Messrs. 
Emery  &  Co.,  Chicago,  and  get  a  wide- 
awake exponent  of  Western  agriculture, 
published  by  gentlemen  who  show  com- 
mendable energy  in  getting  up  a  first-rate 
paper  and  letting  the  public  know  it.  Every 
subscriber  gets  a  paper  of  Tilden  Tomato 
seed,  out  of  which  he  can  make  money 
enough  to  pay  for  the  paper. 


Stoever  Raspberry. — "  Reuben"  in  the 
December  number  of  Horticulturist,  asks 
information  in  regard  to  this  raspberry. 
Fruit  small  and  not  of  much  value.  It 
throws  up  an  immense  quantity  of  suckers, 
and  is  not  worth  the  room  it  occupies. 

Allen's  Red  Prolific  and  Kirtland,  has 
the  same  habit  of  suckering,  but  much  more 


A  Western  Subscriber  asks  how  to 
prepare  white-oak  posts  for  vineyards  to 
prevent  decay.  The  best  remedy  is  to 
char;  but  where  that  cannot  readily  be 
done,  we  advise  to  place  in  solution  of  cop- 
peras as  indicated  by  the  writer  of  "  Our 
Method,"  in  Vol.  20,  to  which  we  refer 
him.  A  preparation  of  gas  tar  is  some- 
times used,  but  is  not  as  cleanly  as  the 
other  modes. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  the  efiect  of 
frost  in  overcoming  the  circulation  of  the 
sap  in  trees  and  destroying  their  life,  oc- 
curred in  London  during  the  spring  suc- 
ceeding the  hard  winter  of  the  year  1794. 
The  snow  and  ice  collecting  in  the  streets, 
so  as  to  become  very  inconvenient,  they 
were  cleared,  and  many  cartloads  were 
placed  in  the  vacant  quarters  of  Moorfields. 
Several  of  those  heaps  of  snow  and  frozen 
rubbish  were  piled  around  some  of  the  elm- 
trees  that  grew  there.  At  the  return  of 
spring,  those  of  the  trees  that  were  not 
surrounded  with  the  snow,  expanded  their 
leaves  as  usual,  while  the  others  being  girt 
•with  a  large  frozen  mass,  continued  quite 
bare  ;  for  the  fact  was,  the  absorbents  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  stem,  and  the  earth 
in  which  the  trees  stood,  were  still  exposed 
to  a  freezing  cold.  In  some  weeks,  however, 
the  snow  was  thawed,  but  the  greater 
number  of  the  trees  were  dead,  and  those 
few  that  did  produce  any  leaves  were  sick- 
ly, and  continued  in  a  languishing  state  all 
summer,  and  then  died. 


Successful  Fruit  Raising. — Truman 
M.  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Dayton's  Bluff,  sends  us 
some  specimens  of  fruit  raised  in  his  or- 
chard. He  has  devoted  several  years  to 
the  culture  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  has 
now  one  of  the  finest  orchards  and  nurse- 
ries in  this  vicinity,  containing  a  large 
number  of   trees   and  shrubs  in  bearing. 


60 


The  Horticulturist. 


Mr.  Smith  is  also  experimenting  with 
other  varieties  of  fruit,  and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  he  will  succeed  in  cultivating  a 
number  of  species  of  fruit  that  have  not 
hitherto  been  raised  here — such  as  peaches, 
pears,  &c. 

With  grapes,  Mr.  Smith  has  also  been 
very  successful.  He  has  quite  a  vineyard 
of  hardy  kinds,  and  raises  a  quantity  of 
grapes  every  year.  Two  or  three  kinds 
which  he  has  experimented  with,  have 
proved  valuable  and  hardy,  and  must  soon 
become  popular.  In  all  he  has  thirty-seven 
varieties. 

He  handed  us  on  Saturday  a  specimen  of 
raspberries,  containing  about  a  dozen  ripe 
and  partially  ripe  ones  on  a  vine.  To 
gather  ripe  raspberries  on  October  21,  is 
rather  a  novelty  in  this  country.  They  are 
of  the  "  Belle  de  Fontenay"  variety,  and 
are  very  large  and  luscious. 

Some  rhubarb  and  tomatoes  which  he 
handed  us,  are  particularly  fine,  and  con- 
sidering the  season  of  the  year,  are  a  re- 
markable yield. 

Mr.  Smith's  experiments  in  fruit  and 
vegetable  raising  have  been  conducted  at 
great  expense  to  himself,  but  will  result  in 
great  good  to  the  community,  and  we  hope 
he  may  be  abundantly  rewarded  for  his  ex- 
penditures. If  any  of  our  citizens  wish  to 
see  model  gardens,  conservatories,  nurse- 
ries, vineyards,  &c.,  they  should  call  on  Mr. 
Smith.  He  has  a  neat  and  well  kept 
place,  and  will  show  it  to  visitors  with 
pleasure. — St.  Paid  Pioneer. 


car  Edwards,  Northampton,  Auditor.  The 
Society  is  in  a  prosperous  condition  and 
looking  towards  a  vigorous  and  green   old 


The  48th  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Hamp- 
shire Franklin  and  Hampden  Agricultural 
Society  was  held  at  Northampton,  Mass., 
Jan.  3d,  and  Milo  J.  Smith,  was  elect- 
ed President  in  place  of  H.  S.  Porter 
of  Halfacre,  declined.  Vice-Presidents 
Elnathan  Graves,  Williamsburgh  ;  John  "VV. 
Hubbard,  Northampton ;  Rodney  Smith, 
Hadley  ;  Andrew  T.  Judd,  South  Hadley. 
A.  P.  Peck,  Northampton,  Secretary;  Albert 
R.  Parsons,  Northampton,  Treasurer;  Os- 


The  article  on  Tomato  Culture,  page  391, 
of  December  Horticulturist,  should  have 
been  credited  to  the  American  AgriciiUurist, 
published  by  Orange  Judd  &  Co.,  No.  41 
Park  Row,  N.  Y.,  at  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents  per  annum.  "Whenever  a  really  good 
thing  is  found  floating  about  without 
credit,  it  will  be  safe  nine  times  out  of  ten 
to  credit  it  to  the  Agriculturist. 


Denver,  Colorado,  Dec.  17,  1865. 

Gentlemen  : — I  have  concluded  to  put 
the  price  of  one  bushel  of  potatoes  into 
papers  and  monthly's,  for  the  family,  so 
yours  is  included,  the  price  of  potatoes  now 
being  20  cents  per  lb.,  or  $12  per  bushel. 
Please  direct  to  Denver,  Box  366. 

Yours  respectfully,  L.  K.  Perrin. 

Wild  Cotton  or  Wild  Weed. — My 
attention  has  recently  been  directed  to  the 
very  silky  and  beautiful  fibre  of  this  plant 
which  grows  so  abundantly  in  the  waste 
places  throughout  Pennsylvania,  and  as  it 
ripens  in  season,  why  could  it  not  be  turned 
to  some  practical  use  ?  A  young  lady,  of 
Reading,  Pennsylvania,  gathered,  spun  and 
knit  a  pair  of  stockings,  from  the  wild  cot- 
ton plant.  No  doubt  they  were  beautiful, 
as  the  fibre  is  apparently  equal  to  the  finest 
silk. 

Have  any  of  your  readers  tried  what 
effect  cultivation  would  have  on  the  plant  ? 
It  would,  probably,  greatly  improve  the 
staple.  What  would  the  cotton  of  com- 
merce be  without  cultivation  ? 

I  send  a  small  specimen  herewith  for  your 
examination. 

J.  M.  H. 

We  think  a  difficulty  would  be  found  in 
manufacturing  thread  or  yarn  from  this 
plant  from  the  shortness  and  want  of 
strength  of  the  staple.  Have  any  readers 
had  experience  ? 


Editor's  Table. 


61 


Isaac  Pullen,  Esq.,  of  Ilightstown, 
N.  J.,  has  funiished  us  witli  the  following 
list  of  peaches  which  he  considers  unex- 
ceptionable for  market  culture : 

Hale's  Early, 

Tioth's  Early, 

Large  Early  York  (not  the  serrate.) 

Crawford's  Early, 

Old  Mixon  Free, 

Stump  the  World, 

Crawford's  Late, 

Ward's  Late, 

Jaques  Rare  Ripe, 

Smock  Peach. 


Mr.  a.  M.  Burxs  writes  us  as  follows 
from  Manhattan,  Riley  County,  Kansas  : 

"  This  is  believed  to  be  the  most  wester- 
ly point,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
where  the  grape  is  yet  grown.  I  have  cul- 
tivated the  Concord,  Diana,  Delaware, 
Clinton,  Catawba  and  Isabella  successfully, 
and  since  1859  have  had  fruit ;  have  never 
seen  a  diseased  berry  or  a  mildewed  vine 
in  nine  years,  which  shows  that  this  cli- 
mate is  especially  adapted  to  vineyards. — 
Here,  too,  land  is  good  and  cheap,  and 
homesteads  may  be  had  for  the  occupancy. 
I  have  many  new  varieties  on  trial,  such  as 
the  lona,  Israella,  Aliens'  and  Rogers'  Hy- 
brids, Hobb's  new  Seedlings,  Yeddo,  &c., 
and  wish  to  test  this  climate  for  all  and 
every  new  grape  that  has  merit.  Our  success, 
thus  far,  induces  us  to  believe  that  almost 
any  grape  will  do  well  here.  If  your  friends 
will  send  me  any  by  mail,  I  will  test  them 
carefully  and  report  on  them  in  due  time 
through  the  Horticulturist.  Ask  them 
to  send  me  priced  and  descriptive  cata- 
logues. 

The  State  of  Kansas  has  located  the 
State  Agricultural  College  at  this  place. 

Mr.  George  N.  Stack,  of  Long  Branch, 
New  Jersey,  desires  to  inform  his  neighbor, 
Mr.  S.,  through  the  Horticulturist,  that 
to  induce  fruitfulness  in  a  barren  orchard, 
which  has  been  over  stimulated  by  high 


manuring,  with  pruning  to  match — causing 
exuberance  of  growth — he  must — 

1st.  Stop  manuring  so  heavily  or  plowing 
so  deeply. 

2d.  Stop  severe  pruning,  removing  only 
weak  and  crowded  branches,  allowing  the 
trees  (standards)  to  take  their  natural 
form. 

3d.  Dig  a  trench  eighteen  inches  deep 
around  each  tree,  six  or  seven  feet  from  the 
trunk,  and  cut  off  all  the  roots  that  can  be 
cut  with  the  spade. 


Sweet  is  the  hum  of  bees,  dire  is  the 
song  of  gnats  and  mosquitos  ;  gaudy  is  the 
clothing  of  the  butterfly,  noisome  the  con- 
tact of  vermin ;  costly  are  the  products  of 
the  silk-worm  and  the  cochineal ;  ruinous 
the  ravages  of  the  weevil,  the  curculio,  the 
army-worm  and  the  locust.  But  in  our 
latitude  we  have  fewer  destructive  and  an- 
noying insects  than  are  to  be  found  in  re- 
gions nearer  the  tropics.  We  have  fewer 
entomological  beauties  and  fewer  entomo- 
logical plagues,  for  which  we  ought  to  be 
thankful.  It  is  true,  however,  that  we  have, 
after  all,  plenty  of  insects  even  here ;  but 
the  extreme  minuteness  and  unimaginable 
variety  and  transformations  of  these  crea- 
tures forbid  the  enterprise  by  which  ordi- 
nary students  might  become  familiar  with 
their  classes  and  habits.  When  we  have 
learned  their  forms,  we  cannot  comprehend 
or  even  guess  at  their  senses — their  inner 
mode  of  life.  The  study  of  entomology  is, 
therefore,  not  only  complicated  and  per- 
plexing, but,  regarded  as  a  science,  unsa- 
tisfactory. For  example,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  insects  possess  the  faculty  of  hear- 
ing, or  how  many  of  the  five  senses  they  do 
possess.  They  appeal,  it  is  true,  to  all  our 
several  senses,  in  turn,  whether  they  can 
hear  or  not  the  maledictions  we  bestow  upon 
them  in  return. 

An  intelligent  bee-master  and  good  gar- 
dener says  that  he  "  fired  ofi'a  gun  close  to 
a  hive  containing  a  swarm  of  bees ;  they 
only  stirred  slightly;  but  shaking  them 
disturbs  them  much  more  than  any  noises." 


62 


The  Horticulturist. 


Their  slight  stirring  might  have  been  the 
result  of  the  concussion  of  the  air,  rather 
than  the  noise  of  the  report.  If  they  do 
hear  at  all,  their  scale  of  audible  sounds  has 
been  conjectured  to  lie  far  at  the  top  of 
ours,  and  so  to  be  a  nullity  for  our  ears  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  note  which  it  con- 
tains. 

The  kind  of  sight  that  must  be  the  result 
of  looking  out  through  a  thousand  micro- 
scopes, is  difficult  for  us  to  realize ;  the 
language  of  the  antenna3  is  more  untrans- 
latable than  any  cuneiform  inscription.  For 
bees,  and  a  few  others  of  their  class,  there 
will  ever  be  a  genuine  fellow-feeling,  as 
well  as  a  selfish  interest  arising  from  con- 
siderations of  profit  ;  but  the  mob  of  creep- 
ing and  flying  insects  will  secure  no  hold 
on  popular  favor. 


What  is  Oonchology,  as  seen  in  museums 
and  cabinets,  but  a  collection  of  husks  and 
rinds  of  things  that  are  dead  and  gone  ? 
"We  treasure  the  envelope,  having  lost  the 
letter ;  the  book  is  destroyed,  and  we  pre- 
serve the  binding. 

Not  one  person  in  a  hundred  who  decor- 
ates his  apartment  with  shells,  can  tell 
whether  the  living  creatures  they  once  con- 
tained had  eyes  or  no  eyes,  were  fixed  to 
the  rock  or  drifted  with  the  sea-weed,  were 
purely  herbiverous,  or,  by  an  insinuating 
but  unamiable  process,  dieted  on  the  vitals 
of  other  mollusks,  their  neighbors,  and 
were,  therefore,  as  we  might  say,  ichthoni- 
verous.  The  Radiata,  and  the  rest  of  their 
allied  tribes,  are  still  less  inviting  to  the 
common  run  of  men  and  women,  since  they 
puzzle  and  worry  even  philosophers  and 
practised  naturalists.  We  are  told  that 
Mr.  Charles  Darwin,  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated and  patient  naturalists  of  the  age, 
has  been,  for  some  time  past,  engaged  upon 
the  barnacles,  and  has  well  nigh  been  driven 
to  despair  by  the  slipperiness  of  their  char- 
acter. 

But  the  study  of  Botany  may  be  made 
easy  and  interesting  to  all  who  have  any 
taste   for  self-culture.     From  garden,   and 


meadow,  and  wood,  we  may  gather  grasses 
and  flowers  and  leaves,  which,  being  neatly 
preserved  and  classified,  cannot  fail  to  fur- 
nish interest  and  pleasure.  The  field  of  ob- 
servation is  illimitable ;  the  number  of  spe- 
cimens that  may  be  gathered  without  going 
out  of  our  way,  or  loss  of  time,  is  beyond 
reckoning,  and  the  uses  of  all  this  know- 
ledge, even  incidentally  acquired,  will  be 
invaluable. 

KiNGLAKE  is  the  most  brilliant,  and  prob- 
ably the  most  accurate,  sketcher  of  scenery 
and  incident  among  modern  travelers.  His 
description  of  the  gardens  of  Damascus, 
which  seem  to  have  remained  unchanged 
from  the  olden  years  of  Sacred  History,  is 
quite  worthy  of  a  place  in  our  Table. 

The  Holy  Damascus,  this  earthly  para- 
dise of  the  prophet,  so  fair  to  his  eyes  that 
he  dared  not  trust  himself  to  tarry  in  her 
blissful  shades — she  is  a  city  of  hidden  pal- 
aces, of  copses,  and  gardens,  and  fountains, 
and  bubbling  streams.  The  juice  of  her 
life  is  the  gushing  and  ice-cold  torrent  that 
tumbles  from  the  snowy  sides  of  Anti-Le- 
banon. Close  along  on  the  river's  edge, 
through  seven  sweet  miles  of  rustling 
boughs  and  deepest  shade,  the  city  spreads 
out  her  whole  length :  as  a  man  falls  flat, 
face  forward  on  the  brook,  that  he  may 
drink  and  drink  again,  so  Damascus,  thirst- 
ing forever,  lies  down  with  her  lips  to  the 
stream,  and  clings  to  its  rushing  waters. 

Wild  as  the  nightest  woodland  of  a  de- 
serted home  in  England,  but  without  its 
its  sweet  sadness,  is  the  sumptuous  garden 
of  Damascus.  Forest  trees,  tall  and  stately 
enough,  if  you  could  see  their  lofty  crests, 
yet  lead  a  tussling  life  of  it  below,  with 
their  branches  struggling  against  strong 
numbers  of  wild  bushes  and  wilful  shrubs. 
The  shade  upon  the  earth  is  black  as  night. 
High,  high  above  your  head,  and  on  every 
side  all  down  to  the  ground,  the  thicket  is 
hemmed  in  and  choked  up  by  the  inter- 
lacing boughs  that  droop  with  the  weight 
of  roses,  and  load  the  slow  air  witn  their 
damask  breath.      The  rose-trees   which   I 


Editor's  Table. 


63 


saw  are  all  of  the  kind  we  call  damask  ; 
they  grow  to  an  immense  height  and  size. 
There  are  no  other  flowers.  Here  and  there 
there  are  patches  of  ground  made  clear 
from  the  cover,  and  these  are  either  care- 
lessly planted  with  some  common  and  use- 
ful vegetable,  or  else  are  left  free  to  the 
wayward  ways  of  nature,  and  bear  rank 
weeds,  moist-looking  and  cool  to  your  eyes^ 
and  freshening  the  sense  with  their  earthy 
and  bitter  fragrance.  There  is  a  lane  open- 
ed through  the  thicket,  so  broad  in  some 
places  that  you  can  pass  along  side  by  side — 
in  some  so  narrow  (the  shrubs  are  forever 
encroaching)  that  you  ought,  if  you  can,  go 
on  first,  and  hold  back  the  bough  of  the 
rose-tree.  And  through  this  wilderness  there 
tumbles  a  loud  rushing  stream,  which  is 
halted  at  last  in  the  lowest  corner  of  the 
garden,  and  then  tossed  vip  in  a  fountain  by 
the  side  of  the  simple  alcove.  This  is  all. 
Never  for  an  instant  will  the  people  of  Da- 
mascus attempt  to  separate  the  idea  of  bliss 
from  these  wild  gardens  and  rushing  waters. 

An  interesting  companion-piece  to  the 
above  fine  picture  is  found  in  Fortune's  Wan- 
derings in  China. 

The  gardens  of  the  Mandarins,  in  the 
city  of  Ning-po  are  very  pretty  ;  they  con- 
tain a  choice  selection  of  the  ornamental 
trees  and  shrubs  of  China,  and  generally  a 
considerable  number  of  dwarf  trees.  Many  of 
the  latter  are  really  curious  examples  of  the 
patience  and  ingenuity  of  this  people. — 
Some  are  only  a  few  inches  high,  and  yet 
seem  hoary  with  age.  Not  only  are  they 
trained  to  represent  old  trees  in  miniature, 
but  some  are  made  to  resemble  the  fashion- 
able pagodas  of  the  country,  and  others  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  animals,  amongst  which  the 
deer  seems  to  be  the  favorite.  Junipers  are 
generally  chosen  for  the  latter  purpose,  as 
they  can  be  more  readily  bent  into  the  de- 
sired form  ;  the  eyes  and  tongue  are  added 
afterwards,  and  the  representation  altogeth- 
er is  really  good. 

"When  I  was  travelling  on  the  hills  of 
Hong-kong,  a  few  days  after  my  first  arri- 


val, I  met  with  a  most  curious  dwarf  Lyco- 
podium,  which  I  dug  up  and  carried  down 
to  Messrs.  Dent's  garden.  '■'•Haiyali .'"  said 
the  old  compradore,  and  was  in  rapturous 
delight.  All  the  coolies  and  servants  gath- 
ered around  the  basket  to  admire  the  cu- 
rious little  plant.  I  had  not  seen  them 
evince  so  much  gratification  since  I  showed 
them  the  Old  Man  Cactus  (Cereus  Senilis) 
which  I  took  out  from  England,  and  pre- 
sented to  a  Chinese  nurseryman  at  Canton. 
On  asking  them  why  they  prized  the  Lyco- 
podium  so  much,  they  replied,  in  Canton. 
English — "  0/i,  he  too  viuchia  handsome  ;  he 
groio  only  a  leete  and  a  leete  every  year ;  and 
suppose  he  he  one  hundred  year  onla,  he  only  so 
high^''''  holding  up  their  hands  an  inch  or 
two  higher  than  the  plant.  This  little 
plant  is  really  very  pretty,  and  often  natur- 
ally takes  the  form  of  a  dwai^f  tree  in  min- 
iature, which  is  doubtless  the  reason  of  its 
being  such  a  favorite  witli  the  Chinese. 


The  author  of  Barren  Honor,  says  : — 
Misanthropy  is  the  worst  of  all  philosophy 
— Epicurean  or  Stoic,  seductive  or  repel- 
lant ;  it  will  fail  just  at  the  critical  time  of 
trial,  and  its  latest  pang  will  be  the  sharp- 
est of  all.  The  tough,  self-reliant  charac- 
ter that  meets  misfortune  savagely  and  de- 
fiantly, like  a  personal  foe,  holds  its  own 
will  for  a  while ;  but  if  there  be  not  faith 
enough  to  teach  humble,  hopeful  endurance, 
I  think  it  fares  best  in  the  end  with  the 
hearts  that  are  only — broken. 

There  was  no  misanthropy,  nor  mere  self- 
reliance  and  pride,  in  the  patience  and  si- 
lent dignity  exhibited  by  Marie  Antoinette 
during  her  long  trial  of  bitter  suffering.  She 
possessed  a  faith — a  sense  of  religion — that 
never  deserted  her,whatever  her  weaknesses 
of  character  and  inconsistencies.  And  how 
mournful,  beyond  words,  was  her  fate.  Her 
sufferings  date  long  before  she  became  a 
captive,  and  was  menaced  with  ignominious 
death.  Almost  from  her  first  arrival  in 
France  she  had  been  exposed  to  misrepre- 
sentation and  calumny.  Young  and  beau- 
tiful, and  a  queen  as  well  as  a  woman,  she 


64 


The  Horticulturist. 


had  long  been  the  butt  at  which  "  the  most 
polite  and  chivalrous  nation  in  Europe," 
were  leveled.  We  are  told  that  when  she 
walked  in  the  Gardens  of  St.  Cloud,  the 
very  children  followed  and  insulted  her. 
Allusions  against  her  were  eagerly  seized 
in  every  theatre,  and  the  lieutenant  of 
police  had  to  beg  that  she  would  no  longer 
come  to  Paris,  as  he  could  not  answer  for 
the  consequences  of  her  presence.  Every 
class  seemed  bent  on  ascribing  to  her  the 
misery  of  the  nation.  The  nobles  calum- 
niated her ;  the  people  called  her  Madame 
Deficit.  She  bore  all  in  silence ;  but  every 
insult,  every  proof  of  hatred  she  received, 
sank  deeply  into  her  heart.  Her  beauty, 
once  so  fresh  and  dazzling,  gradually  faded 
away  ;  her  cheek  became  pale  and  thin ; 
her  eyes  grew  dim  with  weeping,  and  with 
nights  of  anxious  vigils.  The  sunny  smile, 
which  lent  so  great  a  charm  to  her  ex- 
pressive countenance,  visited  it  no  more. 
If  she  saw  not  yet  the  terrible  future,  she 
was  haunted  by  the  shadow  of  dark  fore- 
boding thoughts,  and  a  secret  terror  filled 
her  breast  whenever  she  asked  herself  what 
fate  awaited  her,  her  husband,  and  her 
children.  Through  every  fear  and  trial  she 
maintained,  however,  a  bearing  more  com- 
posed, more  truly  royal,  than  that  which 
had  marked  the  days  of  her  splendid  pros- 
perity. 

She  was  doomed  to  drink  the  cup  of 
sorrow  to  the  dregs,  and  death  itself  was 
grudged  her  till  all  she  held  dearest  had 
been  murdered  and  tortured  before  her 
eyes. 

"  Beyond  tlic  infliiito  and  boundless  reach 
Of  mercy" 

are  the  perpetrators  of  those  crimes  by 
which  she  and  hers  suffered  so  bitterly. 
Most  of  them,  indeed,  paid  the  penalties  of 
their  crimes  here  in  the  flesh,  but  the 
deathless  reproach  of  the  nation  that  en- 
dured them  has  not  been  expiated.  Years 
of  revolution  and  blood  have  not  sufficed  to 
wipe  it  off,  and  it  may  be  that  a  deeper  re- 
tribution is  yet  in  store. 


BOOKS,  &c,  RECEIVED. 

Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State 
Horticultural  Society  for  1864,  at  its 
Ninth  Annual  Meeting,  with  Constitution, 
Act  of  Incorporation,  Horticultural  Laws, 
etc. 


Catalogue  of  Officers  and  Students  of 
the  State  Agricultural  College  of  Michi- 
gan, 1865. 


Catalogue  of  Plants,  with  full  descrip- 
tion, &c.,  of  the  Kittatinny  Blackberry, 
E.  Williams,  Mont  Clair,  N.  J. 


Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Roses,  Fruit 
and  Ornamental  Trees,  Flowering  Shrubs, 
Vines,  Green-house,  Hardy  Plants,  &c., 
cultivated  and  for  sale  by  G.  Marc,  Astoria, 
N.  Y. 


Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Apple  Trees 
raised  and  for  sale  by  D.  L.  Adair,  at  the 
Sandy  Side  Nurseries,  near  Hawesville, 
Kentucky, 

P.  &  E.  Transon  Bros.'  Nurseries, 
Orleans,  France.  Nursery  Trade  List  for 
Autumn  of  1865  and  1866.  Messrs.  Knauth 
Nachod  &  Kuhne,  28  Broad-street,  N.  Y., 
agents. 


Catalogue  of  exclusively  Hardy  Plants 
and  Nursery  Stock,  for  sale  at  the  Nursery 
of  Eugene  A.  Baumann,  Milton  Nursery, 
Rahway,  N.  J. 


Wholesale  Catalogue  of  Fruit,  Ever- 
green and  Ornamental  Trees,  Shrubs, 
Stocks,  Roses,  &c.,  for  the  Autumn  of  1865 
and  Spring  of  1866,  offered  for  sale  by  John 
Saul,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Circular,  Report  on  Grapes  and  Grape 
Growing,  by  J.  Paul  Sacksteder,  Louisville, 
Kentucky. 


List  of  Grape  Vines,  Fruit  Trees,  &c., 
for  sale  by  E.  Miles,  Sag  Harbor,  Suffolk 
Co.,  L.  I.,  New  York. 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXI MARCH,    18G6, 


NO.  CCXXXVII. 


A   DISCOURSE    OF   WINTER. 


Spring  is  licre,  according  to  the  calendar, 
but  not  so  in  actual  experience;  and  there- 
fore, while  winter  still  broods  over  all  north- 
ern climes,  it  may  not  be  unsuitable  to  con- 
sider some  of  its  characteristics,  and  per- 
chance to  gather  up  a  few  of  its  lessons. 
He  who  taught  His  followers  from  the  sum- 
mer lilies,  doubtless  also  instructed  them 
from  the  aspects  of  nature  in  winter. 

To  the  eyes  oi  most  people,  winter  is  a 
season  of  desolation  and  gloom.  The  flow- 
ers are  dead  ;  the  bees  and  other  insects  no 
longer  hum  ;  the  song-birds  have  left  the 
sky  ;  the  leaves  have  fallen  from  the  trees, 
and  are  whirled,  withered  and  dead,  tipon 
the  blast.  The  streams  are  locked  in  ice  ; 
and  snow,  like  a  heavy  shroud,  is  spread 
over  all  the  earth.  Ve^'etable  growth  has 
ceased,  and  even  vegetable  life  is  dormant, 
if  not  wholly  extinct.  The  sun  rides  low 
in  the  heavens,  and,  with  its  cold  and  slant- 
ing beams,  gives  but  a  brief  day. 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  truth :  Winter 
has  other  and  more  cheerful  aspects.  There 
is  life  amid  this  seeming  decay  and  death. 


Vegetation  absolutely  requires  a  period  of 
rest,  and  winter  is  its  opportunitj^.  The 
bees  are  nappi«ng  in  their  cosy  cells ;  the 
birds  are  not  destroj'ed,  but  are  gone  on 
pleasure  excursions  southward,  looking  af- 
ter tlieir  possessions  and  friends  around  the' 
Gulf.  The  streams  and  lakes  are  frozen — 
are  they  ?  Well,  they  make  fine  skating- 
parks  now,  and  are  having  an  eye  to  the 
creams  of  next  August  tVIiat  could  civil 
ized  man  do  without  their  sparkling  crys- 
tals to  cool  the  summer  heats  1  It  would 
be  a  heavy  loss  to  northern  commerce,  if 
its  cargoes  of  ice  were  dissolved.  The 
leaves  have  fallen — have  they  ?  Well,  they 
were  ripe,  and  of  no  further  use  to  the 
branches,  and  by  their  fall  tliey  will  now 
help  to  fertilize  the  ground  and  to  promote 
the  trees'  growth  in  succeeding  years. 

Frost,  which  in  some  respects  is  destruct- 
ive, is  also  preservative.  It  checks  the  too 
rapid  decomposition  of  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal matters,  and  by  purifying  the  air  pre 
vents  disease  and  promotes  bodily  health 
and  vigor.     Who  does  not  know,  by  expe- 


Snteueu  acoordin?;  to  Act  of  Congress,  m  the  year  18GG,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  WooDWAEn,  in  the  Clerk's  ( 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York 

5 


66 


The  Horticulturist. 


rience,  that  the  return  of  the  cold  season, 
after  the  del)ilitating  heats  of  summer,  pro- 
duces an  exhilaration  of  spirits  and  gives  a 
nesT  accession  of  physical  strength  ?  A 
friend  of  the  -writer,  who  spent  several 
years  in  Bogota,  relates  that,  while  at  first 
the  perpetual  summer  was  a  perpetual  de- 
light, afterwards  it  became  monotonous, 
tiresome,  and  weakening  to  body  and  mind, 
and  that  he  often  longed  for  the  refreshing 
winds  and  frosts  of  the  north.  If  the  in- 
habitants of  northern  countries  possess  any 
superiority  over  those  of  southern  lands,  it 
is  owing  largely  to  the  influence  of  their 
climate.  It  is  in  cold  countries  that  home 
is  most  tenderly  loved,  and  fireside  virtues 
most  vigorously  flourish. 

"  Oh  Winter,  ruler  of  th'  inverted  year, 
Thy  scattered  hair  with  sleet  like  ashes  tilled, 
Thy  breath  congealed  upon  thy  lips,  thy  chicks 
Fringed  with  a  beard  made  wh.tc  with  other  snow  ; 
Than  t^o^e  of  a,'e,  t  ly  orchead  wrapped  in  c  ouds, 
A  leafless  branch  thy  sceptre,  and  thy  ihrono 
A  sliding  car  indebted  to  no  wheels, 
But  urged  by  storms  alou  :  its  slippery  way, 
I  love  thee,  all  unlovely  as  thou  seem'st, 
And  dre  ided  as  thou  art  !  Thou  hold'st  the  sun 
A  pris?n"r  in  tho  yjt  undawn'ng  east, 
Shortening  his  journey  between  morn  and  noon, 
And  hurrying  him,  im;)atient  of  his  stay, 
Down  to  the  rosy  West ;  but  kindly  st  11 
Com;)cns  iting  his  loss  with  ad  led  hou  s 
Of  social  convcriC  iml  instnictivj  e  so. 
An  1  gathering  at  sho:t  notice,  in  one  g-oup 
The  family  disiicrscd,  :ind  fixing  iliought 
Not  less  disperse  I  by  daylight  :ind  its  C-irei. 
I  crown  thee  king  cf  int. mate  d  ;  ights, 
F.re.-ide  enjoyments,  home-born  happincs"^. 
And  iill  Ihe  comfort  that  the  lowy  roof 
'Of  undisturbed  retirement,  and  the  hours 
■Of  Ion'/,  UT  interrupted  evening,  know." 

One  of  the  most  marked  features  of  win- 
ter is  its  snow.  This  interferes  with  some 
of  our  pleasures  and  profitable  labors.  The 
tourist  and  landscape-painter  will  seldom 
flounder  through  snow-banks  in  quest  of 
fine  scenery.  The  "botanist — where  are  the 
flowers  he  loved  so  well?  Tlie  geologist, 
entomologist,  and  indeed  the  student  in  al- 
most every  department  of  natural  science 
finds  his  sphere  of  observation  reduced  to 
narrow  bounds.  The  gardener  must  hang 
up  his  shovel  and  hoe,  and  the  farmer  can 


no   longer   sow  and  reap  and  gather  into      ] 
barns.  | 

Yet  there  is  a  bright  side  to  this  picture,      j 
The  snows  which  block  up  our  roads   and      ' 
fields  bring  with  them  a  partial  compcnsa-      i 
tion  for  the  discomforts  they  produce.    The      • 
old  proverb  that  "  snow  is  the  poor  man's 
manure  "  is  believed  to  have  its  basis  in  sci- 
entific  fact.       Chemical    anal3^sis    finds     a      ; 
larger  per  centage  of  ammonia  in  snow  than 
in  rain.     This  at  least  is  true,  that  snow  is      j 
a  powerful  absorbent,  purifying  the  air  and      \ 
returning   the  impurities   as  fertilizers  to 
the  soil.     Melt  in  a  clean  vessel  a  mass  of 
snow  Avhich  has  lain  a  short  time  on  the       ; 
ground,  and  the  taste  will   detect  foreign      j 
elements  in  the  water.     This  is  most  ap- 
parent in  the  neighborhood  of  large  towns,      ; 
where  the  atmosphere  is  more  or  less  im-       i 
pure.     The  harshness  and  dryness  produced 
ii  the  mouth  by  drinking  snow-water,  and       . 
the  unpleasant  eff";cts  on  the  skin  by  wash-       j 
ing  in  it,  are  ascribed  to   the  impurities  it       ' 
contains.     The   disease    called  goitre,    pre-       ' 
vailing  in  Alpine  regions,  is  also  attributed      '\ 
by  some  to  the  use  of  snow-water. 

A  certain  writer  illustrates  the  absorbent       ; 
power  of  snow  thus  :  "  Take  a  lump  of  snow 
(crust  answers  well,)  of  three  or  four  inches       ; 
in  length,   and  hold  it  in  the  flame   of  a      1 
lamp  ;  not  a  drop  of  water  will   fall   from       j 
the  snow,  but  the  water,  as  fast  as  formed,       ! 
will  penetrate  or  be  drawn  up  into  the  snow       i 
by  capillary  attraction.     It  is  by  virtue  of      ! 
this  power  that  it  purifies  the  atmosphere, 
by  absorbing  and  retaining  its  noxious  and 
noisome  gases  and  odors."     Snow  also  ab- 
sorbs exhalations  from  the  earth,  and  re- 
turns their  fertilizing  properties  to  the  soil.       i 
Hence,  marshes  and  stagnant  pools  become 
inodorous  in  winter,  and  the  unwholesome       ■ 
(effluvia  of  vegetable  matter  everywhere  de-       j 
caying  is  retained,  and  with  the  melting  of ^      ' 
the   snow  in  spring  is  given  back  to  the       i 
earth.     So  much  as  this,  at  least,  we  fully 
believe,  that  "  the  poor  man's  manure"  is       ; 
as  efficacious  as  some  of  the  patent  fertiliz- 
ers of  the  day;  and  it  is  a  great  deal  cheaper. 

Moreover,  we  are  told  that  snow  actually       ; 


A  Discourse  of  Winter 


67 


nourlslies  a  species  of  animal  life.  Dissolve 
a  handful  of  snow  in  a  glass  of  water  en- 
tirely free  from  infasoria,  and  j"0u  will  soon 
discover  a  multitude  of  animalcules  moving 
about  in  it  full  of  life.  Every  one  has  read 
of  the  famous  "  red  snow"  of  the  Arctic  re- 
gions, which  is  only  another  exhibition  of 
this  microscopic  race. 

Snow  helps  the  springs  and  mill  streams 
in  winter.  Were  the  ground  naked  from 
fall  to  spring,  and  frozen  meanwhile  several 
feet  deep,  the  springs  would  dry  up,  and 
■water-wheels  of  everj^  description  would 
stand  idle.  As  it  is,  however,  the  snow 
prevents  the  frost  from  penetrating  to  a 
great  depth — especially  among  the  wooded 
hills,  which  are  the  fountain-heads  of  springs 
and  streams — and  by  their  gradual  melting 
keep  up  a  supply  of  water  for  man  and  beast. 

Not  the  least  important  use  of  snow  is 
the  protection  it  aflfords  to  tt  nder  vegeta- 
tion. Even  in  northern  latitudes,  there  is 
a  multitude  of  tender  and  half  tender  indi- 
genous plants  which  require  more  or  less 
protection  in  winter.  Nature  provides  for 
them  most  wisely.  She  hangs  over  them  the 
branches  of  neighboring  trees  and  bushes, 
gathers  about  their  roots  a  many-folded 
blanket  of  dry  leaves,  and  last  of  all  spreads 
over  them  a  fleecy  mantle  of  snow.  With 
this  covering,  they  pass  tlirough  the  coldest 
winter  safely  ;  when  if  transplanted  to  ex- 
posed situations  they  would  certainly  per 
ish.  But  besides,  our  gardens  and  fields 
are  stocked  with  plants  and  grains  which 
are  natives  of  warmer  climates,  and  need 
protection  still  more.  Sweep  off  the  snow 
from  our  wheat  fields  and  meadows,  and  at 
least  a  portion  of  the  crops  would  be  win- 
ter-killed. Some  of  the  choicest  herba- 
ceous plants  in  our  gardens,  brought  from 
milder  regions,  will  pass  unharmed  through 
the  severest  winters,  if  only  they  are  cov- 
ered with  snow.  So  of  many  tender  shrubs. 
With  their  branches  fastened  to  the  ground, 
they  hybernate  in  Canada  as  well  as  at  the 


tropics.  The  buds  of  peach  tr(^s  are  often 
killed  in  severe  winters,  while  if  a  few 
branches  happen  to  get  bent  under  the 
snow,  they  produce  a  splendid  show  of 
fruit.  Scientific  travelers  in  Siberia  have 
recorded  instances  in  which,  with  the  tem- 
perature of  tho  air  above  the  snow  at  72°  I 
below  zero,  that  beneath  was  29°  above 
zero,  showing  a  difference  of  100°.  Dr. 
Kane,  in  his  "  Arctic  Expedition,"  men- 
tions finding  underneath  the  snow,  at  lati- 
tude 78°,  "  the  andromeda  in  full  flower,  ' 
and  saxifrages  and  carices  green  under  the 
dried  tufts  of  last  j-ear."  *  *  *  "Here,  [ 
too,  the  silene  and  cerathrium,  as  well  as 
the  characteristic  flower-growths  of  later 
summer,  the  poppy  and  sorrel,  were  al- 
ready recognizable."  *  *  *  u  pg^  ^f 
us  at  home,"  he  continues,  "  can  realize 
the  protecting  value  of  this  warm  cover- 
let of  snow.  No  eider-down  in  the  cradle 
of  an  infant  is  tucked  in  more  kindly  than  | 
the  sleeping  dress  of  winter  about  this  fee- 
ble flower-life." 

AVhen  the  snow  falls  early  in  winter  and 
remains  until  spring,  the  ground  is  seldom 
frozen  at  all ;  and  if  frozen  a  few  inches 
deep  before  the  snow  falls,  the  heat  of  the 
subsoil  thaws  out  the  frost  above  it,  and 
the  superincumbent  snow  prevents  another 
freezing,  so  that  in  early  spring  the  ground 
is  soft  and  ready  for  the  plow  and  spade. 

Did  the  space  allotted  us  in  these  col- 
umns allow,  we  might  speak  of  the  oppor- 
tunity which  winter  affords  the  farmer  and 
his  household  for  mental  and  social  culture  ; 
of  the  beauty  of  the  snowy  landscape  when 
lighted  up  by  the  sun  ;  of  the  brilliancy  of 
the  winter  sunsets  ;  the  peculiar  depth  and 
purity  of  its  skies,  and  the  lusre  of  its 
stars  ;  of  the  pleasure  of  noting  the  first  in-  I 

dications  of  approaching  spring,  and  their    ^ 
steady  increase  until  "  the  time  of  the  sing- 
ing of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the 
turtle  is  heard  in  the  land  ;"  but  here  we 
must  stay  our  pen. 

A.  D.  G. 


68 


The  Horticulturist. 


DESIGN  FOR  COUNTRY  HOUSE  OR  PARSONAGE. 


BY  REV.  P.   D.  OAKEY,  JAMAICA, 


The  desire  to  produce  pleasing  effects  in 
the  structure  of  country  houses  has  much  in- 
creased the  past  few  years.  The  gratifying 
evidence  of  this  is  forced  upon  our  attention 
on  every  line  of  travel.  Every  one  who 
contributes  to  this  taste  Is  so  far  a  bene- 


It  is  thought  that  the  plan  here  submit- 
ted will  commend  itself  to  the  taste  of  those 
who,  having  a  moderate  income — and  such 
constitute  the  bulk  of  society— and  who, 
having  no  money  to  lavish  upon  merely 
useless  show,  would  have  enough  variety  m 


factor  to  his  kind.  It  has  this  plea  for  style,  solid  embellishments,  convenience  of 
universal  adoption,  that  while  it  violates  arrangement,  rooms  of  suitablfe  size  and 
no  principle  of  utility,  it  elevates  mentally  number — affording  sufficient  retirement  and 
and  morally  only  by  the  exercise  o;  correct  accommodation  as  shall  combine  to  produce 
judgment  without  expense.  I  speak  of  it  a  pleasing  impression,  externally  and  inter- 
in  its  simple,  and  therefore  purer  forms  of  nally,  upon  which  the  eye  of  the  stranger 
cottage  building.  is  welcome  to  rest,  and  make  the  happy 


lii  — Pospectiie 


and  contented  family  feel  that  they  have  a 
home^  the  endeared  remembrances  of  which 
will  never  leave  them  till  a  home  on  earth 
is  needed  no  more. 

Some  of  these  effects,  we  think,  may  be 
realized  in  this  plan.  Enter  the  gate,  and 
by  a  nf^atly-trimmed  winding-path  step 
upon  the  veranda  and  look  for  3'ourself  It 
53  situated  on  a  village  lot,  say  C5  feet 
fj'ont  and  200  deep.  It  is  not  built  large 
in  front,  so  that  space  may  intervene  on 
either  side  for  shrubbery  and  trees  to  se- 
cure seclusion  and  keep  out  intrusive  eyes 


of  neighbors.  Yet,  in  the  dining-room  a 
bay  window  commands  a  street  view.  It 
fronts  the  east,  and  hence  the  rooms  used 
have  a  southern  aspect.  The  veranda  it- 
self is  wortliy  of  a  passing  notice,  as  it  is 
ample,  compared  with  the  size  of  the  house, 
and  its  form  in  keeping  with  the  bay  win- 
dows that  diversify  and  give  character  to 
the  exterior.  I  would  not  make  the  path 
to  the  veranda  direct  in  front  of  it,  at 
right  angles  with  the  street,  but  from  a 
gate  near  the  southern  corner  of  the  front 
lot  by  a  gentle  serpentine  line,  and  thus 


Design  for  Country  House  or  Parsonage. 


69 


leave  the  space  of  the  front  yard  opposite 
the  parlor  window  unobstructed,  for  the 
exhibition  of  taste  in  cultivating  some  of 
the  smaller  flowers  and  shrubbery,  which, 
with  a  closely-shaven  grass-plat,  as  the 
groundwork,  never  fails  to  awaken  a  sense 
of  pleasure. 

But   the    entry-door  is   open— (it  opens 
readily   to  its  friends).      Look   in !      You 


would  have  the  hall  go  all  the  way  back  '? 
Well,  that  is  the  old-fashioned  way,  but  it 
has  not  the  beauty  of  utility  to  recommend 
it.  There  is  no  need  of  it,  and  the  open 
seams  of  the  "  back  door"  only  made  sluices 
for  Boreas  of  the  north  storm  to  whistle 
his  ghostly  stories  through  of  dark  nights, 
as  it  used  to  seem  to  us  in  our  childhood. 
Besides  making  a  warmer  house,  we  have 


2'^.— Cellar. 


Fig.  ZO.— 1st  Floor. 


Fig.  31— 2rf  Floor. 


made  better  use  of  that  space,  as  you  shall 
see  when  we  get  to  it ;  and  economy  in 
fuel  and  space  are  two  important  items 
since  the  strike  in  the  coal  regions  of  Penn- 
sylvania and   the   high   price  of  material. 


Fig.  32.— Is^  Floor  differently  arranged, 
{iiot  referred  to  m  descriiMon. ) 

But  in  the  meanwhile,  step  a  moment  into 
the  parlor.  It  is  not  overlarge,  but  cozy, 
well  lighted,  well  ventilated,  and  suflBcient- 
ly  large  enough  for  ordinary  families,  its 
marble-manteled  fire-place  offsetting  its  bay 


window  which  enlarges  the  room,  and  gives 
to  it  an  air  of  i-eflnement ,  its  north  and 
south,  windows  equalizing  each  other,  the 
one  shielded  from  the  rays  of  the  sun  by 
opening  under  the  shado  of  the  veranda, 
while  in  the  space  on  t'lie  right  of  the  fire- 
place, is  just  the  place  for  the  piano.  But 
cross  into  the  dining  or  sltting-room,  and 
observe,  in  passing  that  its  door  opens 
right  opposite  the  front  door,  so  that  when 
the  clog  star  is  in  the  ascendancy  and  air 
is  desired,  you  can  sit  with  both  doors 
opened,  having  a  pleasant  front  view  unex- 
posed. This  room  is  of  proper  capacity, 
has  a  good  china  closet,  a  plain  marble  man- 
tle, an  end  window  commanding  the  gar- 
den, and  a  bay  window  giving  a  pleasing  ef- 
fect to  the  whole,  and  raising  the  whole 
above  the  monotonous  style  of  mediocrity. 
As  this  bay  window  is  quite  roomy,  8  feet 
in  the  clear,  and  as  it  is  supposed  to  face 
the  south,  in  winter  time  it  would  make 
quite  a  pretty  conservatory  for  house 
plants,  which,  if  properly  cared  for,  contrib- 
ute much  to  the  cultivation  of  a  correct  taste. 
The  enjoyment  of  life  consists  not  so  much 


70 


The  Horticulturist. 


in  great  things  as  in  extracting  items  of 
pleasure  from  little  things.  The  cultivation 
of  a  single  house  plant — the  architectural 
order  of  a  room — the  proper  disposition  of 
furniture — never  go  without  their  propor- 
tionable reward. 

From  this  room,  access  to  the  kitchen  is 
easy.  That  kitchen  is  an  important  place  ;  it 
wants  good  light,  a  good  fire-place,  a  large 
closet,  a  cistern  pump,  and  waste-pipe,  easy 
access  to  the  yard  and  cellar,  and  it  has  them 
all.  A  short  passage-way  leads  from  these 
rooms  to  the  cellar  steps  under  tbe  stair- 
way, and  to  the  main  hall.  Also  from  this 
passage-way  a  door  opens  into  a  small 
chamber,  which  I  have  designated  as  a 
store-room.  This  is  a  useful  apartment, 
and  while  it  wants  to  be  out  of  the  wa}', 
it  needs  to  be  near  the  kitchen  and  sitting- 
room.  This  room  we  have  stolen  from  the 
hall.  Our  Biddies  are  not  all  above  suspi- 
picion  ;  and  where  they  have  so  many 
cousins,  all  "  dacent  people  sure,"  keeping 
house,  sugars  and  teas  and  soap  have  the 
^faculty  of  disappearing  with  marvelous  alac- 
rity. The  good  housewife»  loves  to  have 
the  key  of  one  door,  wliere-  her  household 
treasures  may  bo  safely  stored,  where  she 
may  be  the  almoner  of  her  own '  bounty, 
without  the  aid  or  Miss  Culinary  Sly, 
through  whom  she  may  be  supporting  two 
or  three  families  of  the  faithful,  "  unbe- 
knownst" to  herself.  Oi  if  Biddy  is  hon- 
est, and  this  room  is  not  wanted  for  this 
purpose,  it  might,  upon  a  pinch,  be  used 
for  her  sleeping-room  ;  or  if  the  proprietor 
wanted  a  little  office  to  keep  his  books, 
papers   &c.,   here,    separated    from    other 


apartments,  is  the  place.  I  hope  you  don't 
smoke;  but  if  you  are  guilty  of  that  much- 
condemned  practice,  here  is  just  the  place 
for  you  and  your  friend  to  chat,  and  puff 
your  smoke  out  of  the  north  window,  with- 
out intruding  the  aroma  of  the  filthy  weed 
into  any  other  part  of  the  house.  If,  as 
Downing  says,  the  poet  Cowley  confessed 
to  a  love  for  little  things,  here  in  this  back 
hall  little  room,  he  might  indulge  his  di- 
minutive poetic  idea  to  his  satisfaction. 

Let  us  go  up  stairs.  Everything  here 
speaks  plainly  for  itself,  so  I  will  not  detain 
you.  The  rooms  are  quite  large,  all  have 
closets,  and  can  be  heated,  except  the  small 
hall  chamber,  by  stoves.  Stove-pipe  holes 
are  in  the  chimneys,  and  swinging  sashes 
over  the  doors  to  give  ventilation.  The 
chimneys  are  inside  the  building,  so  that 
all  heat  is  saved.  A  clothes'  room,  which 
might  be  made  a  bath  room,  opens  into  the 
large  chamber  adjoining.  The  walls  are 
filled  in  with  brick.  The  roof  projects,  and 
the  gables  have  large  boards  of  stout  plank. 
It  is  thought  that  in  the  external  a^jpear- 
ance  of  this  house,  and  the  order  of  the 
rooms,  there  are  advantages  pleasing  to  a 
good  tast^  and  conducing  to  the  comforts 
of  every-day  home  life. 

This  house,  as  it  has  two  fronts,  would 
be  a  very  good  plan  for  a  corner  house. 

I  omitted  to  say  in  the  proper  place,  that 
placing  the  closet  in  the  front  hall  upstairs 
in  the  chamber,  there  would  be  room  for  a 
stairs,  over  the  other  stairs,  into  the  attic 
story,  where  there  is  space  for  three  plea- 
sant bed-rooms. 


PEACH   TREES   IN    POTS. 


BY    GERALD    HOWATT, 

Growing  Peaches,  Nectarines,  Apricots 
and  other  stone  fruit  has  not  attained  the 
attention  and  care  that  they  ought  to  have. 
I  mean  the  growing  of  them  in  pots  ;  the 
simplicity  of  it  is  not  generally  understood; 
they  require  no  more  attention  than  any 
other  ordinary  stove   or  greenhouse  plant. 


Pot  culture  is  carried  in  Europe  to  a  very 
great  extent,  and  I  must  certainly  say  that 
our  facilities  on  this  continent  are  far  ahead 
of  Europe,  the  principal  feature  of  which  is, 
our  fine  clear  and  hot  weather.  As  the  great 
desideratum  ingrowing  peaches, nectarines, 
&c.,  is  to  get  our  fruiting  wood  well  ripened. 


Feach  Trees  in  Pots. 


-il 


When  this  point  is  attained,  you  can  easily 
master  the  other  difBculties  with  a  little  at- 
tention. The  following  is  my  system  of  grow- 
ing and  treatment  from  the  time  of  receiv- 
ing from  the  nursery  to  their  fruiting.  In 
selecting  soil,  I  take  a  good  strong  loam 
one  spade  deep,  leaving  the  grass  on.  I 
iisuall}^  get  this  from  the  side  of  the  road 
or  along  an  old  fence.  If  it  can  be  got  in 
the  fall,  and  thrown  in  a  heap  all  winter 
so  much  the  better;  but  my  usual  way  is 
to  take  it  direct  from  the  fences  to  the 
potting  shed  and  use  it.  I  have  tried  it 
both  waj^s,  lettmg  it  be  six  months,  and 
turning  it  right  in  and  using  it,  and  never 
noticed  a  particle  of  difference  in  the  growth 
or  fruit.  If  it  is  a  stiff  loam  I  mix  it  with 
charcoal  dust,  enough  to  make  it  free.  I  al- 
low one  quart  of  bone  dust,  the  coarser  the 
better ;  this  keeps  the  soil  porous,  and  is,  in 
my  practice,  the  best  stimulant  for  those 
fruits.  I  give  my  plants  the  first  year,  three 
shifts,  two  in  growing  pots,  and  the  third 
into  the  fruiting  pot.  A  quart  of  bone  dust 
if!  divided  into  three  parts  ;  at  the  first 
potting  put  one  part,  the  second  potting  the 
next  part,  and  the  third  potting  the  bal- 
ance. 1  use  no  manure  in  my  potting.  The 
tree  on  arriving  from  the  nursery  will  look 
like  this 


inches  above  the  roots,  looking  lil 


Fig.   34. — Tree  Primed  for  Potting, 

pruning  the  roots  well,  only  leaving  enough, 
fibres  to  start  the  growing.  The  plants  that 
I  use  are  only  one  year  old  from  the  bud 
maiden  trees.  My  first  pot  is  two  gallons  ; 
that  is,  eleven  inches  deep  and  ten  diame- 
tei'.  In  potting  I  keep  the  neck  of  the  tree 
over  ground  ;  that  is,  leave  your  roots  for 
a')out  three  inches  thus 


Fig. 


Tree  in  Pot. 


Fig.  33. — Tree  as  received  from  Nursery. 
I  then  cut    them    down   to  ten  or  twelve 


on  the  surface  of  your  soil  My  reason  for 
adopting  this  system  is  that  the  boreis  can- 
be  more  easil}-  detected  if,  unfortunately, 
they  should  show  themselves.  At  j^our  first 
two  pottings  do  not  let  your  earth  come  to 
the  top  of  your  pot.  Keep  it  one  inch  below 
this  to  hold  the  water  ;  in  your  third  shift 
or  fruiting  pot,  keep  the  earth  two  inches 
below  the  top  of  your  pot  ;  this  is  to  give 
room  for  mulching  with  manure.  Now 
the  time  for  potting  must  altogether  de- 
pend on  your  facilities  for  starting  the 
trees.  If  you  have  pits  to  keep  them  in 
until  the  middle  of  May,  at  least  until  set- 
tled weather,  I  should  advise  the  first 
potting  to  be  done  in  March  ;  this  gives 
a  fine  long  season  for  growth  if  that  is 
the  case.  After  potting,  water  with  a  rose 
just  sufficient  to  settle  the  earth  around 
them,  and  afterwards  very  sparingly  until 
they  commence  to  break  (grow).  I  will 
state  one  particular  item  here,  that  is  j'our 
drainage.  Put  one  large  broken  shi'ed  on 
the  hole,  the  hollow  down,  which  leaves  a 
space  between  the  bottom  of  j'our  pot  and 


72 


The  Horticulturist. 


yowY  shred  ;  then  other  pieces  around  that, 
and  cover  the  whole  bottom  of  the  pot ; 
when  finished  let  it  look  like  a  saucer 
turned  upside  down,  high  in  the  middle 
and  falling  to  the  sides.  Mj'-  fruiting  pots 
I  have  the  holes  cut  with  a  cold  chisel 
three  inches  by  two.  When  you  pot  first 
do  not  plunge  them,  nor  until  they  have 
made  about  four  inches  of  growth.  This  is 
obvious,  as  you  will  bear  in  mind  that  there 
are  but  few  roots  to  start  with,  and  the 
weather  being  chilly,  you  want  the  heat  on 
j^our  pots  (sun),  to  start  the  growth  of 
the  roots.  After  a  little  the  new  earth 
will  cleave  from  the  side  of  the  pot  ;  let 
that  at  all  times  be  rubbed  around  with 
the  finger,  for  if  watered  without  doing 
this,  the  water  will  all  run  between  the 
ball  and  the  side  of  the  pot,  leaving  the 
heart  of  the  plant  perfectly  dry.  If  the 
water  should  lie  on  the  top  of  your  pot, 
then  there  is  something  wrong  in  the 
potting  or  drainage  ;  if  so,  turn  the  plant 
out  and  examine  it,  and  rest  assured  you 
will  find  something  wrong.  I  should  have 
mentioned,  in  all  the  pottings,  gather  the 
lumps  and  grass,  and  place  them  on  top  of 
open  shreds  at  the  bottom  of  pot  ;  then 
fine  earth  around  your  roots,  the  best  as  it 
comes.  In  all  the  shiftings  look  out  for 
worms  ;  they  are  easily  discovered  by  their 
holes.  I  generally  sprinkle  quick  lime  on 
top  of  the  pot  (on  the  earth),  which  draws 
them  out.  That's  the  foundation.  When 
the  plants  have  made  shoots  six  inches  in 
length,  select  the  four  strongest  for  your 
permaruent  tree,  or  branches,  and  cut  oft" 
the  stem  to  the  upper  branch,  thus : 


Fig.  Z(j.—Tree  at  First  Pinching, 
By  this  system  j'ou   get  more   fruit,  and 


your  tree  looks  better,  and  you  get  more 
trees  into  a  given  space,  which  is  a  great 
object  when  the  present  price  of  glass  and 
tradesmens'  wages  are  taken  into  considera- 
tion ;  and  I  do  not  see  the  beauty  of,  or  in 
an  umbrella  top.  When  the  shoots  are 
from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  in  length, 
I  stop  them,  that  is,  I  pinch  the  top  off"  to 
make  them  throw  out  fruiting  wood ; 
when  five  and  six  inches  long  I  again  stop 
them,  and  so  on  all  through  the  season  ; 
when  the  wood  is  too  thick,  and  likely  to 
crowd  the  middle,  remove  those  shoots 
that  are  growing  to  the  middle,  and  re- 
move all  water  shoots,  no  matter  on  what 
part  of  the  tree  they  are,  as  they  are  use- 
less, those  shoots  are  not  much  thicker  gen- 
erally than  a  straw,  and  runs  from  the 
branch  about  3  or  4  inches  without  show- 
ing an  ej^e  of  either  fruit  or  wood.  In  the 
middle  of  May  plunge  your  pots,  that  is, 
insert  them  in  the  ground  up  to  the  rim 
and  from  three  to  four  feet  apart.  From 
the  first  starting  of  your  potting,  you 
should  syringe  j'our  plants  evavy  morning 
with  a  good  force  pump,  and  do  not  be 
afraid  to  use  it  strong.  This  makes  your 
plants  break  well.  After  the  1st  of  June, 
syringe  them  twice  a .  day,  morning  and 
evening.  If  you  have  not  a  barrel  sy- 
ringe, use  the  next  best  thing,  a  hand  one, 
and  in  syringing  be  careful  and  apply  the 
water  to  the  boitom  of  the  leaves  as  it  is 
there  where  rests  our  great  enemy,  the 
red  spider;  they  are  easily  detected,  by 
turning  over  the  leaves  you  will  see  them. 
They  look  to  the  naked  e)'e  as  if  the 
leaf  were  dusted  with  red  pepper,  but 
a  practiced  eye  can  detect  them  at  a 
glance  at  the  surface  of  the  leaf  with- 
out examining  it  ;  the  leaf  that  has 
them  on  will  look  of  a  dirty  white  appear- 
ance. Beware  of  them,  for  if  they  get  on 
your  plants,  all  your  trouble  is  gone  for 
nothing.  Syringe  as  directed  and  j^ou  can 
tell  them  do  their  best.  About  the  first  of 
June  your  plants  will  be  in  a  condition  to 
receive  liquid  manure.  In  applying  this  you 
must  use  a  good  deal  of  judgment.     If  the 


Peach  Trees  in  Pots. 


73 


plant  is  weak,  give  it  no  stimulant.  As 
a  general  t'aing,  let  it  be  very  weak.  When 
I  can  get  liquid  from  the  barn-j^ard,  I  pre- 
fer it.  The  first  year  I  use  it  half-and-half; 
that  is,  half  water  and  half  liquid.  If  I 
cannot  get  that,  I  sink  two  hogsheads  in 
the  ground,  to  within  a  foot  of  the  top ; 
one  I  keep  for  clean  water,  for  syringing, 
watering  and  diluting  my  liquid  manure. 
Into  the  other  I  put  one  peck  of  Peruvian 
guano  ;  fill  up  with  water  ;  stir  well  up 
until  dissolved.  When  used,  add  one  half 
clean  water  to  this  half  In  watering 
stove,  greenhouse  or  other  plants,  with 
liquid  manure,  never  apply  it  when  j^our 
plants  are  dry.  If  you  do  it  will  kill 
them.  My  plan  is  to  water  with  clear 
water  in  the  evening,  and  the  liquid  in 
the  morning.  By  adopting  this,  no  risk 
is  run  in  any  waj-.  In  June,  water  your 
Peaches,  Nectarines  and  Apricots,  if  in  good 
health,  twice  a  week  with  this  liquid  ; 
July,  and  up  to  middle  of  August,  three 
times  a  week  ;  after  that,  give  them  no 
liquid,  as  you  must  now  prepare  to  ripen 
and  harden  your  wood.  If  you  have  at- 
tended to  the  stopping  and  displacing  of 
all  superfluous  wood,  your  plants  will  by 
this  time  have  made  a  fine  appearance.  My 
second  shifting,  I  should  have  said,  would 
be  about  the  1st  of  June,  into  four  gallon 
pots  that  are  thirteen  inches  deep  and 
twelve  in  diameter.  For  this  you  must  use 
your  own  judgment.  You  will  see  the  roots 
protruding  from  the  hole  in  the  bottom  ; 
then  take  them  out  of  the  pot,  and  if  the 
roots  are  all  around  the  ball,  repot  them  ; 
be  sure,  in  potting,  to  leave  no  spaces  be- 
tween the  ball  and  the  pot  ;  in  potting, 
use  a  flat  stick,  two  inches  wide,  and  bev- 
elled at  the  point,  so  that  it  will  not,  if  it 
should  come  in  contact  with  the  roots,  cut 
or  bruise  them,  rounding  or  half-rounding 
it  for  the  breadth  of  a  hand  from  the  top. 
In  using  it,  shove  it  backwards  and  for- 
wards, so  that  you  make  your  potting  com- 
pact, and  do  not  stamp  your  pot  up  and 
down  on  the  potting-bench  to  break  off"  the 
flbres,   like   a  paver    with  his    mallet  on 


stones.  My  last  shift  I  do  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  middle  of  August  into  my  fruit- 
ing pots  or  boxes.  If  pots,  they  should  be 
six  gallons,  well  drained,  and  coarse  stuff 
at  bottom.  I  like  to  have  my  fruiting 
plants  pot-bound,  that  is,  the  roots  grown 
to  the  outside  of  the  ball.  As  the  after- 
nourishment  of  the  trees  and  fruit,  I  de- 
pend on  liquid  manures  and  manure  mulch- 
ing. Care  must  be  taken  not  to  let  the 
trees,  during  the  summer,  become  dry,  that 
is,  hard  dry,  in  very  warm  weather;  and 
while  they  are  making  rapid  growth,  they 
must  be  watered  perhajis  twice  a  day,  and 
when  watered  at  this  stage,  let  it  be  done 
copious]}^,  enough  to  saturate  the  whole 
mass  of  earth.  The  drainage  will  carry 
off"  the  superfluous  water.  You  can  easily 
detect  when  they  are  not  properly  watered 
b}^  knocking   on   the   outside    of  the    pot 


Tree  at  end  of  First  Year. 


with  your  knuckles  ;  if  not  properly  wat- 
ered, the  pots  will  sound  as  if  they  were 
empty.  On  or  about  the  first  of  October,  I 
remove  my  trees  t)  the  vinery  to  ripen  and 
harden  their  wood.  This  must  be  well  at- 
tended to,  for  if  the  wood  is  not  ripened,  it 
will  shrivel  and  you  get  no  fruit.  When 
they  are  in  the  vinery,  water  them  about 
twice  a  week  in  October,  as  you  want  no 
growth;  November,  about  once  a  week.  If. 
the  foregoing  instructions  be  carried  out, 
your  trees  will  now  be  from  six  to  eight 
feet  high,  and  from  four  to  six  feet  through 


71 


The  Horticulturist. 


— not  bad,  j'ou  will  say,  for  one  season's 
grovvtli  in  pots  ;  nevertheless,  strictly  true. 
At  each  potting,  examine  your  tree  for  bor- 
ers, just  above  your  roots.  On  the  stem 
they  are  easily  detected  ;  feel  around  the 
stem,  if  hollow,  you  will  find  the  borer. 
The  appearance  of  gum  does  not  always  in- 
dicate their  presence.  About  the  middle 
of  December,  remove  to  a  dry  cellar  to 
protect  from  frost.  If  there  is  not  a  cellar, 
let  them  be  laid  down  in  the  vinery  and 
covered  with  straw  or  leaves.  If  this  plan 
is  adopted,  there  will  have  to  be  a  fire 
kept  in  the  house  sufficient  to  keep  the 
frost  out.  1  start  my  peaches  as  I  start 
my  vines;  peaches  and  vines  being  grown 
in  the  same  house,  making  three  succes- 
sions. First  house  starts  1st  of  Januarj-, 
second,  1st  of  February,  third,  1st  of  jNIarch. 
I  only  have  one  knife-pruning,  which  is 
done  by  cutting  down  to  a  fruit  e3'e,  which 
is  distinguished  by  a  double  bud.  There 
are  single  ej-es  that  are  fruit  buds ;  those 
bads  are  round,  the  wood  buds  being  long, 
but  the  single  ones  we  do  not  generally 
depend  on.  Cut  out  all  wood  that  does 
not  show  fruit-buds.  I  have  a  walk  through 
the  houses,  thirty  inches  wide,  a  plank, 
eighteen  inches  wide,  on  each  side,  to  hold 
in  the  border  compost.  This  border  I 
make  stronger  than  the  soil  used  for  pot- 
lirrg,  using  three  parts  loam  and  one  part 
well-decomposed  manure.  Let  this  be  tho- 
roughly mixed  ;  this  is  to  support  the  roots 
that  come  from  the  bottom  of  the  pot.  I 
then  plunge  my  pots  to  the  rim,  and  so 
close  that  the  branches  of  each  plant 
nearly  touch.  Stop  them  when  growing, 
as  mentioned  above.  I  take  out  all  su- 
perfluous wood ;  put  on  a  mulching  of 
cow  dung  on  top  of  your  pot,  leav- 
ing one  quarter  of  an  inch  to  hold  water 
(as  it  will  shrink)  ;  syringe  twice  a  day 
with  water,  same  temperature  as  the  house. 
When  3'our  buds  begin  to  swell,  use  twice  a 
week,  in  watering,  one-third  part  liquid 
manure  ;  as  they  progress,  use  one-half 
liquid,  and  use  it  three  times  a  week  ;  when 
in  flower,  water  moderately,  rather  keep- 


ing them  dryish,  and  avoid  syringing  until 
your  fruit  is  set;  keep  a  moist  heat,  by 
keeping  the  floors  wet.  If  your  houses  arc 
heated  by  hot  water,  keep  your  troughs 
well  filled,  as  it  evaporates  ;  if  by  flues, 
and  no  troughs  on  theTi,  keep  pans  well 
filled  with  water.  Let  all  the  fruit  that 
sets  remain ;  don't  tuin  any,  as  your 
plants  are  strong  enough  to  ripen  all,  and 
if  too  thin,  they  are  liable  to  crack. — 
About  a  week  before  they  are  ripe  remove 
them  to  the  open  air,  and  plunge  your  pot 
about  six  inches  and  water  very  sparingly 
with  clean  water — -in  fact,  keep  them  near- 
ly dry.  This  will  give  your  fruit  a  fine 
flavor  and  a  good  color.  In  removing  the 
trees  from  the  house,  cut  all  the  roots  off 
that  have  grown  from  the  bottom.     When 


Fig.  38. — Tree  in  Fruit,  Second  Year. 
the  fruit  is  gathered,  plunge  the  jDots  to 
the  rim  in  a  south  or  east  aspect,  to  ripen 
the  wood,  and  use  no  more  liquid  manure 
until  you  commence  forcing  the  following 
season ;  keep  the  syringe  going.  This  treat- 
ment is  for  growing  in  vineries,  and  of 
course  the  same  temperature  must  be  ob- 
served if  grown  in  an  orchard  house.  My 
temperature  after  the  setting  would  be 
from  10  to  15  degrees  higher  all  through. 
An  orchard  house  will  save  the  necessity 
of  removing  out-doors  to  get  flavor.  The 
following  are  the  varieties  that  I  use  foi 
pot  culture  : 


The   Currant   Wo7nn. 


75 


Peaches — Hale's  Early,  Ilaine's  Early, 
Early  York,  Early  Crawford,  Late  Craw- 
ford. George  the  4tb,  Large  Early  York, 
Noblesse,  Stump  the  "World,  Troth's  Ear- 
ly, Red  Cheek  Melacatoon,  Cole's  Early 
Red,  Early  Tillotson.  Early  Newington, 
Gross  Mignonne,  Jacques  Rareripe. 


Nectarines  —  Stanwick,  Boston,  Vio- 
lette  Hative,  Pitmaston  Orange,  Elruge. 

Apricots — Large  Early,  Large  Red, 
Large  Early  Moorpark,  Peach,  Kaisha, 
Orange.  Other  varieties  may  be  added  to 
please  the  taste,  but  I  have  found  the  above 
the  best  for  forcing. 


THE  CURRANT  WORM, 


Having  read  in  the  report  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Farmers'  Club,  in  New  York, 
something  about  the  Currant  Worm,  which 
is  hardly  more  than  a  guess,  very  far  from 
the  truth,  permit  me  to  describe  for  your 
readers  the  insect  in  all  its  transforma- 
tions. It  is  of  a  kind  known  as  measuring 
worms,  about  an  inch  and  one  quarter  in 
length,    when    full    grown ;     of   a   bright 


IiG.  39. — Currant  Worms. 

orange  or  yellow  color,  finely  spotted  with 
black ;,  is  extremely  active,  and  a  vora- 
cious: ieeder.  They  begin  to  appear  about 
the  middle  of  May  as  a  very  minute,  al- 
most black  worm,  and  increase  in  size  and 
number?  until  the  middle  of  June,  when 
they  begin  to  leave  the  bushes  for  the 
earth  about  their  roots.  I  had  them  under 
glass  in  all  stages  of  growth,  and  compared 


them  daily  with  specimens  from  the  gar- 
dens. With  a  garden  trowel  the  earth  was 
turned  up,  and  the  chrysalis  and  the  worms, 
half  contracted  and  incapable  of  motion, 
were  exposed,  precisely  like  those  in  the 
sand  under  my  glasses.  The  chrysalis, 
small  and  almost  black,  would  easily  es- 
cape notice. 

Comparatively  few  of  the  worms  appear 
to  become  butterflies,  but  still  sufficient 
numbers  do  pass  the  chrysalis  stage  to  in- 
sure a  bountiful  suppl}^  of  worms  year  aftel 
year. 


Fig.  40. — Chrysalis  and  Perfect  Insect. 

They  remain  in  the  chrysalis  state  two 
weeks,  and  emerge  as  small  maize-colored 
butterflies,  with  faint  gray  marks  on  their 
wings.  They  flutter  about  the  gardens, 
never  staying  far  from  the  currant  bushes, 
for  ten  or  twelve  days,  and  gradually  dis- 
appear. All  those  I  kept  under  glass  died 
soon  after  their  escape  from  the  chrysalis 
state,  and  I  could  not  discover  where  those 
in  the  gardens  laid  their  eggs,  but  I  am  very 
sure  that  they  are  deposited  upon  the  bark 
of  the  currant  bushes.  I  buried  a  quantity 
of  the  live  worms  in  a  hole  about  a  foot 
deep,  packing  the  earth  over  them  as  hard 
as  I  could.  For  three  days  they  were 
crawlil^  out  of  that  hole  as  fresh  looking 


7G 


Tlie  Horticulturist, 


as  ever,  cand  measuring  tlie  road  to  my 
gooseberry  bushes  with  hungry  haste.  No 
amount  of  mashing  with  trowels  or  spades 
seem  to  kill  them  after  they  touch  the 
ground,  but  they  can  be  drowned  very 
easily.  Their  name  is  certainly  legion,  for  I 
have  known  nine  hundred  to  be  shaken 
from  a  single  bush,  at  one  time.  I  remem- 
ber seeing  the  same  worm  occasicmally  some 
twenty  years  ago,  but  it   is  about  seven 


and  destroyed  daily  in  incredible  numbers. 
I  believe  that  a  small  lantern,  set  in  a  pan 
of  water  well  soaped,  would  attract  the 
moths  at  night,  and  by  falling  from  the 
sides  of  the  lantern  into  the  water,  they 
would  be  drowned,  which  would  be  a  much 
easier  way  of  destroying  them  than  picking 
ofi"  the  worms  one  by  one  with  the  thumb 
and  finger,  as  most  of  my  friends  do.  I 
should  like   to    tell   you  about   the  gray 


years  since  they  have  appeared  in  ?uch  num-  worms  which  ate  my  pansies,  and  my  toads 

bers  as  to  become  a  pest.     I  do  not  see  any  which  ate  the  worms,  but  I  do  not  know  as 

apparent  diminution  in  their  numbers,  even  you  care  to  hear.     However,  if  you  do,  let 

in  those  gardens  where  they  are  pick,ed  off  me  know  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  them. 


ANTIRRtllNUM.— Silver  Belt. 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 

A  great  acquisition  to  our  variegated  glossy  green,  margined  on  each  edge  with 
plants,  being  (unlike  most  variegations)  white,  occasionally  tinted  with  pink ;  mak- 
of    robust    and    healthy    growth,    leaves     ing  a  compact  bushy  plant  when  in  bloom 


Fig.  41. — Antirrhimm. — Silver  Belt. 


of  from  18  inches  to  2  feet  in  height ;  flow-  with  me  last  season  among  a  .ot  of  seed- 
ers in  dense  spikes  beautifully  marked  lings,  the  seed  of  which  I  imported  from 
crimson  and  white.     The  plant  originated     Germany. 


New  Seedling  Carnations. 
NEW  SEEDLING  CARNATIONS. 


77 


Fig.  42—  Carnations — Flatbush  and  President  DegraM. 


The  montlily  carnation  being  so  impor- 
tant and  desirable  a  plant  for  winter  bloom- 
ing in  our  greenhouses,  to  furnish  cut  flow- 
ers for  bouquets  and  table  decorations,  we 
take  much  pleasure  in  presenting  to  our 
rcadpis  an  illustration  of  two  new  seed- 
lings, which  were  produced  by  Messrs. 
Dailledouze  &  Zeller,  Flatbush,  L.  I.,  from 
seed  received  from  the  Botanic  Gardens  at 
Geneva,  Switzerland. 


No.  1.  Flatbush. — Pure  white,  re^y  large 
flower,  deeply  fringed,  fragrant;  -very  full 
plant ;  a  strong  grower  and  profuse  bloomer. 

2.  President  Degraw.-~-Vure  white ;  flower 
very  full,  and  of  perfect  form,  finely  fringed 
and  fragrant  ;  plant  of  dwarf  habit  and  a 
profuse  bloomer. 

We  consider  these,  flowers  of  high  merit, 
and  a  valuable  addition  to  this  class  of 
plants. 


78 


The  Horticulturist. 


A  NEW  PEAR. 

Ohio,  through  Professor  Kirtland,  has 
given  the  pomological  world  many  varieties 
of  cherries,  one  or  two  pears,  while  other 
eminent  fruit-growers  in  that  State  have 
brought  out,  from  time  to  time,  apples, 
pears,  cherries,  raspberries,  strawberries, 
&c.,  until  the  State  has  acquired  a  renown 
for  fruit-growing.      Last  summer,    we  re- 


MARY."' 

ceived  two  varieties  of  seedling  pears  from 
Mr.  Christopher  Wiegel,  a  German  tree 
and  fruit  grower  at  Cleveland.  They  were 
both  so  good  for  their  season  that  we  at 
once  made  drawings,  and  then  prosecuted 
enquiries  as  to  their  habits  of  growth,  ori- 
gin, &c. 

Herewith  we  present  drawings  of  the  one 


Fig.  43.— Ma/'y  Pear. 


Fig.  44, 


received  by  us  as   No.   1,  and   which  Mr. 
Wiegel  now  names  Mary. 

Our  drawings  were  made,  as  will  be  seen 
from  two  different  specimens,  with  a  view 
to  get  the  mean  size.  The  history  of  this 
pear  is,  that  Mr.  Wiegel,  some  years  since, 
planted  seeds,  he  thinks,  of  Seckel  pear, 
and  from  the  trees  grown  selected  two  to 
keep,  because  of  their  early  coming  into 
bearing,  their  upright  vigorous   habits   of 


growth,  profuse  bearing,  and  good  quality 
of  fruit. 

The  tree  of  Mary  is  upright,  vigorous  in 
growth;  young  wood,  yellowish  red,  smooth, 
and  short-jointed  ;  buds  prominent,  with  a 
leaf  partaking  of  combined  character  of 
Seckel  and  Flemish  Beauty.  In  bearing, 
its  fruit  hangs  in  clusters  all  along  the 
limbs  on  short  spurs,  and  its  productiveness 
is  second  to  none.     The  fruit  is  usually  a 


The     Beading  Pear 


79 


little  below  medium  size;  form  generally 
globular  obtuse,  pyriform,  occasionally  one- 
sided ;  stem.,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long, 
moderately  stout,  slightly  curved,  and 
planted  in  a  narrow  angular  cavit}^ ;  cW^.r, 
rather  large ;  segment.^  erect,  or  nearly  so  ; 
hasin.,  broad,  very  shallow,  almost  imper- 
ceptible in  many  specimens :  cofor,  rich  pale 
j^ellow,  mostly  overspread  and  dotted  with 
bright  rich  red,  becoming  deep  red  next 
the  calyx,  and  showing  small  grey  dots,  oc- 
casionally a   little  russet  near  the  stem  ; 


/f.s/i,  white,  finely  granulated,  almost  but- 
tery juic}^,  sweet,  "very  good"  even  to 
the  seeds  ;  core.,  small,  eatable  ;  seeds.,  rich 
brown;  season^  before  the  Madelaine,  or 
early  to  middle  of  July. 

As  a  market  as  well  as  amateur  sort,  this 
pear  promises  well,  and  should  at  once  go 
into  hands  of  pear-growers,  for  trial  in  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  State. 

We  shall  give  cut  and  description  of  the 
other  variety  in  our  next. 


THE  READING  PEAR. 


We  have  received  fine  speci- 
mens of  this  winter  pear  from  W. 
Kessler,  Esq.,  of  Reading,  Penn., 
who  furnishes  us  with  the  fol- 
lowing description  :  —  Has  been 
known  for  eighty  years  past  in 
Oley  township,  Berks  Co.,  Penn., 
where  it  is  now  extensively 
grown.  Tree,  vigorous,  and  a 
remarkably  fine  bearer.  Fruit 
large,  elongated,  obtuse  pyriform, 
angular  and  ribbed.  Skin  yel- 
low, thickly  dotted  with  brown 
and  gray  dots,  and  sprinkled  with 
russet.  Stalk  long,  curved,  en- 
larged and  mbbed  at  its  insertion 
generally  in  a  depression.  Calyx 
open;  segments  strong,  in  an  ex- 
ceedingly shallow  basin.  Flesh 
whitish,  granular,  melting,  with  a 
brisk,  vinous  flavor  Season,  Jan- 
uary to  March. 


FxG.  45. — Rxtding  Pear. 


80 


The  Horticulturist, 


PLAN  FOR  IMPROVEMENT  OF  GROUNDS. 


BY  EUG.  A.  BAUMANN,  LANDSCAPE  GARDENER,   RAHWAY,  N.  J. 


I  send  a  design  I  have  laid  out  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York,  and  which  is  already 
grown  up  sufficiently  to  show  the  effect 
of  a  systematic  grouping,  the  most  im- 
portant object  in  laying  out  and  beautifying 
a  Country  Seat. 

This  plan,  located  some  two  miles  off  the 
station  of  Mamaroneck,  Westchester  Co., 
on  the  New  Haven  R.  R.,  between  several 
other  handsome  country  seats,  lies  on 
Long  Island  Sound. 

"When  its  owner,  Wm.  G.  Read,  Esq., 
gave  me  orders  to  remodel  it,  I  found 
the  cottage,  stables,  vegetable  garden  and 
orchards  established,  but  bordering  on 
both  sides  on  a  long,   straight  and  quite 


narrow  approach,  leading  Iroiii  the  gate  to 
the  front  of  the  cottage. 

On  the  said  front,  wherefrom  the  ground 
slopes  down  on  two  sides,  the  natural  shape 
of  the  land  had  been  left  untouched,  and 
without  any  regard  to  convenience  and 
beauty,  there  was  a  turn  in  the  road  around 
a  regular  oval,  of  about  15  or  IG  feet  wide. 

On  this  tarn,  the  place  whei  e  the  road 
touches  the  house,  it  was  at  the  right  ele- 
vation ;  but  below  the  oval,  simply  designed 
on  the  slope,  the  road  was  nearly  four  feet 
below  the  upper  level,  and  you  had  to  drive 
from  the  door  down-hill  around  the  oval, 
and  up-hill  again  to  reach  the  drive. 

It  W3S  an  every  day's  arrangement,  good 


■,fe&] LJ  J  J  J  J  J  ji 

,1  J  J  J  J»  J. 

TABLE   YAR 


Fig.  46. — Plan  of  Gmcnds. 


enough  on  a  level  ground ;  but  with  such 
a  slope  the  consequence  was,  that  every 
shower  carried  all  the  gravel  fi'om  the 
house  behind  the  oval,  undermining  this 
as  frequently,  and  carrying  all  this  stulFon 
top  of  the  lawn  below,  which,  therefore, 
could  never  be  kept  in  a  decent  order. 
This  was  one  of  the  greatest  troubles  to 
the  gardener.  It  took  more  to  keep  his 
drive  in  front  of  the  house,  as  well  as  his 
lawn,  in  order,  than  the  balance  of  the 
whole  place. 

The  stable-yard,  the  pasture  lot,  orch- 
ard, small-fruit  trees  and  vegetable  garden 
reached  only  a  few  feet  from  the  drive  ;  the 


stable-yard  was  open  altogether  ;  the  bal- 
ance was  embellished  by  a  double  row  of 
various  sorts  of  trees,  hardly  12  feet  apart, 
across  the  drive,  shading  this,  but  leaving 
a  full  view  of  all  kinds  of  crops  that  may 
not  be  always  pleasing  in  a  small  country 
seat. 

The  remnant  of  the  plan,  which  may  be 
considered  now  as  the  pleasure-ground  or 
lawn,  was  planted  with  a  collection  of 
trees  and  very  few  shrubs,  scattered  in  a 
very  irregular  way  all  over  the  place,  show- 
ing trees  everywhere  without  harmony  or 
connection.  There  was  no  dense  shade  nor 
open  lawn,  with  circulation  of  air,  and  the 


Plan  for  Improve7nent  of  Grounds. 


81 


lawn,  besides  not  being  drained,  in  place  of 
having  fine,  smooth  grass,  had  more  the 
appearance  of  a  swamp  in  some  places,  and 
in  others  more  moss  than  grass. 

I  took  charge  of  the  place  for  the  very 
small  sum  of  1^650,  for  carrying  out  every- 
thing in  the  line  of  gardening,  and  altered 
the  place  according  to  this  plan. 

1st.  The  main  approach  was  widened  to 
14  feet,  and  correctly  graded,  and  on  both 
sides  a  border  of  over  20  feet  wide  was 
trenched  and  prepared  for  a  collection  of 
trees  and  shrubs  mixed,  ornamenting  the 
drive,  and  hiding  the  vegetable  garden, 
orchard  and  pasture  grounds. 

Between  the  stable-yard  and  the  drive, 
a  bold  group  of  evergreens  was  established, 
to  hide  it  from  persons  driving  by,  but 
leaving  it  accessible  from  both  directions. 

2d.  In  front  of  the  house  there  was  a 
terrace  established,  wide  enough  to  allow 
the  turning  of  carriages,  and  as  far  as  the 
banks  were  high  enough,  an  iron  railing,  3 
feet  high,  was  put  up  to  define  correctly 
the  regular  outlines  of  said  terrace. 

The  corners  of  the  terrace,  outside  of  the 
space  required  for  wheeling  around,  were 
employed  for  some  flower-beds ;  the  rail- 
ing itself  was  intended  to  support  a  large 
display  of  climbers,  and  in  the  semi-circu- 
lar projection  at  B,  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  approach,  there  was  a  piece  of  statuary, 
or  some  seats  or  benches  intruded,  with  a 
full  view  along  the  drive  on  one  side,  and 
on  the  Sound  on  the  other. 

As  it  will  be  noticed  on  the  design,  the 
planting  around  this  terrace  is  intended  to 
make  it  more  prominent  still.  Openings 
from  the  circular  projection,  and  opposite 
the  front  of  the  house  and  the  bay  window, 
have  been  managed  ;  and  so  as  to  make 
them  more  conspicuous,  the  intervals  have 
been  stocked  with  evergreen  trees. 

3d.  The  trees  already  on  the  place,  most- 
ly of  the  leading  varieties,  or  rather  the 
more  common  varieties  met  in  nurseries, 
scattered  all  over  the  place  without  idea  of 
grouping,  without  any  idea  of  harmony  of 
size,  foliage  or  color — were  all  removed 
March,  1866. 


and  planted  according  to  the  wants  of  the 
place,  the  most  important  one  being  to 
bring  near-relatives  together  in  groups,  and 
to  leave  open  lawns  on  which  the  grass 
could  grow. 

Most  of  these  trees,  being  of  large  grow- 
ing sorts,  had  to  be  employed  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  place,  and  partly  in  the  rear 
of  the  borders  along  the  main  avenue. 

Trees  of  smaller  size,  and  flowering  shrubs 
had  to  be  employed  in  front  of  them,  so  as 
to  close  up  the  groups  with  a  diversity  of 
foliage  that  developed  itself  from  the  tops 
of  the  tall  trees  in  the  rear,  down  to  the 
grass  in  front  of  them.  Thus  were  formed 
dense  groups  and  belts  framing  the  lawn, 
and  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  hardly 
one  variety  was  employed  that  could  not 
be  seen  from  one  or  more  places. 

The  openings  left,  having  their  sides 
treated  in  the  same  way,  were  made  thus 
more  natural  and  more  conspicuous. 

Scattered  over  the  lawn,  single  speci- 
mens of  rarer  varieties  have  been  planted 
at  such  distances  from  the  paths,  that  they 
can  be  noticed  everywhere  ;  if  planted 
among  the  groups  or  belts  they  would  be 
lost. 

4th,  The  main  approach  has  received  a 
new,  correct  grade  from  the  main  entrance 
up  to  the  terrace.  The  walks  have  been 
altogether  graded,  stoned,  and  drains  man- 
aged under  them,  carrying  ofl"  all  the  stand- 
ing water. 

All  the  places  occupied  by  trees  were 
well  trenched,  at  over  2  feet  depth  ;  the 
lawn  well  graded  and  spaded  10  to  12 
inches  deep,  and  now  there  is  fine  grass 
on  it. 

I  saw  this  place  in  the  latter  part  of 
November  last,  when  the  foliage  had  drop- 
ped, but  notwithstanding,  I  felt  a  great 
satisfaction,  and  so  far  so  much  of  a  suc- 
cess, to  think  it  worth  while  to  send  you 
the  drawing  of  it,  made  from  memory 
alone,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  not  quite 
correct  in  all  the  proportions. 

Mr.  Wm.  G.  Read  furnished  all  such 
articles   that   were   not   in  the  gardening 


82 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


line;  the  iron  railing  cost  (iron  was  clieap-  improvement    did    not   exceed   $1,500   or 

er  then)  about  $400,  put  up  and  painted.  $1,G00,  and  T  know  from  Mr.  Read  himself 

Some  other  expenses  for  the  frames,  grav-  that  he  does  not  regret  it,  as  he  was  offered 

el,  stones,  sods  and  a  summer-house  of  rus-  a  veiy  large  profit  on  the  place  as  soon  as 

tic  work,  at  A,  may  have  cost  some  $400  it  was  done, 
more.     All  included,  I  suppose  the  whole 


NOTES  ON  THE  JANUARY  NUMBER. 


Although  unable  to  write  notes  on  the  It  is  the  true  lover  of  rural  life — the  enthu- 

two  last  numbers  of  the   Horticulturist  siast,  if  you  will,  in  Horticulture  and  kin- 

for  18G5,  I  assure  the  writers  I  i-ead  them  dred  pursuits,  to  whom  we  are  indebted 

with  much  pleasure;  and  to  some  I  really  for  the  progress  that   now  yearly,  almost 

felt  that  I  wanted  to  add  a  word,  not  that  daily,  marks  the  rural  life  of  this  country 

what  I  might  add  would  of  itself  be  of  any  and  has  already  placed  us,  in  many  things, 

great  value,  but  that  a  hint  here,  and  a  far  in  advance  of  older  countries,  where  the 

question  there,  often  sets  "  one  a-thinking,"  working  talent  is  mainly  confined  to  sys- 

and  occasionally  draws  out  mind  where  the  tem  and  books.  During  nearly  thirty  years 

owner  himself  know  not  of  its  extent,  of  observation,  I  find  that  only  those  im- 

In  compliance  with  a  courteous  request  bued  with  an  enthusiastic  love  of  fruit  and 

of  the  Editors,  I  propose,  during  the  com-  flower,  tree  and  shrub,   &c. — such  men   as 

ing  year,  to  reaa,  monthly,  the   Horticul-  Wilder,  Kirtland,    Dana,  &c., — accomplish 


TURiST,  and  jot  down  such  thoughts  as  its 
valuable  articles  may  suggest.  Should  my 
plain  manner  occasionally  seem  harsh,  I 
trust  no  offence  will  be  taken,  as  the  in 


or  attempt  much  that  lays  out  of  a  direct 
line  of  truisms  laid  down  in  the  books. 

Let  no  man  fear  being  too  enthusiastic  in 
rural  pursuits  ;  it  may  not  always  add  to 


tention   will  be  to   encourage   and   assist  his  bank  account,  but  he  will  lay  up  a  store 

rather  than  to  criticise.  of  enjoyment   not   to  be   purchased   with 

The  January  number  comes  replete  with  money, 

most  valuable  matter,  and    as  the  Editors  To  the  remark,  that  "  most  planters  are 

have  given   us  notice   that  only  practical  afraid  of  the  axe,"  I  must  give  a  hearty 

matter  will  be  admitted,  we  must,  in  our  assent;  for  in  a  practice  of  years,  cutting 

writings,  as  in  our  labors,  keep   the  ohject,  away  has  been  one  of   the  most  difficult 

steadily  in  view,  and  although  we  may  be  things  that  I  have  had  to  contend  with  in 


criticised  by  book-makers  and  those  who 
work  by  the  book,  yet,  should  we  "  not  do 
all  at  once,"  if,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  we 
have  studied  out  some  new  system,  or 
proven  the  fallacy  or  truth    of  some   old 


the    advisement   for   the   improvement  of 
grounds. 

How  to  Remodel  an  Old  Farm  House. 
— A  good  representation  of  what  is  often 
being  done  ;  and  could  our  farming  people  be 


commendation,  we  shall  feel  that  our  time     ^.QJ-g  ^p  to  a  tithe  of  taste,  such  re-model- 
has  not  been  entirely  lost. 

On  Not  Doing  All  at  Once. — "  Gradu- 
ated progress  is  essential  to  all  rational  en- 
joyment," says  the  writer.  Let  me  add 
that  progress  in  Horticultural  or  Agricul- 
tural matters  has  never  been  witnessed  in 
the  labors  of  those  who  go  by  the  book. 


ings  would  increase  until,  instead  of  taste- 
less, though  comfortable,  houses,  our  farm 
residences  would  become  pleasing  structures 
ever  to  be  remembered  by  the  outgoing 
children  in  connection  with  their  fire-side 
associations.  The  farming  community,  as 
a  whole,  are  rich,  and  now  is  the  time  to 


Notes  on  the  January  Number. 


83 


urge  upon  tbem  to  use  the  taste  of  some 
other  than  their  village  carpenter  in  the 
construction  of  their  buildings. 

My  Neighbors  and  Myself. — A  plea- 
sant record  of  a  New  Jersey  neighborhood 
that  might  be  fitted  for  many  other  loca- 
tions. I  hope  no  grape-grower  will  take 
his  record  of  the  manner  of  growing  grapes 
as  a  method  to  be  adopt-ed;  it  smacks  too 
much  of  past  ages,  and  returns  to  mildews, 
rank,  spongy  and  tender  wood,  &c. 

Grapes  in  1865. — Coming,  as  this  arti- 
cle does,  from  one  who  claims  knowledge 
upon  the  subject  of  grapes,  I  am  surprised 
at  it.  All  Horticulturists,  I  believe,  ac- 
knowledge that  years  are  requisite  to  prove 
the  value  of  new  fruits,  and  especially  of 
the  grape ;  but  here,  in  a  list  of  sorts  ad- 
vised for  "  profit^'''  are  varieties  that  two 
yenrs  since  were  hardly  known,  and  as  jat 
have  been  fruited  in  only  very  few  places. 
The  assertion  that  grapes,  like  other  fruits, 
will  grow  in  any  good  soil,  is  all  right,  but 
to  assert  that  an  equal  quality  of  grape  can 
be  grown  in  any  soil,  is  simply  to  belie  the 
teachings  of  all  the  past  and  present.  I 
like  to  see  a  man  strike  out  bold,  and  must, 
therefore,  compliment  the  writer  on  that 
part,  and  suggest  that  he  be  read}^,  for  I 
ween  he  may  have  to  hear  of  others  writing 
on  grapes  and  giving  some  different  views. 

What  Not  to  Do.— Here  is  the  kernel 
in  a  nut-shell — a  short  article — and  besides 
telling  what  not  to  do,  the  writer  gives 
two  plain,  practical  items  on  drainage  and 
making  cuttings  that,  to  one  who  has  been 
accustomed  to  go  by  the  book,  are  worth 
the  year's  cost  of  this  journal.  As  Mr. 
Henderson  says,  it  is  worth  as  much  to  be 
able  to  steer  clear  of  the  rocks  other  prac- 
titioners have  blundered  on,  as  to  have  di- 
rections how  to  proceed.  The  last  are  all 
written,  but  the  blunders  are  not  often 
told  by  those  who  err. 

Longevity  of  Trees. — As  a  rule,  few 
know  anything  of  the  natural  age  of  trees, 
and  especially  of  the  exceptions  where  spe- 
cimens have  weathered  the  storms  of  hun- 


dreds of  years.     To   all  such  this  article 
will  be  one  of  great  interest. 

Plan  for  Laying  out  a  Square  Acre. 
— A  very  good  plan,  but  I  fear  not  as  often 
practical  as  one  would  be  where  the  same 
amount  of  land  is  embraced  in  one-half  the 
width  and  double  the  depth.  Suppose  the 
author  gives  one  in  that  proportion.  To 
this  plan  I  suggest,  however,  the  change 
from  gravel  around  the  house  to  smooth? 
green  turf.  The  turf  reflects  heat  less  in 
summer,  is  quite  as  cleanl^r  for  children  to 
play  on,  and  gives  a  better  relief  to  the 
elevation  of  the  house.  One  more  sugges- 
tion— some  place  for  a  cow-paddock;  for  I 
if  "one  acre"  is  "enough,"  a  cow  must  be 
provided  for.  It  is  a  great  item  in  the  ex- 
pense of  a  poor  man's  family.  The  question 
of  quantity  of  land,  as  to  how  much  is 
enough,  I  reckon  depends  very  much  on  the 
owner's  views  of  expenditure,  as  well  as  ca- 
pacity to  take  charge  of  it.  I  know  one  man 
who,  from  a  lot  twenty -three  feet  wide,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty  deep,  whereon  is 
placed  his  dwelling,  realized,  the  past  year, 
three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  from 
sales,  and  with  this  amount  and  the  use  of 
his  surplus  crops,  considers  it  enough  for 
his  wants. 

Gardens  and  Parks  in  Germany. — It 
always  does  me  good  to  lead  of  the  Ger- 
man manner  of  universal  enjoyment,  and 
while  reading  this  article,  I  imagined  my- 
self sitting  beside  the  various  groups  on 
the  turf,  as  I  have  often  done  in  this  coun- 
tiy.  As  the  writer  says,  in  this  country 
all  public  gardens  are  of  some  private  en- 
terprise, or  possibly  of  Corporation  owner- 
ship, where  so  many  officials  in  "  brief  au- 
thority" hold  sway,  that,  in  a  measure, 
part  of  the  enjoyment  is  lost.  St.  Louis, 
Mo  ,  probably,  has  more  places  of  amuse- 
ment and  recreation,  after  the  family  sys- 
tem of  the  Germans,  than  any  other  city 
in  the  United  States,  and  there  I  have  often 
passed  a  pleasant  hour  in  what  too  strict  ' 

disciplinarians  call  "  beer  gardens."  Amer- 
icans, as  a  nation,  are  money-seekers — ever 
working,  never  resting,  but  like  other  na- 


84 


The  Horticulturist. 


tions,  winding  up  their  mortal  coils  with  a 
similar  result — i.e.,  inanimate  matter. 

A  Trip  to  Vineland. — Ah  !  here  is 
what  we  want.  Every  journal  has  been 
issuing  call,  by  way  of  advertisement,  for 
settlers,  until  too  many  of  us  have  come  to 
look  upon  the  item  as  one  in  which  the  ad- 
vertiser kept  the  best  end  of  the  bargain. 
Now  we  have  a  reliable  account,  and-  from 
one  having,  as  may  be  presumed,  no  ''  axe 
to  grind'"  The  location  of  New  Jersey, 
between  two  of  the  largest  cities  in  the 
States,  possesses  undoubtedly  better  mar- 
ket facilities  than  any  other  section  of  our 
country.  The  highest  prices  are  at  once  at 
command  of  the  grower  of  fruit  or  produce, 
no  deduction  has  to  be  made,  as  in  many 
sections  west,  on  account  of  transportation, 
&c. ;  but,  while  conceding  all  favorable  to 
New  Jersey,  it  is  not  quite  fair  to  decry 
other  sections.  Most  of  the  new  towns  of 
the  West  have  equal  advantages  of  "  good 
society  ;"  they  also  possess  "  places  of  wor- 
ship," and  their  children,  judging  from  the 
records  of  the  numbers  in  each  State  that 
do  and  do  not  read  and  Avrite,  have  at  least 
equal  "advantages  of  education  at  small 
expense."  It  is  not  every  man  that  is  fit- 
ted for  a  gardening  life,  or  that  would  be  sa- 
tisfied with  ten  or  twenty  acres,  and  while 
New  Jersey  may  offer  inducements  to  the 
truck-grower,  or  grower  of  the  small  fruits, 
as  strawberries,  etc.,  he  who  would /a?™  it 
in  a  strict  agricultural  sense  will  find  his 
way  west,  and  gain  thereby. 

To  the  man  of  small  means,  with  a  love 
of  flower,  fruit  or  vegetable  growing,  New 


Jersey  offers  extra  inducements,  for,  fill  it  ' 

as  rapidly  as   you  may,  and  increase  the  < 

quantities  of  fruits  and  vegetables  ever  so  ; 

fast,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  will  still  ; 

keep  ahead  in  demand.     Looking  back  upon  i 

peach-growing   as  an   instance — when  the  I 

Reybolds  planted   their   orchards    on  the  ; 

Delaware — we  (then   of  New  York  city)  i 

congratulated   ourselves   that    only  a  few  - 
years   would  elapse   when   we   could  buy 
peaches   at  a  low  price.     But  how  has  it 

been  ?     At  no  time  since  1840  have  peaches  j 

sold  in  New  York  as  cheap  as  they  were  ' 

previous  to  that  time,  and  peach-growing  is  \ 

now  more  profitable  than  ever.     The  same  ^ 

may  be  said  of  all  fruits,  from  the  straw-  ; 

berry    up.     When  the    writer   first   com-  ' 

menced  strawberry  growing,  he  sold  at  an  1 

average  of  five  cents  per  quart,  and  counted  i 
that  profitable.     Now,  our  poorest  markets 
command   seven  to  nine   cents   when   the 

crops  are  contracted,  and  many  growers  re-  , 
ceive    from    twenty    to   thirty   cents   per 
quart  on  an  average.     Fruit-growing  to  the 

Horticulturist,  like  stock  and  grain-growing  j 

to  the  Agriculturist,  may  be  advised  ad  in-  .\ 

finitum^  and  so  long  as   man   lives,   the  de-  j 

maud,  with  the  price,  will  rather   increase  \ 

than  diminish.  '• 

New  Hybrid  Pink. — From  the  descrip-  | 

tion,  this  must  be  a  valuable  acquisition.  j 

The  Rose,  Pink,  and  Verbena  have  always  | 

been  pets  of  the  writer,  and  no  one  thing  \ 

ever  gave  more  satisfaction  than  a  bed  of  ! 

Picotee  pinks  of  some  sixty  varieties,  when  i 

in  bloom.  \ 

Reuben.  '] 


DIAGONAL  TRAINING  IN  VINEYARD  CULTURE.— I. 

BY    D.   M.  BALCH,  SALEM,  MASS. 

sion  of  viticulture  of  so  much  consequence 


At  the  risk  of  being  considered  tedious, 
we  mean  to  venture  a  few  remarks  on  the 
trite  but  important  subject  of  vine-training, 
and  to  propose  a  method,  which,  as  far  as 
we  know,  has  never  been  practiced,  but 
which  seems  to  fulfil  certain  requirements) 
and  may  prove  valuable. 

It  is  our  belief  that  there  is  no  one  divi- 


as  the  proper  training  of  the  vine ;  for  on 
this  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  the  health 
and  duration  of  the  vineyard,  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  its  products,  and  the  recom- 
pense it  shall  bestow  upon  the  cultivator 
for  his  toil. 

The  many  systems  that  have  been,  or  are 


Diagonal  Training  in  Vineyard  Culture. 


85 


now  in  vogue,  are  valuable  by  as  much  as 
they  coincide  with,  or  depart  from,  certain 
laws  of  vegetable  growth,  which  we  can 
not  infringe  with  impunity  ;  for  the  fact 
that  the  vine,  having  a  facile  nature,  can 
accommodate  itself  to  circumstances,  is  no 
argument  that  it  will  not  be  restive  under 
ill  treatment,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  grate- 
ful for  intelligent  care.  These  systems  al- 
low the  vineyardist  the  utmost  latitude  for 
selection,  and  free  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
his  judgment;  for  in  a  single  day's  travel 
among  the  vines  one  can  see  the  application 
of  numerous  methods,  involving  all  grades 
intermediate  between  a  dense  mass  of  fo- 
liage excluding  air  and  light,  and  on  the 
other  hand,  a  mere  network  of  branches 
and  clusters,  half  shaded  bj'-  a  few  scrofu- 
lous-looking leaves.  One  enthusiast,  tak- 
ing Nature  as  his  guide,  would  permit  his 
vines  to  wander,  as  in  their  native  woods, 
among  the  boughs  of  lofty  trees,  untouched 
by  pruning-knife,  and  unrestrained  in  their 
luxuriance ;  while  another  pictures  in  his 
mind  the  theoretical  vine  as  a  short  staff, 
more  or  less  straight,  and  furnished  at  re- 
gular intervals  with  rich  heavy  clusters. — 
But  the  leaves  ?  Well,  he  admits  that  a 
few  are  necessary  ;  and  so  arbitrarily  limits 
each  vine  to  a  certain  number,  one  or  two 
beyond  the  fruit,  and  these  he  is  determin- 
ed it  shall  not  exceed,  if  he  can  prevent  it. 
The  former  is  rational  ac  least,  for  Nature 
is  a  true  mistress,  and  will  not  lead  her  vo- 
taries astray ;  but  he  defeats  certain  great 
aims  and  objects  of  vine-training  to  have 
the  crop  within  easy  reach,  to  keep  it  there, 
and  to  economise  space.  But  the  latter  is 
irrational.  Working  out  his  theory  with 
thumb-nail  and  pruning  knife,  he  trans- 
gresses natural  laws,  is  continually  sapping 
the  vigor  of  his  vines,  and  will  be  deserv- 
ingly  punished  with  unripe  fruit,  and  wage 
unceasing  warfare  on  that  species  of  veget- 
able marasmus,  mildew  :  vineta  sua  ccedit. 

Against  close  pruning  and  defoliating  the 
vine,  the  following  conclusions  of  Schleiden 
are  a  very  strong  argument ;  plants  in  a 
state  of  cultivation  are  predisposed  to  dis- 


ease, tha't  is,  they  are  more  susceptible  of 
morbific  influences  than  in  their  normal 
condition,  since  we  seek,  by  a  peculiar  mode 
of  treatment,  to  develop  certain  structures, 
or  to  increase  certain  constituents  inordi- 
nately, and  thus  overthrow  the  natural  equi- 
librium: ''  The  general  morbid  condition  pro- 
duced by  cultivation  is  heightened  into  speci- 
fic predisposition  to  disease  when  the  condi- 
tions of  cultivation  are  opposed  too  strong- 
ly, or  too  suddenly,  to  those  of  Nature." — 
Now,  Nature  has  not  provided  each  cluster 
of  grapes,  like  the  apple,  pear,  cherry,  and 
indeed  most  fruits,  with  a  small  bunch  of 
leaves,  but  has  placed  it  near  the  base  of  a 
free-growing  branch,  which  keeps  ever  ex- 
tending as  its  fruit  approaches  maturity. — 
What,  then,  we  ask,  can  be  more  unnatural 
than  the  restricting  this  branch  to  two  or 
three  leaves  beyond  the  fruit  it  is  striving 
to  perfect,  and  persistently  checking  each 
attempt  that  the  vine  makes  to  repair  the 
injury  1  We  thus  give  the  plant  a  shock 
that  it  feels,  no  doubt,  in  the  uttermost 
rootlets,  and  deprive  it  of  the  very  organs 
it  most  needs.  What  wonder,  then,  if  mil- 
dew, be  it  a  cause  or  a  consequence  of  dis- 
ease, is  so  prevalent  among  the  vines,  and 
half-ripened  fruit  so  abundant  in  the  mar- 
ket? 

It  is  well  known  that  sap  tends  to  the 
extremities,  and  while  flowing  freely  through 
a  branch,  causes  a  vigorous  growth,  most  of 
the  buds  producing  twigs;  but  when  we 
check  its  flow  by  bending  down,  twisting, 
or  otherwise  manipulating  the  branch,  it 
thickens,  and  induces  the  incipient  wood- 
buds  to  blossom.  In  most  systems  of  vine- 
training,  the  fruiting  cane  is  fastened  either 
vertically  or  horizontally ;  in  the  former 
we  have  to  fear  that  the  uppermost  laterals 
will  be  over-stimulated  at  the  expense  of 
those  near  the  base  ;  and  in  the  latter,  that 
the  growth  of  the  laterals  will  be  too  vig- 
orous on  account  of  their  vertical  position. 
Training  at  an  angle  of  45°  has  been  found 
very  favorable  for  the  production  of  both 
foliage  and  fruit  (see  the  writings  of  Bre- 
haut  and  others),  and  it  is  our  intention  in 


86 


The  Horticulturist. 


this  paper  to  apply  this  method  of  training, 
"  diagonal,"  or  "  en  cordon  oblique^''''  to  the 
vine,  modifying  it  somewhat  to  meet  cer- 
tain conditions. 

A  practical  system  of  culture  for  the 
vineyard  should  keep  all  parts  of  the  vine 
within  easy  reach,  occupy  all  the  ground 
and  trellis-space  advantageously,  provide 
for  the  annual  renewal  of  certain  portions 
of  the  vine,  not  infringe  too  rashly  upon  its 
natural  habit,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  ensure 
ripe  fruit  and  healthy  foliage,  without  ex- 
traordinary skill  or  tedious  supervision. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  write  an  essay  on 
the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  so,  passing  over 
without  comment  the  selecting  and  locating 
a  vineyard,  and  the  preparation  of  its  soib 
about  which  so  much  has  been  said  and 
written  that  the  subject  seems  nearly  ex- 
hausted, and  yet,  strange  to  say,  few  agree, 
we  turn  at  once  to  our  theme — the  vine 
itself. 

The  condition  of  the  vine  at  planting  is 
of  the  greatest  importance.  If  its  constitu- 
tion has  been  debilitated,  whether  by 
springing  from  an  unhealthy  parent  or  from 
neglect  in  infancy,  extra  care  and  attention 
will  not  succeed  in  rearing  from  it  a  hardy 
and  healthy  plant,  and  our  hopes  for  its 
future  are  vain.  The  large  planter  who  ex- 
tends his  vineyard  year  by  year,  will  prob- 
ably raise  his  own  stock,  and  can  watch 
over  it  from  the  bud  ;  but  the  beginner  will 
have  to  content  himself  with  purchased 
vmes.  These,  if  obtained  from  reliable  par- 
ties, and  of  the  first  quality,  will  usually 
do  well ;  but  it  is  a  good  plan  for  him  to 
establish  a  nursery,  in  which  he  can  give 
his  purchased  vines  a  year's  growth,  to  re- 
cover from  the  effects  of  transplantation  and 
transportation,  and  exhibit  their  vigor. — 
This  nursery  may  be,  like  the  vineyard,  a 
bed  of  sandy  loam,  deeply  worked,  and  only 
moderately  fertile,  since  it  is  not  our  pur- 
pose to  force  the  vines,  but  give  them  a 
healthy  start,  and,  by  a  little  care  and  at- 
tention, accustom  them  to  their  new  lo- 
cality. In  the  Fall,  all  weaklings  ought  to 
be  destroyed,  and  the  strong  plants  trans- 


ferred to  the  vineyard.  A  vine  with  three 
or  four  feet  of  short-jointed  wood,  exceed- 
ing one-fourth  inch  in  diameter,  may  be 
considered  suitable  for  permanent  planting; 
and  if  this  be  carefully  raised,  and  as  care- 
fullj'-  leset,  it  scarcely  feels  the  shock  of  re- 
moval ;  our  vine  is  then  cut  down  to  six  or 
eight  eyes,  and  a  slight  mound  of  earth 
heaped  over  stalk  and  roots  for  winter  pro- 
tection. 

With  returning  ■  Spring,  the  buds  will 
start,  and  most  of  them  may  be  suffered  to 
grow  at  random,  for  the  growth  below 
ground  will  match  that  above,  and  plenty 
of  roots  are  needed  for  next  year's  work. — 
The  surface  of  the  ground  should  be  well 
worked  during  the  growing  season,  and 
lightly  top-dressed  in  the  autumn ;  the 
vines  cut  down  to  three  or  four  eyes,  and 
covered  with  a  mound  of  earth.  These  di- 
rections serve  only  for  the  establishment  of 
strong  healthy  vines,  and  are  applicable  to 
all  systems  of  training,  which  commence  in 
the  second  or  third  spring,  as  the  case  may 
be. 

We  will  now  describe  the  system  of 
"  Diagonal  Cordons  "  as  concisely  as  pos- 
sible: 

We  have  planted  our  vines  forty  inches 
apart  (some  strong  growers  may  require 
four  feet),  in  rows  eight  feet  apart,  treated 
them  as  above  described,  and  have  them 
now  pruned  to  three  or  four  eyes,  and  cov- 
ered with  earth,  waiting  for  spring.  At 
the  proper  time,  we  uncover  the  vines,  and 
from  buds  about  six  inches  from  the  ground 
allow  two  shoots  to  grow,  the  weaker  of 
which  is  to  be  stopped  at  about  the  sixth 
leaf,  and  not  suffered  to  extend  much  fur- 
ther ;  but  the  stronger  trained  upward  to  a 
temporary  staks,  and  permitted  to  grow 
unchecked  till  autumn,  merely  stopping 
once  or  twice  over-vigorous  laterals,  as  it  is 
our  purpose  to  g'row  a  long  stout  cane.  In 
the  Fall,  this  cane,  which  ought  to  carry 
ten  or  twelve  feet  of  ripe,  short-jointed 
wood,  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  is  cut  into 
eight  feet,  and  the  short  cane  to  two  buds. 
We  may  cover  or  not,  as  one  pleases,  this 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germiany. 


87 


winter;  the  vines  are  now  well-established, 
and  if  the  soil  has  not  been  so  rich  as  to 
force  a  rank  succulent  growth,  but  the  wood 
is  healthy  and  well  ripened,  they  ought  to 
be  in  a  condition  to  stand  the  vicissitudes 
of  climate  in  most  localities  where  a  grape 
can  be  raised  largely  to  advantage. 

Early  next  spring,  the  trellises  may  be 
built.     Posts  are  set  13^  feet,  or  16  feet. 


apart,  so  as  to  enclose  four  vines  be- 
tween each  pair  of  posts.  To  these,  hor- 
izontal pieces  are  spiked,  one  at  seven,  the 
other  at  one  foot  from  the  ground.  The 
slats  are  about  one  inch  square,  and  are 
nailed  to  the  horizontals  at  an  angle  of  45°, 
and  twenty  inches,  or  two  feet  apart  from 
centre  to  centre. 


GARDENS  AND  PARKS  OF  GERMANY. -Ct^nimtterL 


Upon  these  streets,  which  are  broad, 
well  paved,  and  lined  with  trees,  the  houses 
are  mostly  set  some  distance  back,  with 
lawns  in  front,  and  often  upon  one  or  both 
sides  of  them.  The  fences  are  generally  of 
iron,  while  back  of  these  run  beautiful  arbor- 
vitae,  fir,  or  box  hedges.  The  walks  are 
generally  bordered  with  beautiful  flower- 
beds and  low  hedges  of  box.  They  are 
either  gravelled,  or  covered  with  a  beautiful 
fine  quartz  sand,  of  a  yellowish  hue.  The 
turf  is  kept  closely  shaven,  and  is  adorned 
here  and  there  with  some  fine  evergreen, 
some  bronze  group  or  crystal  fountain. — 
You  see  a  great  deal  of  ivy  trained  over  ar- 
bors or  the  walls  of  the  buildings,  while 
sometimes  you  see  it  growing  intertwined 
with  hedges.  Verandahs  and  balconies  are 
very  common,  and  these  are  often  covered 
with  luxuriant  vines.  Here  and  there  you 
see  large  bay  windows,  filled  with  a  profu- 
sion of  brilliant  plants,  many  growing  down 
from  hanging  baskets  to  meet  their  compa- 
nions on  the  stand  below. 

The  wealthy  Berliners  pay  much  atten- 
tion to  their  hot-houses  and  conservatories, 
many  of  which  are  filled  with  the  rarest 
exotics.  It  is  a  favorite  practice  with  them 
to  bring  their  conservatories  out  into  their 
grounds  in  summe^,  and,  placing  hundreds 
of  pots  together,  to  build  up  pyramids  of 
floral  splendor  and  artistic  taste  on  their 
front  lawns,  or  often  on  the  spacious  steps 
which  lead  up  to  their  mansions.  The  effect 


thus  produced  is  one  of  wonderful  beauty, 
as  3'ou  pass  by  one  after  another  these  floral 
displays,  each  seeming  to  surpass  the  other 
in  magnificence.  The  elegant  mansions, 
the  green  lawns,  the  clear  fountains,  the 
trim  hedges,  the  marble  and  bronze  groups, 
all  uniting  to  form  a  fitting  accompaniment 
to  these  rainbow-hued  groups  of  Nature's 
most  cunning  handiwork. 

In  the  suburbs  of  Berlin  is  an  immense 
locomotive  manufactory,  employing  several 
thousand  workmen.  The  founder  of  the 
establishment,  Mr.  Borsig,  was  an  amateur 
botanist  of  great  reputation,  and  expended 
large  sums  of  money  in  his  botanical  pur- 
suits. He  has  passed  away,  but  his  son 
still  keeps  up  the  gardens.  It  is  not  so 
much  the  grounds,  as  the  hot-houses,  the 
green-houses,  the  pinery,  and  the  palm- 
house,  which  renders  this  place  almost 
without  an  equal. 

When  I  first  entered  the  principal  green- 
house, the  effect  was  wonderful,  was 
amazing.  I  stood  and  looked  in  silence 
upon  the  scene  before  me.  You  see  before 
you  a  forest  of  Camellias  and  Azaleas  in  the 
fullest  bloom,  artistically  arranged  in  a 
semicircle,  rising  up  many  feet,  to  meet  a 
a  gallery  along  whose  walls  beautiful  Cam- 
ellias, trained  like  vines,  formed  a  living 
tapestry.  The  ground  was  carpeted  with 
a  most  delicate  moss,  studded  with  fair  prim- 
roses. In  the  centre  an  exquisite  fountain 
of  the  purest  white  marble,  crowned  with  a 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


lovely  statue,  gave  a  completeness  to  the 
whole.  The  air  was  fragrant  and  cooling ; 
the  scene  one  of  the  quietest  beauty,  nought 
breaking  the  silence,  save  the  rippling  of 
the  fountain — which  alone  seemed  pure 
enough  to  commune  with  the  silent  won- 
ders of  God's  creation  round  about.  Pas- 
sing  to  the  next  apartment,  through  a 
large  archway  verdant  with  climbing  vines, 
a  profusion  of  splendid  Magnolias,  rodo- 
dcndrons,  and  exquisite  plants  unknown  to 
me,  reared  their  proud  flower-crowned 
crests  above  and  around  us,  seeming  to  flour- 
ish in  all  their  native  vigor  and  beauty. 
As  a  centerpiece,  a  singularly  graceful 
New  Zealand  Cypress,  rose  high  above  its 
gayer  companions,  and  then  bending  in 
graceful  curves,  swept  the  very  ground 
with  its  drooping  tresses.  All  around  us 
upon  stands,  were  the  rarest  green-house 
plants,  and  the  most  perfect  specimens  of 
the  familiar  hyacinth,  and  tulip,  lily  and 
salvia.  Further  on  was  a  third  apartment, 
where  a  fine  collection  of  delicate  ferns, 
some  of  great  size,  rose  from  a  bed  of  green- 
est moss.  Now  leaving  the  green-house, 
you  pass  through  a  corridor  containing  an 
Eden  of  beautiful  flowers,  and  enter  the 
palm-house.  This  is  in  keeping  with  the 
rest  of  the  establishment,  and  is  hardly  to 
be  surpassed. 

It  is  not  so  extensive  as  some  I  have 
seen,  but  it  is  by  far  the  best  arranged.  It 
is  laid  out  in  tasteful  walks  and  contains 
several  fountains.  No  where  have  I  seen 
the  strange  and  gigantic  creepers  of  the 
tropics,  so  tastefully  trained.  One  of  the 
finest  existing  specimens  of  a  singular 
creeper  called  the  philodendron,  was  here 
trained  up  an  artificial  rock,  for  more  than 
twenty  feet.  Its  stem  was  four  or  five 
inches  in  diameter,  and  its  digitated  leaves 
of  a  dark  glossy  green,  more  than  eight 
inches  in  breadth.  All  around  rose  lux- 
uriant fan-shaped  palms,  giant  cactaceae, 
and  immense-leaved  bananas.  Everything 
looked  strange,  everything  looked  tropical. 
The  strange  vines,  and  parasitical  plants, 
the  gorgeous-leaved  spaecrogynes,  the  tow- 


ering bamboo  and  monster  fern,  all  seemed 
■whispering  to  us  of  their  far  off  sunny 
climes.  Not  the  least  interesting  to  me 
was  the  house  of  the  Orchidaceae. 

This  was  a  large  hot-house,  devoted  to 
rare  exotics,  many  of  them  belonging  to 
the  same  class  as  the  common  orchid. 

The  building  was  about  250  feet  in  length, 
and  constructed  of  glass  and  iron.  The 
collection  cost  originally  $30,000,  and  was 
once  one  of  the  rarest  and  most  extensive 
in  Europe.  The  young  botanist  who  was 
then  in  charge  of  it  was  a  friend  of  mine, 
and  it  was  only  through  him  that  I  gained 
admittance  to  it,  as  it  was  not  open  to  the 
public.  Under  his  superintendance  the 
plants  which  had  been  very  much  neglected 
under  his  pi'edecessor,  were  undergoing  a 
thorough  course  of  treatment. 

All  of  these  exotics  require  the  tenderest 
care,  and  the  greatest  watchfulness,  in  or- 
der to  keep  them  vigorous.  If  neglected 
they  soon  sicken,  become  blighted,  and 
cease  to  blossom.  The  atmosphere  re- 
quires to  be  kept  very  warm  and  moist, 
the  temperature  averaging  80  degs.  The 
greatest  enemies  of  these  children  of  the 
tropics  are  insects,  and  from  these  they 
have  to  be  zealously  guarded.  A  large 
number  of  these  plants  seem  to  grow 
mostly  from  air  and  moisture,  and  are  pot- 
ted in  soft  moss.  Others  dwelt  in  hanging 
baskets  filled  with  moss,  and  struck  out 
vigorous  air  roots  through  their  openwork 
receptacles,  which  like  the  locks  of  Medusa, 
seemed  living  and  moving  though  objects 
of  beauty  and  not  of  horror,  for  from  them 
burst  forth  strange  and  beautiful  blossoms, 
some  of  which  shaped  like  butterflies,  as 
bright  and  frail,  swayed  to  and  fro  with 
the  least  breath  of  air.  Here  were,  perhaps, 
some  twenty  varieties  of  the  Calceolaria 
or  Moccasin  plant,  whose  singular  yellow 
or  pink  Mocassin-shaped  blossoms,  as  it 
grows  with  us,  is  known  to  you  all. 

Here  were  assembled  many  curious  and 
beautiful  varieties  unknown  to  northern 
climes.  Most  of  them  were  almost  as  re- 
markable for  the  beauty  of  their  leaves  as 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


89 


for  that  of  tlieir  blossoms.  One  from  the 
Philippine  Islands,  had  a  very  pretty 
spotted  leaf,  resembling  on  a  lar2;e  scale, 
that  of  our  wild  Adderstongue.  The  blos- 
som of  one  was  red  and  white,  beautifully 
variegated;  that  of  another,  from  Borneo, 
of  a  strange  glossy  green  ;  while  that  of  a 
third  was  of  so  dark  a  purple  as  to  seem 
almost  black.  Some  of  the  other  orchida- 
ceae  were  most  magnificent,  such  as  the 
Vanda  Suavis  of  Java,  with  its  superb 
spikes  of  white  blossoms,  studded  with 
purple,  or  the  Brassavola  of  Honduras,  with 
its  fringed  flower  of  purest  white.  And 
here  were  also  many  strange  Nepenthes, 
relatives  of  our  Fare's  Hillpitcher-plants, 
gathered  together  by  adventurous  botan- 
ists from  Brazil,  the  East  Indies,  and  the 
islands  of  the  Southern  Sea.  With  us  the 
pitchers  form  a  part  of  the  leaf,  but  with 
most  of  the  foreigners  the  pitchers  were  in- 
dependent, connected  only  by  a  slight  stem 
three  or  four  inches  in  length,  to  an  oval 
leaf.  In  one  case  the  pitchers,  all  about 
the  size  of  thimbles,  grew  upon  the  stem 
of  the  plant  itself      Many  of  these  plants 


grew  like  vines,  and  were  trained  for  many 
feet  over  trellises.  The  subtile  aroma  of 
these  fair  flowers,  combined  with  the  mois- 
ture-ladened  steaming  atmosphere,  pro- 
duced an  oppressive  strange  sensation, 
dreamlike,  trance-conducive.  And  what 
must  be  the  effect  of  such  a  vegetation  as 
this  in  its  native  clime,  among  the  "  sum- 
mer's isles  of  Eden,  in  dark  purple  spheres 
of  sea."  Mr.  Borsig's  place  was  small, 
but  a  gem,  and  a  head  gardener  and  some 
twenty  men  were  engaged  in  caring  for  it. 
The  grounds  were  tastefully  laid  out,  and 
contained  many  of  the  rarest  evergreens 
and  shrubs,  some  of  which  had  to  be  kept 
during  the  winter,  in  an  immense  green- 
house fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  Naught 
could  be  more  pleasant  to  one  tired  of  the 
noise  and  dust  of  the  city,  than  to  make  a 
visit  here.  To  feast  one's  eyes  upon  the 
wondrous  flow^ers  and  plants  ;  and,  strolling 
through  the  grounds,  to  recline  under  the 
fine  old  trees,  and  to  listen  to  the  sweet 
strains  of  the  nightingale  who  sang  nowhere 
sweeter  than  here. 


GREELY  PRIZES." 


The  Committee  appointed  to  award  the 
Greely  Prizes  on  apples  and  pears,  met  for 
that  purpose  at  the  residence  of  William 
S.  Carpenter,  Esq.,  New  York,  on  Dec. 
12th,  at  3  o'clock,  P.M. 

All  the  members  were  present.  After 
the  Chairman,  Dr.  Warder,  called  the  meet- 
ing to  order,  the  Secretary,  P.  T.  Quinn, 
read  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting, 
which  were  accepted. 

The  Committee  regret  to  state  that,  al- 
though the  time  for  the  action  of  the  Com- 
mittee has  been  delayed  for  more  than  a 
year,  in  the  hope  that  a  more  liberal  res- 
ponse would  be  made  by  fruit-growers  in 
forwarding  choice  varieties  for  competition, 
the  following  is  a  list  of  the  varieties 
presented  for  examination : 

Apples. — Huhhanlston'' s  Nan  Such,  Falla- 


ioater,  Sioaar,  Bakhcin,  Tompkins  Co.  King, 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  Northern  Spy,  Win- 
ter Pippin,  and  three  varieties  of  Seedlings. 

Pears. — Bartlett,  Lawrence,  Duchessed^An- 
goideme,  Dana's  Hovey,  Sheldon,  Beurre  d''An- 
jou,  and  Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey. 

For  the  information  of  those  interested 
in  the  awarding  of  these  premiums,  the 
Committee  desire  to  incorporate  in  their 
report  the  portion  of  Mr.  Greely's  original 
offer,  relating  to  the  apple  and  pear. 

After  speaking  of  the  purpose  Ke  had  in 
view,  Mr.  G.  says:—"  I  offer  $100  for  the 
best  bushel  of  apples,  which  combine  gen- 
eral excellence  with  the  quality  of  keeping 
in  good  condition  until  the  1st  of  February, 
and  is  adapted  to  the  climate  and  soil  of 
the  Northern  and  middle  States. 

It  is  not  required  that  the  apple  submit- 


90 


The  Horticulturist. 


ted  be  new,  but  it  is  hoped  that  one  may 
be  found  which  combines  the  better  charac- 
teristics of  such  popular  favorites  as  the 
Northern  Spy,  Baldwin,  R.  I.  Greening, 
Newtown  Pippin,  or  a  majority  of  them. 
Let  us  see  if  there  is  not  a  better  apple 
than  the  established  favorites ;  if  not,  let 
us  acknowledge,  and  act  on  the  truth. 

I  further  offer  a  premium  of  ^100  for  the 
best  bushel  of  Pears,  of  a  specific  variety, 
size,  flavor,  season,  &c.  It  must  be  a 
pear  adapted  to  general  cultivation.  It 
need  not  be  a  new  sort,  provided  it  be  un- 
questionably superior  ;  but  one  object  of 
the  premium  is  to  develop  unacknowledged 
excellence,  if  such  shall  be  found  to  exist. 

One  object  of  the  premiums  is  to  afford 
a  landmark  for  fruit-growers,  in  gardens 
and  small  farms,  who  are  now  bewildered 
by  the  multiplicity  of  sorts  challenging 
their  attention,  each  setting  up  claims  to 
its  unapproachable  excellence. 

I  leave  the  determination  of  all  questions, 
which  may  arise  as  to  the  propriety  of 
making  a  prompt  award,  or  waiting  further 
developments,  entirely  to  the  appropriate 
department  of  the  Institute. 

Signed,  Horace  Greelky.." 

The  Chairman,  Dr.  Warder,  made  some 
interesting  remarks,  setting  forth  the  em- 
barrassing circumstances  under  which  the 
Committee  were  called  to  the  discharge  of 
the  duty  devolving  upon  them,  growing  out 
of  the  fact  that  many  of  our  best  fruits 
have  their  locality  in  which  alone  their 
characteristic  excellencies  are  developed. 
And  hence  the  apple  or  pear,  regarded  the 
best  in  one  locality,  may  prove  an  indiffer- 
ent fruit  in  another.  But  adaptation  to 
the  entire  range  of  the  Northern  and  Mid- 
dle States,  with  healthfulness  of  habit  in 
both  tree  and  foliage,  as  well  as  size,  flavor, 
and  season  of  fruit,  is  demanded  by  the  re- 
quirements. 

The  first  ballot  gave  Hubbardston  Non- 
Such  3,  Baldwin  2,  Tompkins  Co.  King  1 ; 
the  chairman  not  voting.  After  a  full  and 
free  discussion  of  the  comparative  merits 
of  these  and  other  varieties,  the  Hubbards- 


ton was  ruled  out,  as  not  meeting  the  re- 
quirements of  Mr.  Greely,  in  keeping  in 
good  condition  until  the  1st  of  February. 

On  the  third  ballot,  the  vote  was,  for 
the  Baldwin  four  ;  for  the  Rhode  Island 
Greening  three.  Whereupon  the  Chair- 
man declared  the  Baldwin  to  be  the  choice 
of  the  Committee.  Messrs.  Downing, 
Ward,  Sylvester,  and  Ferris,  for  Baldwin  ; 
and  Messrs.  Warder,  Carpenter  and  Quinn; 
for  R.  I.  Greening. 

In  the  selection  of  a  pear,  from  the  list 
of  candidates  above  named,  the  ballot  was 
made,  as  in  the  case  of  the  apple,  without 
consultation.  The  first  ballot  gave  the 
Bartlett  four  and  Sheldon  three.  The 
Chairman  declared  the  Bartlett  to  be  the 
pear.  Messrs.  Downing,  Ward,  Sylvester 
and  Ferris,  for  Bartlett;  Messrs.  Warder, 
Carpenter,  and  Quinn,  for  the  Sheldon. 

It  was  then  determined  that  the  Com- 
mittee should  select,  by  ballot,  six  varieties 
of  apples  and  six  varieties  of  pears  for  gen- 
eral cultivation,  comprising  two  Summer, 
two  Fall  and  two  Winter  varieties.  Mr. 
Hovey,  of  Boston,  who  was  present,  was 
invited  to  take  part  in  the  vote. 

It  was  a  matter  of  surprise  when  the  re- 
sult of  the  first  ballot  was  read  by  the 
Secretary.  Without  consultation  for  the 
two  Summer  fruits,  the  vote  was  as  follows : 

APPLES. 

Summer— Vv'waaXe^  6  ;  Red  Astrachan,  5. 
Fall — Porter,  6  ;  Gravenstein,  6. 
Winter  —  Hubbardston    Non-Such,    6  ; 
Northern  Spy,  5. 

PEARS. 

Summer —  Manning's  Elizabeth,  5  ;  Ros- 
teizer,  5. 

FaM— Sheldon,  8  ;  Seckel,  6. 

Winter — Lawrence,  7  ;  Dana's  Hovey,  5. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  read 
and  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  Whereas^  in  consequence  of  the  reading 
of  a  communication  from  P.  B.  Mead,  pub- 
lished in  the  Tribune^  a  question  has  arisen 
in  regard  to  the  action  of  this  Committee  as 
to  the  postponement  of  the  award  of  the 
grape  premium, — therefore, 


The  Greeley  Prizes. 


91 


Resolved — That  we  do  reaflBrm  tlie  action 
liad  at  the  meeting  in  September  last,  when 
it  was  agreed,  in  concurrence  with  the  ex- 
pressed wishes  of  Mr.  Greely,  and  in  what 
we  believe  to  have  been  the  unanimous 
judgment  of  this  Committee,  that  we 
should  defer  action  until  a  future  period." 

It  was  gratifying  to  the  Committee  to 
examine  such  choice  lots  of  Winter  pears 
as  were  voluntarily  sent  to  this  meeting. 
Elwanger  &  Barry,  of  Rochester,  New  York, 
exhibited  30  varieties,  which  were  highly 
creditable  to  them.  Their  yearly  contribu- 
tions of  fruit  add  much  interest  to  the 
annual  exhibition  of  the  Institute. 

C.  M.  Hovey,  of  Boston,  exhibited  27 
varieties ;  many  of  them,  new  sorts,  and  all 
well  grown. 

Mr.  H.  is  one  of  the  early  friends  of  hor- 
ticulture in  this  country,  and  his  collections 
of  fruit  at  the  Institute  Fairs  have  always 
attracted  attention. 

Wm.  L.  Ferris,  of  Throgg's  Neck,  ex- 
hibited seven  varieties  of  Winter  pears. 
Although  less  in  number,  they  were  not  in- 
ferior in  quality,  but  on  the  contrary,  most 
creditable  to  the  grower. 

Isaac  Buchannan  presented  one  variety, 
and  George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  exhib- 
ited two  varieties.  Mr.  B.  is  a  zealous 
friend  of  horticulture,  and  will  soon  have 
an  extensive  pear  orchard  at  his  place  at 
Newport. 

It  was  moved  and  adopted,  that  the 
Committee  adjourn,  to  meet  at  the  Fall 
exhibition   of   the    Institute,    to  be  held 


September,  1866.  The  time  and  place  Mr. 
Carpenter  would  make  known  to  the  mem- 
bers. 

Before  closing  this  report  it  is  our  pleas- 
ant duty  to  render,  on  behalf  of  the  Com- 
mittee, a  hearty  acknowledgment  to  Mr. 
Carpenter,  at  whose  residence  the  meetings 
were  held.  Though  grateful  resolutions 
were  duly  passed  at  the  last  meeting,  the 
friendly  and  generous  hospitality  of  our 
host  is  firmly  impressed  upon  the  minds 
of  those  who,  in  fulfilling  the  trust  con- 
fided in  them,  felt  their  task  lightened 
and  supported  by  Mr.  Carpenter's  co  opera- 
tion and  gentlemanly  liberality. 

Not  only  horticulturists,  but  that  vast 
horticultural  society,  the  public,  are  deep- 
ly indebted  to  Mr.  Greely  for  the  interest 
awakened  by  this  entire  movement.  That 
its  results  will  prove  beneficial  none  can 
doubt;  but  Mr.  Greely's  offer  assumes  even 
more  importance  when  considered  in  the 
light  of  an  initiatory  idea. 

When  those  burdened  and  surrounded 
by  manifold  public  responsibilities  can  take 
an  active  part  in  special  developments  of 
horticulture,  it  behooves  men  of  influence, 
possessed  of  abundant  leisure  and  ample 
means,  to  take  a  hint  from  the  "  Greely 
Prizes." 

John  A.  Wardkr,  Chairman. 

P.  T.  QuiNN,  Secretary. 

John  A.  Warder.      Charles  Downing. 

I.  M.  Ward.  Wm.  S.  Carpenter. 

Wm.  L.  Ferris.  P.  T.  Quinn. 

E.  W.  Sylvester. 


APPLES  AND  PEARS. 


The  result  of  the  deliberations  of  such 
men  as  composed  the  committee  appointed 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute, to  award  the  Greely  Prizes  (as  re- 
ported in  the  Horticulturist  for  January, 
with  reference  to  apples  and  pears),  is  one 


of  more  than  usual  importance.  It  is  plain- 
ly within  the  province  of  the  Horticultu- 
rist as  a  magazine,  and  the  horticulturist 
as  an  individual,  to  call  particular  at- 
tention to  it,  at  this  time,  as  one  of  the 
guides  which  may  safely  be  taken  with  refer- 


92 


The  Horticulturist. 


ence  to  tree -planting  during  the  ensuing 
spring. 

The  reputation  of  all  the  apples  named 
is  so  well  established,  that  the  list,  so  far 
as  it  goes,  would,  doubtless,  be  accepted  by 
acclamation  by  any  pomological  association. 

The  list  of  pears  is  especially  noticeable 
and  commendable,  for  the  prominence  which 
is  given  to  those  of  domestic  origin.  Those 
who,  like  the  writer  of  this,  have  planted, 
replanted,  and  transplanted ;  grafted,  re- 
grafted,  budded,  and  double-worked  a  va- 
riety of  foreign  pears — and,  generally,  with 
but  indifl'erent  success — will  be  disposed  to 
join  in  the  wish  that  they  had  been  favor- 
ed with  such  advice  twenty  years  ago ;  and 
unite  in  commending  it  with  all  its  brevity, 
to  those  who  have  neither  time  nor  means 
to  throw  away  in  experimental  pear  cul- 
ture. 

Wherever  a  particular  apple  or  pear  has 
a  first-class  local  reputation,  any  fruit- 
grower would,  with  the  greatest  propriety, 
substitute  it  in,  or  add  it  to,  any  list  for 
general  cultivation,  however  highly  recom- 
mended as  a  whole.  For  instance,  the 
Pinneo  Pear  so-called,  (but  miscalled  the 
Boston,  in  certain  localities  in  New  Eng- 
land), would  be  planted  as  a  summer  pear 
in  place  of  the  Rostiezer.  So,  too,  the 
Roxbury  Russet — a  well-known  and  highly 
popular  late  keeping  apple — would  still  be 
retained  by  many,  as  the  dominant  fifth  in 
the  harmony  which  embraces  the  Early 
Harvest,  the  Golden  Sweet,  the  Baldwin, 
and  the  Rhode  Island  Greening. 

The  Primate,  by  the  way,  is  the  apple  al- 
luded to,  and  partijilly  described,  in  the 
Horticulturist  (vol.  14;  p.  471),  as  the 
North  American  Best.  It  came,  originally, 
from  New  Jersej^,  and  was  first  brought 
prominently  to  the  notice  of  the  horticul- 
tural world  by  means  of  a  communication 
in  Hovey's  Magazine,  in  1850,  accompanied 
with  an  editorial  description  and  outline 
engraving  of  the  fruit.  It  is  exceedingly 
popular,  and  widely  disseminated  in  this 
vicinity. 

The  Dana's  Hovey  Pear — which  finds  it- 


self so  suddenly  elevated  by  the  action  of 
the  committee,  to  its  present  high  rank 
among  the  select  few — is  of  comparatively 
recent  introduction,  and  its  credentials  are 
herewith  annexed  ;  more  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  the  j'ounger  members  of  "  our 
parish,"  for  whom,  in  fact,  this  brief  article 
is  particularly  penned. 

We  quote  from  the  Magazine  of  Horti- 
culture (vol.  25  ;  No.  5)  : — "  This  most  re- 
markable production  is  undoubtedly  the 
richest  pear  known.  To  say  that  it  is  as 
good  as  the  Seckel  would  be  praise  enough; 
but  it  is  more  than  this.  It  has  not  the 
spicy  aroma  of  that  old  pear,  but  it  has 
what  is  more  luscious — a  peculiar  nectar  of 
its  own,  unsurpassed,  and  apparently  unap- 
proachable— a  refined  compound  of  the  aro- 
ma of  all  other  pears — a  sort  of  honeyed 
juice,  delicately  refreshing  and  luscious. — 
The  tree  is  almost  as  remarkable  as  its 
fruit.  It  is  a  very  vigorous,  though  not 
rapid  grower,  making  stocky,  short-jointed 
wood,  like  the  Seckel.  In  habit,  it  is  erect 
and  pyramidal,  like  the  Buffum.  It  is  ex- 
tremely hardy  ;  its  productiveness  appears 
abundant,  and  its  keeping  qualities  wonder- 
ful;  never  rotting  at  the  core;  and  with 
proper  care  it  may  be  had  in  eating  up  to 
the  first  of  January.  Ripe  in  November 
and  December." 

So  rapidly  has  this  variety  strode  into 
public  favor,  that  it  is  now  less  than  six 
years  since  its  merits  were  recognised,  and 
brought  to  notice  by  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society,  by  the  bestowal  of 
a  gratuity  and  silver  medal  upon  Mr.  Dana 
for  its  production. 

Note.— Our  friend,  J.  0.  Cose,  suggests 
that  it  is  sufficient  proof  of  the  excellence 
of  the  Dana's  Hovey  Pear  that  it  has  sur- 
vived such  a  fulsomely  eulogistic  descrip- 
tion, even  as  it  stands  abbreviated,  as 
above. 

Another  humorous  and  poetical  (?)  friend 
thinks  that  "  salt  saved  it,"  for  he  says 
that  the  description  of  an  article  for  sale  is, 
generally  taken  "  cum  grano  salts.'''' 


Editor's  Table. 


93 


EDITOR'S     TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


The  Delaware  Grape. — This  plate  just 
published  is  the  finest  illustration  of  the 
Delaware  Grape  that  has  yet  appeared  in 
this  country.  We  have  had  it  prepared 
with  great  care,  and  confidently  recommend 
it  to  all.  On  heavy  plate  paper,  handsome- 
ly colored.  Price,  post  paid,  Three  Dollarsj 
or  sent  free  to  any  subscriber  who  sends  us 
two  neio  subscriptions  and  Five  Dollars,  in 
addition  to  his  own. 


New  England  Farmer. — Published 
weekly,  at  Boston,  Mass.,  by  R.  P.  Eaton 
&  Co.  ;  Two  Dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  an 
num.  Its  contents  are  carefully  prepared. 
Market  reports  full  and  complete,  and  as 
authority  on  all  agricultural  matters,  has 
few  equals.  Its  circulation  is  large,  and 
we  speak  from  experience  when  we  say  it 
is  one  of  the  best  of  advertising  mediums. 
Look  up  their  prospectus  in  our  advertis- 
ing columns,  and  add  this  paper  to  your 
list.  No  one  loses  anything,  either  in  time 
or  money,  who  pays  for  and  reads  all  the 
leading  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  jour- 
nals. The  man  who  steadily  goes  ba  -k- 
wards  is  the  one  who  does  not  take  a 
paper ;  his  farm  can  be  picked  out  as  easily 
as  oats  from  wheat. 


Messrs.  Editors. — I  would  be  under  ob- 
ligations if  you  would  give  me  some  infor- 
mation relative  to  the  construction  of  a  dry 
house  for  a  small  orchard,  say  200  trees  ; 
heating  the  same,  &c. 

James  Y.  Clemson,  Caledonia,  111. 

Can  any  of  our  readers  furnish  us  a  sketch 
and  description  of  a  building  suitable  for 
the  above  purpose,  for  illustration. — Eds. 


tained  the  ripe  age  of  sixty  years,  his  death 
nevertheless  strikes  the  community  as  pre- 
mature. There  was  such  a  wealth  of  re- 
source in  the  man,  so  much  already  per- 
formed, and  so  much  still  to  be  achieved, 
that  the  crown  of  his  busy  life  seemed  to  be 
but  the  pledge  of  an  ever  youthful  activity. 
Settling,  in  1846,  upon  a  stony,  bar- 
ren tract  of  land  near  Newark,  New  Jer- 
sey, he,  in  time,  through  an.  improved 
and  judicious  sj^stem  of  culture,  ren- 
dered it,  as  admitted  by  all,  the  most  pro- 
ductive and  successful  farm  of  its  size  in 
the  State.  Meantime,  he  started  an  agri- 
cultural paper,  which  he  continued  to  edit 
for  fourteen  years,  when  his  failing  health 
forced  him  to  resign.  He  invented  the  ro- 
tary digger  and  subsoil  plow,  and  other  im- 
proved implements  ;  advanced  and  promul- 
gated many  important  theories  and  dis- 
coveries— among  the  most  striking  of  which 
may  be  cited  his  theory  of  the  Progression 
of  Primaries  in  nature.  He  was  among  the 
first  to  advocate  the  formation  of  an  Agri- 
cultural Bureau  at  Washington,  the  head 
of  which  should  be  a  Cabinet  oflicer,  hold- 
ing equal  rank  with  the  Secretaries  of  the 
other  Departments  ;  and  in  the  course  of 
three  years  delivered  150  lectures,  analyzed 
the  soils  of  over  200  farms  successfully, 
advising  their  mode  of  culture  ;  and  prob- 
ably wrote  more  on  agriculture  than  any 
other  man  living. 


The  Late  Professor  James  J.  Mapes 

Prof.    Mapes,    the    eminent    agriculturist, 
has  passed  from  earth.     Though  he  had  at- 


RoBERT  Reid,  an  eminent  florist,  died 
in  this  city  on  the  24th  of  December,  1865. 
Mr.  Reid  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
came  to  this  country  over  fifteen  years  ago  ; 
he  contented  himself  by  following  the  busi- 
ness of  a  florist,  and  making  a  very  large 
circle  of  true  friends;  but  in  earlier  life  he 
was  a  well-known  character  and  used  to  con- 
tribute, as  a  writer,  to  some  of  the  best  hor- 


94 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


ticultural  literary  publications  in  England. 
He  was  an  honorary  member  of  the  London 
Horticultural  Society,  and  could  claim  close 
companionship  with  such  men  as  Dr.  Lind 
ley,  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker,  Robert  Errington, 
Donald  Beaton,  J.  C.  Loudon,  and  Robert 
Thompson,  all  of  whom  are  well  known  as 
authors,  and  have  done  more  to  raise  horti- 
culture to  its  present  dignified  standing 
than  any  other  men.  He  was  one  of  those 
veteran  horticulturists  that  we  can  ill  af- 
ford to  part  with. 


Wink  from  the  Clinton  Grape.— 
We  are  indebted  to  Judge  Woodward,  of 
Reading,  Penn.,  for  a  bottle  of  wine  made 
from  this  grape  by  John  Fehr,  Esq.,  of  that 
place.  This  wine  bears  much  evidence  of 
skill  in  its  manufacture,  which  is  more  than 
can  be  said  of  the  majority  of  native  wines 
that  have  come  under  our  notice.  Though 
but  one  year  old,  it  is  already  of  fine  flavor 
and  body,  and  has  a  character  quite  dis- 
tinct. The  Clinton  deserves  a  high  rank 
as  a  wine-grape  for  those  localities,  where 
it  can  be  thoroughly  ripened. 


ington,  inculcates  similar  views,  in  recom- 
mending the  cutting  away  of  the  old  part, 
or  top  roots  of  the  vine,  from  year  to  year, 
and  thus  causing  it  to  make  new  surface 
roots.  Similar  are  the  deductions  from  the 
old  English  practice  of  a  mass  of  stones, 
&c.,  underneath  all  the  border  wherever 
the  grape  is  to  be  grown. 

In  this  matter  of  depending  upon  the 
surface  roots,  there  is  undoubtedly  much 
that  is  correct ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  we 
must  not  discard  the  main  roots.  The  one 
extreme,  heretofore  practiced  by  German 
vignerons,  of  cutting  away  all  surface  roots, 
and  depending  only  on  the  lower  and  deep 
roots,  it  is  patent,  has  shown  error ;  and 
we  judge  the  other  extreme  of  only  looking 
to  the  surface  roots  would  exhibit  ■equal 
error.  There  is  a  mean  to  be  taken  to  en- 
sure success. 


Manure  for  Evergreens. — Years  ago, 
we  were  taught  that  animal  manures  were 
injurious  to  evergreens  ;  but  for  four  or  five 
years  past,  we  have  practiced,  applying  old, 
well-rotted  barn-yard  manure  to  evergreens 
of  all  sorts,  and  apparently  with  the  best 
possible  results.  Our  trees  and  shrubs 
grow  vigorously,  and  put  on  a  deeper, 
brighter  green;  while  kalmias  and  rhodo- 
dendrons flower  more  abundantly  than  in 
our  old  practice  of  leaf  mold  manuring. 


The  Root  of  the  Grape  Vine  the 
Seat  of  Mildew,  Rot,  &c. — Dr.  Schroe- 
der,  of  Bloomington,  Illinois,  an  extensive 
and  successful  grape-grower,  asserts  that 
rot,  &c.,  may  be  prevented  by  renewing  the 
vine  yearly,  by  means  of  layers,  and  thus 
cause  it  to  fruit  from  canes,  the  roots  of 
which  are  near  the  surface. 

If  we  mistake  not,  Mr.  Saunders,  of  the 
Agricultural  Department  Garden  at  Wash- 


Grafting  Grapes. — The  practice  of  en- 
grafting old  standing  vines  with  new  sorts, 
by  sawing  off  the  crown  just  at  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  then  splitting  it  and  uniting 
the  graft,  and  afterwards  earthing  up  all 
around  it,  is  pretty  well  and  generally  un- 
derstood. We  have,  however,  found  that 
splice  or  whip  grafting  on  to  a  cane  of  last 
year,  and  then  layering  the  cane,  leaving 
only  the  last  bud  of  the  graft  visible  above 
the  ground,  to  be  among  the  good  ways  of 
obtaining  new  sorts,  or  changing  varieties. 
Grafting  cuttings  of  two  buds  on  pieces  of 
roots,  and  planting  them  out  early,  in  the 
open  border,  leaving  only  the  open  bud 
level  with  the  ground,  and  then  mulching 
with  some  light  material,  as  sawdust,  &c., 
is  also  a  successful  way  of  growing  many 
sorts  that  do  not  readily  strike  from  cut- 
tings in  the  open  ground- 


Several  Varieties  of  Shrubs  in  One. 
— Amateurs  of  flowers  are  frequently  desir- 
ous of  having  all  the  varieties  of  lilacs, 
upright  honeysuckles,  wiegelias,  &c.,  but 
have  not  room  to  plant  them.  As  a  rem- 
edy, we  tell  them  that  an  amateur  friend 
of  ours  takes,  for  instance,  a  bush  of  the 


Editor's  Table. 


95 


old-fashioned  lilac,  and  engrafts  on  its  var- 
ious limbs  one  or  more  grafts  of  the  Persian, 
Josikean,  Charles  X.,  &c. ;  and  on  one  bush 
of  wiegeiia  rosea  he  has  amabilis,  middenda- 
fiana,  &c.,  thus  giving  many  varieties  and 
occupying  but  a  small  space  of  ground. 

Would  not  plants  so  grown  by  nursery- 
men meet  ready  sale  ?  We  think  so. — 
What  nurseryman  will  step  out  of  the 
beaten  track,  and  try  the  putting  of  sev- 
eral varieties  of  allied  shrubs  on  one  bush 
as  an  item  of  business. 


Fall  had  nearly  double  the  amount  of  roots 
of  those  left  to  grow  connected  with  the 
parent  vine.  We  suggest  to  practitioners 
the  making  trial  of  cutting  away  layers 
from  the  parent  vine  this  coming  season,  at 
different  times — say  July,  August,  and  Sep- 
tember— and  oblige  by  sending  us  account 
thereof. 


Peonias. — All  herbaceous  peonias  that 
have  been  growing  in  the  same  place  three 
or  more  years  should  be  separated  and  re 
planted.  Early  in  spring  is  the  best  time. 
Tree  peonias  may  also  be  grafted  on  roots 
of  the  herbaceous  sorts,  and  grown  success- 

fully.  

The  use  of  about  four  bushels  of  salt, 
with  one  bushel  of  plaster  (gypsum),  per 
acre,  and  sown  early  in  spring,  is  found  pro- 
fitable as  a  manure  to  dwarf  pear  planta- 
tions ;  and  on  grass  grounds  its  evidence  of 
value  is  so  great,  that  whoever  applies  it 
once  will  hardly  fail  of  doing  so  in  succeed- 
ing years. 


A  grape  amateur  at  the  West — viz.,  Wm. 
Muir,  £8q.,  of  Fox-Creek  P.  0.,  St.  Louis 
County,  Mo., — writes  us  that  he  has  now 
one  hrnidred  and  three  varieties  of  grapes 
growing,  the  most  of  which,  if  not  all,  will 
be  in  fruiting  the  coming  season.  He  also, 
with  Mr.  Hussman,  of  Hermann,  writes  us 
that  Rogers'  No.  1  promises  of  great  value 
in  Missouri.  This  is  what  we  should  ex- 
pect, as  their  length  of  season  and  great 
heat  must  cause  it  to  ripen  perfectly,  which, 
as  a  rule,  it  fails  to  do  in  its  native  lo- 
cality. 


Creditable. — "The  Meramec  Horticultu- 
ral Society,"  of  Missouri,  have  issued  a  cir- 
cular to  all  fruit-growers  of  the  West  and 
South,  in  reference  to  the  holding  of  the 
next  meeting  of  the  American  Pomological 
Society  in  St.  Louis  next  Fall.     They  call 

^         ^  ^  ^  for  action  of  all  fruit  men,  and  for  co-opera- 

Best  Time  to  Separate  Layers  from     ,•  „  ^o  „,,    ^„;.  ^    .  _  .,  ^i      ■  • 

tion  ol  all  railroad  men,  city  authorities, 
THE  ViNES.-A  correspondent  writes  that  ^^_^  ^^_^  j^  presenting  not  only  a  show  of 
a  "large  portion  of  his  layers  of  grape  vines  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^.^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^  ^^.^^  ^^^^  ^^ 
made  the  past  season,  and  left  on  the  vine,  ^^^^  g^^t^^  ^^  ^^^^.^^^„  members  of  the  con- 
have  already  been  destroyed  by  the  surface  ^,^,^^;^,^  ^ver  it,  that  they  may  see  and  un- 
freezing and  thawing,  thus  breaking  oft'  the  deivstand  the  adaptation  of  Missouri  to  the 
otted  by  too  u^es  of  an  enlightened  people,  to  its  advan- 
tages as  a  fruit  region,  and  its  value  as  a 
Layers,  unquestionably,  should  be  cut  off    country  promising  abundant  remuneration 


roots,  which  afterwards  are 
much  wet." 


to  the  prosecutor  of  any  business.  Wq 
shall  look  for  a  good  time  when  the  meet- 
ing convenes. 


from  the  parent  plant,  taken  up,  and  heeled 
in,  in  some  dry  and  sheltered  position  in 
the  Fall.     This,  we  believe,  is  the  common 

practice  of  those  who  grow  layers  of  grape  — 

vines  for  sale.     A  little  practice  of  one  of        Ashes  for  Poultry When  feedin"-  our 

our  friends  during  the  past  year  leads  to  a  hens  the  past  winter,  we  have  practiced 


question  as  to  when  is  the  best  time  to  sep- 
arate the  layer.  His  experiment  was  in 
cutting  free  the  layer  in  July,  or  after  it 
had  thrown  out  roots  two  inches  long;  and 
his  statement  is,  that  such  layers  in  the 


mixing  a  small  handful  of  wood  ashes  with 
the  meal,  and  found  an  apparent  benefit  to 
the  fowls.  We  also  give  in  the  meal,  twice 
a  week,  about  one  tea-spoonful  of  Cayenne 
pepper.     Our  stock  numbers  thirty  birds. 


96 


The  Horticulturist. 


Garden  Royal  Apple. — This  variety  is 
among  apples  what  the  Seckel  is  among 
pears — a  fruit  of  surpassing  excellence  in 
quality  ;  but  it  is  only  medium  in  size,  and 
not  particularly  showy  for  market  sales. 

Every  grower  of  the  apple  should  pos- 
sess one  tree  of  it  for  his  own  use. 


Planting  Peas. — In  planting  peas  this 
spring,  our  friends  should  remember  that 
experiments  have  proven  that  the  pea  will 
vegetate  at  even  one  foot  deep,  but  that  a 
mean  depth  of  four  to  six  inches  is  best — 
say  one  furrow  depth  of  plowing,  or  a  spade 
depth  of  that  implement  is  used  in  prepar- 
ing the  ground.  If  planted  too  shallow, 
say  two  inches,  the  vines  soon  dry  up ;  and 
if  too  deep,  they  are  liable  to  mildew  sooner 
than  when  a  medium  depth  is  had. 


RocKwoRK. — One  of  our  correspondents 
writes,  that  for  several  years,  in  the  prac- 
tice of  landscape  gardening,  he  has  been  in 
the  habit  of  using  our  common  wild  brakes 
or  ferns  in  constructing  simple  but  effective 
pieces  of  rockwork,  at  little  cost.  "Where 
a  northern  exposure  is  had,  or  on  a  bank 
adjacent  to  water,  even  if  a  south  exposure, 
their  growth  and  beaut}^  is  retained  as  per- 
fect as  in  their  native  wood  locations. 


DiELYTRA  Spectabilis  Alba. — A  Speci- 
men of  this  new  variety  of  our  well-known 
hardy  herbaceous  plant,  is  now  in  bloom  in 
our  green-house.  The  flower  is  in  all  re- 
spects like  the  pink  variety,  except  in  co- 
lor, which  at  first  is  a  pure  white, 
afterwards  changing  to  blush.  The  fo- 
liage is  of  a  light  green,  even  from*  the 
first  commencement  of  growth.  It  forces 
well,  and  is  a  desirable  acquisition,  both 
for  the  garden  and  in-door  culture. 

How  TO  Raise  Early  Cucumbers. — 1. 
A  good  method  to  produce  early  cucumbers 
is  the  following: — Make  a  trench  at  the 
warmest  place  of  the  garden  ;  into  this  put 
old  manure — about  three  inches — and  on 
this  good  earth — three  inches — on  this  plant 


the  seeds,  and  cover  them  with  sawdust —  ,| 

two    to   three   inches.       Cucumbers   thus  j 

treated  are  said  to  come  earlier,  to  endure  j 

rain,  drouth,  and  even  a  little  frost,  far  j 
better  than  those   treated  another  way. — 

Against  severe  night-frosts  they  should  be  | 

protected  by  boards.  j 

2.  Take  middle-sized  flower-pots ;  fill 
them  two-thirds  with  good  soil ;  put  the  ^ 
seeds  on  this,  and  cover  with  sawdust ;  * 
sprinkle  with  warm  water,  and  put  the  pots  I 
near  the  stove.  On  the  appearance  of  the 
plants,  place  the  pots  near  the  window. —  \ 
Care  should  be  taken  to  harden  the  plants  • 
before  transplanting  them  into  the  garden,  i 
by  admitting  air  to  them  both  day  and  ! 
night.  ) 

3.  Take  egg  shells  (the  hole  to  be  on  the  j 
upper   end   three-fourths   of  an   inch),  fill  \ 
them  with  good  soil,  and  therein  plant  the 
seeds.     Plants  thus  raised,  kept  either  in  i 
the   house   or   hot-bed,    are    easily   trans- 
planted. 1 

How  TO   Raise   Many    Cucumbers. — 1.  1 

Never  take  fresh  seed  of  last  season,  but  ' 

always  take  seeds  two  to  four  years  old. —  | 
Who  can  not  get  old  seed,  should  have  his 
fresh  seeds  dried  near  a  warm  stove  during 

several  weeks.     Some  gardeners,  in  order  , 

to  obtain  this  end,  carry  their  seed  in  their  j 

pockets.     Old  cucumber  seed  will  bear  ear-  j 

lier  and  more  fruit.     Fresh  seed  will  make  ! 
weak  plants,  and  is  longer  in  germinating. 

2.  Pinch  off"  the  end  of  the  main  shoot. 

This    will    strengthen  the  growth  of   the  ! 

vine,  the  laterals  will  come  out  sooner,  and  : 

you  will  get  more  fruit  before  frost  sets  in  \ 
again. 

How  TO  GET   Fine   Flavored    Cucum-  j 
BERS. — 1.  Get  your  seed  from  a  reliable 
seedsman. 

2.    Soak  your    seed  in   milk  for  about 

twenty-four  hours  before  sowing.  ■ 

Agellulus.  I 


Several  valuable  articles.  Table  matter, 
book  and  catalogue  notices,  &c.,  in  type, 
will  appear  in  next  number. 


THE 


HOETICULTUmST 


VOL.  XXL APRIL,    18G6 


,N0.  OOXXXVIIL 


THE  ENEMY. 


To  most  of  our  readers  this  word  may, 
and  doubtlessly  does,  sound  very  stale  and 
tiresome.  "We  have  all  had  enough  of  war 
and  military  glory,  and  the  one  aspiration 
now  is  for  peace  ;  never  before  did  the  word 
sound  so  sweetly.  We  are  told  in  the  Gos- 
pel to  love  our  enemies  ;  these  may  be  classed 
under  two  heads,  private  and  public  ;  the 
latter  are  those  whom  our  Declaration  of 
Independence  happily  recognizes  as  "  ene- 
mies in  war,  in  peace  friends."  Private 
enemies  are  bad  enough  and  we  leave  them 
to  the  Gospel  dispensation,  but  the  public 
enemy  is  our  present  theme,  and  albeit  we 
are  at  peace  with  all  the  world  as  a  nation, 
(and  we  wouldfeign  hope  also  as  editors),  yet 
there  is  an  enemy  against  whom  we  find  it 
our  bounden  duty,  as  faithful  watchmen  of 
the  public  weal,  to  lift  up  our  voice  of 
warning,  and  to  ciy  aloud.  It  is  a  public 
enemy,  an  enemy  to  our  nation  at  large,  to 
every  man,  woman  and  child  that  lives  on 
this  blessed  continent.  An  enemy  with 
whom  we  can  make  no  terms  ;  who  will 
never  yield  until  utterly  conquered;  who 


must  conquer  us  unless  we  subdue  him ;  a 
robber  and  despoiler,  the  march  of  whose 
army  will  not  be  told  by  desolating  swarths 
of  separate  columns,  but  proceeding  in  a 
line  of  battle  whose  flanks  rest  on  either 
ocean,  will  leave  one  general  ruin  in  his 
rear.  This  enemy  is  Insect  Life.  He  is 
commanded  by  two  able  generals,  both  as 
cruel  and  remorseless  as  they  can  be.  To 
personify  them,  we  will  say  that  the  com- 
mander-in-chief is  General  Curculio,  and  his 
lieutenant  is  the  Apple  Moth.  They  have 
invaded  us  with  full  strength,  and  the  cry 
is  still  they  come.  They  have  no  base,  but 
live  on  the  country  through  which  they 
march.  Cruel  and  unsparing,  moving  on 
conquering  and  to  conquer;  holding  and  occu- 
pying the  land.  Now  then  as  the  vigilant 
and  faithful  watchman  on  the  walls,  we 
sound  the  alarm,  and  cry  "  to  arms  "  Our 
thoughts  have  been  led  in  this  direction  by 
the  scarcity  of  fruit  in  our  markets,  and  its 
corresponding  high  price.  The  apple  for 
instance,  dearer  in  the  New  York  market, 
even  in  its  season,  than  the  orange  :  our 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  ■Woodward,  in  the  Clerk' 
of  the  District  Court  o^  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


1  Office 


98 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


own  most  common  and  plentiful  fruit  be- 
come dearer  than  an  imported  and  tropical 
fruit.  And  yet  we  may  say  of  the  apple, 
that  it  is  not  a  luxury,  but  become  just  as 
much  a  household  necessity  as  the  potato. 
The  other  fruits  we  can  perforce  look  upon 
as  luxuries,  but  not  so  the  apple,  this  we 
must  have  ;  our  little  ones  require  apples  for 
health  sake  ;  they  cry  for  them  more  than 
they  are  said  to  do  for  Sherman's  loz- 
enges, and  those  cries  must  be  stilled  by 
us  at  an  expense  of  from  three  to  five 
cents  for  every  plaint.  Apple  sarse  and 
apple  butter,  every-day  things  of  the  good 
old  past,  are  now  enumerated  among  the 
transitory lalessings  of  this  life.  How  differ- 
ent all  this  from  our  younger  days  !  We  now 
live  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  we  re- 
member that  in  our  school  days,  our  geogra- 
phy was  wont  to  describe  this  State  as 
"  famed  for  its  fine  fruit."  This  fame  now 
seems  to  be  a  myth,  for  the  more  truthful 
description  of  the  present  day  would  be,  fam- 
ous for  its  want  of  fine  fruit.  We  have 
watched  this  change  with  a  melancholy  in- 
terest, and  it  does  seem  to  us  as  if  during 
the  past  fifteen  years,  this  change  has  in- 
creased with  each  succeeding  year.  Proba- 
bly at  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  State, 
has  more  fruit  been  planted,  or  greater  at- 
tention paid  to  its  culture  than  at  present, 
and  yet,  certain  it  is,  that  never  was 
there  so  little  fine  fruit  seen  in  the  State. 
It  may  be  said  as  true  to  a  general  intent, 
that  not  a  perfect  apple  has  been  raised  in  the 
State  of  New  Jersey  during  the  year  1865. 
If  any  one  possesses  a  perfect  specimen  of 
this  fruit  raised  in  the  State,  we  would  like 
him  to  exhibit  the  same  as  a  curiosity,  and 
will  take  our  sack  in  hand  and  make  a  pil 
grimage  to  see  it,  and  do  him  reverence. 
We  take  the  apple  as  our  illustration  the 
more  especially,  because  the  most  import- 
ant, and  generally  the  most  plentiful  of  all 
the  fruits,  and  yet  the  one  on  which  the  most 
wholesale  devastation  has  been  wrought. 
Of  the  smooth  skin  stone  fruits,  such  as  the 
apricot,  the  nectarine  and  the  plum,  we 
scarcely  deem  it  worth  while  to  make  men- 


tion, for  no  one  now  undertakes  to  ft-uit 
them  unless  it  be  under  glass.  And  what 
we  have  to  say  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey, 
is  equally  applicable  to  the  neighboring 
States,  particularly  near  the  sea  coast. 
The  great  question  then  is,  where  is  this 
going  to  bring  up;  where  is  it  all  going  to 
end  ?  It  needs  no  prophet's  vision  to  foresee. 
We  can  tell  you  in  plain  words  what  will 
soon  be  the  result,  not  only  in  the  State  of 
New  Jersey  but  in  every  State  in  the  Union : 
and  that  is,  that  of  no  fruit  will  we  ever 
have  an  abundance,  but  with  each  j^ear  an 
increasing  scarcity  of  all  those  which  for- 
merly we  enjoyed  in  superabundance.  The 
apple  will  be  more  scarce  than  the  pear,  and 
by  and  by,  both  will  be  among  the  things 
that  were.  So  too  Avith  the  fruits  of  a 
shorter  season,  the  cherry  and  the  peach. 
The  former  is  already  sparse,  and  the  latter 
must  in  time  yield  and  come  in  for  its 
share  in  the  general  doom.  And  all  this 
the  result  of  the  remorseless  enemy.  These 
are  sad  thoughts  to  contemplate.  We  are 
not  croakers,  but  speak  words  of  sober 
truth,  however  disagreeable  they  may 
sound.  There  is  no  mistake  about  it,  unless 
something  is  done,  and  done  soon,  we  shall 
have  to  bid  good-bye  to  our  fruit.  As  we 
have  said,  this  enemy  will  conquer  us  unless 
we  subdue  him.  It  will  be  asked^  can 
nothing  be  done  to  avert  this  calamity  ? 
AVe  answer  unequivocally,  yes  !  Yes  if  we 
arouse  ourselves  in  time,  and  fight  the  enemy 
without  rest.  One  steady  campaign  against 
him  until  the  victory  is  assured.  We  have 
a  natural  ally  in  the  birds,  once  on  a  time  a 
match  for  the  enemy,  but  now,  from  our 
bad  treatment,  his  wasted  ranks  are  over- 
matched. What  we  want  is  concerted  ac- 
tion— pulling  together — not  like  General 
Grant's  baulking  team,  but  all  acting  to- 
gether, at  one  and  the  same  time.  We 
want  a  general  dissemination  of  practical 
knowledge  in  tiie  art  of  conducting  this 
war — practical  knowledge  brought  home  to 
every  grower  of  even  a  single  apple  or  a 
single  pear  tree.  Much  has  already  been 
done  in  certain  quarters  ;  the  science  of  the 


The  Enemy. 


99 


Entomologist  has  been  brought  into  requi- 
sition, and  we  have,  as  the  result  of  his  in- 
vestigations, much  valuable  knowledge,  but 
it  is  generally  of  a  kind  but  little  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  plain,  practical  farmers  and 
fruit  growers.  We  want  information  stripped 
of  all  technical  terms  and  scientific  phrase- 
ology. We  want  books  which  shall  describe 
the  various  insects  to  fruit  and  vegetation 
in  such  wise  that  they  may  be  known  and 
recognized  the  moment  they  are  seen ;  les- 
sons which  will  teach  us  to  discriminate 
between  friend  and  foe,  to  discern  either  at 
a  glance,  and  to  know  their  seasons,  their 
transformations,  their  modus  operandi  and 
their  whole  life.  Pictures  colored  true  to 
nature  to  assist  the  learner,  for  no  mere 
print  and  description  will  suffice  to  identify 
the  insect  to  the  unlearned  ;  he  must  have 


>^^f%f5 


Fig.  47. 

an  exact  picture  in  form  and  color,  for  the 
insect  tribe  is  so  numerous  and  various  that 
plain  black  drawings  seem  to  produce  only 
a  confusion  in  the  minds  of  the  ordinary 
student,  and  in  despair  he  gives  the  subject 
up  as  beyond  his  scope. 

This  desideratum  has  lately  been  supplied 
in  part  by  Dr.  T.  P.  Trimble,  Entomologist 
to  the  State  Agricultural  Society  of  New 
Jersey.  The  work  is  entitled  "  A  Treatise 
on  the  Insect  Enemies  of  Fruit  and  Fruit 
Trees,"  published  by  William  Wood  &  Co., 
New  York.     The  part  now  in  print  treats 


of  the  Curculio  and  the  Apple  Moth,  or  as 
it  is  commonly  called,  the  Apple  Worm. 
The  author  has  done  good  service  to  the 
cause  by  this  work;  he  seems  to  have 
laid  aside  all  pretensions  or  desire  to  appear 
as  a  book  maker,  but  on  the  other  hand  to 
be  animated  by  an  enthusiastic  wish  to 
communicate  information  in  a  simple, 
straightforward  manner,  ignoring  all  scien- 
tific phraseology,  and  teaching  his  lessons 
in  plain  English,  without  any  particular 
care  as  to  systematic  order,  so  long  as  he 
makes  himself  and  his  subject  thoroughly 
understood  by  the  reader.  His  style  is 
quaint,  with  an  occasional  smack  of  quiet 
humor  quite  refreshing.  The  illustrations 
of  the  work  are  done  in  a  masterly  style, 
and  as  specimens  of  art,  are,  in  themselves, 
worth  the  price  of  the  book.  In  tliem  we 
have  the  ravages  of  the  insect  brought  before 
the  eye,  just  as  we  see  them  in  the  defective 
fruit  we  handle.  Of  these  illustrations  we 
have  selected  one  for  this  article,  which  we 
use  by  permission.  It  represents  a  trap 
made  of  a  rope  of  hay,  the  invention  of  Dr. 
Trimble,  who  says  :  "  Two  years  ago  I  took 
from  the  crotch  of  a  young  Bartlett  Pear 
tree,  an  old  boot  leg  that  had  been  doubled 
up  and  forced  into  that  crotch.  It  had  be- 
come so  hard  and  dry,  and  the  growing  tree 
had  pressed  it  so  closely,  that  it  had  to  be 
cut  to  pieces  to  get  it  out.  This  was  in 
April.  That  old  boot  leg  contained  in  its 
different  folds,  sixteen  of  the  worms  of  the 
Apple  Moth,  in  their  larva  or  caterpillar 
condition,  all  snugly  tied  up  in  their  silken 
cocoons.  When  these  cocoons  were  opened 
the  worms  would  creep  off,  just  as  they 
would  have  done  when  taken  from  apples  or 
pears  in  the  fall  or  summer  before.  Since 
then  I  have  tried  everything  I  could  think 
of  that  would  be  likely  to  suit  the  fancy  of 
these  little  caterpillars,  having  this  instinc- 
tive impulse  to  seek  out  places  for  conceal- 
ment. The  result  has  been,  that  the  hay 
rope  band,  as  shown  in  this  plate,  is  not 
only  the  cheapest  and  most  easy  of  applica- 
tion, but  the  best  of  all  the  contrivances 
that  I  have  tried  thus  far." 


100 


The  Horticulturist. 


I 


The  mode  of  applying  the  hay  rope  is 
seen  in  the  cut,  and  consists  simply  in  wind- 
ing the  rope  moderately  tight  three  or  four 
times  around  the  tree,  and  securing  the 
end  so  as  to  prevent  its  becoming  loose  and 
falling  off.  The  marks  below  the  band 
show  the  slight  cavities  made  by  the  Apple 
"Worms  under  the  rope,  as  seen  after  slipping 
it  up  and  taking  out  with  the  point  of  a 
knife  the  cocoons.  The  tree  in  the  cut  rep- 
resents one  in  the  garden  of  a  friend  of  the 
author  in  the  city  of  Newark,  on  which  he 
had  experimented  in  this  way  and  caught 
nearly  two  hundred  worms  in  the  year  1864:. 
The  author  says,  ''  These  bands  should  be 
put  on  the  trees  as  soon  as  the  fruit  shows 
signs  of  the  worms  being  at  work,  from  the 
middle  to  the  last  of  June.  They  should 
be  examined  every  two  weeks,  as  long  as 
the  warm  weather  lasts,  the  earlier  broods 
of  worms  becoming  moths,  and  producing  a 
second  crop.  If  tlie  orchard  is  pastured, 
the  bands  must,  of  course,  be  put  out  of 
reach  of  the  animals.  Sometimes  it  may  be 
necessary  to  place  them  round  the  limbs  ; 
in  that  case  the  scales  of  bark  on  the  bodies 
of  trees  below  them  should  be  scraped  oflF." 
The  tree  in  the  plate,  our  author  further 
saj's,  "  showed  until  some  time  in  June,  a 
promise  of  a  most  bountiful  crop  ;  but  then 
the  young  apples  began  to  fall,  and  perse- 
vered in  falling  till  not  a  dozen  were  left  to 
come  to  full  maturity."  Here  we  have  an 
evidence  of  what  results  from  the  combined 
attack  of  the  Curculio  and  Apple  Moth,  and 
we  know  that  there  are  hundreds  of  others 
who  can  relate  a  like  experience,  but  who 
have  never  investigated  the  cause.  We  had 
the  pleasure  one  fine  day  in  the  fall  of  last 
year,  of  witnessing,  in  company  with  several 
other  gentlemen,  the  result  of  the  Doctor's 
experiments  with  the  hay  rope,  and  can 
give  our  unqualified  testimony  as  to  his 
success.  It  is  a  very  simple,  inexpensive 
and  quickly  applied  method  of  fighting  the 
enemy,  "  In  examining  the  traps,  all  that 
is  necessary  is  to  slip  it  up  the  body  of  the 
tree  a  few  inches,  and  all  the  little  cocoons, 
with  the  worms  inside  of  them,  are  so  per- 


fectly exposed  that  nothing  remains  to  be 
done  but  to  crush  them  with  the  palm  of 
the  hand,  either  with  or  without  gloves ; 
then  push  the  rope  back  again  to  the  same 
place,  or  lower  if  necessary,  to  make  it  as 
tight  as  it  will  well  bear  without  breaking." 
Even  if  these  bands  should  be  neglected  and 
time  wanting  to  kill  the  cocoons,  by  simply 
taking  oft' the  straw,  the  birds  will  come 
and  make  a  feast  of  them,  and  thank  the 
foresight  of  him  who,  by  so  simple  a  contriv- 
ance, gathered  all  the  worms  of  the  tree 
into  one  little  compass  so  easily  got  at. 
We  feel  that  this  subject  of  insect  enemies 
is  a  most  important  one,  that  the  evil  can 
in  no  wise  be  exaggerated,  nor  the  import- 
ance of  a  prompt  and  energetic  action  be 
over-estimated.  Let  every  one  then,  as 
he  hopes  to  preserve  our  fruit,  begin  at 
once  to  work ;  let  clubs  be  formed  every- 
where, for  the  purpose  of  getting  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  and  securing  a  concert 
of  action.  Let  no  one  be  discouraged  at 
working  singly,  for  he  can  do  much  to  pre- 
serve his  own  fruit,  if  he  does  not  effect  the 
general  result ;  but  above  all  let  there  be  a 
combination,  so  as  to  secure  the  end.  Two 
or  three  vigorous  campaigns  and  the  victory 
is  ours.  Let  any  man  who  neglects  his 
fruit  trees  and  allows  his  fallen  apples  to  lie 
upon  the  ground  to  add  to  the  hosts  of  the 
enemy,  be  looked  upon  as  a  pest  himself  in 
his  neighborhood.  Let  our  Agricultural 
and  Pomological  Societies  everywhere  take 
the  matter  up.  Let  our  Legislatures  give 
every  encouragement  by  passing  stringent 
laws  for  the  protection  of  Iriendly  birds,  and 
the  giving  to  the  masses,  instruction  in  the 
science  of  fighting  these  insects.  In  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  to 
the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey, 
the  subject  is  given  quite  a  prominency. 
We  quote  an  interesting  passage,  viz :  "  The 
number  of  insects  known  to  naturalists 
comprehend  some  hundreds  of  thousands 
and  quite  a  large  number  of  them  are  more 
or  less  injurious  to  the  farmers'  crops;  but 
the  insect  enemies  of  fruit  and  fruit  trees 
do  not  exceed  twelve  or  fifteen,  and  if  five 


Designs  in  Rural  Architecture. 


101 


or  sis  of  the  "vrorst  of  tliem  were  thoroughly 
understood  and  conquered,  fruit  growing 
■would  again  be  a  successful  business.  And 
this  can  he  done.  The  2Jrotection  of  fruit  from 
these  insects  can  he  made  a  fixed  science,  so  that 
the  man  who  chooses  to  go  into  the  business 
of  fruit  growing,  may  be  sure  of  success, 
provided   he  permits  no  other  pui\suit   to 


interfere  with  the  proper  attention  to  this, 
at  the  right  time." 

We  commend  our  readers  for  further  in- 
formation to  this  elegant  work  of  Dr.  Trim- 
ble, which  we  hope  to  see  carried  out  to  its 
completion,  and  put  into  a  shape  which 
shall  bring  it  within  the  means  of  every 
one. 


DESIGNS  IN  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE.     No.  13— A  SUBURBAN  COTTAGE. 

BY    GEORGE.    E.    HARNEY,    ARCHITECT,    COLDSPRING,    PUTNAM    COUNTY,    N.    Y. 


We  used  to  indulge  in  an  occasional  tall-: 
with  the  members  of  the  worthy  brother- 
hood of  horticulturists,  concerning  their 
country  places — their  houses,  their  gardens, 
their  barns,  and  their  stables,  more  than 
three  years  ago, when  we  were  in  Lynn,  Mass.; 


and,  in  so  doing,  gave  ourselves  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure,  while  we  endeavored  to  be  of 
some  service  to  them  in  building  their 
houses,  in  laying  out  their  grounds,  and  in 
appropriately  ornamenting  them,  offering 
designs  for  their  inspection,  and,  now  and 


■•pecttve. 


then,  throwing  out  what  we  conceived  to 
be  a  suggestion  for  some  improvement  or 
other. 

And  now — located  here  on  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson,  nearer  the  most  of  our  readers 
than  before,  in  fact,  in  the  very  midst  of 
them,  and  consequently  knowing  their  wants 
better — we  again  take  up  our  pen  and  pen- 
cil, promising  ourself  another  indulgence  in 


the  same  pleasure  of  talking  to  them,  hop- 
ing to  make  ourselves  acceptable  to  our  old 
friends,  and  to  make  new  friends  among 
the  newer  members  of  our  brotherhood — 
those  to  whom  as  yet  we  are  a  stranger. 

And  we  offer  them  at  this  time,  in  com- 
mencement, a  design  for  a  small  cottage, 
such  as  one  might  build  on  a  village  lot  of 
sixty  or  a  hundred  feet  in  width. 


102 


The  Horticulturist. 


It  is  of  frame,  filled  in  with  brick — soft 
brick,  laid  on  edge  in  mortar — and  covered 
with  vertical  boarding  and  battens,  or  with 
narrow  horizontal  siding ;  the  roof  covered 
with  shingles  cut  in  patterns  ;  the  cellar  of 
rubble-stone  ;  the  wall  20  inches  thick,  laid 
in  mortar. 

The  frame  is  of  spruce  or  hemlock  (the 
former  is  the  best,  but  the  latter  is  the  most 
generally  used  in  this  part  of  the  country), 
and  the  outside  finish  of  white  pine — the 
details  few  and  simple,  but  bold  and  strong 
— everything  meaning  something,  and  tell- 
ing its  own  story.  The  roof  is  quite  steep, 
and  the  projection  of  the  eaves  broad  to 
shield  the  sides,  and  the  windows  are  all 
broad  and  airy. 

The  accommodation  of  the  house  is  as 
follows  : — A  verandah,  6  feet  wide,  shield- 
ing  the    front  entrance.       The    hall,  con- 


FiG.  49 — First  floor.  Fig.  50 — -Second  floor. 

taining  the  staircases  to  the  chambers 
and  cellar,  and  opening  into  the  sev- 
eral rooms  on  this  floor.  Parlor,  14 
feet  by  15,  communicating  by  French 
casement  windows  with  the  verandah  on 
one  side,  and  with  an  open  gallery  on  the 
other  side,  and  having,  besides,  a  large 
hooded  mullioned  window  in  the  front. — 
This  room  has,  also,  what  we  consider  in- 
dispensable in  a  country  house,  be  it  large 
or  small — an  old-fashioned  open  fire-place, 
for  burning  wood  on  the  hearth,  if  wood 
can  be  had,  or,  if  not,  coal  in  a  grate,  and, 
besides,  for  purposes  of  ventilation.  We 
think,  for  practical  reasons,  the  old  poetic 
sentiment  of  the  family  fireside  and  the 
blazing  log  should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  and 
there  should  be  at  least  one  room  in  every 


house — the  room  that  is  the  most  used  by 
the  family  as  a  sitting-room — made  attrac- 
tive and  healthy  by  this  means. 

The  living-room,  measuring  13  feet  by 
15,  is  provided  with  two  good  closets,  and 
opens  into  a  little  pantry,  which  is  fitted 
up  with  a  sink  and  pump,  and  other  pantry 
conveniences.  This  opens  out  upon  a  stoop 
to  the  yard.  There  is  also  on  this  floor 
a  room  8  feet  square,  which  may  be 
used  either  as  a  bedroom  or  as  a  store- 
room ;  it  has  no  chimney,  though  if  one 
were  added,  as  easily  might  be,  it  could  be 
used  as  an  outer  kitchen  or  scullery. 

There  is  a  cellar  under  the  whole  house, 

reached  by  stairs  under  the  main  flight 

It  is  provided  with  a  rain  water  cistern, 
bins  for  coal,  and  the  other  usual  cellar 
conveniences  of  lock-up — cold  cellar,  hang- 
ing shelves,  &c.,  <&c.  It  has  a  separate  en- 
trance of  stone  steps  from  the  yard,  and  is 
7  feet  high  in  the  clear. 

In  the  second  story  are  chambers 
corresponding  severally  with  the  rooms 
below,  and  each  supplied  with  a  closet. — 
There  is  no  attic,  but  an  opening  in  the 
ceiling  of  the  hall  communicates  with  the 
vacant  space  above  the  rooms,  and  into  it 
ventilates  the  house,  this  space  having  ven- 
tilators under  the  peaks  of  the  gables. 

The  fi'ont  chamber  has  some  importance 
given  to  it  by  the  addition  of  an  oriel  win- 
dow, after  the  fashion  of  some  old  English 
cottages — a  feature  v^hich  adds  greatly  to 
the  brightness  of  the  room,  as  well  as  giv- 
ing some  extra  space.  It  is  fitted  up  with 
a  seat,  and  has  glass  windows  on  its  three 
sides. 

The  interior  of  this  cottage  should  be 
fitted  up  in  simple  manner  with  pine  ;  the 
closets  all  supplied  with  shelves,  and  hooks 
and  drawers  ;  and  the  pantry  with  sink  and 
other  fixtures.  The  walls  may  have  a  hard 
finished  surface,  unless  it  be  contemplated 
to  paper  them,  in  which  case  a  cheaper 
covering  can  be  used. 

The  inside  wood-work  may  be  stained  in 
two  shades  with  umber  and  oil ;  and  to  add 
to  the  effect,  the  finish  for  the  led  rooms 


Mildew  and  Grape  Culture. 


103 


may  be  of  selected  stock,  so  that  the  finest 
and  best-grained  wood  may  be  there  used. 

The  outside  should  be  painted  three 
coats  of  some  neutral  colors  of  oil  paint — 
say  light  browns,  or  drabs,  or  grays.  The 
heights  of  the  stories  are  9  feet  each.  The 
posts  are  1-i  feet  long  between  sill  and 
plate. 


Cost — This  is  an  important  item,  but  a 
very  diflBcult  one  to  come  at  in  these  days 
of  changing  prices.  Two  years  ago,  we 
might  safely  have  named  the  cost  of  this 
house  at  a  thousand  dollars,  but  at  present 
prices  of  labor  and  material,  it  would  cost 
at  least  eighteen  hundred  dollars. 


MILDEW  AND  GRAPE  CULTURE. 


BY      WILLIAM      SAUNDERS,      WASHINGTON,     D.    C. 


At  page  39  of  the  February  number  of 
the  "  Horticulturist,"  in  an  article  on 
grape  culture,  I  find  the  following  sentences : 

"  Mr.  Saunders  of  the  Propagating  garden 
at  Washington,  for  a  long  time  contended 
that  aridity  was  the  cause  of  mildew,  then 
wavered  and  confined  his  remarks  about  arid- 
ity to  the  exotic  grape,  gooseberry  and  cer- 
tain other  exotic  plants  ;  now  says  that 
humidity  is  the  cause  of  mildew  on  our  native 
grapes,  and  by  a  covering  to  keep  off  mois- 
ture from  the  foliage,  we  can  entirely  pre- 
vent mildew." 

With  many  others,  my  attention  has, 
for  a  long  period,  been  directed  to  observa- 
tions on  grape  mildew  ;  I  have  also  on 
several  occasions,  taken  the  liberty  of  ex- 
pressing my  opinions  based  upon  these  ob- 
servations. In  order  to  show  how  far  the 
views  of  your  correspondent  are  correct, 
and  how  far  erroneous,  I  propose  tracing 
some  of  my  recorded  opinions  on  the  subject. 

Commencing  with  the  "  PidladelpMa 
Florist "  for  1852,  at  page  38  will  be  found 
an  article  by  me  on  grape  culture  under 
glass.  For  several  years  previous,  I  had 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  cause  of 
mildew  on  the  foreign  grape  in  this  country, 
was  induced  by  aridity.  In  this  article,  I 
quoted  from  my  note-book  of  1851,  an  in- 
stance where  its  ravages  were  checked  "  by 
closing  all  bottom  or  low  ventilation,  and 
keeping  the  atmosphere  moist  by  liberal  use 
of  water  on  the  floor." 

At  page  178,  of  the  same  journal  for  1853, 


in  the  calender  of  operations  for  the  fruit 
department,  I  again  direct  attention  to  this 
subject,  and  extend  my  remarks  by  alluding 
to  the  circumstance  that  various  other 
plants  of  similar  origin,  are  similarly  at- 
tacked, but  as  I  find  that  the  remarks  in 
that  paper  are  in  the  main  repeated  in  an 
article  jDLiblished  in  the  "  Horticulturist," 
prefer  quoting  from  it. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  here  that,  being 
fully  convinced  from  my  daily  practice,  of 
the  pernicious  effects  of  bottom  ventilation 
in  producing  mildew,  I  had  several  grape- 
ries built  in  which  no  means  were  provided 
for  front  ventilation.  I  also  advised  others 
to  build  in  this  manner ;  and  having  advo- 
cated and  practiced  the  erection  of  glass 
structures  on  the  fixed  roof  plan,  I  drew 
attention  to  its  superiority  for  graperies  on 
account  of  the  low  angle  on  which  the  roof 
could  be  laid,  thereby  providing  a  more 
equable  temperature,  and  allowing  an  equal 
distribution  of  atmospheric  moisture.  The 
first  structure  built  on  this  plan,  so  far  as 
I  am  aware,  I  had  built  in  1850.  This  mode 
of  constructing  glass  roofs  is  now  very  gen- 
erally adopted. 

In  the  volume  of  the  "  Horticulturist  " 
for  1855,  at  jiage  129,  there  is  an  article  head- 
ed Grape  Mildew,  in  which  I  stated  my  views 
on  this  subject,  and  from  which  I  make  the 
following  extracts  : 

*  *  *  "  My  experience  in  grape  cul- 
ture leads  me  to  the  belief  that  the  true 
source  of  this  disease  has  not  been  fully 


104 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


recognised.  It  is  well  known  that  fungoid 
attacks  are  a  consequence  of  disordered  or- 
ganism, and  not  a  cause.  The  germs  of 
parasitic  fungi  are  constantly  present  in  the 
atmosphere,  ready  to  develope  whenever 
they  find  a  proper  medium.  This  medium 
is  found  in  decomposing  organic  substances, 
and  such  are  seized  upon,  although  decom- 
position is  so  incipient  as  not  to  be  visible 
to  the  naked  eye.  The  question  then  is, 
what  occasions  this  disorganism  in  the 
grape  ?  The  answer  will  show  the  cause  of 
mildew." 

*  *  *  "  Mildew  is  so  often  associated 
with  dampness,  that,  in  the  absence  of 
practical  observation,  such  a  conclusion 
seems  very  plausible.  I  am  of  opinion  that 
in  this  case  we  must  refer  it  to  a  deficiency 
rather  than  an  over  supply  of  atmospheric 
moisture.  Lindler/,  in  his  Theory  of  Horti- 
culture, remarks  that  "  mildew  is  often  pro- 
duced by  a  dry  air  acting  upon  a  delicate 
surface  of  vegetable  tissue,"  and  we  can 
readily  suppose  that  the  excessive  and  long 
continued  heat  of  our  summers  would,  by 
great  and  constant  evaporation,  weaken  and 
tend  to  general  debility,  more  especially  in 
regard  to  exotics.  This  supposition  is 
further  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  all 
our  native  grapes  have  thick  skins,  and  are 
thus  enabled  to  resist  evaporation  from  their 
surface.  Early  forced  grapes,  that  are  ripe 
before  the  dry  season,  are  never  troubled 
with  mildew.  The  gooseberry  attains  great- 
est perfection  in  cool,  moist  climates,  with 
us  it  mildews.  The  leaves  of  many  plants, 
not  natives,  as  the  English  hawthorn,  lilacs, 
&c.,  are  frequently  white  with  mildew  in 
the  hottest  and  dryest  seasons.  I  have 
long  ago  satisfied  myself  that  mildew  may 
be  prevented  by  judicious  airing.  Admit- 
ting currents  of  dry  air  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  young  fruit  will  certainly  produce 
mildew.  I  consider  front  ventilators  quite 
unnecessary  in  graperies,  and  indeed  they 
could  be  dispensed  with  in  green  houses 
also." 

*  *  *  "It  may  be  necessary  to  ob- 
serve, that  I  do  not  by  any  means  suppose 


that  aridity  is  the  cause  of  every  .kind  of 
mildew.  On  the  contrary,  that  is  only  one 
of  many  known  causes,  and  I  submit  that 
it  is  the  most  likely  in  the  present  case." 

During  the  years  1856-57-58  I  prepared 
a  monthly  calender  of  operations  for  the 
"  HoRTicui>TURisT,"  and  frequent  allusions 
are  made  in  these  articles  to  grape  mildew  and 
its  prevention,  based  upon  the  supposition 
that  it  proceeded  from  dryness. 

For  instance,  at  page  296  in  the  volume 
for  1^56,  under  the  heading  Grapery^  in  the 
June  calender,  I  advise  to  "  keei?  the  at- 
mosphere moist  by  frequently  sprinkling 
the  house  with  water;  this  will  tend  to 
prevent  mildew.  Ventilate  exclusively  by 
the  top  openings,  and  leave  them  open  to  a 
certain  extent  both  day  and  night.  "  Ven- 
tilate early  in  the  morning  and  shut  up 
early  in  the  evening,"  is  common  advice,  and 
those  who  adopt  such  a  course  need  not  be 
surprised  if  their  fruit  is  deficient  both  in 
color  and  flavor.  The  fruit  will,  ripen  earlier 
when  the  temperature  is  kept  low  and  cool  in 
the  absence  of  light. ^^ 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  these 
writings  I  have  had  reference  exclusively 
to  the  foreign  grape  and  its  culture  under 
glass.  No  mention  whatever  is  made  of 
the  native  species  or  their  varieties. 

So  far  as  I  can  discover,  the  first  time 
that  I  made  any  allusion  to  mildew  on  the 
native  grape  will  be  found  at  page  536  of 
the  "  Horticulturist  "  for  1858.  In  a  brief 
note  treating  generally  on  mildew,  I  remark 
as  follows  : 

"  The  peculiar  atmospherical  conditions 
tending  to  the  increase  of  mildew  are  not 
particularly  well  understood.  I  have  fre- 
quently repeated  my  conviction  that  the 
mildew  seen  on  the  foreign  grape  under 
glass,  on  the  gooseberry,  lilac,  &c.,  is  in- 
duced by  atmospheric  aridity.  This  mil- 
dew developes  in  the  form  of  a  moldiness 
on  the  upper  surface  of  the  foliage,  and 
frequently  extends  and  envelops  young 
growing  shoots,  in  which  case  the  bark 
seems  to  contract  and  crack  into  lengthened 
openings.     Here  can  be  traced  a  close  re- 


Mildeio  and  Grape  Culture. 


105 


semblance  to  the  cracking  of  the  pear,  going 
far  to  prove  that  it  has  the  same  origin. 
In  sheltered  city  yards,  where  drying  winds 
are  arrested  in  their  sweeping  progress,  and 
where  a  quiet  and  more  humid  atmosphere 
prevails,  the  foreign  grape  will  frequently 
attain  to  a  fair  perfection.  So  also  the 
White  Doyenne  pear  is  annually  produced 
in  its  greatest  perfection  on  trees  similarly 
located,  while  in  exposed  situations,  a  few 
miles  distant,  a  fair  specimen  cannot  be 
procured.  No  reason  that  has  ever  been 
brought  forward  on  the  probable  cause  of 
pear  cracking  is  so  philosophical,  or  so  much 
in  accordance  with  recorded  facts,  as  that 
which  connects  it  with  mildew.  The  mil- 
dew seen  on  the  native  grape,  is  apparently 
a  different  fungus  from  the  above.  Here 
the  under  side  of  the  leaf  is  attacked,  des- 
troying the  vitality  of  the  tissue,  which  is 
then  tender,  and  is  speedily  scorched  by 
sun,  and  the  leaves  decay  and  wither. 
When  this  occurs  during  the  ripening  of  the 
crops,  the  sudden  loss  of  foliage  prevents  it 
from  maturing,  and  hence  many  bunches 
will  show  one  half  of  the  fruit  black  and  the 
other  half  green.  This  apparent  scorching 
is  most  noticeable  during  the  months  of 
August  and  September,  when  heavy  night 
,  dews  are  succeeded  by  hot  sun,  or  after  a 
few  dull  or  rainy  days." 

In  the  above  extract  it  will  be  observed 
that  I  have  attempted  to  describe  the  dif- 
ferent appearances  of  mildew  as  presented 
on  the  foreign  and  native  grapes  ;  this  dis- 
tinction I  have  ever  since  kept  steadily  in 
view  whenever  I  had  occasion  to  refer  to 
this  subject. 

The  next  article  I  will  refer  to  is  one 
prepared  by  request  of  the  American  Po- 
mological  Society  and  published  in  their 
report  of  1860. 

In  that  article,  (after  considerable  inves- 
tigation of  mycological  works),  I  ventured  to 
name  the  distinct  forms  of  mildew,  alluding 
to  them  as  follows  :  "  There  are  two  very 
distinct  forms  of  mildew  seen  upon  the 
grape  vine.  One  of  these,  which  I  take  to 
be  a  form  oiErysiinlie^  is  mainly  confined  to 


the  exotic  grape,  and  the  other,  a  form  of 
Oidium,*  chiefly  found  upon  the  native  vari- 
eties, I  am  not  prepared  to  state  that  they 
do  not  respectively  attack  both  the  exotic 
and  native  grapes,  for  although  I  have  seen 
the  Oidium  on  the  foreign  sorts  when  grown 
under  glass,  I  have  not  detected  the  Erysi- 
phe  on  the  native  grapes.  The  Oidium,  so 
far  as  my  knowledge  of  it  extends,  makes 
its  appearance  in  the  grape  house  only  on 
vines  that  have  been  grown  in  an  excessively 
humid  atmosphere,  combined  with  a  high 
night  temperature,  the  shoots  being  very 
succulent  and  immature,  if  cold  or  dull 
hazy  weather  succeed  a  period  that  has  been 
clear  and  dry,  the  Oidium  will  usually  be 
found  on  the  leaves.  It  presents  itself  in 
small  patches,  of  a  whitish  color,  on  the 
underside  of  the  leaves,  and  spreads  rapidly. 
The  affected  leaves  are  readily  detected 
after  a  few  clear  days,  the  sun  turns  these 
parts  brown,  and  it  then  assumes  that  ap- 
pearance frequently  termed  sun  scald." 

In  this  article  I  further  directed  attention 
to  the  species  of  native  grapes  most  liable 
to  mildew,  having  found  that  even  in  their 
native  habitats  the  Vitis  Labrusca  was  often 
mildewed  when  the  Vitis  Cordifolia  was  en- 
tirely exempt.  The  Clinton  being  a  culti- 
vated variety  of  the  last  named  species,  I 
suggested  that  attention  should  be  given 
towards  originating  improved  forms  of  that 
sort,  so  as  to  secure  a  race  of  truly  healthy 
grapes. 

Referring  to  the  influence  of  culture  I 
alluded  to  the  fact  that  "  vines  allowed  to 
clamber  unrestrained  over  trees  and  bushes, 
will  retain  a  vigorous  healthy  foliage,  and 
ripen  fruit,  while  branches  frjm  the  same 
root,  trained  alongside  on  an  open  trellis, 
would  be  completely  destroj^ed,  in  seasons 
favorable  to  mildew.'  We  have  also  observed 
isolated  cases  of  negligent  culture,  where 
vines  have  been  allowed  to  grow  during  the 
whole  summer  unmolested,  and  ripen  a  good 
crop,  while  those  that  have  been  carefully 
tended,  laterals   kept  in    check,  and  luxu- 

*I  have  since  been  led  to  believe  that  this  is  most 
probably  a  Perono  pora. 


106 


Tlie  Horticulturut. 


riant  growths  carefully  pruned,  have  failed  to 
mature  any  fruit.  Now  the  reason  for  this 
success,  where  success  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected, is  easily  explained  ;  simply  the  shel- 
ter of  the  foliage  from  the  causes  ^jredis- 
posing  to  mildew  ;  in  the  first  case  by  the 
foliage  of  the  trees,  in  the  other,  by  the 
mass  of  foliage  left  on  the  vine." 

I  then  proceeded  to  give  examples  of  the 
eflBciency  of  shelter  and  protection,  citing 
among  others  that  of  a  common  trellis  pro- 
tected by  a  board  sixteen  inches  in  width, 
nailed  flat  down  along  the  tops  of  the  posts. 

1  will  now  only  further  refer  to  an  article 
at  page  495  in  the  Agricultural  report  for 
18G1,  headed  Remarks  on  grape  culture  with 
reference  to  mildew  both  on  the  native  and  for- 
eign varieties. 

In  this  paper  I  again  somewhat  elabor- 
ately stated  the  result  of  my  observations 
and  practice  on  mildew,  and  recommended 
a  form  of  covered  trellis  for  out  door  grapes, 
accompanied  with  a  sketch  of  the  arrange- 
ment ;  remarking  that  "  Undoubtedly  shel- 
ter of  some  kind  from  sudden  changes  and 
atmospheric  currents,  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  expedients  for  preventing  or 
modifying  mildew,  and  every  experienced 
grape   grower   can   recall   instances  where 


even  a  slight  protection  proved  of  great 
value." 

The  following  remarks  also  appear  in  this 
paper : 

"  In  advancing  the  opinion  that  grape 
mildew  is  merely  the  result  of  atmospheric 
influences,  I  do  so  from  a  conviction  that 
my  observations  have  been  too  extensive 
and  too  long  continued  to  be  mistaken,  and 
too  completely  free  from  any  preconceived 
hypothesis,  or  any  ulterior  object,  to  be 
swayed  by  prejudice.  A  further  conviction 
in  the  correctness  of  my  views,  is  furnished 
by  the  circumstance,  that  a  course  of  prac- 
tice, based  upon  a  recognition  of  this  opinion, 
has  proved  satisfactory,  and  has  resulted  in 
an  immunity  from  mildew  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  truthfulness  of  the  observations 
which  led  to  its  adoption." 

To  conclude,  in  the  Report  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  for  1864,  at  page  608 
the  following  sentence  occurs  :  "  Although 
mildew  has  been  prevalent  on  many  of  the 
varieties,  (of  native  grapes),  all  have  es- 
caped when  grown  on  the  covered  trellis  ; 
a  description  of  which  was  given  in  the  re- 
port of  1861. 

Experimental  Garden^  Feb.  6,  1866. 


DIAGONAL  TRAINING  IN  VINEYARD  CULTURE— II. 


lY    D.    M.    BALCH,    SALEM,    MASS. 


In  our  last,  we  had  reached  the  spring  of 
the  first  fruiting  season,  and  had  just  com- 
pleted our  trellises,  the  vines  carrying  each 
one  cane,  about  eight  feet  long,  and  a  short 
spur  of  two  buds.  Shortly  before  vegeta- 
tion commences,  the  soil  should  receive  a 
dressing  of  ashes,  and  be  put  into  good 
condition ;  wood  ashes  are  an  excellent 
manure  for  the  vine,  and  appear  to  supply 
it  with  about  all  its  needs  ;  but  of  this 
again  hereafter.  When  the  buds  are  ready 
to  start,  the  cane  is  trained  its  whole  length 
to  the  diagonal  slat  nearest  it,  and  disbud- 
ded so  that  the  bases  of  the  shoots  may  be 


about  six  inches  ajjart,  and  on  alternate 
sides  of  the  cane,  sixteen  in  all.  These 
shoots  will  probably  show  two  or  three 
bunches  of  fruit  each,  most  of  which  it 
will  be  necessary  to  remove,  limiting  the 
crop  to  about  one  dozen  clusters,  or  not 
over  five  pounds.  These  bearing  shoots 
will  require  no  tying-in  ;  they  may  be  per- 
mitted to  interlace  and  grow  unchecked, 
unless  a  few  show  a  strong  tendency  to 
rampancy,  when  a  little  wholesome  correc- 
tion will  be  advisable ;  there  is,  however, 
little  probability  that  this  will  be  required, 
unless  the  vine  be  over-stimulated  ;  and  al- 


Diagonal  Training  in  Vineyard  Culture. 


107 


though  this  third  season  (from  the  fact 
that  the  phxnt  is  young,  vigorous,  extend- 
ing its  roots  in  new  soil,  and  carrying  a 
very  moderate  crop  of  fruit)  an  excessive 
wood  growth  is  more  likely  to  take  place 
than  subsequently,  we  have,  on  the  other 
hand,  only  alternate  slats  of  the  trellis  oc- 
cupied, and  consequently  plenty  of  room  to 
indulge  the  vine  in  this  particular.  From 
the  short  spur  a  shoot  is   trained  upright, 


We  have  now  to  consider  how  to  renew 
one-half  the  vine  annually,  so  that  it  can 
be  kept  always  vigorous  and  ever  young. 

This  second  fruiting  season,  we  train  up- 
wards from  the  spur  0  a  shoot,  which  is 
allowed  to  grow  unchecked,  and  form  a 
cane  to  supply  the  place  of  A,  which  is  to 
be  cut  out  at  the  Fall  pruning.  From  a 
bud  conveniently  situated  near  the  centre 
of  the  vine,  we  grow  also  a  short  cane,  to 


this  is  to  form  a  spur,  from  which  next 
season  a  cane  is  to  be  grown,  to  fruit  the 


year  following. 


to  grow  through  the  season  unchecked,  and    form  a  spur  for  the  next  year.     As  to  stop- 
form  a  fruiting  cane  for  the  next  year.—    pj^g  ^nd  pinching  in  the    bearing  shoots 
From  a  bud  near  the  base  of  this  spur,  or     this  season  and  subsequently,  we  are    no 
on  the  trunk  of  the  vine  near  its  centre,  a     friend  to  it ;  it  gives  the  vine  a  shock  de- 
third  shoot  is  allowed  to  make  about  six     trimental  to  its  well  being;  a  few  that  give 
leaves,  and  then  stopped  and  kept  short ;     decided  evidence  of  outstripping  their  neigh- 
bors will  require  it  early  in  the  season;  and 
although  the   bearing  shoots  may  extend 
some  feet   and  interlace  in  all  directions, 
there  is  little  cause  to  fear  that  the  foliage 
will  become  too  dense ;  grapes  are  ripened 
by  the  action  of  the  sun  on  the  leaves,  not 
on  themselves ;  moreover,  the  upright  cane, 
growing  freely,  will  probably  appropriate 
the  superabundant  vigor  of  the  vine,  and 
check  excessive  growth  elsewhere.     If  the 
soil  of  the  vineyard  is  too  rich,  or  if,  from 
the  habit  of  the  vine,  or  any  other  reason, 
we  have  to  anticipate  an  exuberant  growth 
of  foliage,  the  fruiting  cane  may  be  twisted 
five  or  six  times  round  its  diagonal,  and 
At  the  autumn  pruning,  cut  in  all  the     thus  checked ;  this  is  an  excellent  plan,  if 
shoots   on  the   fruiting   cane  (both   those     the  trellises  run  north  and  south,  so  that 
which  have  borne  fruit,  and  those  which     both  sides  are  exposed  to  the  action  of  the 
have  not)  to  two  buds  ;  prune  the  upright     sun  ;  the  shoots  thus  radiate  from  a  com- 
cane  to  eight  feet,  and  train  it  to  the  in-     mon  centre  in  all  directions,  and  produce  an 
termediate  diagonals    that    have   not  yet     open  growth  very  favorable  for  the  admis- 
been  occupied,  and  cut  in  the  short  cane  to     sion  of  air  and  light.     But  continual  sum- 
two  buds.     Our  vine  now  presents  the  ap-     mer  pruning  is  against  nature,  and  ought 


Fig.  51. — Diagonal  Training. 


pearance  in  the  diagram,  having  two  bear- 
ing canes,  A  and  B,  and  a  short  spur,  C  ; 
the  following  season  it  can  bear  a  full  crop. 


not  to  be  indulged  in. 

At  the  pruning  this  autumn,  we  cut  out 
the  cane  A  entirely,  train  the  new  cane 


thirty-two  clusters  as  a  minimum,  that  is,     from  the  spur  C  in  its  place,  and  cut  in 


one  to  each  shoot ;  those  from  the  spurs  of 
the  old  cane  A,  can,  no  doubt,  bear  two 
bunches  each  without  injury  to  the  vine, 
increasing  the  crop  to  forty-eight  clusters  ; 
this,  however,  must  be  left  to  the  judgment 
of  the  cultivator. 


the  laterals  on  B  ;  we  also  cut  in  the  short 
cane  to  two  buds  ;  thus  we  have  our  vine 
exactly  where  it  was  last  autumn,  except 
that  the  relative  positions  of  the  spur-bear- 
ing and  budded  canes  are  reversed.  These 
operations  can  be  followed  year  after  year, 


108 


Hie  Horticulturist. 


keeping  aL  parts  of  the  vine  in  the  same 
age  and  habit  of  growth,  subjecting  it  to 
few  unhealthy  shocks  by  close  pruning, 
pinching  in,  dwarfing,  or  otherwise ;  and, 
accidents  apart,  securing  abundance  of 
healthy  foliage,  a  natural  consequence  of 
which  is  ripe  fruit.  This  method  has  also 
the  advantage  that  a  considerable  length 
of  cane  is  obtained  without  increasing  the 
length  of  the  trellis,  so  that  all  parts  of  the 
vine  are  kept  within  easy  reach.  The  trel- 
lises are,  moreover,  of  cheap  construction, 
and  easily  repaired.  It  will  be  observed 
that  a  triangle,  containing  18  square  feet, 
is  left  at  each  end  of  the  trellis  ;  this  may 
be  filled  to  advantage  by  an  extra  branch 
from  the  nearest  vine,  bent  into  bow  shape, 
and  renewed  when  necessary. 

The  amount  of  soil  allowed  each  vine  is 
twenty-seven  or  thirty-two  square  feet  of 
surface,  according  as  the  distance  between 
the  cordons  is  twenty  inches  or  two  feet ; 
the  latter  distance  will  no  doubt  be  found 
most  favorable,  and  this  will  allow  1,250 
vines  to  the  acre,  together  with  necessary 
roads,  lost  space,  &c.  Now,  if  we  can  de- 
pend upon  fifteen  pounds  of  fruit  from  each 
vine,  a  quantity  by  no  means  large  in  suit- 
able conditions,  the  total  product  per  acre 
may  be  easily  calculated  in  fruit  or  wine. 

With  regard  to  the  manuring  of  vineyard, 
much  has  been  written,  and  it  appears  to 
be  generally  conceded  that  nitrogenous  ma- 
nures, and  all  those  exciting  a  rank  growth, 
are  to  be  avoided.  The  inorganic  sub- 
stances most  abundant  in  all  parts  of  the 
vine  are  potassa,  lime,  and  phosphoric  acid  ; 
and  as  these  are  indispensable  to  the 
healthy  growth  of  the  plant,  the  soil  must 
not  be  allowed  to  become  deficient  in  them. 
The  quantity  of  manure  required  by  a  vine- 
yard is  wholly  dependent  on  the  disposal 
made  of  its  products ;  if  the  fruit  is  manu- 
factured into  wine,  and  leaves,  cuttings, 
and  the  residuum  from  the  press  are  re- 
turned to  the  soil  of  the  vineyard,  very  lit- 
tle manure  will  be  required  for  a  long  pe- 
riod ;  for  500  gallons  of  must,  the  average 
yield  per  acre,  contains  less  than  eight 
pounds  of  potassa,  and  this  is  everything 


of  importance  that  is  removed  from  the  soil. 
If  the  fruit  is  sold  as  such,  large  amounts 
of  valuable  mineral  salts  are  removed  in 
the  skins  and  seeds,  and  must  be  restored 
by  annual  manuring.  The  best  material 
for  this  purpose  appears  to  be  hardwood 
ashes,  or  the  ashes  of  forest  leaves,  wheat 
straw,  and  especially  that  of  bean  straw 
and  corn  stalks  ;  all  of  which  substances 
abound  in  potassa,  and  supply  phosphoric 
acid,  lime,  magnesia,  &c.,  in  large  quanti- 
ties. The  leaves  cast  annually  by  the 
vines,  and  worked  into  the  soil,  will  proba- 
bly furnish  sufiicient  humus.  Where  sum- 
mer pruning  is  practised,  the  trimmings  are 
immediately  hoed  in,  and  decay  rapidly ; 
but  in  the  method  under  discussion,  no 
wood  is  removed  until  fully  ripe ;  and  as  a 
part  of  this  is  two  years  old,  and  would  de- 
cay very  slowly  if  turned  under  the  soil,  it 
is  better  to  burn  the  trimmings,  and  return 
their  ashes  to  the  vineyard. 

In  conclusion,  we  would  state  that  this 
system  exists  but  in  theory.  A  method  of 
vine-dressing  was  desired  which  should  al- 
low the  plant  to  follow  its  natural  habits 
as  closely  as  possible,  with  the  attainment 
of  certain  conditions  important  to  the  cul- 
tivator ;  and  a  result  of  the  examination  of 
many  systems,  both  old  and  new,  is  the  pa- 
per now  presented.  We  publish  it  with 
the  hope  that  some  lover  of  horticulture 
may  be  induced  to  assist  us  in  reducing 
theory  to  practice  ;  if  any  such  there  be,  we 
wish  them  abundant  success.  We  believe 
that,  by  patient  experiment,  some  method 
of  culture  might  be  devised,  by  which  the 
health  of  the  vines  will  be  ensured,  with- 
out that  lavish  expenditure  of  nauseous 
drugs  now  so  often  found  necessary.  We 
do  not  by  any  means  insist  on  training  the 
fruiting  canes  at  an  angle  of  45°,  or  at  a 
distance  of  two  feet ;  these  are  simply  the 
figure?  we  have  adopted  in  our  own  exper- 
iments ;  but  we  are  of  opinion  that  that 
method  will  be  found  most  successful,  in 
which  summer  pinching  and  pruning  is  re- 
duced to  the  minimum,  or  wholly  neg- 
lected. 


Abbot  Pear. 


109 


ABBOT  PEAR. 


This  is  one  of  the  handsome  appearing 
pears  that,  although  of  native  origin  and 
qualities  of  merit,  has  been  comparatively 
overlooked  by  introduction  of  foreign  sorts. 


Fruit  medium,  oblong,  obovate,  bright 
clear  yellow,  with  a  rich,  clear,  red  cheek 
in  some ;  dotted ;  the  dots  in  sun  being 
dark  Vermillion  red;  stem  long,  slender; 


Fig.  ^2.— Abbot  P& 


Fig.  53 Section. 


set  without  cavity  ;  basin,  medium  depth, 
regular  ;  calyx,  open,  with  long,  reflexed 
segments ;  flesh  white,  granular,  melting  ; 


coarse  granules  next  the  core;  sweet, 
juicy  ;  core  medium  ;  seeds  large,  abundant, 
light  brown.     Early  in  October. 


110 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


MASTEN'S   SEEDLING    APPLE. 

BY  C.   R.  C.   MASTEN. 


This  apple  originated  upon  the  farm  for- 
merly owned  by  my  father,  but  now  in  my 
possession;  in  the  town  of  Pleasant  Valley, 
Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  The  tree  is  vigor- 
ous, with  a  broad-spreading,  well-formed 
head.     The  shoots  are  stout,  leaves   of  me- 


dium size,  and  blossoms  of  a  beautiful  pink 
color.  It  is  a  very  desirable  apple  for  the 
market,  as  it  always  is  unusually  fair,  hav- 
ing a  peculiar  oily  skin,  looking  as  if  rub- 
bed with  a  towel,  and  is  agreeable  for  the 
dessert  or  for  cooking  purposes. 


Fig.  54. — Masten  Seedling  Ap2)le. 


The  fruit  very  much  resembles  the  white 
Winter  Pearmain  in  shape,  being  medium, 
oblong,  conic. 

Skin  oily  smooth,  greenish  or  pale  yellow, 
with  a  faint  blush  or  warm  cheek,  thickly 
sprinkled  with  minute  light  blue  and  brown 
spots. 

Stalk  about  an  inch  long,  inserted  in  a 
narrow,  rather  deep  and  pretty  regular  tri- 
angular cavity. 


Calyx  closed,  and  set  in  a  basin  of  moder- 
ate depth,  which  sometimes  is  a  little  irre- 
gular. 

Flesh  greenish  white,  moderately  juicy, 
tender,  with  a  mild,  pleasant,  and  slightly 
vinous  flavor. 

Good  from  December  to  April. 

Washington  Uolloiv^  N.  Y. 


Cleft-Grafting. 


Ill 


CLEFT-GRAFTING. 


WITH    SPECIAL    REFERENCE    TO    TREES    AND    STOCKS    OF    THE    APPLE    AND  PEAR. 


BY    D.    S.    D. 


Every  recurring  spring  brings  to  my  ears 
tlie  same  enquiry,  "  Who  sliall  I  get  to  do 
a  little  grafting  for  me?"  My  reply  is, 
interrogatively,  "Why  don't  you  do  it  your- 
self? This  second  question  may  be  of  suf- 
ficient pertinence  to  bear  substantially,  a 
repetition  in  the  Horticulturist  ;  and  it 
may  therefore  be  well  to  ask,  why  such  an 
interesting  recreation  is  ever  neglected  by 
any  intelligent  pomologist  ?  No  more  per- 
manent gratification,  in  the  way  of  fruit 
growing,  can  be  expected— or,  perhaps,  im- 
agined— than  that  of  watching,  from  time 
to  timfe,  the  coalescent  growth  of  an  apple 
or  pear  scion,  as  it  gradually  identifies  it- 
self with  its  foster-parent ;  until,  and  even 
after,  its  due  time  of  fruitage.  Emphati- 
cally is  this  true  if  Nature  is  thus  set  to 
work  by  one's  own  individual  act  ; — a  re- 
creation truly,  in  its  common  acceptation, 
almost  a  re-creation,  in  fact ! 

There  seems  to  be  more  or  less  mystery 
overhanging  this  whole  subject,  which  is 
entirely  imaginary,  at  least  so  for  as  this 
department  of  cleft-grafting  is  concerned. 
The  manual  process  is  surely  a  plain  one  ; 
the  proper  reason  is  restricted  within  no 
narrow  bounds  ;  the  requisite  implements 
are  few  and  handy ;  the  labor  is  too  slight 
to  be  called  labor  ;  and,  above  all,  the  in- 
ducements and  the  rewards  are  not  ex- 
celled in  any  department  of  horticulture  ; 
while  the  conditions  of  success  are  easy 
enough  for  all. 

Grafts  and  grafting  wax  are  matters  of 
merchandise,  easily  procurable  by  purchase, 
and  transmissible  through  mail  bags.  By 
so  much  are  we  aliead  of  our  forefathers. 
A  brief  order,  made  out  by  the  always- 
ready  assistance  of  pen,  paper,  ink,  enve- 
lope, and  stamp,  accomplishes  the  wonder, 
in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  of  bringing 
to  our  hands  whatever  we  want,  and  mak- 


ing the  distant  nurseryman  as  near  to  ns 
as  the  nearest  post-ofiice.  cGrafting  mate- 
rials, cuttings,  seeds,  vines,  potatoes,  and 
so  on ; — we  can  buy  them  all  at  the  Post- 
ofiice  !) 

This  then,  the  only  slight  trouble  in  the 
case  being  disposed  of,  we  choose  a  plea- 
sant morning ;  take  a  saw  in  one  hand,  and, 
if  needed,  a  ladder  in  the  other;  with  knife 
and  hammer  in  one  pocket,  and  wax,  wedge, 
and  scions  in  the  other,  and  proceed  to  our 
diversion.  The  selected  stock  or  limb  is 
sawed  off,  the  stump  split  down  an  inch 
or  more,  the  wedge  inserted,  the  tapered 
graft  or  two  placed  in  position,  the  wax 
applied  to  cover  up  all  exposures,  and — the 
thing  is  done.  After  a  moment's  gratifying 
survey  of  the  "job,"  we  attach  a  label, 
and  confidently  leave  the  object  of  our  mis- 
cegenation in  the  care  of  a  kind  Provi- 
dence. 

Even  with  such  general  guidance  as  the 
above,  no  one  need  ever  fail  of  success,  af- 
ter a  few  trials ;  but,  to  save  unnecessary 
expense  of  time  and  patience,  let  us  be 
more  explicit.  Any  stout  two-bladed  'jack- 
knife,'  (the  large  blade  for  cleaving  the 
stock,  and  the  small  one  for  shaping  the 
taper  of  the  graft,)  and  a  small  wedge  of 
hard  wood  or  metal,  will  answer ;  but  a 
grafting-chisel  with  wedge  attached,  is  bet- 
ter. (This,  too,  can  be  obtained  at  the 
Post  Office.)  Grafting  wax  can  be  easily 
made,  if  it  is  not  desirable  to  purchase  it, 
by  the  following  recipes:  — 4  lbs.  rosin, 
2  lbs.  tallow,  and  1  lb.  beeswax  melted  to- 
gether and  well  incorporated ;  or  the  pro- 
portion of  rosin  may  be  greater,  if  lard  be 
used  instead  of  tallow;  or  linseed  oil  may 
be  ased  in  the  proportion  of  1  pint  to  3  lbs. 
rosin  and  1  of  beeswax.  The  preparation 
should  not  be  too  sparingly  used,  (as  is 
sometimes  the  case,)  but  every  part  that 


112 


The  Horticulturist. 


needs  it  should  be  so  well  covered  that  it 
will  be  sure  to  last  at  least  through  the 
whole  season. 

One  essential  point  in  the  operation  of 
grafting  is  to  be  careful  that  the  inner 
barks  of  the  stock  and  scion  shall  meet  at 
their  edges.  Practice  will  soon  make  this 
easy  of  accomplishment ;  but  without  prac- 
tice, it  can  be  made  sure,  by  giving  a  slight 
inwarn  inclin-.tion  to  the  top  of  the  scion, 
which  will  bring  the  edges  exactly  together 
somewhere  in  the  desired  line  of  meeting. 

The  wedge-shaped  end  of  the  scion  should 
be  a  trifle  thinner  on  one  of  its  bark-sides, 
which  should  be  set  inwards  towards  the 
heart  of  the  stock,  in  order  that  the  outer 
and  thicker  side  may  receive  the  greater 
pressure  when  the  wedge  is  removed. 

Sometimes  it  may  be  necessary  to  shield 
a  graft  from  drying  wind,  or  heating  sun, 
which  can  be  done  by  tying  around  it  a 
piece  of  thick,  or  oiled,  paper. 

I  have  cleft-grafted  apple  trees  success- 
fully, at  intervals  from  the  27th  of  March 
to  the  25th  of  July, — a  space  of  nearly  four 
months.  How  much  farther,  outside  of 
these  limits,  the  practice  may  be  carried, 
I  cannot  say  ;  but  this  distance  of  dates  is 
sufficiently  wide  to  remove  an  excuse  for 
neglect  which  is  often  oifered,  in  other  mat- 
ters which  require  more  precise  and  timely 
action. 

Some  years  since,  when  my  knowledge  of 
apples  was  somewhat  more  limited,  I  pur- 
chased a  number  of  trees  of  a  nurseryman, 
leaving  the  selection,  in  part,  to  him. 
Among  them  was  a  Gloria  Mundi.  As  soon 
as  I  learned  its  worthlessness  for  my  use 
I  regrafted  the  whole  of  it,  at  difterent 
times,  with  choice  varieties,  until  it  be- 
came a  propagating-tree,  with  sixteen  dif- 
ferent kinds  upon  it.  These  it  was  a  great 
pleasure  to  see  growing,  and  blossoming  and 


fruiting  ;  and  it  was  an  additional  gratifica- 
tian  to  have  the  various  grafts  ready,  at  all 
proper  times,  for  my  own  use,  and  as  gifts 
to  neighbors  and  amateur  friends. 

Amputation  and  cleft-grafting  may  be 
recommended  for  the  treatment  of  pear- 
blight,  in  some  cases, — perhaps  in  all, — 
with  timely  attention.  The  topmost  limbs 
of  a  twenty-year'-old  pear  tree,  which  had 
been  struck  with  the  blight,  (atmospheri- 
cally?) were  sawed  oft'  some  few  inches 
below  the  marks  of  discoloration  on  the 
bark,  and  the  exposed  surfaces  covered  with 
grafting  wax.  as  a  protection  against  injury 
from  the  elements.  In  the  following  spring 
these  were  again  shortened  by  being  sawed 
off"  a  few  inches  below  the  original  cut,  and 
then  grafted  with  different  desirable  varie- 
ties ;  —  all  of  which  have  done  perfectly 
well. 

The  mysterious  influence  of  stock  upon 
scion  in  promoting  early  fruit-bearing  is  also 
an  interesting  result  of  grafting.  A  few  years 
ago,  in  order  to  test  the  identity  of  the 
Boston  Pear,  so-called,  with  the  Pinneo,  I 
procured  a  young  tree  from  Boston,  and  the 
cuttings  which  I  took  from  it,  and  inserted 
in  the  limbs  of  a  thrifty  old  English  Jargo- 
nelle, produced  fruit  the  next  year  ;  while 
the  original  young  tree  did  not  even  blos- 
som until  seven  years  later.  The  tardy 
Dix,  too,  I  have  known  to  commence  bear- 
ing, on  a  young  graft,  the  first  year  after 
insertion.  And  so  of  apples, —  some  of  the 
slowly-maturing  kinds  have  been  hurried 
into  early  fruitfulness  by  this  method  of 
double-working.  Seedlings,  also,  may  be 
"  put  through  a  course  of  sprouts,''''  "  ahead 
of  time,"  by  the  same  process. 

It  may  be  that  'l/o^l>  knew  all  about  these 
things  before.  Perhaps  your  young  horti- 
cultural friend  did  not — for  him  this  is 
written. 


Notes  on  the  February  Number. 


113 


NOTES  ON  THE  FEBRUARY  NUMBER. 


Fire  on  the  Hearth. — All  !  how  the 
reading  of  this  brings  memories  of  the 
broad  old  kitchen  fire-place  of  my  early- 
home  ;  where  parents,  sisters,  and  brothers 
gathered,  of  a  cold,  frosty  evening  in  au- 
tumn, chatting  and  laughing,  the  table  load- 
ed with  cakes,  and  various  ripe  and  ruddy 
fruits  from  the  orchard. 

How  little  Americans,  as  a  people,  study 
the  after-influence  of  a  pleasant  home  for 
the  young.  While  grasping  for  money  and 
<!)utward  show,  the  softening,  chastening 
influences  of  a  cheerful  home-circle  are  too 
often  forgotten  and  neglected. 

There  is  one  other  association  belonging 
to  a  home  that  gives  pleasant  thoughts  to 
the  occupants,  as  well  as  to  the  passing 
world :  it  is  the  opening  and  using  all  the 
house.  Too  many,  especially  in  the  coun- 
try, shut  up  their  best  and  most  pleasant 
rooms,  to  be  opened  "  only  for  company," 
and  content  themselves  with  rooms  that 
have  but  a  side-view,  or,  perhaps,  only  a 
a  lookout  on  to  the  barn,  &c. 

I  never  drive  past  a  house,  where  the 
blinds  show  evidence  of  the  occupants  con- 
tenting themselves  with  the  working  but, 
necessary  part,  without  at  mentally  once 
saying  to  myself — no  comfort  there ;  all  for 
money  and  show  on  company  days.  Nor 
do  I,  on  the  other  hand,  ever  pass  a  house 
where  the  windows  give  evidence  of  its  oc- 
cupants enjoying  all  the  house,  and  e-pe- 
cially  its  most  sightly  rooms,  without  in- 
voluntarily reining  my  horse  up  to  the 
gate  that  I  may  make  one  more  pleasant 
acquaintance  in  life. 

Remodeling  Old  Buildings  &  Grounds. 
— This  is  one  of  the  plain,  practical  articles 
from  which  we  may  learn  how  much  of  im- 
proved home-comfortableness  (I  coin  the 
word)  and  tasty  effects  may  be  had  from  a 
judicious  studying  of  arrangement.  It  is 
not  always  that  costly  structures  or  per- 
fectly prepared  gravel  or  paved  walks,  give 
the  most  enjoyment;  and  too  many  pass 


on  through  life  with  the  same  old  tumble- 
down gate  and  rude,  unattractive  cornices 
and  roofs,  when  with  the  use  of  a  few  hun- 
dred dollars,  the  whole  appearance  could  be 
changed  to  attract  and  please  not  only 
themselves  and  their  families,  but  every 
passer  by. 

Discrepancies  of  the  Grape  Culture. 
— Another  of  the  records  in  Horticulture, 
illustrative  of  the  fallacy  of  crying  Eureka 
because  our  experiments  in  cultivation  be- 
come a  success.  Like  the  talented  and  ven- 
erable writer,  I  have  been  laboring  years  in 
study  of  the  vine,  its  habits,  diseases,  &c., 
and  have  now  less  confidence  in  my  know- 
ledge than  I  had  ten  years  ago.  Reasoning 
from  observation,  I  should  conclude  that 
vines  of  all  the  strong,  rank-growing  sorts 
would  succeed  admirably  in  situations  tho- 
roughly drained  from  stagnant  water,  and 
yet  where  the  roots  can  obtain  pure  water 
by  stretching  down  two  to  three  feet.  Ca- 
pillary attraction  must  also  serve  to  keep 
the  soil  always  moist  to  within  one  or  two 
inches  of  the  surface.  All  such  situations 
in  nature's  own  planting,  or  that  of  the 
earlier  settlers  at  the  West,  who  planted 
pears  and  grapes,  &c.,  by  running  streams 
and  rivers,  exhibit  results  of  healthy  and 
vigorous  growth,  free  from  diseases,  anala- 
gous  to  the  like  when  grown  and  pruned 
according  to  the  high  artificial,  empirical 
practice  of  the  "  gardener  to  the  Honorable 
Mr.  Buncombe."  In  such  locations  as  the 
sides  of  a  ditch,  river,  &c.,  I  should  look 
for  healthy  plants,  but  in  wet  and  cloudy 
seasons .  a  want  of  flavor  and  sweetness  in 
the  fruit. 

I  suggest  the  application  of  guano  to  the 

muck  soil,  as,  perhaps,  a  requisite  wanted 

for  the  Delaware. 

Flower    Pots.  —  Practical    comments 

> 
with  hints  illustrative,  but  as  all  reforms 

are  not    improvements,  so  it   is   doubtful 

whether   a   transfer  from   porous   pots   to 

hard-baked  or  glazed  ones  may   be  an  ad- 


114 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


vancement.  The  condition  of  the  house, 
its  temperature,  &c.,  &c.,  all  should  be  re- 
garded by  the  intelligent  prapagator,  and 
if  carefully  and  common-sensically  regard- 
ed, I  think  plants  will  continue  to  be  grown 
— as  heretofore — in  porous,  soft  baked,  as 
well  as  hard  glazed  pots 

Grapjes  in  1865. — Thanks  for  this  record. 
In  an  extensive  correspondence,  I  have  been 
getting  many  such  records,  and  it  is  singu- 
lar how  the  whole  sums  up.  Query — Have 
not  all  the  varieties  allied  to  Isabella,  Adi- 
rondac,  Israella,  &c.,  more  disposition  to 
mildew,  in  both  wood  and  fruit,  than  those 
sprung  more  directly  from  the  Catawba  1 

Esthetics  in  Rural  Life. — A  humorous 
comment  upon  the  practice  of  many  a 
would  be  horticulturist. 

Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. — 
Every  line  replete  with  interesting  des- 
criptive record. 

The  New  Era  /n  Grape   Culture. — 

Mr,  Husraan  has  here  given  us  statistical 
record  of  profits  in  grape  growing,  for 
which,  as  one  of  the  readers  of  the  Horti- 
culturist, he.  has  my  thanks.  Neverthe- 
less, I  cannot  concede,  as  yet,  that  each  and 
every  grape  grower  may  realize  annuallj^ 
^6,000  per  acre  from  sale  of  his  grapes  and 
wine  produced  therefrom. 

That  Mr.  Husman  has  done  so  I  do  not 
doubt,  as  he  so  states  it,  but  it  won't  answer 
as  a  guide-post  or  prospective  view  to  the 
grape  growers  of  the  States,  unless  they 
expect  disappointment. 

If  we  take  Mr.  Husman's  500  Concord 
vines,  or,  as  he  says,  four-tenths  of  an 
acre,  and  estimate  160  gallons  of  wine, 
(which  is  all  a  ton  will  make  of  ^wi'e  juice), 
to  the  ton  of  grapes,  we  have,  as  a  result, 
over  six  tons,  or  say,  fourteen  tons  to  an 
acre.  The  balance  of  the  figuring  is  about 
the  same,  and  while  Mr.  Husman  may  lay 
claim  to  that  amount  of  product,  I  doubt 
if  any  other  vineyard  in  the  States  can  do 
so.  Missouri  is,  undoubtedly,  a  fine  fruit 
State,  and  I  rejoice  at  this  evidence  of  her 
productiveness. 


Mr.  Husman  kindly  takes  me  to  task, 
and  hints  that  I  am  fault-finding  in  my 
comments  on  one  of  his  previous  articles . 
I  beg  here  to  assure  the  gentleman  that 
such  an  idea  as  fault-finding  never  has  yet 
entered  my  head  in  commenting  on  his  or 
other  articles.  I  am  a  plain  old-fogy  ob- 
server, and  my  notes  are  written  rather  to 
draw  out  ideas  and  practical  teachings  from 
their  authors,  than  from  any  vain  im- 
aginings of  my  capacity  to  criticise.  If  I 
take  exceptions,  it  is  not  always  that  I  do 
not  myself  believe,  but  that  the  conclusions 
or  statistics,  as  the  case  may  be,  are  so 
much  at  variance  with  generally  received 
opinions  as  to  admit  of  more  light  being 
shed  on  the  subject. 

Thanks,  Mr.  H.,  for  telling  how  to  make 
and  grow  cuttings  ;  but  in  case  of  varieties 
like  the  Delaware,  Norton's,  &c.,  that  do 
not  strike  readily  in  the  open  ground,  have 
you  ever  tried  laying  the  bundles  in  the 
ground,  on  approach  of  spring,  with  the 
lower  or  butt  ends  uppermost,  and  within 
one  or  two  inches  of  the  surface — leaving 
them  in  that  position  until  they  have  cal- 
Jused,  and  then  planting  them  out.  One 
grower  of  my  acquaintance  practises  in  that 
manner  and  succeeds. 

Again,  if  I  mistake  not,  Mr.  GriflBth,  of 
North  East,  Pa.— a  gentleman  of  sound 
good  sense,  and  possessor  of  about  sixty 
acres  of  vineyard — practises  growing  vines 
from  single  buds  only,  in  the  open  ground, 
covering  with  about  half  an  inch  of  soil  and 
some  three  inches  of  fine  mulch.  Perhaps 
in  a  future  number  he  will  tell  us  his  way 
of  doing. 

Thanks,  Mr.  Husman,  for  your  invitation 
to  come  and  see  how  you  prune.  Should  I 
do  so,  it  would  not  be  the  first  time  I  have 
enjoyed  your  genial  huspitality,  eaten  of 
your  grapes,  and  drank  of  your  wines. 

Sap  in  Trees  amd  Leaves. — Two  arti- 
cles of  vegetable  physiology  that  it  is  well 
for  all  to  read.  They  contain  no  new 
truths,  but  the  novice  in  horticultural  pur- 
suits should  study  them. 

Reuben. 


Report  on  Grapes  in  Missouri.  115 

REPORT  ON  GRAPES   IN   MISSOURI  DURING  THE  SUMMER  OF  18G5. 


lY    GEORGE    HUSMANN. 


This  was  one  of  the  most  trying  seasons 
for  grapes  here,  the  summer  being  exces- 
sively wet,  and  but  few  varieties  escaped 
altogether.  The  prospects  for  a  most 
abundant  crop  have,  perhaps,  never  been  so 
good  than  they  were  about  the  middle  of 
July.  Tlie  grapes  had  set  finely,  and  de- 
veloped rapidly.  But  excessive  rains 
brought  on  mildew,  rot,  and  all  the  evils 
to  which  grapes  are  subject,  and  but  a  few 
of  the  most  healthy  varieties  escaped  alto- 
gether. The  following  observations  have 
been  mostly  taken  on  my  own  ground,  and 
I  will  let  the  grapes  follow  in  alphabetical 
</rder. 

1.  Alicanthe — Foreign;  mildew  on  leaf  and 
fruit  J  rotted  badly  ;  no  fruit  ripened. 

2.  Allen's  Hybrid. — Mildew  on  leaf  and 
fruit;  some  rot;  ripened  imperfectly  about 
half  a  crop. 

3.  Anna. — Mildewed  badly;  subject  to  all 
kinds  of  diseases  ;  worthless  with  me. 

4.  Alvey. — Some  mildew,  no  rot;  ripened 
its  fruit  very  well;  promising. 

5.  Arkansas. — Entirely  healthy;  ripened 
a  fine  crop  of  fruit ;  valuable  for  red  wine. 

6.  Arrott. — Subject  to  leaf  blight;  no  rot; 
ripened  a  tolerable  crop  of  fruit. 

7.  Brinkle. — Entirely  worthless  ;  poor 
bearer  ;  subject  to  every  disease. 

8.  ^ca-ter.— Some  leaf  blight,  but  ripened 
a  good  crop  of  rather  indiiferent  fruit,  which 
majr  make  a  pretty  good  red  wine. 

9.  BloocVs  Black.  —  Entirely  healthy; 
abundant  bearer  of  very  early  fruit  of  tol- 
erable good  quality  ;  valuable  as  an  early 
market  grape. 

10.  Broion. — Somewhat  better  than  Is- 
abella ;  subject  to  leaf  blight ;  no  rot. 

11.  Concord — Some  rot  in  some  locations, 
but  ripened  an  immense  crop  of  very  good 
fruit ;  foliage  entirely  free  from  any  disease. 

12.  Clara. — Some  mildew  on  the  leaves, 
but  ripened  a  good  crop  of  fruit,  of  excel- 
lent quality. 


13.  Creveling. — Tolerably  healthy  ;  fruit 
of  very  good  quality,  bunch  rather  loose ; 
promises  well. 

14.  Cassady. — Mildew  and  leaf  blight,  no 
rot;  fruit  ripened  imperfectly. 

15.  Clinton. — Healthy,  and  made  a  good 
crop. 

16.  Cimningliam. — Healthy  ;  ripened  a 
very  full  crop  of  fruit,  which  made  a  very 
good  wine,  and  a  good  deal  of  it ;  valuable 
for  the  West,  in  some  soils,  as  a  wine  grape 
of  high  character. 

17.  Cape. — Badly  affected  with  leaf  blight 
no  rot,  ripened  its  fruit  imperfectly. 

18.  Cynthiana. — Perfectly  healthy;  ripen- 
ed a  fine  crop  of  fruit  ;  very  valuable  as  a 
grape  for  red  wine. 

19.  Catawba.  —  Affected  by  all  diseases, 
mildew,  rot,  leaf  blight ;  almost  a  failure  ; 
should  be  eradicated,  and  Concord  substi- 
tuted in  its  place. 

20.  Canby^s  August. — Set  its  fruit  badly, 
and  ripened  it  poorly ;  of  no  value  here. 

21.  Cuyahoga. — Subject  to  leaf  blight, 
mildew,  &c.;  a  very  insipid  fruit;  worth- 
less. 

22.  Delaioare. — A  very  full  crop,  which,  in 
consequenceof  leaf  blight,  dwindled  down  to 
a  very  small  one  ;  no  rot,  but  the  fruit  rip- 
ened badly  ;  a  fine  grape,  but  does  not  suit 
every  soil,  and  has  been  much  overpraised, 
as  it  evidently  is  only  adapted  to  certain  lo- 
calities. 

23.  Diana. — Mildewed  badly,  and  is  evi- 
dently too  much  like  its  pauent  to  be  of 
much  value  here. 

24.  Dracut  Amber. — Healthy,  but  very 
foxy ;  poor  quality  ;  very  early. 

25.  Devereaiuc. — The  leaf  mildewed  badly, 
and  the  fruit  was  imperfect. 

26.  Eiciag^s  Seedling. — A  tolerably  good 
grape,  of  the  Isabella  class,  but  better  in 
quality  ;  somewhat  subject  to  leaf  blight. 

27.  Northern  Muscadine. — Healthy,  hardy 
early,  and  productive,  but  too  foxy. 


116 


The  Horticulturist. 


28.  Elsinhurgh. — Mildews  badly ;  of  no 
value  here. 

29.  Garrigues. — A  very  good  Isabella, 
subject  to  leaf  blight;  not  desirable. 

30.  Garhers  Albino. — Somewhat  subject 
to  leaf  blight  ;  a  poor  bearer  ;  of  good 
quality. 

31.  Hartford  Prolific. — Healthy,  hardy, 
and  very  productive ;  of  fair  quality ;  a  very 
valuable  early  market  grape. 

32.  Herhemont. — Healthy,  but  little  sub- 
ject to  any  disease,  and  is,  in  most  of  our 
locations,  a  very  abundant  bearer  of  excel- 
lent fruit ;  a  very  heavy  crop,  well  ripened, 
but  rather  late. 

33.  lona. — Rotted  more  than  any  other 
grape  I  had  ;  of  twenty  bunches,  I  did  not 
save  as  many  berries;  must  do  better  in 
future,  or  it  will  be  of  no  value  here. 

34.  Israella. — Tolerably  healthy;  but  the 
fruit  ripened  later  than  Hartford  Prolific, 
and  was  very  insipid. 

35.  Isabella. — Subject  to  leaf  blight  and 
rot ;  of  no  value  here. 

36.  Kingsessing. — Mildewed  badly,  and 
lost  all  its  leaves  ;  poor  quality. 

37.  Lenoir. — Healthy,  and  of  good  qual- 
ity, but  poor  bearer. 

38.  Lake. — Leaf  blighted  badly,  and  the 
fruit  was  of  poor  quality. 

39.  Louisiana. — Healthy,  and  makes  a 
superior  wine,  but  seems  to  be  a  shy  bearer. 

40.  Martha. — Of  all  the  neio  grapes,  this 
promises  best  here;  healthy,  hardy,  a  good 
bearer,  and  of  very  good  quality ;  a  white 
Concord,  but  sweeter  than  its  parent. 

41.  Mary  Ann. — Healthy,  very  early,  and 
very  productive,  but  of  inferior  quality; 
profitable  for  very  early  marketing. 

42.  Marion  Port. — Of  the  same  character 
as  Hyde's  Eliza ;  of  no  value  when  better 
varieties  can  be  had. 

43.  Nortori's  Virginia. — Good  in  every 
respect ;  an  immense  crop. 

44.  North  Carolina  Seedling.  —  Foliage 
healthy,  some  rot  on  fruit,  but  ripened  a 
very  heavy  crop  of  early,  showy  fruit,  of 
good  quality  ;  valuable  as  an  early  market 
grape. 


45.  North  America. — Very  early,  and  of 
good  quality,  but  very  small  bunches ; 
healthy. 

46.  Oporto. — Of  no  value  whatever;  a 
complete  humbug. 

47.  Ontario. — Resembles  Union  Village ; 
some  leaf  blight ;  fruit  very  large,  but  did 
not  ripen  well. 

48.  PrescheVs  Mammoth. — Healthy  in  fruit 
and  foliage;  very  large  fruit;  showy;  tol- 
erable quality. 

49.  Perkins. — Healthy,  hardy,  productive, 
and  early ;  a  good  early  market  grape,  but 
very  foxy. 

50.  Rebecca. — Leaf  blighted  badly;  fruit 
tolerably  good,  but  a  poor  grower  and 
bearer. 

51.  Rosine  of  Smyrna. — Leaf  blight  and 
rot ;  fruit  ripened  imperfectly,  but  is  very 
handsome. 

52.  Rulander. — Very  healthy  ;  makes  a 
superior  wine  ;  rather  poor  bearei'. 

53.  Rogers^  Hybrid,  No.  1. — Healthy,  fine 
in  every  respect,  productive,  valuable  here. 

54.  Rogers^  Hybrid,  No.  6. — Healthy,  very 
good. 

55.  Rogers^  Hybrid,  No.  15. — Subject  to 
leaf  blight  and  rot;  rather  indifferent  qual- 
ity. 

56.  Terre  Promise. — Leaf  blight  and  rot 
ruined  the  fruit  entirely. 

57.  Tojjlor Health}^;   produced   a  good 

crop ;  will  make  a  fine  white  wine. 

58.  To  Kalon. — Very  unhealthy;  of  little 
value. 

59.  Union  Village. — Leaf  blighted,  and 
ripened  the  fruit  imperfectly. 

When  we  come  to  sum  up  this  season's 
experience,  we  find  that  the  old  standard 
varieties,  Norton's  Virginia,  Concord,  Her- 
feemont,  and  Hartford  Prolific,  have  again 
proven  that  they  can  be  depended  upon 
here.  The  Clinton  may,  perhaps,  be  includ- 
ed, but  I  would  rather  plant  the  Concord 
as  a  wine  grape,  if  I  had  my  choice.  I  think 
the  wine  is  more  agreeable,  and  it  will  turn 
out  more  to  the  acre  than  the  Clinton.  Among 
those  promising  well  for  wine,  I  will  name 
the  Alvey,  Arkansas,  Creveling,  Cunning- 


Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. 


117 


ham,  Cjnthiana,  Louisiana,  Martha,  Rii- 
laiider,  Taylor.  Among  those  promising 
■vrell  for  table  and  market,  Blood's  Black, 
North  Carolina  Seedling,  Perkins,  Rogei's' 
Hybrid  Nos.  1  and  6.  These  are  all  healthy 
enough  to  be  depended  upon  here. 

This,  Messrs.  Editors,  is  Missouri  experi- 
ence. I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  it  could 
serve  as  a  guide  for  other  localities.  I  do  not 
believe  that  one  grape  will  do  for  the  wliole 
country,  from  Maine  to  California,  as  some 
claim  for  the  Delaware ;  nor  do  T  set  up  to 
be  an  authority.  This  cheap  glory  I  leave 
to  some  other  gentlemen,  who  pretend  to 


be  the  only  good  and  rational  propagators, 
as  well  as  guides  in  grape  growing  I 
wouli  caution  again  and  again,  and  I  think 
that  caution  can  not  be  repeated  too  often, 
against  following  blindly  in  the  wake  of 
professional  men,  and  planting  a  certain 
grape,  for  instance,  in  Illinois,  because  it  is 
successful  in  Pennsylvania.  Let  every  one 
try  for  himself,  and  accept  counsel  from 
others,  even  the  most  reliable  men,  only 
with  due  allowance  for  difference  of  climate 
and  soil. 

Hermann,  Dec,  20. 


GARDENS  AND  PARKS  OF  GERMANY.— CowcfeZed 


And  now  a  word  about  rural  Germany 
A  German  rural  landscape,  finds  no  coun- 
terpart in  our  own  land. 

Fences  are  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and 
hedges  only  as  ornaments.  No  houses, 
neither  barns,  are  scattered  along  the  road- 
sides. 

The  tillers  of  the  land  live  together  in 
little  hamlets.  Their  houses  are  generally 
small,  and  one-storied,  built  of  stone  and  a 
coarse  moi-tar  made  of  mud  and  straw. 
Most  of  them  are  whitewashed,  and  the 
roofs  are  steep  and  covered  with  red  tiles. 
These  little  houses  are  built  close  together, 
having  barns  attached.  They  have  no 
door-yards  but  front  directly  upon  the 
paved  street.  A  German  village  presents 
few  attractions  ;  there  is  nothing  rural  or 
pleasing  about  one.  Hardly  a  spear  of 
grass  or  a  shrub  grows  within  its  limits, 
and  none  reside  there  except  the  peasants, 
a  parish  minister,  a  shoemaker,  and  a  half 
dozen  more  such  worthies.  The  villages 
are  for  the  peasants,  the  cities  are  for  the 
other  classes.  Such  little  hamlets  seen 
from  a  distance,  look  charming  and  pictur- 
esque, situated  right  in  the  midst  of  green 
fields,  and  often  upon  some  little  rushing 
watercourse,  the  bright  red  roofs  and  little 
church  spire,  rising  up  from  among  a  per- 
fect grove  of  fruit  and  nut  trees  :  but   as 


you  enter  the  place  the  charm  vanishes. 
The  absence  of  all  fences  and  hedges  gives 
to  the  country  a  more  expansive  appear- 
ance ;  but  you  seldom  see  large  fields  of 
any  one  crop.  The  land  is  tilled  by  so 
many  small  proprietors,  that  the  whole 
surface  of  the  country  looks  like  a  great 
agricultural  Mosaic,  made  up  of  numberless 
little  patches  of  various  staples.  Here  a 
little  strip  of  wheat,  there  a  square  of 
potatoes,  next  a  strip  of  beet,  and  another 
strip  of  wheat,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 
The  highways  are  irreproachable,  just  as 
hard  and  smooth  as  bowling  alleys.  They 
are  all  Macadamized  and  very  broad,  per- 
fectly drained,  and  always  in  good  con- 
dition. I  never  yet  saw  a  highway  in  Ger- 
many which  would  not  answer  for  a  trot- 
ting course.  They  are  all  built  and  cared 
for  by  the  government,  and  hence  their  ex- 
cellence. They  are  always  lined  with  trees, 
sometimes  merely  ornamental,  but  gene- 
rally combining  the  useful  with  the  beauti- 
tiful.  One  of  the  most  delightful  drives 
that  I  ever  took,  was  from  the  old  historical 
town  of  Jena  to  Wiemer.  It  was  about 
fourteen  miles  over  a  picturesque  and  un- 
dulating country,  and  it  was  the  roadsides 
which  most  of  all  attracted  my  attention. 
In  some  places  they  were  adorned  with 
trim  evergreen  hedges  ;  in  other  with  close- 


118 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


\j  cut  dense  foliaged  beeches.     These  were 
quite  small  and  shrublike,  and  cut  out  into 
various   shapes.     Some    were    pyramidical, 
some   round,   some   oval,    some   curved   in 
from   a   broad   base  towards  the  top,  and 
others  from  a  broad  top  towards  the  base. 
Some  were  so  cut  as  to  represent   a  series 
of  rings,  others  a   series   of  p3'ramids,  and 
no  two  trees  looked  alike.     It  is  wonderful 
how  much  in  this  way  can  be   done  with 
the  beech,  and  the  Germans  seem  very  fond 
of  using  it  for  ornamental  purposes.      For 
miles  along  this  road  were  cherry  and  pear 
trees,  and  alternating  with  these  were  beau- 
tiful mountain  ashes,  laden  with  clusters  of 
brilliant  berries.     These  added  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  scene,  but  1  do  not  think  that 
ornament  was  their  only  purpose,  for  they 
did  good  service  in  attracting  the  numerous 
birds  from  the  cherries.      And  would  you 
see  a  charming  landscape,  not  of  grandenr 
but  of  quiet  beauty,  come  to  Jena.     It  lies 
most   picturesquely  upon  the  little   Saale, 
which  winds  through  the  green  fertile  val- 
ley like  a  silver  band,  while  on  its    borders 
flourish  clustering  willows  and  aspens  ;  and 
ever  and  anon  the  foliage  broadens   out   to 
form  beautiful  groves,  in  which  the  mighty 
horse  chestnut   and   fragrant   linden   pre- 
dominate.    Around  this  landscape    in  the 
valley,  is  set  a  girdle  of  hills   varied   and 
attractive.       At  their  foot   and  up  their 
more  sloping  sides,  are  green  vineyards  and 
fruitful  orchards,  and  further  up  on  to  the 
summit,  are  in  some  cases,  dense  forests  of 
evergreens  ;  or  again,  bare  stratas  of  rock. 
And   standing  upon  one  of  these  summits, 
you  see  the  valley  of  the  Saale  stretching 
out  for  miles  before  you,  rich  in  vegetation 
and   dotted   all   over  with  little  red-tiled 
hamlets  nestling  in  among  the  trees.  Right 
below  lies  the  ancient  city,  with   her   old 
towers  and  winding  streets,  rich  in  historic 
associations.     Beyond,  towards   the  north- 
west, stretches  out  the  famous  battle  field, 
and  far  in  the   distance  rises  the  western 
boundary  of  the  Thuvingian  forrest,   while 
here  and  there  on  the  surrounding  hill-tops, 
you  catch   a  glimpse  of  some    old   castle 
ruin.     Here  a  lone  tower,  there   a  solitary 


crumbling  wall,  alone  remaining  to  tell  of 
the  many  strongholds  which  centuries  ago 
protected  this  fair  valley  against  the  fierce 
inroads  of  heathendom.  A  German  au- 
tumnal forest  cannot  compare  in  beauty 
with  those  which  crown  our  own  hillside, 
for  the  glowing  varied  splendor  of  the 
maple  is  wanting.  But  I  never  beheld  a 
more  beautiful  landscape  than  that  which 
spreads  out  around,  before  and  above  you, 
as  you  stand  of  a  bright  October  afternoon, 
on  the  grand  terrace  above  the  ancient 
Castle  of  Hiedelburg.  Right  below  lie  the 
mighty  towers  and  ivy-crowned  battle- 
ments ;  the  frowning  ramparts  and  grass 
grown  courts  of  the  proud  old  stronghold 
of  the  Electors  and  Count  Palatines  of  the 
once  mighty  Rhine  Palatinate  crowning 
with  its  vast  ruins  the  projecting  forehead 
of  the  Jetten  biihl. 

Just  below  stretches  the  town  long  and 
narrow,  with  red-tiled  roofs  and  tapering 
spires.  In  the  valley  the  green  Neckar, 
smoothest  of  rivers,  glides  noiselessly  by. 
On  the  right,  green  banks  come  down  to 
meet  the  stream,  while  up  the  hill-side,  the 
vineyards  are  yellow,  on  the  southern 
slopes.  Farther  up  all  around  you,  the 
oaks  and  chestnuts  have  put  on  their  rich 
chocolate  and  amberdyed  liveries,  which 
form  a  pleasant  contrast  to  the  dark  ever- 
green foliage  which  crown  the  summits  of 
Odeuwald.  To  the  westward  opens  the 
broad,  fair  plain  of  the  Rhine,  a  blooming 
garden,through  which  the  Neckar  winds  its 
course  like  a  bow  of  steel,  until  your  eye 
rests  upon  the  lofty  spires  of  Manheim, 
and  a  line  of  white  vapor  extending  along 
towards  the  north  indicates  to  you  that 
there  runs  the  mighty  Rhine,  while  far 
beyond,  the  blue  Alsation  hills  stretch 
away  in  the  dim  distance,  joining  the  clear 
blue  sky,  which  curtains  in  the  scenes. 

"  Oh,  could  I  wish  a  fiiry  dream, 
Of  fragrunce,  light  mid  sunny  skies  ; 
There  on  the  jSTeckar's  winding  stream. 
Famed  Hiedelberg,  I  most  should  prize  ; 
From  thy  old  mouldering  ciistle  -wall, 
Thou  f:iir  Alhambra  of  the  Rhine  ; 
Behold  that  vale  surpnssing  all, 
And  thousand  greetings  should  be  thine." 


Gleanings. 

GLEANINGS.— CoTiiwmecf. 


119 


IV. 


To  tlie  lover  of  nature,  the  trees,  in  cast- 
ing off  their  summer  garments  of  rich 
leaves,  only  reveal  to  him  fresh  objects  of 
beauty  and  delightful  study  in  the  marvel- 
lous construction  of  their  noble  skeletons  ; 
in  the  exquisite  tracery  produced  by  the 
intermingling  of  myriad  branches  and  deli- 
cate twigs  ;  in  the  lavish  variety  of  charac- 
ter stamped  upon  each  separate  species  of 
tree,  and  upon  .each  individual  of  that 
species."  I  do  not  propose,"  says  Ruskin,in 
his  "  Modern  Painters," — "  to  examine  the 
characteristics  of  each  tree ;  it  will  be 
enough  to  observe  the  laws  common  to  all. 
First,  then,  neither  the  stem  nor  the  boughs 
of  an  oak,  elm,  ash,  hazel,  willow,  birch, 
beech,  poplar,  chestnut,  pine,  mulberry, 
olive,  ilex,  carob,  or  whatever  the  tree  may 
be,  taper^  except  where  they  fork.  Wherever 
a  stem  sends  off  a  branch,  or  a  branch  a 
lesser  bough,  or  a  lesser  bough  a  bud,  the 
stem  or  the  branch  is,  on  the  instant,  less 
in  diameter  by  the  exact  quantity  of  the 
branch  or  the  bough  they  have  sent  oft",  and 
they  remain  of  the  same  diameter ;  or,  if 
there  be  any  change,  rather  increase  than 
diminish,  until  they  send  off  another  branch 
or  bough.  This  law  is  imperative,  and 
without  exception.  No  bough,  or  stem, 
or  twig,  ever  tapering  or  becoming  narrower 
towards  its  extremity  by  a  hair's  breadth, 
save  where  it  parts  with  some  portion  of  its 
,substance  at  a  fork  or  bud,  so  that  if  all  the 
twigs  and  sprays  at  the  top  and  sides  of  the 
tree,  which  are,  and  have  been,  could  be 
united  without  loss  of  space,  they  would 
form  a  round  log  of  at  least  the  diameter 
of  the  trunk  from  which  they  sprung. 

But  as  the  trunks  of  most  trees  send  off 
twigs  and  sprays  of  light  under  foliage,  of 
which  every  individual  fibi'c  takes  precisely 
its  own  thickness  of  wood  from  the  parent 
stem,  and  as  many  of  these  drop  off,  leaving 
nothing  but  a  small  excrescence  to  record 
their  existence,  there  is  frequently  a  slight 
and  delicate  appearance  of  tapering  caused 


in  the  trunk  itself;  while  the  same  opera- 
tion takes  place  much  more  extensively  in 
the  branches ;  it  being  natural  to  almost 
all  trees  to  send  out  from  their  young 
limbs  more  wood  than  they  can  support ; 
which,  as  the  stem  increases,  gets  contracted 
at  the  points  of  insertion,  so  as  to  check  the 
flow  of  the  sap,  and  then  dies  and  drops  off, 
leaving  all  along  the  bough,  first  on  one 
side  and  then  on  another,  a  series  of  small 
excrescences  sufficient  to  account  for  a 
degree  of  tapering,  which  is  yet  so  very 
slight,  that  if  we  select  a  portion  of  a  branch 
with  no  real  fork,  or  living  bough  to  divide 
it,  or  diminish  it,  the  tapering  is  scarcely 
to  be  detected  by  the  eye ;  and  if  we  select 
a  portion  without  such  evidences  of  past 
ramification,  there  will  be  found  none 
whatsoever. 

But  nature  takes  great  pains  to  conceal 
this  uniformity  in  her  boughs.  They  are 
perpetually  parting  with  little  sprays  here 
and  there,  which  steal  away  their  sub- 
stance cautiously,  and  where  the  eye  does 
not  perceive  the  theft  until  a  little  way 
above  it  feels  the  loss;  and  in  the  upper 
parts  of  the  tree,  the  ramifications  take 
place  so  constantly  and  delicately,  that  the 
effect  upon  the  eye  is  precisely  the  same  as 
if  the  boughs  actually  tapered,  except  here 
and  there  where  some  avaricious  one, 
greedy  of  substance,  runs  on  for  two  or 
three  yards  without  parting  with  anything, 
and  becomes  ungraceful  in  so  doing." 


Take  one  of  those  little  flowers  which 
cover  all  the  pastures,  and  which  everybody 
knows  by  the  name  of  daisy.  Look  at  it 
well ;  for  I  am  sure  you  would  not  have 
guessed,  by  its  appearance,  that  this  flower, 
which  is  so  small  and  delicate,  is  really 
composed  of  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred flowers,  all  of  them  perfect ;  that  is, 
having  each  its  corolla,  stamens,  pistil, 
and  fruit.  Everyone  of  those  leaves  which 
are  white  above  and  red  underneath,  and 


120 


The  Horticulturist, 


form  a  kind  of  crown  round  the  flower, 
appearing  to  be  nothing  more  than  little 
petals,  are  in  reality  so  many  true  flowers ; 
and  every  one  of  these  tiny  yellow  things 
also,  which  you  see  in  the  centre,  and 
which  at  first  you  have,  perhaps,  taken  for 
nothing  but  stamens,  are  real  flowers. 

If  you  were  accustomed  to  botanical  dis- 
sections, and  were  armed  with  a  good  glass, 
and  plenty  of  patience,  it  would  be  easy  to 
convince  you  of  this.  But  you  may  at 
least  pull  out  one  of  the  white  leaves  from 
the  flower ;  you  will  at  first  think  it  is  flat 
from  one  end  to  the  other ;  but  look  care- 
fully at  the  end  by  which  it  was  fastened 
to  the  flower,  and  you  will  see  that  this 
end  is  not  flat,  but  round  and  hollow,  in 
form  of  a  tube,  and  that  a  little  thread, 
ending  in  two  horns,  issues  from  the  tube ; 
this  thread  is  the  forked  style  of  the 
flower,  which,  as  you  now  see,  is  flat  only 
at  the  top. 

Next  look  at  those  yellow  things  in  the 
middle  of  the  flower,  and  which,  as  I  have 


told  you,  are  all  so  many  flowers.  If  the 
flower  be  sufficiently  advanced,  you  will  see 
several  of  them  open  in  the  middle,  and 
even  cut  into  several  parts.  These  are 
monopetalous  corollas,  which  expand ;  and 
a  glass  will  easily  discover  in  them  the 
pistil,  and  even  the  anthers  with  which  it 
is  surrounded.  Commonly  the  yellow  florets 
towards  the  centre  are  still  surrounded  and 
closed.  These,  however,  are  flowers  like 
the  others,  but  not  yet  open,  for  they  ex- 
pand successively  from  the  edge  inwards. 
This  is  enough  to  show  you  by  the  eye,  the 
possibility  that  all  these  small  affairs,  both 
white  and  yellow,  may  be  so  many  distinct 
flowers ;  and  this  is  a  constant  fact.  You 
perceive,  nevertheless,  that  all  these  little 
flowers  are  pressed  and  enclosed  in  a  calyx 
which  is  common  to  them  all,  and  which  is 
that  of  the  daisy.  In  considering,  then,  the 
whole  daisy  as  one  flower,  we  give  it  a  very 
significant  name  when  we  call  it  a  composite 
fioicer. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Improve  your  Place. — The  true  lover 
of  rural  life  is  known  partly  by  his  disposi- 
tion to  improve  or  change  the  present  con- 
dition of  his  place.  As  time  passes,  events 
occur,  new  plants  come  up,  etc.,  changes 
must  be  made,  new  arrangements  furmed, 
or  the  whole  becomes  confused.  He  who 
truly  loves  his  rural  home,  and  enjoys  the 
growth  of  tree  and  plant,  will  be  found 
constantly  making  changes,  while  the  show 
amateur  leaves  the  gardener  to  keep  all 
clean  and  tidy,  because  his  place  is  finished. 
Heaven  save  such  a  man,  and  send  him  back 
again  to  his  "cotton  and  sugar  trade,"  for 
he  has  no  business  in  the  country. 


Osage  Orange  as  an  Ornamental 
Tree. — In  ornamental  planting,  the  spread- 
ing, rather  drooping,  elegant  habit  of  the 
Osage  Orange,  together  with  its  rich  glossy 
foliage,  seeir.s  to  have  been,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, overlooked.  x\s  a  tree  of  second-class 
station,  it  has  few  superiors  as  regards 
beauty,  and  especially  when  laden  with  its 
fruit. 

Three  or  five  Osage  Orange  trees,  planted 
as  posts  for  an  arbor,  and,  as  they  grow, 
having  their  tops  intertwined,  form  one  of 
the  cheapest,  and  yet  effective,  and  satis- 
factory of  summer  arbors. 


Editor's  Table. 


121 


In  advertisement  "  Kitchen  Garden 
Seeds,"  of  Messrs.  McElwain  Bros.,  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  in  our  March  number,  some  of 
the  type  slipped  out  of  the  form  on  being 
put  upon  the  pre.ss.  It  should  read  20 
varieties  for  §1.00.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
whoever  sends  them  the  dollar  will  get 
their  moneys  worth  and  more  too. 


Sturtevant  Peach. — To  lovers  and 
growers  of  the  peach,  no  one  sort  deserves 
more  attention,  and  has  received  so  little 
as  the  Sturtevant.  It  is  much  like  Bergen's 
Yellow  in  appearance,  a  trifle  larger,  small- 
er pit,  equally  sweet — a  hardy,  vigorous, 
growing  tree,  and  a  good  producer. 


The  Mahonia  as  an  Ornamental 
Hedge. — Among  all  our  hardy  shrub  ever- 
greens north  of  the  latitudes  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  mahonia  makes  one  of  the  best 
and  most  ornamental  of  low  boundary 
hedges.  The  plant  is  nearest  to  the  holly 
of  the  old  country  of  any  plant  that  is 
hardy  ;  it  is  easy  of  cultivation,  bears  the 
shears,  is  very  ornamental  when  in  flower, 
and  afterwards  in  berry  or  fruit. 

There  are  several  varieties  of  it,  differing 
only  in  size  and  form  of  the  leaf,  but  in 
forming  a  hedge  they  may  be  worked  in 
without  reference  to  their  botanical  differ- 
ence. The  plants  can  be  moved  in  autumn 
or  spring,  but  April  and  May  are  the  best 
months  for  transplanting  them. 


Soil  and  Manure  for  Dwarf  Pear 
Trees. — Of  all  the  fruit  trees  planted, 
probably  no  one  kind  return,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  trees  planted,  as  little  re- 
turn as  dwarf  pears.  This  is  partly  from  a 
want  of  knowledge  of  how  to  prune,  partly 
from  neglect  in  pruning,  or  so  pruning  as  to 
injure  rather  than  benefit,  partly  from 
planting  the  tree  in  unsuitable  soil,  ana 
partly  from  want  of  knowledge  in  supply- 
ing manures. 

Of  the  last  two  items  only  will  we  now 
write.  Too  many  are  under  the  impres- 
sion that  dwarf  pear  trees  should  be  placed 


in  very  rich,  deep  soil,  and  then  annually 
dressed  with  three  to  four  inches  deep  of 
well-rotted  barnyard  manure  ;  for  such  has 
been  the  "  written  and  published  instruc- 
tions." The  result  of  such  course  general- 
ly exhibits  itself  in  a  strong,  vigorous 
growth  of  wood,  about  as  close-grained  as 
an  elder-bush,  and  liable  to  atmospheric 
injury — i.  e.,  blight — as  well  as  presenting 
additional  attraction  to  the  insect  scolytus 
pyri^  the  blighting  effects  of  which  are  occa- 
sionally to  be  found,  but  not  by  any  means 
as  often  as  the  injury  from  atmospheric  in- 
fluence. 

We  speak  of  this  rank  growth  from  the  in- 
fluence of  free  and  heavy  annual  dumpings 
of  animal  manures,  because  such  have  been 
the  result  of  our  observations  in  watching 
dwarf  pear  growing  many  years.  And  now, 
while  we  would  choose  a  good  heavy  clay 
soil,  moderately  rich,  as  the  bed,  we  would 
prefer  a  poor  clay  and  no  animal  manures, 
to  a  rich  deep  soil  and  heavy  dressings  of 
manures.  A  calcareous  clay,  a  gravelly  clay 
loam,  a  good  ordinary  clay  loam,  or  corn, 
ground  and  a  poor  hard  clay,  will  all  grow 
dwarf  pears  satisfactorily,  both  in  tree  and 
fruit ;  while  a  sand,  or  sandy  loam,  or  a 
muck  soil,  will  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  re- 
sult in  disappointment.  A  heavy  dressing 
of  animal  manure  annually  will  generally 
result  in  blight  and  death  of  the  tree  with- 
in ten  years ;  while  a  simple  dressing  of 
two  bushels  of  salt  and  one  of  plaster  of 
Paris  (gypsum)  annually,  with  frequent 
stirring  of  the  ground  during  the  growing 
season,  will  as  a  general  thing  result  in 
healthy  trees  and  fine  fruit. 
.  The  whys  and  wherefores  of  this  state- 
ment can  be  written  if  necessary,  but  here 
we  do  not  so  deem  it,  and  therefore  only 
name  the  results  of  long  practical  observa- 
tion. 


About  twenty-five  years  ago  we  planted 
an  Isabella  grape-vine  by  the  side  of  the 
barn.  We  had  read  that  vines  require  ani- 
mal and  other  rich  fertilizing  manure,  so 
whenever  an  animal  died,  we  dug  a  hole 


122 


The  Horticulturist. 


three  or  four  feet  from  the  building  and 
threw  it  in.  Although  so  highly  enriched, 
as  we  thought,  it  did  not  grow  as  well  as 
others  that  had  but  little  of  such  mate- 
rials, and  last  fall  we  dug  it  up  and  planted 
a  Hartford  Prolific  in  its  place.  Judge  of 
our  surprise  when  we  found  in  the  rich 
black  mass,  where  many  years  ago  we  had 
thrown  the  dead  animals,  not  a  root.  They 
all  avoided  it,  and  the  larger  part  went  un- 
der the  barn,  or  rather  the  foundation 
wall.  If  we  had  made  a  compost  with  our 
dead  animals  and  forked  it  in  around  the 
roots,  probably  it  would  have  grown  and 
borne  luxuriantly,  for  Isabella  does  grow 
very  well  with  us  if  trained  against  build- 
ings. Isaac  Hicks, 

North  Hempstead,  L.  I. 


Inquiries  about  the  Pear  when  Work- 
ed, ON  Mountain  Ash,  Thorn,  &c.-  A 
subscriber  in  Ohio  says  he  has  been  examin- 
ing dwarf  pear-growing,  and  finds  that  the 
most  successful  growers  advocate  planting 
the  tree  so  deep  as  that  it  may  take  root 
with  the  pear  stock;  and  that,  as  every 
variety  does  not  readily  grow  on  the  quince, 
or  strike  out  roots  when  planted  in  the 
ground,  the  practice  is  to  select  one  or  more 
sorts  that  readily  take  on  the  quince,  and 
then,  after  the  first  years  growth  from  the 
bud,  again  bud  with  the  untractable  variety 
some  eight  or  more  inches  above  the  union 
of  the  first  sort  with  the  quince.  Our  sub- 
scriber asks  if  this  getting  the  dwarf  to 
grow  from  the  pear  root  is  essential ;  and, 
if  so,  then  why  will  not  the  mountain  ash, 
thorn,  or  apple,  act  as  a  conductor  or  root 
to  the  pear  for  a  year  or  two  as  well  as  the 
quince.  And  further,  he  says,  if  the  quince 
is  used,  is  there  any  difterence  in  varieties 
for  the  purpose  1 

To  these  inquiries  we  purpose  brief  an- 
swers, but  shall  be  glad,  also,  to  have  our 
friends  send  us  their  views,  as  the  subject  is 
one  of  considerable  moment. 

First,  we  do  not  consider  it  essential  to 
successful  and  permanent  effect  that  the 
pear,  when  worked  on  the  quince,  should 


take  root  from  the  pear ;  but  we  do  consider  ^  | 
it  essential  that  the  quince  stock  should  all  ' 
be  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  in  or-  j 
der  that  the  return  flow   of  sap  from  the 
pear  may  be  freely  returned  to  the  quince 
roots;  for,   when  the  quince  is   all  below  j 
ground,  roots  form  from   it   even  up  to  its 
junction   with   the   pear;    but    when    the  j 
quince  is  any  portion  of  it  above  ground,  "j 
its  bark  dries  and  hardens,  preventing  an 
even  and  regular  return    from   the  roots.  j 
The  roots  tlirown  out  by  the  pear  stock,  ' 
when  below  ground,  serve  to  add  vigor  to 
the  tree  ;  and,  as  they  are  lateral  roots,  so  I 
this  vigor  is  imparted  more  to  the  spreading  j 
than  upright  habit  of  the  tree.     Again,  it  i 
is  rare  that  the  pear  sends  roots  from  its  { 
own  stock  until  after  the  tree  has  been  in  i 
bearing  two  or  more   years,  and  acquired 
the  habit  of  matuie  age,  never  again  to  re- 
turn to  youth.  i 
For  small   grounds,  where  trees  are  to  j 
stand  eight  feet  distant  from  each  other,  as  ; 
is  generally  the  practice  in   planting,  the  | 
striking  of  the  pear  in  its  own  root  must,  i 
in  a  few  years,  necessitate  a  system  of  I'oot  i 
as  well  as  branch  pruning,  in  order  to  keep  '. 
the  tree   in  the  space  allotted  it ;   and,  if 
root-pruning  is  to  be  practised,  then,  as  well  i 
take  the  pear  on  its  own  roots,  and  com- 
mence at  once. 

Second — If  in  growing  dwarf  pears  the  j 

object  be  to  get  them  once  into  bearing,  j 

and  afterwards  root  prune,  because  of  the  i 

pear  having  struck  root,  then  we  see  not  j 

why,  in  certain  soils,  the  mountain  ash  and  j 

thorn  may  not  answer  a  good  purpose.  The  ' 

ash,  however,  will  not  succeed  in  cold  or  j 

wet  locations,  like  clays,  &c.,  and  it  is  lia-  \ 

ble  to  attack  of  the  borer  when  grown  in  > 

light  dry  soils,  but  some  of  the  best  Belle  i 

Lucrative  pears  we  ever  ate  were  grown  on  ; 

mountain  ash  stock.  j 

The  thorn  is  hardier  than  the  ash,  and  < 

clays  and   wet  do  not  apparently  aflFect  it  '; 

more  than  the  quince.     Its  abandonment  , 

for  the  quince,  we  opine,  has  been  rather  j 
from  the  greater  facility  of  getting  quince 
stocks  than  any  valid  objection  to  the  stock 


Editor's  Table. 


123 


itself.  The  largest  Seckel  pears  we  ever 
saw  were  grown  on  a  thorn  stock. 

The  apple,  although  at  first  uniting  with 
the  pear  apparently  well,  and  growing,  per- 
haps two  years,  vigorously,  then  becomes 
checked,  and  within  the  next  two  years 
either  dies  entirely,  breaks  oft",  or  remains 
a  stunted  dwarf,  that  no  system  of  cul- 
ture that  w«  have  tried  would  invigorate. 

Lastly — The  question  as  to  difference  in 
varieties  of  the  quince  for  stocks,  we  con- 
sider answered,  by  saying  that  there  is  no 
more  difference  in  quince  stocks  to  work 
the  pear  upon  than  there  is  in  apple 
stocks  to  work  the  apple  upon.  If  the 
stock  is  a  vigorous  thrifty  grower,  it  is  a 
good  stock.  Unfortunately,  a  great  many 
quince  stocks  have  been  grown  from  seed, 
and  used  as  apple  stocks  indiscriminately, 
without  regard  to  their  vigor  or  adaptation 
to  the  purpose  sought.  Other  quince  stocks 
have  been  grown  from  cuttings,  made  also 
without  reference  to  the  habit  of  the  plant 
or  tree  from  which  the  cutting  was  taken. 
This  indiscriminate  manner  of  working  the 
pear,  as  well  as  the  apple,  &c.,  in  a  great 
measure  accounts  for  the  want  of  success 
obtained  by  some  planters,  and  also  for  the 
irregular  and  unequal  vigor  of  trees  When 
grown  in  nursery-rows  and  orchards. 


Moore's  Sweeting,  and  Talman's  are  good 
for  winter  use.  Fine  baked  apples,  eaten 
with  pure  rich  milk,  is  about  the  best  sup- 
per we  have  among  farmers.  We  find  no 
difference  in  the  market  price,  if  they  are 
only  handsome  and  in  good  order.  An  easy 
and  a  good  way  to  cook  sub-acid  apples  is 
to  cut  them  in  two,  put  about  a  tea-spoon- 
ful of  sugar  to  a  large  apple,  put  them  in  a 
dish  after  cutting  out  the  blossom  and 
stem,  put  another  layer  on  these  same  as 
before,  and  then  cover  with  a  dish  or  cover 
that  fits  close,  and  cook  until  done.  The 
taste  of  the  fruit  imparted  by  the  skin  and 
seeds  is  very  fine.  Baldwin  and  H.  Nonsuch 
are  especially  nice  cooked  by  this  method. 
A  correspondent  enquired  a  few  weeks  past 
about  planting  an  orchard  around  his  house. 
We  like  to  have  an  orchard  as  near  to  the 
house,  especially  the  summer  varieties,  as 
may  be  ;  but  other  shade  trees  are  better  in 
close  proximity.  Give  the  apple,  cherry, 
and  pear  trees  a  field  by  themselves,  and 
give  them  the  proper  care,  and  they  will 
repay  for  the  attention,  but  they  make  poor 
lawn  trees,  and,  as  they  require  to  be  cul- 
tivated, and  sometimes  get  full  of  weeds, 
as  young  orchards  are  prone  to,  would  pre- 
sent an  unsightly  object  in  front. 

Isaac  Hicks,  North  Hempstead^  L.  1. 


Sweet  Apples. — Why  is  it  that  sweet 
apples  are  so  little  noticed  and  planted. — 
We  have  sixteen  acres  of  orchard,  about 
twenty  years  planted,  and  we  find,  for  fa- 
mily use,  sale  in  New  York  market,  stock, 
and  cider,  they  are  full  as  valuable  as  acid 
apples.  We  have  them  on  the  lable  (ex- 
cept the  present  year),  baked  nearly  every 
meal,  and  are  of  good  kinds.  They  are  ex- 
cellent to  eat  as  a  dessert.  Put  them  in 
the  stove  oven  when  cooking  the  dinner, 
and  they  require  no  peeling  or  coring,  no 
sugar,  and  are  a  good  substitute  for  pies  and 
pastry,  and  far  more  healthy.  We  have 
the  Summer  Bough,  succeeded  by  Golden 
Sweeting,  Jersey  Sweet  Corlies,  Fall 
Bough,  and  Willis  Sweeting,  the  best  of 
all.      Pound  Sweeting,  Ladies'    Sweeting, 


Where  is  there  a  plant  which,  during 
the  autumn  and  winter  months,  is  so  gay 
or  beautiful  as  the  Primula?  It  is  also 
very  useful  for  exhibition  or  decorative 
purposes,  or  for  filling  the  flower  vase  or 
bouquet.  By  artificial  light,  some  of  the 
varieties  are  very  brilliant.  During  the 
last  season  a  number  of  very  beautiful 
double  seedlings  have  been  brought  before 
the  public,  especially  those  of  Messrs. 
Windebank  &  Kingsbury,  of  Southampton, 
who,  at  the  present  time  possess  some  very 
splendid  seedlings. 

Where  high  cultivation  is  aimed  at,  care 
must  be  taken  to  keep  the  plants  healthy 
at  ail  times.  I  generally  sow  the  seed  in 
March,  or  in  April,  in  pans  placed  on  the 
front  shelf  of  the  greenhouse  or  vinery.     I 


124 


The  Horticidturist. 


find  that  to  bring  the  seedlings  up  well, 
nothing  is  so  good  as  putting  a  square  of 
glass  over  each  pan,  and  as  soon  as  the 
plants  appear,  I  remove  this  to  prevent 
their  being  weakened.  When  strong  enough 
I  put  them  in  small  60's  (3  inch  pots), 
using  for  soil  half  leaf  mould,  loam,  and  a 
little  silver  sand.  I  keep  them  in  a  close 
frame  for  a  few  days  till  well  established, 
when  I  give  air  freely  on  all  favorable  oc- 
casions. Early  in  M?lj  \  repot  the  plants 
into  32's  (G  inch  pots),  using  the  same  des- 
cription of  soil  as  before.  I  now  plunge 
them  in  a  cold  frame,  in  a  shady  situation, 
for  the  summer  months,  and  in  the  end  of 
July  I  repot  into  their  blooming  pots,  24's 
(8  inch  pots),  using  a  mixture  of  half  loam 
eaf  mould  and  a  little  rotten  dung  and  sil- 
ver sand.  I  then  replace  them  in  the  frame 
as  before,  and  am  always  very  careful 
not  to  allow  them  to  get  dry  during  the 
summer,  as  nothing  is  so  injurious  to  them. 
Early  in  September  I  remove  them  to  the 
greenhouse,  and  I  thus  secure  a  good  supply 
of  bloom  for  the  autumn  and  winter  months. 
J.  0.  HiGGS,  Florist  and  Pomologist. 


St.  Louis  Horticultural  Society. — 
At  the  annual  election  of  this  Society,  the 
following  named  gentlemen  were  elected 
officers  for  1866,  viz.: 

Norman  J.  Colman,  President. 

C.  M.  Saxton,  Vice-President. 

J.  H.  Tice,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

The  Society  then  took  up  for  consider- 
ation the  importance  of  establishing  a  Hor- 
ticultural bazaar  in  St.  Louis.  All  seemed 
to  feel  the  importance  of  having  a  Horti- 
cultural House,  where  the  producer  could 
send  all  his  fine  fruits  and  flowers  to  sell, 
and  where  the  citizens  would  know  where 
to  go  to  buy  them.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  steps  towards  the  organi- 
zation of  a  joint  stock  company  for  that 
purpose. 

A  number  of  samples  of  wine  were  test- 
ed, viz.:  Concord,  Virginia  Seedling,  Herbe- 
mont,  Oynthiana,  &c.  They  were  present- 
ed by  the  President  and  by  Louis  Wolfe, 
Esq. 


Fuchsia. — Prince  Imperial. — We  have  met 
with  but  indifferent  success  with  the  Fuch- 
sia as  a  plant  for  winter  blooming  until  we 
obtained  this  variety.  Mr.  Peter  Hender- 
son sent  us  a  small  plant  last  spring,  which 
was  planted  in  the  open  ground  last  summer, 
where  it  was  soon  in  bloom.  In  October 
the  plant  was  lifted,  potted  and  placed  in 
the  greenhouse,  where  it  continued  to  bloom 
profusely  until  the  middle  of  January.  Af- 
ter a  short  rest,  it  is  now,  March  1st,  a  mass 
of  bloom.  As  a  variety  for  pot  culture  for 
winter  bloom  we  doubt  if  it  has  a  superior. 
Corolla,  dark  purple  changing  to  scarlet ; 
sepals,  bright  scarlet,  plant  of  dwarf  compact 
habit. 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  19,  1866, 
Messrs.  Woodward: 

Will  you  oblige  a  Philadelphia  subscriber 
to  the  Horticulturist  by  giving,  in  the 
February  number  of  your  journal,  some  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  planting  of  a 
Peach  Orchard,  and  also  a  few  practical 
hints  on  the  Peach  Tree,  &c.? 

And  oblige  a  regular  subscriber  who  is 
going  to  plant  a  Peach  Orchard  the  coming 
spring,  in  the  southern  part  of  Maryland. 
Yours,  &c., 
Philadelphia  Subscriber. 
The  soil  and  site  for  your  proposed 
orchard  is  probably  already  selected,  so 
that  it  only  remains  for  us  to  say,  it  is  a 
mistaken  notion  that  a  poor  soil  for  the 
peach  is  the  best.  True,  the  peach  will 
grow  and  bear  tolerable  crops  where  other 
fruit  trees  would  hardly  exist,  but  to  pro- 
duce crops  of  fine  fruit,  a  rich  soil  of  a 
sandy  nature  should  be  selected.  Your 
trees  should  be  planted  about  twenty  feet 
apart  each  way,  and  the  ground  kept  under 
culture  of  some  kind. 

For  market  purposes  we  would  recom- 
mend the  list  of  varieties  given  by  Isaac 
Pullen,  Esq.,  of  Hightstown,  N.  J.,  pub- 
lished in  our  February  number.  Mr.  P.  has 
had  large  experience  as  a  grower  for  mar- 
ket, and  his  selection  of  kinds  can  be  relied 
upon.  You  will  have  to  look  out  sharp  for 
the  peach-borer.  Examine  your  trees  twice 


Editor's  Table. 


125 


every  year,  spring  and  fall,  and  cut  the 
worms  out.  Do  not  be  satisfied  with  poking 
a  wire  into  their  holes,  which  is  a  very  un- 
certain way  of  killing  them.  The  best  in- 
strument for  the  purpose  is  a  half-inch 
gouge,  kept  sharp.  A  small  mound  of 
ashes  or  air-slacked  lime,  kept  around  the 
body  of  the  tree,  will  keep  the  borer  from 
entering  at  or  near  the  root,  but  will  not 
prevent  entirely  his  attacks.  The  exuda- 
tion of  gum  is  generally,  but  not  always 
evidence  of  the  borer's  presence.  For  the 
yellows  we  know  no  effectual  cure,  and 
should  recommend  the  eradication  of  the 
tree  root  and  branches  on  which  this  dis- 
ease makes  its  appearance. 


Messrs.  Editors: 

I  always  make  it  a  point  to  read  the  ad- 
vertisements in  your  Magazine,  and  am 
pleased  to  note  that  the  grape-vine  men 
have  omitted  any  longer  to  offer  the  "  Box 
layers  for  immediate  fruiting"  as  the  short- 
est mode  to  induce  those  who  are  get- 
ting the  grape  fever  to  part  with  the  six 
dollars  for  a  basket  layer,  in  the  belief  that 
it  is  worth  more  and  will  fruit  earlier,  en- 
abling the  owner  to  pick  nice  grapes  of  his 
ewn  raising  the  same  season  of  planting. 
Down  with  all  such  humbug  in  grape  cul- 
ture. Do  not  teach  new  beginners  to  ex- 
pect impossibilities.  Rather  let  the  state- 
ments be  truthful,  or  even  short  of  it ;  they 
are  quite  startling  enough  to  make  one 
wonder  why  men  go  so  far  off  to  seek  in- 
vestments in  gold  mines,  or  to  bore  for  oil, 
when  fruit  and  wine  (at  present  prices) 
yield  so  largely  It  is  yowr  duty,  gentle- 
men, and  I  know  it  is  your  wish,  to  guard 
your  readers  against  frauds  and  over  san- 
guine estimates. 

One  who  has  "Suffered  Some." 


FisHKiLL  Landing,  Jan.  12th,  1866. 
Mr.  Editors: 

I  do  not  agree  with  your  intelligent  cor- 
respondent's (Mr,  Peter  Henderson)  arti- 
ticle,  called,  "Whatnot  to  do,"  more  es- 


pecially in  that  part  of  it  relating  to  plant- 
growing. 

It  is  just  nineteen  years  since  I  went  a 
journeyman  to  Chelsea  Botanic  Garden, 
and  since  that  time  have  been  more  or  less 
engaged  in  that  branch  of  gardening — 
"  Plant  Growing ;"  and  I  never  saw  or 
heard  of  anybody  succeed  in  growing  hard- 
wooded  New  Holland  plants,  such  as  Heaths, 
Epacris,  Acacias,  or  even  Camellias,  &c., 
without  plenty  of  drainage.  In  fact,  if  the 
soil  in  the  pots  is  not  allowed  to  get  dry 
enough  to  receive  water  almost  daily,  the 
plants  are  not  in  a  thriving  condition.  For 
it  is  not  so  mucli  the  soil  that  feeds  the 
plants,  as  it  is  the  chemical  substances  of 
which  the  water  is  composed. 

Now,  for  instance,  how  would  epiphytal 
orchids  do  to  be  planted  in  rich  soil?  Or 
you  can  take  terrestrial  orchids,  if  you 
please,  which  are  not  so  difficult  to  grow  ; 
without  drainage,  they  would  not  grow 
at  all.  There  are  a  great  many  other  things 
I  could  mention  that  would  not  live  a  sin- 
gle week  by  Mr.  H.'s  method  of  growing 
soft-wooded  plants  ;  and  if  he  had  to  make 
a  living  by  cultivating  hard-wooded  plants, 
he  would  then  be  very  soon  compelled  to 
change  his  plan. 

If  Mr.  Henderson  chooses  to  confess,  he 
saw  much  better  specimens  of  plants  grown 
in  the  British  Isles,  when  he  was  last 
there,  than  ever  he  saw  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  New  York,  or  any  other  part  of  the 
world.  The  English  journals  will  be  sure  to 
see  his  article,  and  will  not  fail  to  whip  him 
right  and  left. 

I  invite  him  to  come  up  to  Fishkill  and 
see  how  the  orchids  grow  with  abundance 
of  drainage. 

I  heartily  agree  with  him  in  saying  that 
the  stones  at  the  roots  of  the  apple  trees 
are  of  no  service  whatever — more  harm 
than  good,  because  the  water  is  retained  at 
their  roots. 

I  know  very  well  how  to  grow  plants, 
but  would  like  to  hear  about  the  club  root 
cabbages.  I  am,  gentlemen,  sincerely  yours, 
James  Cowan. 


126 


The  Horticulturist. 


Hartford,  Feb.  20,  186G. 
Messrs.  Woodward  : 

Seven  years  ago,  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Connecticut  Grape-Growers'  Asso- 
ciation, it  was  voted  that  the  Delaware 
Grape  •'  promises  to  stand  exceedingly 
high."  A  i^esolution  was  also  adopted,  re- 
commending for  general  cultivation,  the 
following  grapes,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  stand,  namely,  Diana,  Isabella,  Hart- 
ford Prolific,  Concord. 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Fruit 
Growers'  Society  of  Western  New  York, 
which  was  more  fully  attended  than  on 
any  previous  occasion,  ("  nearly  four  hun- 
dred persons  being  present,")  a  ballot  for 
the  best  varieties  of  hardy  grapes  resulted 
in  placing  these  varieties  in  the  following 
relative  order  of  merit,  namely,  "  Delaware, 
Diana,  Isabella,  Hartford  Prolific,  Con- 
cord," &c. 

Ttie  coincidence  is  noteworthy,  and  is 
one  of  marked  significance,  which  those 
who  are  intending  to  plant  grape  vines  will 
do  well  to  heed,  as  such  verdicts  are  intend- 
ed to  go  before  the  public  as  the  authoritat- 
ive renderings  of  well-informed  juries. 

This  decision,  arrived  at  on  general  prin- 
ciples, indicates,  probably,  as  reliable  a  se- 
lection as  can  be  made,  at  the  present  time, 
for  garden  and  vineyard  culture  in  South- 
ern New  England,  and  Southern  and  West- 
ern New  York,  and  "  certain  localities " 
further  west.  In  some  particulars  it  may 
not  meet  all  the  requirements  of  each  one's 
particular  case,  so  that,  if  either  one,  or 
more  than  one,  of  the  above  fails  to  give 
general  satisfaction,  in  any  one  place  or  vi- 
cinity, it  is  advisable  to  substitute  some 
variety  which  is  known  to  succeed,  and  to 
add  to  them  some  one  or  more  of  the  nu- 
merous untried  novelties. 

My  individual  practice  has  conformed  to 
the  above,  for  I  have  been  adding,  year 
after  year,  to  my  small  vineyard,  more  or 
less  of  all  the  well-known  kinds  above  enu- 
merated, (with  the  exception  of  the  Isa- 
bella;) while,  at  the  same  time  I  have  also 
planted  out,  for   trial,  almost  every   new 


kind  of  promise.  I  find  imperfections  in 
the^i  all,  old  and  new.  The  Delaware  mil- 
dews, the  Diana  is  unreliable,  the  Isabella 
is  tardy,  the  Prolific  is  inclined  to  drop 
some  of  its  fruit,  the  berries  of  the  Concord 
are  thin-skinned  and  perishable  ;  Rebecca 
is  delicate,  Creveling  loose-bunched,  Man- 
hattan, Union  Village,  Catawba,  and  Anna 
late  and  uncertain,  Northern  Muscadine 
foxy,  Yeddo  tender  ;  and  so  on. 

I  have  grown  and  fruited  lona  and  Is- 
raella,  and  am  disposed  to  think  well  of 
them,  but  a  close-observing  correspondent 
of  the  Gardener''s  Monthly  says  of  the  for- 
mer that  "it  drops  its  leaves  and  shows  more 
marked  symptoms  of  disease  than  the  Ca- 
tawba which  is  by  its  side;"  and  of  the 
latter,  a  Massachusetts  correspondent  of 
the  Horticulturist  says,  "  it  mildews 
badly."  The  Adirondac  looks  well,  with 
me,  in  wood  and  foliage,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  recommend  it  extensively  for  trial,  al- 
though the  few  reports  which  have  been 
made  public  with  regard  to  it,  during  the 
past  year,  have  not  been  uniform  in  its 
praise.  Allen's  Hybrid — so  far  as  I  have 
tried  it — appears  to  be  more  perfect,  or,  in 
other  words,  less  faultj^,  than  any  of  the 
new  grapes  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  gaining  in 
popular  estimation.  Not  one  of  the  whole 
forty-four  of  Rogers'  Hybrids  can  be  said 
to  have  given  entire  satisfaction  ; — and  so 
we  might  go  on  with  specifications,  but  the 
road  would  lead  us  around  and  back  to  our 
starting  place,  and  content  us,  probably,  to 
make  use  of  the  few  tried  varieties  which, 
although  lacking  in  one  or  more  of  the  ele- 
ments of  perfection,  were  the  best  which 
could  be  recommended  by  the  Connecticut 
Congress  of  grape  growers,  in  1849  ;  and 
by  the  New  York  pomologists  in  1866. 

D.  S.  D. 

Mt.  Carroll  Seminary, 
Carroll  Co,  111.,  Feb.  7,  1866. 
Editors  of  Horticulturist: 

Noticing  inquiry  "  How  to  prepare  white 
oak  posts  for  vineyards  to  prevent  decay," 
it  occurred  to  me  to  submit  my  plan  for  the 


Editor's  Table. 


127 


benefit  of  your  correspondent,  and  for  the 
criticism  of  your  readers.  I  say  criticism, 
because  I  am  an  "  amateur  horticulturist," 
and  "  only  a  woman,"  and  hence  do  not 
presume  the  plan  is  perfect  by  any  means, 
and  if  I  can  draw  out  criticism,  or  sugges- 
tions or  experience  of  others,  by  which  I 
may  profit,  I  may  be  more  the  gainer  than 
your  correspondent.  Having  about  one 
thousand  posts  to  set  in  our  vineyard  the 
coming  season,  and  wishing  to  use  timber 
from  our  own  wood-lot,  I  set  about  plan- 
ning some  way  to  improve  and  make  it 
more  economical  than  to  buy  yellow  cedar, 
at  $28  per  hundred.  So  to  my  plan.  I 
had  my  posts  cut  in  the  fall  and  early  win- 
ter, the  bark  and  roughness  dressed  off",  and 
piled  in  loose  ranks  for  seasoning.  Have  a 
tank  made  of  the  best  sheet  iron,  forty 
inches  deep,  and  over  two  feet  in  diameter. 
Have  a  grate  made  of  oak  sticks  about  an 
inch  sqare,  to  cover  the  bottom  inside,  to 
receive  the  blows,  should  a  post  be  let  down 
hard  at  any  time.  Have  an  old  superannu- 
ated cook-stove  placed  out  of  doors,  on 
which  the  tank  or  boiler  is  set.  Fill  the 
boiler  with  posts  placed  the  top  end  (i.  e., 
the  end  that  was  toward  the  top  of  the 
tree)  down ;  the  ends  projecting  to  rest 
against  frame  built  up  to  a  suitable  height 
to  support  them  from  tipping  the  boiler. 
Fill  the  boiler  with  gas  tar,  and  build  your 
fire  under  it.  Boil  till  the  wood  is  well 
saturated  with  the  tar.  Thus  the  post,  so 
far  as  it  goes  into  the  ground,  and  some 
inches  above,  is  covered  when  dry  with  a 
surface  nearly  as  hard  and  impervious  to 
water  as  glass.  I  have  often  seen  tar  re- 
commended for  this  use,  but  have  never 
seen  any  practicable  plan  given  for  applying 
it  effectually.  I  have  had  it  put  on  hot  with 
a  brush,  but  it  seemed  to  me  a  very  ineffi- 
cient process.  Any  improvement  will  be 
gratefully  received.  When  my  trellis  is 
completed  I  propose  to  have  the  whole  cov- 
ered with  a  good  coat  of  tar.  T  have  a 
grape  arbor  in  process  of  construction  three 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  ten  feet 
high,  and  eleven  feet  wide,  and  a  floor  in  it, 


designed  for  an  out-door  gymnasium ;  hence 
will  want  it  well  covered  with  vines  the 
year  round.  This  arbor  I  intend  to  have 
thoroughly  painted  with  tar  also.  Rather 
a  dark  picture,  you  may  say,  but  not  so  bad 
methinks  as  to  see  the  paint  and  soon  the 
wood  destroyed  by  the  moisture  under  the 
vines. 

Now,  I  have  to  ask  information.  "Will 
some  one  lolio  has  had  experience  give  a  good 
and  economical  plan  for  fruit-house  or  cellar 
and  ice-house  combined  ?  Is  "  Schooley's  plan 
for  summer  fruit  and  ice-house"  consid- 
ered a.  success?  Is  it  designed  to  keep 
fruit  as  well  in  winter?  I  want  something 
of  the  kind  built  next  summer,  and  would 
be  grateful  for  the  experience  of  others. 

Will  some  of  your  readers  who  have  had 
experience  with  "  automatic  gates,"  and  w^ho 
knoto  whereof  they  write,  tell  us  something 
about  their  practical  utility?  Our  stand- 
ard authority  here  in  the  West  says,  in  re- 
ply to  our  inquiry  on  this  point:  "We 
have  seen  many  different  kinds  of  automat- 
ic gates,  but  none  we  have  any  confidence 
in."  We  have  had  some  thoughts  of  trying 
E.  Nicholson's,  but  would  know  more  about 
it,  and  also  if  there  is  any  better  one  in 
use.  Yours,  &c., 

Mrs.  F.  A.  W.  Shimer. 


Messrs.  Editors. 

Dear  Sirs — Every  reader  of  the  Hor- 
ticulturist would  be  interested  if  some 
way  could  be  devised  that  would  be  within 
the  reach  of  all,  for  preserving  fruit  in  the 
natural  state  beyond  the  time  of  ripening. 
Then  fruit-growers  would  not  be  obliged  to 
sell  when  the  market  is  over-stocked,  and 
prices  below  the  cost  of  raising,  and  con- 
sumers would  have  an  extended  season  for 
our  choicest  fruits. 

I  am  experimenting  with  houses  for  keep- 
ing fruit,  something  on  the  plan  of  the  one 
in  this  city,  but  instead  of  walls  filled  in 
all  around  with  3^  feet  of  sawdust,  I  pro- 
pose to  build  with  spaces  for  confined  air. 
Do  you,  or  any  reader  of  the  Horticul- 
turist, know  of  a  successful  ice-house  with 


128 


The  Horticulturist. 


confined  air  spaces  ?  If  so,  with  what  ma- 
terial is  it  built,  how  wide  the  space  for 
confined  air,  and  does  it  keep  ice  perfectly'? 
There  will  be  a  fruit-house  erected  in  this 
neighborhood  the  present  season,  with 
spaces  for  confined  air,  the  success  or  failure 
of  which  I  will  promise  to  report  to  your 
readers. 

E.  Nicholson,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


English  Books  and  Periodicals. — 
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BOOKS,    CATALOGUES,    &c.,  RECEIVED. 

Hans  Brinker,  or  the  Silver  Skates,  by 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Dodge,  daughter  of  the  late  Prof. 
James  J.  Mapes  ;  published  by  James  O'Kane, 
New  York.  An  interesting  story  of  life  in 
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by  William  Wood  &  Co.,   61  Walker-street. 

Price,    50   cents.     (See  our   Book   List.) 

QuiMBT  ON  THE  Bee. — A  uew  edition,  re- 
written throughout,  of  this  excellent  practical 
work  on  bee  culture.  The  author  has  had 
large  experience,  and  his  directions  and  state- 
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Orange,  Judd  &  Co.,  41  Park  Row,  New  York 
(See    our  Book   List,)  McElwain,   Bros., 


Springfield,  Mass.,  Seeds  and  Vegetable  ana 

Flower    Garden   Manual Edgar    Sanders, 

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&c John  Crane,  Union,  New  Jersey,  Straw- 
berry Plants.... William  H.    Bailey,   Platts- 

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series  John  W.  Bailey  &  Co.,  Plattsburgh, 

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chusetts Horticultural  Society Capabil- 
ities and  Resources  of  Grundy  County,  Illinois, 
set  forth  by  the  Grundy  County  Agiicultural 

Society Forty -Seventh  Annual  Report  of 

the  Hampshire,  Franklin  and  Hampden  Agri- 
cultural Society,  Northampton,  Mass Tiiird 

Annual  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  West 

Jersey  Fruit  Growers' Association B.  K. 

Bliss,  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  Spring  Cata- 
logue and  Amateurs'  Guide Hovey  &  Co., 

Boston,  Mass.,  Illustrated  Guide  to  the  Flower 

and  Vegetable  Garden John  A.  Bruce  and 

Co.,  Hamilton,  Canada  West,  Seeds,  &c. 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL   XXI MAY.   1SG6...,...,   .,,N0.  CCXXXIX. 


ABOUT   THE  GRAPE. 

BY    F.     R.    ELLIOTT. 


I  DO  not  propose  to  write  a  treatise,  or 
give  perfect  directions  liow  to  select  soils — 
plant  and  prune  vines,  etc — but,  as  I  have 
been  studying  grapes  somewhat,  and  read- 
ing all  remarks  of  grape  growers  that  I 
could  have  access  to,  I  propose  in  a  desultory 
manner  to  make  my  comments. 

In  the  October  number  of  the  Horti- 
culturist was  published  a  letter  of  mine, 
on  the  selection  of  soils  whereon  to  grow  the 
grape ;  some  questions  having  been  put  to 
me  respecting  what  I  meant  in  that  letter  by 
calcareous  limestone  soils ;  before  I  say  any- 
thing more,  that  is  considered  blind,  let  me 
answer  :  that  by  that  term  I  mean  soils  of 
limestone,  originally  possessed  of  such  slight 
coherence,  that  they  disintegrate  easily 
when  exposed  to  frost,  fcc,  breaking  the 
rock  to  a  sort  of  calcareous  sand.  These 
differ  very  materially  from  what  are  usually 
termed  limestone  soils  ;  the  latter  resting 
upon  beds  of  solid  limestone,  and  rarely 
having  in  their  composition  any  carbonate 
of  lime,  and  requiring  the  application  of 
lime  as  a  manure,  as  readily,  if  not  quite  as 


much,  as  soils  that  were  formed  from  sand, 
stones,  &c.  Capillary  attraction  may  assist, 
and  probably  does,  in  supplying  lime  and 
other  minerals  to  the  roots  of  plants  grow- 
ing in  soils  resting  on  solid  limestone. 
Calcareous  limestone  soils  are  not  abundant 
in  our  States.  So  far  as  I  know,  Missouri 
possesses  the  largest  quantity ;  and  had  I 
the  grape  fever,  at  such  temperature  as  to 
make  grape  growing  my  own  business,  I 
would  select  my  land  in  IMissouri  without 
delay ;  believing  as  I  do,  that  all  grape 
growers  at  the  West  must  look  to  the  wine 
made  from  the  fruit,  and  not  to  sales  of  the 
fruit,  for  their  profits.  So  much  in  explana- 
tion of  what  was  before  written.  The 
classification  of  soils  in  which  to  grow  the 
grape  is  by  some  regarded  as  all  nonsense, 
and,  judging  from  an  article  in  the  January 
number  of  the  Horticulturist,  Mr.  A. 
S.  Fuller,  author  of  a  book  on  grape  culture, 
evidently  considers  any  soil  suited  to  grape 
growing  ;  and,  so  it  is,  "  within  one  or  two 
hundred  miles  of  the  Atlantic  coast,"  loca- 
tion is  of  small  consequence.     It  may  be 


Entered  according  to   Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860, 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 


by  Geo.  E.  &  E.  W.  Wood-stxed,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 

9 


130 


The  Horticulturist. 


that  Mr.  Fuller  is  right,  and  in  so  far  as  the 
mere  fact  of  growing  grapes  is  concerned, 
there  is  no  doubt  of  it — but,  while  hundreds 
or  thousands  of  acres  may  be  grown 
around  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  other 
large  cities,  and  sold  for  table  use — the 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  acres  noio  grow- 
ing throughout  our  Western  States,  must 
find  return  of  profits  in  manufacture  of  the 
fruit  into  wine.  Coming,  therefore,  down 
to  that  point,  we  have  records  from  the  old 
countrjr,  where  soil,  in  a  distance  of  less 
than  half  a  mile  renders  one  vineyard  so 
valuable  as  to  be  unpurchasable  ;  while 
another  can  be  bought  at  a  very  low  rate. 
In  Illinois,  some  years  since,  I  visited  two 
vineyards,  distant  from  each  other  not  one 
eighth  of  a  mile,  both  cultivated  and  trained 
alike.  One  made  a  good  wine,  the  other 
only  a  moderate,  or  rather  poor  quality. 
In  my  immediate  section,  or  the  south 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  we  have  grapes  growing 
in  almost  every  variety  of  soil,  and  so  well 
is  the  matter  now  understood  by  our  best 
wine  makers,  that  they  make  a  decided  va- 
riation in  the  prices  paid  for  grapes.  Vine- 
yards of  Catawba,  growing  on  sandy  or 
loamy  soils,  find  sale  at  a  very  low  price 
to  the  wine  makers.  Some  refusing  to  use 
them  at  any  price,  while  they  pay  from 
seven  to  ten  cents  for  the  same  variety 
upon  limestones  and  clays.  Indeed,  we 
have  men  who  claim  they  can  detect  the 
soil  in  which  the  grape  was  grown  by  seeing 
the  bunch. 

The  author  of  "  Ten  Acres  Enough,"  in 
January  number  of  Horticulturist,'  says 
he  "  never  knew  the  Isabella  grape  was 
tit  to  eat,"  until  this  last  fall,  when  he  ate 
from  a  vine  fed  from  the  burial  ground  of 
cats,  dogs,  mules,  etc.  E.  W.  Bull,  the 
originator  of  Concord  grape,  while  advising 
a  light,  warm  or  good  corn  soil,  says,  the 
flavor  of  the  fruit  will  be  injured  by  ap- 
plication of  coarse,  rank  manures,  and  advises 
use  of  bone  dust,  ashes  and  gypsum. 

C.  M.  Glidden,  of  Ironton,  0.,  on  clay 
soil,  digs  three  and  a  half  feet  deep  ;  puts  in 
bones;  adds   fifteen   or   twenty  inches   of 


stable  manure,  and  waters  the  vines  during 
summer,  daily^  with  lime-water. 

In  a  trip  to  one  of  the  islands  in  Lake 
Erie,  last  summer,  I  saw  vines,  of  different 
varieties,  loaded  with  fruit ;  they  had  been 
manured  with  fish  ;  and  by-the-by  it  strikes 
me,  were  I  living  oa  the  same  shore,  I 
should  act  on  this  item  to  a  certain  extent; 
especially,  if  showy  fruit  and  rapid  growth 
of  vine  was  an  object,  as  it  often  is  to  the 
propagator  and  exhibitor.  In  Missouri,  Mr. 
Husmann,  one  of  our  most  intelligent  of 
grape  men,  says  the  Catawba  is  unworthy 
of  culture,  because  of  its  rotting;  while  L, 
D.  Morse,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Missouri 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  says  he  visited 
a  vineyard  on  the  line  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road— soil  post  oak  clay,  with  pellets  of  iron 
intermixed,  resting  on  a  stratum  of  gravel, 
and  that  on  magnesian  limestone  ;  and  here 
neither  rot  or  mildew  affects  the  grape.  Mr. 
Husmann's  ground  is  a  strong  clay,  and 
mostly,  I  think,  a  side  hill. 

Apparently  there  is  collision  in  these 
statements,  but  in  reality  none,  as  no  test 
of  the  sugar,  alcohol  or  acid,  in  the  vai'ious 
locations  and  practices  has  been  made,  and 
the  matter  of  advising  manure  or  no  manure 
rests  on  the  taste  of  various  men,  whom,  if 
met  together,  very  likely  would  differ  as 
much  in  the  eating  of  the  same  grape,  pro- 
nouncing on  it  as  they  do  on  soils  for  its 
cultivation.  Many  assert  that  the  appear- 
ance of  grapes  grown  on  sandy  or  loamy  soil 
is  better  than  those  grown  on  clay,  and  to 
those  who  look  only  to  the  surface  of  the 
fruit,  it  may  be  so  ;  hence  the  adaptation  of 
any  soil  to  grow  grapes. 

Unfavorable  seasons  however,  occur  to  all 
fruits,  the  grape  neither  more,  nor  perhaps 
less  than  others  ;  but  when  an  unfavorable 
season  does  occur,  when  the  rot  or  mildew 
affects  the  fruit,  so  as  to  render  it  undesira- 
ble for  table  use ;  then  comes  the  test  of 
soils,  in  giving  to  the  fruit  such  qualities  as 
will  render  it  valuable  for  making  ^jwe 
wine  ;  for  remember,  we  of  the  West  ignore 
all  so-called  wines,  in  which  sugar,  sorghum, 
alcohol  or  other  substances  may  have  been 


About  the  Grape. 


131 


mingled.  There  is  yet  anotlier  point  that 
in  the  grape  culture  has  perhaps  been  too 
much  overlooked.  It  is  the  adaptation  of 
varieties  to  soils  and  climates,  or  localities. 
The  American  Pomological  Society  once 
undertook  to  recommend  fruits  for  general 
cultivation;  but  they  failed  so  signally, 
that  their  list  has  never  received  much 
attention..  The  observing  fruit  grower  soon 
learns  to  distinguish  what  variety  will  and 
what  will  not  answer  for  his  soil  and  localitj^, 
and  when  some  one  or  two  apples,  and  as 
many  of  pears,  seem  to  succeed  everywhere, 
the  majority  will  not  do  so. 

The  Concord  grape  seems  apparently  to 
do  well  nearly  everywhere,  but  its  quality 
is  undoubtedly  improved  or  reduced  by  soil 
and  location  ;  for  while  some  have  claimed 
to  make  from  it  a  pure  and  good  wine,  others 
can  only  obtain  a  thin,  red  wine,  about  equal 
to  claret. 

The  Delaware  is,  perhaps,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  variety  that  chooses  its  soil  and 
location,  with  as  dainty  a  root  as  any  hardy 
sort.  Simple  undulations,  in  a  field,  with 
their  natural  variations  of  surface  soil,  often 
changing  it  from  a  vigorous,  healthy  vine, 
producing  delicious,  good-sized  fruit,  to  that 
of  a  puny  weakling  with  small,  sweet,  but 
insipid  fruit. 

Mr.  Fuller,  in  the  article  I  have  before 
quoted,  names  a  list  of  grapes  to  grow  for 
"  profit."  They  are  "  Delaware,  lona, 
Israella,  Concord,  Creveling,  Hartford,  and 
Rogers  No.  3,  4,  15  and  19." 

Such  a  recommendation  of  a  list  ought  to 
make  them  succeed  everywhere ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, with  the  Delaware,  as  I  have 
just  written,  a  distanc<i  of  only  say  twenty 
feet,  with  a  slight  change  in  surface  soil, 
the  sub  soil  being  alike,  has  made  distinct 
qualities  of  the  grape,  and  a  distinct  habit 
of  growth.  The  lona  is  as  yet  new,  having 
only  been  sent  out  about  two  years,  and  its 
growers  have  petted  it,  as  all  do  new  and 
expensive  plants.  So  far,  we  may  say,  the 
vines  grow  sufficiently  strong  to  promise 
well,  but  its  chances  of  freedom  from  rot, 
etc.,  are   yet  unknown,  nor  can  they  be 


fully  known  under  ten  years.  The  Isabella, 
like  the  lona,  is  also  new,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  it.  The  promise  of  these 
however  is  so  good,  that  where  a  man  has 
grown  them  with  only  ordinary  care  and 
found  success,  he  may  venture  to  plant  more, 
but  it  would  not  do  to  advise  planting  acres 
of  them  where  they  have  not  been  tested  in 
growing  of  the  vine.  Concord,  I  have  re- 
marked on  above.  The  Creveling,  although 
before  the  people  some  twenty  or  thirty 
years,  seems  much  like  the  Rome  Beauty 
apple.  To  some  it  proves  good,  to  others  it 
is  quite  unprofitable,  and  therefore,  although 
yearly  talked  of,  few  plant  it.  Hartford 
again  proves  so  variable  in  localities,  soils 
and  seasons,  that  it  seems  to  me  it  can 
nardly  be  commended  for  general  planting- 
Soil  and  situation  alone  does  not  always 
aifect  this  sort,  season  having  very  much  to 
do  with  it.  In  my  knowledge,  about  one 
hundred  vines,  one  year,  set  and  ripened 
their  fruit,  but  dropped  it  from  the  stem 
badly.  Another  year,  the  same  vines  ripen- 
ed and  lield  their  fruit  middling  well.  The 
Rogers  varieties  are  comparatively  new- 
Like  some  of  the  cherries  I  described  years 
since,  they  have  served  to  meet  rebuffs 
everywhere,  except  from  those  who  had  the 
vines  to  sell,  and  while  they  have  been 
long  enough  before  the  public  to  have  been 
fruited  all  over  the  States,  I  doubt  whether 
more  than  five  per  cent,  of  any  pomological 
meeting  could  say  knowingly  much  about 
them. 

With  Charles  Downing,  both  the  fruit 
and  leaves  of  Nos.  1,  3  and  9  mildewed  badly 
this  last  season.  Nos.  4  and  19  would 
probably  command  in  fruit  as  much  or  more 
price  in  market  than  Concord  or  Isabella. 
"While  3  and  15  give  great  promise,  not  only 
for  table  use,  but  for  wine  also.  These  two 
last  are  deserving  extensive  trial,  and  I  hope 
it  may  be  so  extended  with  all  the  sorts,  as 
to  enable  us  in  a  few  years  to  decide 
upon  their  adaptation  to  soils  and  localities. 
Sweeping  recommendations  of  lists  of  fruits 
for  general  cultivation  will  not  do — for  while 
no  hardy  grape  as  yet  known,  equals  a  truly 


132 


The  no7'ticulturist. 


well  ripened  Catawba,  grown  on  calcareous 
clay  or  limestone  soil,  the  variety  is  only 
adapted  to  particular  localities.  It  is  of  no 
value  in  Massachusetts  or  Northern  Central 
Michigan,  etc.,  and  the  pomologists  of  these 
sections  would  laugh  at  the  man  who  com- 
mended it  for  general  cultivation.  The 
selection  of  varieties,  as  well  as  the  soils  and 
locations  where  growing  grapes  as  a  business 
is  intended,  becomes  a  matter  of  considera- 
ble study,  and  requires  thought.  If  for  a 
market,  and  to  be  used  at  table,  a  very 
different  sort  possibly  would  be  selected 
than  where  light,  dry  wine  was  intended  to 
be  made  of  the  fruit.  Distance  of  transpor- 
tation would  also  be  another  item,  dark 
colors  and  thick  skins  showing  better,  after 
being  thrown  hither  and  yonder  by  express 
companies,  than  light  colors  and  their  thin 
skins.  Again,  were  red  wines  sought  as  the 
result,  and  wine  only  the  object,  a  still 
different  grape  would  be  selected,  and  yet 
all  would  have  to  be  gauged  on  their  adap- 


tation to  the  soil  and  section  of  country       \ 
where  designed  to  be  grown. 

The  American  Pomological   Society  are 
doing  a  good  work  in  their  preparation  of  a       i 
catalogue ;  but  I  should  much  like  to  see       i 
a  collection   made  from    letters   of    notes      I 
on     fruits,     from     various    horticulturists 
throughout   the  Union.     At  meetings  few 
men  say  anything,  and  often  those  who  could       [ 
say,  or  write,  the  most  valuable  information 
as   regards   facts   in   culture,  are   left   out       j 
altogether.     But  I  am  making  my  talk  too       j 
long,  and  therefore  will  close  by  the  quota-       \ 
tions   from   Mr.  Fuller's   article :    "  Aiken 
grape,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said  at 
the  "West,  is   Isabella."       "  Haskell,    from       ; 
Michigan,    is    Concord."       So  Mr.    Fuller      \ 
thinks.     I   have  carefully  examined  them.       J 
for  several  years,  and  I  think  they  are  en-- 
tirely  distinct.     Americans  had  better  try      :' 
them  and  decide;  but  be  careful  of  whom      ^ 
you  receive  plants.  jj 


DESIGN     FOR     A     COUNTRY     HOUSE. 


BY    REV.     P.    D.    OAKEY,    JAMAICA, 


The  plan  of  this  house  explains  itself. 
It  is  in  every  way  compact  and  convenient. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  loss  of 
space.  The  verandah,  with  its  broken 
lines  and  clustered  columns,  gives  a  pretty 
effect  to  the  approach  of  the  house.  By 
the  main  entrance  all  the  rooms  are  easily 
reached,  and  the  doors  of  the  parlor  and 
sitting  room  are  so  arranged  that,  in  case  of 
large  companj^,  there  can  be  free  circula- 
tion from  one  to  the  other.  All  the  rooms 
are  brought  close  together,  and  though 
within  a  few  steps  of  one  another,  by  short 
passage-ways  and  doors,  the  smell  of  the 
kitchen  and  noise  of  one  room  is  effectually 
excluded  from  the  others.  Every  room, 
excepting  the  parlor,  has  a  closet.  The 
door  of  the  sitting  room,  opening-  directly 
opposite  the  hall-door,  which  opens  under 
cover  of  the  piazza,  gives,  in  the  summer 


season,  both  air  and  a  pleasant  garden 
view.  The  tea  room  may  be  used  as  its 
name  designates.  For  this  purpose  it  has 
an  ample  closet,  and  but  a  step  from  the 
kitchen,  though  entirely  shut  off  from  it. 
But  the  sitting  room  is  quite  as  convenient, 
and  but  few  families  of  moderate  means 
care  or  expect  but  that  their  dining 
and  sitting-room  shall  be  one.  In  this 
case,  this  house  might  be  made  a  very  snug 
village  parsonage,  and  this  room,  as  it  is 
separate  from  other  rooms,  is  of  easy  access 
by  the  main  hall,  or  by  the  main  path  from 
the  street,  with  its  windows  opening  under, 
and  ready  access  to  the  side  piazza,  be  made 
a  very  neat  library  or  study.  The  kitchen 
is  a  clear,  square  room,  with  no  encroaching 
projections,  but  with  a  large  wall  pantry. 
Everything  here  is  handy  and  convenient. 
The  cistern  pump  is  in  one  of  the  recessed 


Design  for  a  Country  House. 


133 


corners  of  the  clumner,  just  where  it  ought 
to  be,  out  of  the  waj^,  and  close  by  the 
range,  where  a  pot  of  hot  water  is  always 
expected,  and  where  there  is  also  a  sink  to 
carry  off  ail  the  waste  water.  One  door 
leads  from  the  kitchen  to  the  back  stairs, 
another  under  these  stairs  into  the  cellar. 
By  having  this  cellar  door  near  the  outside 
kitchen  door,  there  is  no  tramping  across 
the  kitchen  floor  necessary  to  get  to  it, 
and  the  necessity  of  having  outside  cellar 
doors  is  obviated.  The  outside  kitchen 
door  opens  under  cover  of  a  shed,  which 
shed    is    in   keeping  with   houses   of  this 


style,  and  greatly  adds  to  the  convenience 
of  the  culinary  department.  In  this  shed 
a  stove  can  be  used  in  the  warm  weather, 
by  having  a  stove-pipe  hole  made  from  the 
outside  into  the  kitchen  chimney.  When 
the  main  chimneys  are  being  built  flues 
from  the  cellar  should  be  constructed  with 
them,  so  that,  if  at  any  time  desired,  a 
furnace  may  be  used.  The  cellar  floor 
should  be  cemented. 

This  plan  may  be  somewhat  cheapened, 
and  yet  its  convenience  and  general  effect 
not  materially  altered.  Making  the  parlor 
14x20,  instead  of  22,  and  dispensing  with 


Fig.  55. — Perspective. 


the  hall  between  the  tea  and  sitting-rooms, 
these  rooms  would  be  brought  in  imme- 
diate connection  by  a  door  opening  between 
them,  and  then,  if  the  family  are  so  disposed, 
this  would  make  a  fine  sleeping  room,  eas- 
ily warmed  in  winter  from  the  sitting- 
room.  In  this  case,  the  door  of  the  sitting- 
room,  now  opening  into  the  rear-hall,  would 
open  directly  on  the  piazza  ;  and  the  door 
from  the  main  hall  will  open  into  the  sit- 
ting-room. 

We  think  that  the  second  floor  affords  as 
much  sleeping  room  and  as  convenient  ar- 
rangement as  is  necessary  to  meet  the  re- 


quirements of  any  ordinary  family  who 
wish  to  combine  economy,  taste  and  conve- 
nience. There  are  five  sleeping  rooms  and 
a  room  for  domestics  in  the  story  over  the 
kitchen.  An  ample  kitchen  garret,  very 
easy  of  access  from  the  kitchen,  makes  an 
excellent  stow-away  room.  A  door  be- 
tween the  kitchen  garret  and  the  main 
building  gives  the  servant  girl  access  to  all 
of  the  upper  floor,  and  at  the  same  time, 
by  a  bolt  or  lock,  entirely  shuts  off  the 
kitchen  from  all  other  parts  of  the  house. 
The  chimneys  are  so  disposed  that  either 
of  the  four  principal   sleeping  i-ooms  can 


134 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


have  a  stove.  "Where  rooms  are  used  ex- 
clusively for  sleeping  rooms,  size  is  not  of 
so  much  importance,  if  ventilation  is  prop- 
erly attended  to.  This  is  accomplished  in 
these  rooms  by  having  stove-pipe  holes  near 
the  ceiling,  and  pivot  sashes  over  the  doors. 
Thus,  each  room  is  well  ventilated,  without 
the  occupant  of  the  bed  being  exposed  to 
the  draught.  The  little  hall  room  may 
have  a  door  communicating  with  either  of 
the  other  front  rooms,  and  be  used  for 
childrens'  sleeping  room  or  lady's  boudoir. 


Its  window  gives  egress  -^o  the  pleasant 
balcony  over  the  veranda.  The  closets  in 
the  front  rooms  conform  to  the  style  of 
the  building,  and  have  a  pretty  effect  by 
making  recessed  windows,  under  which 
cushioned  seats  may  be  formed,  gratifying 
a  principle  both  of  taste  and  utility.  These 
shaped  closets  will  be  in  special  keeping 
if  the  room  is  not  a  full  story,  but  yields 
to  a  small  curvature  in  the  ceiling. 

The  style  of  this  house  is  of  the   Rural 
Gothic  order.     It  has  a  gable  in  front,  under 


m  c   *  c  i 


Fig.  bQ.— Cellar. 


Fig.  57. — Fir  at  floor.         Fig.  58. — Second  floor. 


which  is  a  Gothic  window  leading  to  the 
veranda  balcony.  It  is  weather-boarded, 
with  sharp  pitch,  projecting  roof,  with  cut 
shingles,  and  pendant  barge  boards  in  all 
the  gables.  The  chimnies  ascend  from  the 
ridges,  and  are  topped  with  Scotch  Garn- 
kirk  shafts,  much  preferable,  the  writer 
thinks,  to  our  common  cotta  terra  in  expo- 
sure to  the  keen  frosts  of  our  northern 
winters. 

This  house,  it  is  thought,  combines  sim- 
plicity  in  its  purpose  and  construction — 


unity  in  its  design,  compactness  and  con- 
venience in  its  arrangements,  and  symmetry 
in  its  proportions.  Its  foundation  should 
stand  about  3  feet  G  in.  out  of  the  ground 
when  properly  filled  up  all  around.  The 
posts  of  the  main  building  should  be  18 
feet  long,  and  of  the  rear  14  feet,  and  when 
correspondingly  interiorly  finished,  it  will 
make  a  chaste,  comfortable  home,  gratify- 
ing to  the  taste,  and  in  its  first  cost  but 
very  moderately  burdensome  to  the  pocket. 


PLAN  FOR  IMPROVEMENT  OF  GROUNDS. 


BY    E.    A.    BAUMANN,    RAHWAY,    N.    J. 


With  this,  I  take  the  pleasure  of  send- 
ing you  a  reduced  design  for  the  laying  out 
of  a  small  place,  drawn  for  a  gentleman  in 
Bristol,  R.  I. 

The  plan  includes  about  four  acres,  and 
lies  at  the  juntion  of  two  streets,  a  short 
distance  outside  of  Bristol,  with  a  very  fine 


water  front  on  the  Narraganset  Bay,  in  the 
southern  direction. 

The  north-eastern  and  north-western 
boundaries  subdivide  the  place  from  some 
small  lots,  with  poor-looking  houses  on 
them,  and  therefore  the  whole  arrangement 
had  to  bo  made  in  consequence. 


Plan  for  Improvement  of  Grounds. 


135 


The  house  had  to  be  located  at  such 
a  distance  from  the  streets,  as  to  allow 
space  enough  for  ornamental  purposes — 
This  space  was  arranged  in  a  manner  to 
produce  the  appearance  as  if  the  whole 
plan  was  a  pleasure  ground,  the  planting 
hidi'.ig  the  vegetable  garden  and  all  the 
buidings  in  the  rear,  from  one  corner  on  the 
west  up  to  the  most  eastern  extremity 
when  there  is  only  the  width  of  the  barn- 
yard left  open. 


The  barn,  stable,  hen-house,  green- 
house, as  well  as  the  vegetable  garden,  are 
all  of  easy  access  from  the  house,  and,  be- 
sides, they  are  in  such  communication  with 
each  other,  that  all  the  operations  can  be 
done  without  encroaching  on  _the  pleasure- 
ground. 

The  traders,  viz.,  butcher,  baker,  &c., 
have  an  entrance  through  the  barn-yard 
leading  to  a  small  turn  near  the  kitchen, 
and  will  come  hardly  in  contact  with  any 


Fig  59  — Flan  for  Impwtement  ofGiouvds 


carriage,  for  which  there  is  a  particular 
turn,  more  spacious,  in  direct  connection 
with  the  barnyard. 

To  hide  the  vegetable  garden  from  the 
windows  of  the  south-west  side  of  the 
house,  there  is  an  open  grape  arbor  (an  Ita- 
lian pergola),  with  a  fine  display  of  climb- 
ers, and  between  this  and  the  house,  a  reg- 
u  ar  small  flower  garden,  for  Dutch  bulbs, 
and  bedding  plants. 

Trees  of  large  size  have  been  employed 
in  great  variety  all  along  the  streets,  but 
irregularly  planted,  and  if  kept  as  recom- 
mended, i.  e.,  with  bare  stems,  they  will 
shade  the  whole  walk  surrounding  the  front 
lawn,  without  obstructing  the  water  view. 

A  row  of  tall  deciduous  trees  follows  the 
main  entrance  drive  on  one  side,  and  some 
more  trees  of  the  same  class  are  scattered 
single  on  the  lawn,  and  on  the  patches  sur- 


rounding the  turns,  casting  some  shade 
around  the  house. 

Shrubbery  of  some  ten  to  twelve  feet 
elevation  has  been  employed  on  the  western 
corner  and  along  the  enclosure  of  the  barn- 
yard, with  low,  flowering  shrubs  in  great 
variety  in  their  front,  showing  a  continuous 
mass  of  foliage  from  the  top  down  to  the 
grass. 

In  connection  with  the  tall  trees  planted 
from  the  main  entrance  to  the  barn-yard, 
only  a  single  specimen  of  rarer  variety,  and 
some  very  low  shrubbery,  has  been  employ- 
ed, bringing  thus  the  show  plants  in  promi- 
nence, and  producing  with  the  small  shrubs 
a  greater  contrast. 

The  drives  and  walks  are  made  exactly 
at  the  level  of  the  lawn,  the  small  size  of  the 
place  admitting  of  an  arrangement  which 
in  a  larger  one  would  not  answer  as  well. 


136 


The  Horticulturist. 


The  vegetable  garden  is  quite  small ;  but 
in  a  suburban  garden,  as  this  plan  really  is, 
it  answers  completely  for  the  smaller  sorts 
of  vegetables  and  fine  herbs  required  every 
moment  for  the  table  ;  and  near  a  city, 
such  vegetables  used  for  winter,  or  which 
may  be  kept  in  a  cellar  for  a  week  or  more, 
may  always  be  procured  in  the  market 
cheaper  than  they  can  be  grown  on  such  a 
place. 

.  A  border  of  dwarf  fruit  trees  suri'ounds 
the  vegetable  garden.  This  border  is  of 
about  15  feet  width,  allowing  in  the  rear 
a  row  of  blackberries,  raspberries  ;  and 
among  the  trees,  currants,  gooseberries, 
and  even  strawberries. 

Of  border  or  edging  on  the  walks  in  the 
vegetable  garden,  there  is  none.     I  suggest- 


ed the  walks  to  Ije  raised  above  the  ground, 
keeping  them  dry  by  carrying  the  rain  wa- 
ter on  the  worked  land,  where  it  is  more 
wanted  than  on  the  walks. 

I  have  since  seen  gardens  in  which  the 
walks  were  altogether  left  in  lawn  or  sod- 
ded. I  had  always  an  aversion  to  borders 
of  sods  ;  but  I  confess  that  the  practicabil- 
ity of  sodded  walks  in  a  vegetable  garden 
is  a  very  good  system,  and  I  shall  recom- 
mend it  in  the  future. 

On  the  south  side  there  are  two  borders, 
with  trellis  work,  intended  for  grape  vines  ; 
these  will  answer  very  well  in  spring  for 
early  kinds  of  small  vegetables. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  design  will  be 
of  some  use  in  situations  corresponding 
with  the  location  of  this  place. 


DESIGN  FOR  A  GRAPE  ARBOR. 


BAUMANN. 


The  accompanying  design  for  a  grape  ar- 
bor, in  the  style  of  an  Italian  pergola,  I 
have  already  introduced  in  several  places 
with  success. 

This  arbor  is  more  an  ornament  to  a 
place  than  are  arbors  generally,  which  are 
intended  more  to  hide  nuisances,  but  which 
show  them  in  the  best  way  to  everybody 
that  comes  near  a  house. 

By  the  design,  you  will  observe  that  the 
arbor  is  open  on  the  front  side,  with  a  bal- 
ustrade or  panel  work,  of  3^  or  4  feet  high 
from  the  ground.. 

The  rear  is  covered  with  laths,  12  to  15 
inches  apart,  for  the  purpose  of  training 
grape  vines  intended  to  run  on  the  top, 
along  the  cross-pieces. 

This  arbor  could  be  built  of  almost  any 
kind  of  timber,  and  painted  any  shade,  but 
a  wood  color,  imitating  oak  or  chestnut, 
would  be  the  most  suitable. 

The  upright  lattice-work,  running  along 
the  posts,  is  intended  to  give  the  posts  a 
heavier  appearance,  and  to  tie  up  flowering 
climbers   that   will    have    to    be    trained 


length-wise     along    the     upper    piece     of 
timber. 

The  horizontal  pieces  run  across  the 
posts,  tying  them  together  and  supporting 
the  laths,  2-|  by  3^  inches,  which  are  lying 
crosswise  over  them,  and  projecc  some  15 
to  18  inches  out. 

Vines  dropping  from  the  top  will  soon 
make  the  whole  more  heavy. 

When  I  employed  or  introduced  this 
style  of  arbor,  it  was  either  to  shut  out 
some  objects  outside  the  place,  on  parts  of 
a  small  lot,  where  a  group  or  a  belt  of  ' 
shrubbery  would  not  have  found  room 
enough,  or  to  establish  an  ornamental  ter- 
minus in  the  pleasure  ground,  and  a  sepa- 
ration between  this  and  the  vegetable 
garden. 

With  a  well-selected  collection  of  climb- 
ers, this  arbor  would  soon  be  a  very  hand- 
some feature  in  a  place.  Tall- growing  va- 
rieties of  climbers,  like  Wistarias,  Clematis, 
Running  Roses,  &c.,  may  be  trained  on  the 
posts;  and  dwarfer  sorts,  like  Honeysuckles, 
Akebia,  Bignonias,  Jasminums,  the  annual 


Design  for  a    Grape  Arbor. 


137 


varieties   of  Ipomaeas,    Tropaeolums,   &c.,     the  boundary  line  of  a  place,  the  rear  on 

may  be  employed  along  the  base.  the  north  side  would  not  answer  well  for 

In  case  this  arbor  should  be  placed  on     grape  vines  ;  but  in  that  case,  I  should  sug- 


Fig.  61.— Top  of  Arhor. 


^1^ 


Fig.  G2.— Details  of  Arbor. 


Fig.  63. — Cross  Section. 
gest  to  cover  the  rear  entirely  with  the  Vir-     other  fast-growing  climber  succeeding  well 
ginia   creeper,  Aristolochia  Sipho,  or  some     in  the  shade. 
Rahway,  Feb.  24,  1866. 


138 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


PEARS— GENERAL  TOTLEBEN  AND  EMILE  D'HEYST. 

BY    CHARLES    DOWNING,    NEWBURGH,    N.Y. 


Emile  d'Heyst,  a  Belgian  fruit;  tree  of 
moderate  vigor.  A  healthy  and  good  grower, 
but  straggling,  and  not  easily  brought  to  a 
pyramidal  form.  It  seems  well  suited  to  this 
climate.  Young  wood,  fawn  or  light  brown ; 


rather  slender.  Fruit  large,  or  above 
medium  size  •  long  calebasse  form.  Color 
light  green,  washed  and  waved  with  fawn 
and  russet ;  becomes  bright  yellow  at  the 
time   of    maturity.      Stem    variable,    but 


Fig.  64.- 


'Emile  cVHeysL 


rather  long ;  sometimes  fleshy  ;  inserted  in 
an  uneven  cavity.  Calyx  small,  set  in  a 
deep  narrow  basin,  surrounded  by  uneven 
protuberances.  Flesh  buttery,  melting, 
very  juic}';  exceedingly   fine,    sugary,  and 


well-perfumed  (L.  E.  Berckman's  MSS.)  A 
very  great  bearer,  and  requires  thinning 
to  have  the  fruit  in  perfection.  From  all 
we  can  learn,  this  fine  pear  has  given 
general  satisfaction  in  this  country. 


Pears. — General  Totlehen. 


139 


Tree  vigorous,  healthy,  and  productive  . 
a  new  promising  variety,  of  foreign  origin. 
Fruit  large,  turbinate,  pyriform,  angular. 
Skin  greenish  yellow,  considerably  netted 


and  patched  with  russet,  and  thickly  sprin- 
kled with  russet  and  brown  dots.  Stalk 
long,  curved,  inclined ;  inserted  in  a  small 
cavity,  sometimes  by  a  lip.     Calyx  small, 


Fig.  65. — General  Totleben. 


open.     Segments  short,  erect.     Basin  large,  slightly  aromatic  flavor.     Ripe  last  of  Oc- 

deep,  vmeven.     Flesh  whitish  (often  flesh-  tober  and  November.     A  fine  new  promis- 

colored   around  the  core),   a  little  coarse,  ing  fruit, 
very  juicy,  melting,   with  a  rich   vinous. 


140 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  DELAAYARE    AND  OTHER  HARDWOODED 
KINDS  OF  THE  GRAPE  MADE  EASY. 

BY    HORTICOLA. 


Some  of  the  readers  of  the  Horticultu- 
rist (see  vol.  xix,  1864;  p.  61)  may  remem- 
ber that  I  made  vines  grow  which,  dm-ing 
their  passage  from  Germany  to  this  coun- 
try, had  commenced  pushing  in  the 
box  in  the  absence  of  light.  I  left  the 
asparagus-like  shoots  on  the  pieces  of  the 
old  wood,  which  I  planted,  and  succeeded 
in  making  grow.  INIr.  Peter  B.  Mead,  the 
then  editor  of  the  Horticulturist,  made 
the  remark  that  I  unconsciously  had  been 
making  good  plants.  This  hint  was  not 
lost  upon  me,  for  it  induced  me  to  make  a 
number  of  experiments,  especially  last  year, 
the  results  of  which  so  far  surpassed  my 
expectation  that  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  make 
them  known  through  this  magazine.  In 
describing  them,  I  will  dwell  exclusively 
on  the  main  points,  omitting  the  gradual 
development  and  perfection,  so  far  as  it  goes, 
of  my  plan. 

On  the  27th  of  May,  last  year,  when  the 
young  shoots  of  the  Delaware  were  from 
two  to  four  inches  long,  I  cut  pieces  from 
the  ends  of  the  last  year's  canes  about  two 
inches  long,  having  a  young  shoot  of  the 
length  indicated  in  the  middle,  or  rather 
fio,  that  each  of  the  young  shoots  had  from 
one- fourth  to  one-half  inch  heloio,  and  about 
one-half  inch  above  them  of  old  wood.  I 
laid  the  old  wood  horizontally  in  my  prop- 
agating bed  of  anthracite  coal  dust,  so  that 
the  young  shoots  were  erect  at  right-angles 
with  the  old  wood,  which  was  covered  with 
coal  dust  a  little  more  than  one-half  inch 
deep.  I  shaded  them  a  little,  and  watched 
them  regularly.  I  did  not  make  any  fire 
relying  on  the  heat  of  the  sun,  which  is 
rapidly  absorbed  by  the  coal  dust,  and 
which  warms  it  thoroughly  to  the  depth  of 
at  least  four  inches.  Seventy-five  cuttings  of 
the  Delaware,  made  in  this  way,  gave  me 
seventy-three  beautiful  plants.  They  had 
such   masses  of  roots   as  I  never  saw   on 


plants  propagated  in  any  other  way.  It 
was  astonishing  to  see  how  the  young  green 
shoots  continued  growing,  just  as  if  they 
had  not  been  separated  from  the  mother 
plants.  Those  propagators  who  use  sand 
will  succeed  equally  well  with  it. 

I  could  give  a  whole  catalogue  of  vines, 
cuttings  of  which,  treated  in  the  same  way, 
gave  similar  results.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
state  here  that  soft- wooded  kinds  grow 
with  still  more  certainty,  i.  e.,  the  Rebecca. 
Propagators  are,  in  this  way,  enabled  to 
make  two  sets  of  cuttings  ;  all  they  have 
to  do  is,  not  to  prune  the  canes  of  their 
vines  so  short  as  usual,  in  order  to  have 
wood  and  shoots  enough  by  the  middle  of 
May.  That  vines  do  not  bleed  at  that 
time  when  wounded  is,  at  present,  known 
even  to  the  inexperienced. 

In  this  connection  I  will  give  some  ac- 
count of  other  experiments,  with  results 
quite  different  from  those  related.  Had  I 
not  been  reminded  by  one  of  the  readers  of 
the  Horticulturist  that  I  had  promised 
to  report,  I  would,  perhaps,  never  have 
done  it.  The  circumstances  had  so  en- 
tirely escaped  my  memory,  that  I  had  to 
make  a  little  effort  to  recall  them  to  my 
mind.  I  forgot  them  on  account  of  the 
failure. 

Several  years  ago,  I  planted  in  the  Fall  a 
large  number  of  cuttings  from  the  Dela- 
ware, the  Diana,  and  other  kinds,  in  the 
open  ground,  covering  them  at  the  approach 
of  winter  sufficiently  to  protect  them. — 
From  what  I  had  read  about  this  method 
I  felt  so  sure  of  the  result  hoped  for,  that 
I  did  not  hesitate  to  treat  so,  a  most  remark- 
able variety  of  the  wild  grape,  which  I  had 
found  on  Snake  Hill,  in  this  vicinity.  Its 
leaves  were  the  most  elegant  and  ornamen- 
tal of  any  vine  that  I  ever  saw.  They 
were  full  lobed,  but  so  deeply  and  grace- 
fully cut,  that  they  resembled  the  five  fin- 


Planting  of  Street  Ti-ees. 


141 


gers  of  a  human  hand.  In  the  spring  fol- 
lowing all  my  cuttings  began  to  grow,  but 
the  young  shoots  soon  drooped,  and  the 
cuttings  died.  AVhen  I  saw  the  danger,  I 
took  up  three  that  were  still  green,  and 
planted  them  in  a  hot  bed,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose. I  did  not  save  a  single  cutting  of 
the  wild  grape  ;  of  the  others,  some  made 
roots,  but  as  there  were  so  few  of  them,  I 
became  disgusted,  and  did  not  take  care  of 
them.  I  think  I  was  very  careful  in  plant- 
ing and  protecting  the  cuttings  ;  still,  I  may 
have  neglected  some  thing,  though  I  am  not 
conscious  of  it.  At  all  events,  my  experi- 
ence was  such  as  not  to  warrant  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  experiment,  and  I  cannot  con- 
scientiously advise  anybody  to  risk  any  val- 
uable kind  in  trying  it.  * 


Cuttings  of  the  Delaware  put  in  water, 
and  placed  in  a  warm  room,  i.  e.,  a  kitchen, 
for  eight  or  ten  days,  and  planted  in  the 
open  ground  when  the  weather  grows  warm, 
root  uniforml}',  and  make  fine  plants.  From 
the  first  year  I  tried  it  till  last  season,  my 
success  has  been  the  same.  I  do  not  re- 
member having  lost  a  single  cutting  in  that 
way,  provided  I  planted  them  in  compact 
clayey  soil ;  in  porous  soil  they  do  not  grow 
so  well. 

*  Unfortunately,  the  wild  grape  mentioned  was  des- 
troyed. The  attempt  to  take  it  up  failed,  the  roots  hav- 
ing fastened  themselves  in  the  fissures  of  the  rock.  So 
the  stem  of  the  vine  was  hroken ;  all  I  saved  was  the 
cuttings,  which  I  lost  as  stated.  I  visited  Snake  Hill 
twice  every  year  since  I  obtained  the  cuttings,  hoping- 
that  the  stump  might  send  forth  shoots  again  ;  but  I 
have  to  bear  the  disappointment— the  vine  is  dead. 


PLANTING  STREET  TREES. 


Nothing  is  more  obvious  than  that  by 
the  judicious  planting  of  trees  in  the  embel- 
lishment of  country  homes  and  country  and 
village  roads,  the  value  of  propert}^  is  much 
enhanced,  and  comfort,  elegance  and  health 
greatly  promoted. 

Buildings  that  are  mean  in  appearance, 
homesteads  dilapidated  and  storm-worn, 
are  relieved,  and  their  defects  almost  hid- 
den to  the  passer-by,  if  surrounded  by 
beautiful  shade-trees.  Roads  and  streets 
uninteresting  and  bare,  hot  and  dusty  in 
summer,  dreary  and  cheerless  in  winter, 
can  be  converted  into  pleasant  avenues  and 
highways  of  enjoyment  to  the  traveler 
and  wearj^  pedestrian,  if  bordered  with  de- 
sirable trees. 

Then  the  tastes  of  the  citizens  will  be 
more  refined,  and  their  thoughts  and  pur- 
suits more  congenial  with  the  nature  of 
their  surroundings,  and  the  language  of  fu- 
ture generations  will  bless  the  memory  of 
those  enlightened  philanthropists  who 
planted  them. 

The  trees  that  we  plant  around  our 
homes  become  deeply  woven  in  our  memo- 
ries, and  we  realize  the  sweet  satisfaction 
and  pure  enjoyment  of  seeing  the  trees  we 


have  watched  with  care  and  hope  growing 
thriftily,  leaving  lasting  mementoes  behind 
us  that  our  lives  have  not  been  spent  in 
vain.  In  planting  trees  we  require  skill 
and  attention  to  the  laws  of  vegetable  life. 
Enthusiastic  love  of  nature's  gifts  will  not 
make  a  tree  grow  with  success  if  wrongly 
set  out,  or  treated  with  neglect. 

Let  us  plant  them  nearly  in  the  position 
they  grew  in  before,  their  roots  nicely 
spread  out,  and  the  earth  packed  around 
them  so  as  to  leave  no  space  unfilled.  And 
then,  if  the  soil  is  not  good  friable  loam  or 
mould,  we  should  jDrocure  such  to  place 
around  their  roots,  and  not  fill  up  with 
rich  or  unfermented  manure.  Let  us  feed 
the  roots  gradually  by  spreading  it  on  the 
top,  and  keeping  the  soil  moist  and  mellow 
by  mulching  with  refuse  straw-stalks,  or 
anything  that  will  be  of  service  to  kill  the 
grass  and  prevent  the  earth  becoming  hard 
and  dry  around  them.  We  require  only 
the  most  hardy  trees  to  plant  by  the  road, 
for  the  soil  is  generally  of  poorer  quality, 
and  they  will  be  more  exposed,  than  when 
planted  on  the  lawn  or  about  the  house. 

Shade-trees,  combining  a  pleasing  variety 
of  colors  and  habits  of  growth,  are  the  most 


142 


The  Horticulturist. 


pleasing  to  the  eye,  for  if  an  avenue  should 
contain  but  one  variety,  and  that  the  very 
best,   they  will  be  monotonous  and  dull. 
The  winter  landscape  is  greatly  enlivened 
by  the  presence  of  evergreens,  and  they  are 
beautiful    everywhere,  but  unless  extra  car 
is  taken  few  will  plant  them  by  the  roada 
sides,  for  who  can  tell  how  soon  a  vagrant- 
cow  will,  in  frenzied  mood,  make  a  sight- 
less, forlorn  wreck  of  the  finest  evergreen  ? 
But  the  Pines,  if  of  large  size,  can  be 
transplanted  by  the  road,  and  the  lower 
limbs  trimmed  off  out  of  cattle's  reach  j  but 
the  best  mode,  we  think,  would  be  to  make 
a   fence   around,   and   plant   medium-sized 
trees,  and  in  a  few  j-ears  cut  off  the  lowest 
limbs.     They  grow  well  on  poor  soil,  and 
will  present  a  fine  contrast  if  a  few  are  in 
termingled  with  deciduous  trees. 

We  are  all  aware  of  the  reputation  of  the 
American  Elm  for  street  planting.  They 
seldom  make  much  shade  until  they  are  fif- 
teen or  twenty  years  old,  and  he  that  is  in 
a  hurry  for  shade  around  his  place,  and 
pines  for  the  leafy  canopy  of  trees  near  his 
dwelling,  will  have  to  wait  too  long  for  the 
Elm.  They  linger  sadly  if  planted  in  light, 
poor  soil,  or  if  we  allow  their  roots  to  be  en- 
cased when  young  with  a  stiff  mass  of 
sward.  Planted  alternately  with  bushy 
trees,  they  give  the  finest  effect.  For  light 
and  rather  dry  soils  we  have  found  no  bet- 
ter tree  than  the  Sycamore  Maple.  It  is  a 
rapid  grower,  of  fine  form,  and  easy  to  live. 
The  Norway  Maple  is  often  considered  the 
most  beautiful  tree  we  possess.  Covered 
with  fine  yellow  blossoms  in  spring,  and 
draped  with  light  and  graceful  foliage  in 
summer,  when  the  frosts  of  Autumn  chill 
its  leaves,  it  yields  slowly  and  unwillingly, 
to  its  power,  presenting  a  pleasing  contrast 
of  green,  yellow,  and  brown  shades  mingled 
together.  With  us  it  is  not  as  fast  a  grow- 
er as  the  Sycamore,  but  will  better  with- 
stand hard  usage,  and  thrive  in  a  greater 
variety  of  soils.  On  good  soil  the  white  or 
silver-leaf  Maple  is  the  most  rapid-growing 
desirable  shade-tree.  It  is  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania  and  other  Middle  States,  and 
is  so  well  known  and  extensively  planted 


that  further  notice  is  not  necessary.     Our 
White   Ash   and   European  Ash   are  well 
adapted  to  planting  roads,  and  while  they 
are   easy   to  make   live,  and  beautiful  in 
form,  their  wood  is  of  great  value.     The 
Linden  tree  has  long  been  a  favorite  orna- 
mental tree,  from  the  fine  conical  form  it 
assumes,  and  its  ease  of  cultivation.     We 
much   prefer  the  Basswood,  or  American 
Linden,  to  the  European.    It  is  a  more  rap- 
id grower,  and  its  leaves,  unlike  the  com- 
mon European,   retain   their  green    color 
through  the  season.     The  white,  or  silver- 
leaf,   is   the  finest  species,  but  they  are 
scarce  and  dear.     The  Tulip  tree,  in  rather 
moist  situations,   or  where  the  ground  is 
kept  mellow,  as  in  the  nurseries  or  woods, 
is  the  noblest  forest  tree  of  our  country. 
They  cannot  be  successfully  transplanted 
when  large,  but  their  tall,  straight  trunks 
and  bright,  green  leaves  are  objects  of  in- 
terest wherever  we   meet  them.     Some- 
times the  Liquid  Amber,  or  Sweet  Gum, 
could  be  planted  with  low  growing  trees, 
as  they  are  of  rapid  growth,  especially  in 
wet    situations.      Their    star-like    leaves, 
when  dyed  with  the  rich,  red  tints  of  au- 
tumn, are  among  the  gayest  trees  of  the 
forest.     No  tree  exceeds  m  grace  and  fresh- 
ness the  European  Larch,  m  its  new  vernal 
dress.     Although  it   looks  rather  dingy  in 
Autumn,  its  spring  and  early  summer  foli- 
age  is   so   refreshing   and  lovely  that  we 
would  plant  some  of  this  kind  by  roads  and 
village  streets,  and  protect  them  by  stakes 
if  small.     In  heavy  soils  the  Deciduous  Cy- 
press succeeds  finel}^,  and  is  an  ornament  in 
the  fall  and  early  winter,  when  other  trees 
are  bare  of  foliage.     In  limestone  countries 
and  in  clay  soil,  or  where  there  are  springy 
places,  the  Sugar  Maple  is  one  of  the  finest 
shade-trees  we  have.     On  dry   and  sandy 
oils  other  trees  succeed  better      We  think 
that  these  will  be  sufficient  for  most  per- 
sons, although  there  are  other  trees  adapt- 
ed to  street  planting,  such  as  the  Ash-leaf 
Maple,    Black  and   Balsam  Poplar,    Black 
Walnut,  Butternut,  and,  by  the  springs  and 
water-courses.  Weeping  Willow.       I.  H. 
North  Hempstead,  L.  I. 


Cordon  Dwarf  Apple  Trees. 
CORDON     DWARF     APPLE     TREES. 


143 


BY  E.   FERRAND,  DETROIT,  MICHIGAN. 


There  is  an  innovation  which  deserves 
to  be  introduced  in  American  gardening, 
that  is,  the  dwarf  apple  trees  cultivated  for 
edging  the  walks  of  vegetable  and  fruit 
gardens.  The  idea  of  growing  the  apple 
tree  in  this  shape  originated  some  ten  or 
twelve  years  ago  in  France,  and  is  carried 
on  there  now  on  a  large  scale,  very  few  gar- 
dens, and  even  the  largest  nurseries,  benig 
without  their  walks  edtred  with  those  beau- 


FiG.  6G. 


should  be  on  its  own  roots,  and  not,  as  some 
of  my  nursery  friends  have  it  here,  a  scion 
of  Paradise  grafted  on  some  better  growing 
stock. 

The  accompanying  drawing  will  explain 
how  to  plant  the  trees,  and  will  show  the 
effect  presented  after  two  years  from  plant- 
ing. 

The  first  thing  is  to  establish  a  strong 
stake  at  each  end  of  an  unbroken  line,  on 
the  edge  of  a  walk,  as  shown  from  A  to  A, 
Fig.  66,  leaving  these  stakes  about  a  foot 
above  ground ;  then,  from  the  top  of  one 
stake  to  that  of  the  other,  a  wire  is  tightly 
fixed,  which  is  destined  to  have  the  trees  tied 
to  it;  the  trees  are  planted  on  the  line  of 
the  wire  from  5  to  7  feet  apart,  according  to 


tiful  trees.  Cultivated  under  thir,  form, 
the  apple  tree  can  be  introduced  in  a 
garden  of  the  very  smallest  extent,  where 
otherwise  it  could  find  no  room. 

Do  not  suspect  that  in  putting  forth  this 
innovation  I  pretend  to  propose  a  substitute 
for  the  old  standard  apple  tree.  Very  far 
from  it.  But  I  intend  to  present  a  novelty 
which  is  very  interesting  in  many  waj's, 
and  which  will  pay  for  the  trouble  it  may 
give  by  the  fruit  alone,  without  taking 
into  account  its  merit  as  a  very  beautiful 
ornament. 


Fig.  67— Tree  prun-     Fig.  68. —Tree  loitli  its 
eel  for  planting.  livibs  tied  to  the  loire. 


The  dwarf  apple  tree  en  cordon,  as  they 
call  it  in  France,  must  be  of  necessity  bud- 
ded or  grafted  on  Paradise,  the  Doucin  be- 
ing even  a  too  strong  grower  ;  but  here  it 
must  also  be  remarked,  that  the  Paradise 


Fig.  69. 


-Apple  Trees  en  cordon  Three  Ytars 
after  planting . 


quality  of  soil  ;  two  limbs  of  the  tree  are 
then  tied  to  the  wire,  and  all  the  other 
branches  cut  off,  and  those  remaining  short- 
ened to  eight  or  ten  buds  for  the  first  j^ear ; 
or  better  yet,  the  tree  is  cut  off"  to  the 
height  of  the  wire,  and,  as  it  grows,  the 
two  upper  branches  are  tied  to  the  wire. 

In  order  to  tighten  the  wire  (none  but 
sound  galvanized  wire  should  be  used)  when 
it  becomes  loose  by  the  action  of  the  sun  or 
otherwise,  a  small  instrument  is  used, 
which  is  also  employed  in  the  vineyards, 
and  will  be  described  in  another  article. 

The  only  care  these  trees  require  is  to 
have  the  wood  pinched  very  often  in  sum- 
mer, say  every  two  weeks,  excepting  the 
two  branches  destined  to  follow  the  wire, 
which  are  left  to  grow  at  will,  but  tied 
to    the    wire     as    they    need     it.       The 


144 


The  Horticulturist. 


pinching  causes  tlie  buds  to  swell,  and 
determines  the  production  of  fruit  buds,  so 
tliat  the  second  year  the  tree  is  pretty  -well 
filled  with  fruit.  When  the  trees  reach  one 
another  by  their  extremities  they  are  graft- 
ed together,  so  that  from  cue  end  of  the 
wire  to  the  other  the  trees  are  but  one. — 
These  trees  are  then  allowed  to  produce  no 
more  wood,  and  need  only  to  be  severely 
pinched  in. 

The  apple  trees  thus  cultivated  make  a 
neat  and  very  ornamental  garland  of  fruit 
and  foliage  around  each  square  of  the  gar- 


den. I  liad  once  under  my  personal  care 
about  seven  thousand  feet  long  of  those 
cordon  apple  trees  in  my  father's  nursery, 
and  we  never  missed  a  heavy  crop.  I  am 
experimenting  the  same  here  in  my  own 
garden  with  trees  that  I  received  from 
France  for  that  purpose. 

More  could  be  said  about  these  beautiful 
trees,  but  I  do  not  want  to  abuse  the 
kindness  of  the  editors,  and  have  merely 
poiiited  to  the  principle.  I  will  add — no 
trees  older  than  two  years  from  the  bud 
should  be  used  for  this  purpose. 


GRAPE  CUTTINGS  FROM  MODERN  HISTORY. 

BY    JOHN    S.    REID. 


In  our  former  articles  we  endeavored  to 
confine  ourselves  to  the  culture  of  the  Vine 
and  manufacture  of  Wine  as  known'  and 
practised  by  the  Ancients  ;  now  we  intend 
to  speak  more  fully  ot  the  various  kinds  o 
grapes  known  to  the  Moderns,  passing  over 
that  pai't  of  the  history  of  the  grape  which 
may  be  found  in  the  "  Ana"  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  as  we  were  unable  to  find  any  suffi- 
cient data  to  speak  from  during  tbat  period, 
although  Ave  learn  that  some  of  the  prov- 
nces  of  Rome,  now  embraced  in  the  De- 
partments of  the  French  Empire,  cultivated 
the  vine  during  the  first  century,  especially 
the  middle  departments,  when  Domitian 
was  Emperor,  at  which  time  the  celebrated 
Edict  was  issued,  destroying  the  vineyards 
in  the  provinces,  and  prohibiting  any  new 
vineyards  being  planted  in  Italy.  This  pro- 
hibition continued  for  almost  two  centu- 
ies,  when  it  was  revoked  by  Probus,  and 
new  vineyards  were  planted  with  the 
choicest  vines  from  Greece,  Sicily  and 
Rome,  in  the  Gaulish  Provinces  of  Langue- 
doc,  Provence,  and  Gurinne. 

Although  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  in 
France  dates  back  to  the  palmy  days  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  the  climate  of  Europe  was 
not  such  as  it  now  is,  but  was  much  colder, 
and  seldom  matured  the  fruit  of  the  grape 


north  of  Cevennes,  so  that  great  armies, 
during  the  winter,  passed  over  the  Rhine 
on  the  ice,  which  could  not  be  done  during 
the  last  five  hundred  j-ears.  Pliny,  Strabo, 
Columella  and  Durmimas  make  frequent 
mention  of  the  vineyards  of  Narbonnese 
Gaul,  the  latter  of  whom  alludes  to  the 
mode  of  cultivating  the  vine  by  the  Aqui- 
tani,  on  the  banks  of  the  Saone,  supposed 
to  be  the  modern  Cote  cVOr. 

The  wine  of  this  time  was  also  much 
relished  at  Rome,  and  those  of  Dauphine, 
INIarseilles  and  Narbonne  were  esteemed  the 
best  ;  but  the  most  celebrated  were  ob- 
tained from  the  Muscat  of  Languedoc,  and 
a  rich  and  violet  scented  grape  of  Vienne. 

During  the  13th  century,  the  wines  of 
France  had  become  famous  over  all  the 
civilized  world,  and  a  very  amusing  fable, 
called  the  Battle  of  the  Vines,  was  then 
published,  in  which  the  different  vintages 
or  classes  of  wines  were  made  to  pass  in 
review  before  the  French  monarch,  each, 
contending  for  the  palm  of  honor. 

But  the  choicest  wines  were  the  product 
of  the  vineyards  owned  and  cultivated  by 
the  Church  of  Rome ;  for  as  the  clergy 
were,  during  this  period,  almost  the  sole 
depositaries  of  learning,  so  they  were  among 
the  first  to  improve  the  cultivation  of  the 


Grape  Cuttings  from  Modern  History. 


145 


vine,  and  to  attend  in  person  the  manufac- 
ture of  the  wine.  Kings  and  Nobles  then 
vied  with  the  Church  in  producing  tliis  glo- 
rious beverage,  whose  motto  was  quality, 
not  quantity,  and  the  monks  of  the  Cister- 
cian Abbey,  then  the  owners  of  the  cele- 
brated vineyard,  Clos-Yougiot,  containing 
about  80  acres,  were  satisfied  with  twenty 
hogsheads,  which  now,  under  different 
hands  and  management,  produces  not  less 
than  fifty. 

For  many  years  the  rival  wines  of  Bur- 
gundy and  Champagne  contended  for  the 
Bacchic  crown ;  but  not  until  the  corona- 
tion of  Louis  XIII,  in  the  year  IGIO,  did 
the  latter  acquire  the  pre-eminence,  since 
which  no  rival  has  been  able  to  displace 
the  wines  of  Champagne,  which  were  de- 
cided, in  1778,  by  the  Faculty  of  Medicine 
in  Paris,  as  being  the  choicest  vintage  in 
France. 

If  any  of  our  young  readers  would 
place  before  him  the  map  of  France,  and 
search  out  the  several  departments  and 
provinces  referred  to  in  this  paper,  he 
would  find  himself  much  benefitted  by  the 
operation,  and  have  a  clearer  idea  of  their 
locality  and  relative  situation  to  the  great 
wine  region  of  Europe. 

The  culture  of  the  vine  embraces  gener- 
ally the  region  of  Olives.  In  France,  from 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Loire,  a  line  of  limits 
extends  in  the  direction  of  the  Rhine, 
passing  a  little  north  of  Paris,  and  termi- 
nating near  Dresden.  It  then  returns  along 
the  frontier  of  Bohemia,  to  its  point  of 
crossing  the  Rhine  at  Coblentz,  covering 
the  valley  of  this  river  and  the  Lake  of  Con- 
stance, in  Switzerland,  traversing  the  Alps 
in  the  middle  of  the  Canton  of  Valais,  fol- 
lowing the  declivities  southward  to  Venice, 
to  return  through  Lower  Austria,  Hungary 
and  Wallachia,  eastward  to  the  Crimea. 
These  limits  show  a  large  extent  of  coun- 
try on  which  the  vine  is  capable  of  culti- 
vation and  of  maturing  its  fruit. 

Another  writer  commences  his  point  at 
lat.  47°  30' on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  France, 
running  to  lat.  49°  in  the  interior  and  thence 


to  Coblentz,  lat.  50^  20'  on  the  Rhine  for 
the  East.  In  Germany,  it  does  not  extend 
beyond  lat.  51",  and  its  true  limits  are 
much  under  these  figures.  Bordeaux,  Di- 
jon and  Manheim  would  fairly  represent 
France,  or  the  extent  of  the  limits  of  the 
wine  grape  in  that  country. 

Champagne,  within  the  Department  of 
Marne,  is  entitled  to  the  honor  of  giving 
its  name  to  the  most  celebrated  wine  in 
Europe,  and  the  vineyards  of  Verzenay, 
Mailly,  Raumont  and  Sillery  situated  north- 
east of  Paris,  at  the  north-eastern  termi- 
nation of  the  chain  of  hills  separating 
Marne  from  Vesle,  take  the  first  rank. 

The  average  annual  value  of  the  wine 
crop  of  this  department  is  about  ten  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  the  product  in  gallons  being 
about  forty-four  millions  —  one-fourth  of 
which  comprises  the  Champagne  quality; 
the  rest  are  red  and  white  wines  of  superior 
quality. 

This  wine  is  made  from  a  white  grape, 
peculiar  to  that  province  and  its  soil,  and 
although  imitated  by  others,  never  surpass- 
ed by  any. 

As  France  takes  the  first  rank  among 
the  political  powers  of  Europe,  so,  in  like 
manner,  it  exceeds  them  all  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  grape ;  and  indeed  it  would  be 
somewhat  curious  to  trace  the  seeming  con- 
nection between  the  great  Empires  of  the 
world  and  the  vine — not  that  we  believe 
that  there  is  any  necessity  in  their  connec- 
tion, but  the  singularity  of  the  alliance  has 
more  than  once  occurred  to  our  mind. 
Apart  from  the  great  commercial,  mechani- 
cal and  agricultural  Empire  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, France  has  no  equal  in  Europe,  and  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  its  glorious  juice,  she  is  far  ahead 
of  every  other  nation,  either  of  ancient  or 
modern  times;  but  it  is  not  alone  to  her 
position  as  a  great  maritime  and  warlike 
power  that  she  has  acquired  pre-eminence 
in  this  ;  in  our  opinion,  it  is  to  her  climate 
and  especially  to  her  soil  and  institutions, 
that  she  is  indebted  for  the  higli  statioD 
she  holds  in  this  respect. 


146 


The  Horticulturist. 


Bounded  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and 
the  P^'renees  Mountains  on  the  south,  in 
lat.  43°  north,  with  the  great  Atlantic  on 
the  west,  to  which  her  rivers  chiefly  flow, 
and  her  mountain  ranges  tend — she  is  high- 
ly fitted  for  the  cultivation  of  the  grape 
vine,  lying  some  5°  within  the  region  gen- 
erally awarded  to  the  olive,  the  vine  and 
the  orange. 

But  even  within  sunny  France,  the  vine 
is  a  capricious  mistress,  preferring  certain 
provinces,  and  sometimes  certain  districts 
within  one  province,  following  the  course 
of  her  mighty  rivers,  and  flourishing  only 
along  the  sides  of  her  sunny  hills.  Thus, 
the  mountains  of  Auvergne,  separating  the 
basins  of  the  Loire  and  Garonne,  are  evi- 
dently the  remains  of  extinct  volcanoes  ; 
whilst  east  and  south  of  this  volcanic  mass 
extend  the  Cevennes  for  about  200  miles, 
the  northern  portion  of  which  runs  north 
and  south  with  the  Rhine  on  the  east ; 
whilst  the  Jura  mountains,  composed  chief- 
ly of  limestone,  form  a  barrier  between 
France  and  Switzerland. 

Now,  not  only  are  the  best  wines  and 
richest  grapes  produced  within  and  along 
these  mountain  ranges  and  shallow  valleys, 
but  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  vintner 
to  grow  them  in  quantit}"-  anywhere  else. 
Thus,  the  wines  of  Champagne,  north  and 
west  of  Paris,  in  lat.  49",  take  the  first 
rank  ;  yet  the  same  vine  refuses  to  bear  in 
Central  France,  several  degrees  farther 
south. " 

Again,  some  small  vineyards  are  found 
enclosed  with  stone  walls — on  the  very 
limit  of  the  grape  culture — like  oasis  in 
the  desert,  so  well  marked  and  defined, 
that  their  area  commands  fabulous  prices. 
Thus,  the  Clos-Vougiot,  which  contains 
about  80  acres,  produces  wine  of  such  ex- 
cellent quality,  that  its  revenue  was  sufii- 
cient  for  the  expenses  of  a  noble,  and  the 
Romance  Conti  is  produced  on  a  piece  of 
ground  not  exceeding  seven  acres  ;  whilst 
Chambertin,  near  Dijon,  is  the  product  of 
only  05  acres. 
We  make  these  remarks   to   counteract 


the  off-hand  opinions  of  a  great  many  grape 
culturists  that  the  grape  vine  of  America, 
being  indigenous  to  America,  will  grow  and 
produce,  over  as  wide  an  area  of  country  as 
the  apple  or  the  pear ;  and  even  Mr.  Fuller, 
in  the  last  January  number,  promulgates 
this  idea.  But  we  do  not  believe  in  it ; 
the  Vitis  Vinifera  of  Europe  requires  a 
peculiar  climate  and  a  peculiar  soil,  and 
where  the  best  wines  are  produced,  the 
soils  are,  for  the  most  part,  light  black  or 
red  loam,  mixed  with  the  debris  of  calca- 
reous rock  ;  and  so  in  our  own  country, 
whilst  the  limits  of  the  culture  of  the  grape 
extend  from  the  borders  of  the  Rio  Grande 
at  El  Paso,  to  the  great  Lakes  of  the  north ; 
still,  there  are  some  places  within  this  vast 
compass  where  it  will  not  flourish,  whilst 
there  are  others  where  it  delights  to  fruit 
and  multiply. 

But  let  us  examine  some  of  the  French 
statistics  for  wine,  and  compare  notes  with 
the  several  Departments  of  that  Empire. 
The  French  wine  crop  of  1845,  20  years 
ago,  stood  thus  in  some  of  the  Provinces  : 

Champagne 43       mill.       Gallons. 

Burgundy 62^       " 

Loraine  49         " 

Languedoc 144        " 

Provence   68        " 

Guienne  &  Gascony  182^       " 

Samtonge 63        " 

Orleanois 37        " 

Isle  of  France 37        " 

These  are  the  leading  Departments.  The 
total  crop  from  all  was  about  one  thou- 
sand millions  of  dollars. 

Now,  if  we  refer  to  the  rank  which  each 
generally  takes  in  the  wine  market  of  Eu- 
rope, we  shall  find  them  to  stand  thus  : — 
Champagne,  first  in  quality  and  highest  in 
price  ;  Burgundy,  long  the  rival  of  Cham- 
pagne, is  only  second,  and  in  some  instances 
is  preferred — such  as  the  Ronianee  Conti, 
frequently  bringing  fabulous  prices.  The 
celebrated  vineyards  on  the  Rhine,  such  as 
the  Hermitage,  C6t  K6tire,  Condrien,  and 
St.  Colombe,  are  so  well  known  that  their 


Grape  Cuttings  from  3Iodern  History. 


147 


product  is  found  in  every  wine  market  of 
the  world. 

A  Frencli  gentleman  once  bad  in  his  cel- 
lar some  of  the  wine  of  this  department, 
over  200  years  old,  made  from  the  red  Mus- 
cadine, which  grape  is  highly  esteemed  for 
wine,  on  account  of  its  strength  and  aroma. 
In  Gascony  and  Guienne,  the  most  cele- 
brated wines  are  the  Medoc,  Graves  and 
Paulus,  such  being  the  product  of  different 
vineyards  and  districts.  Thus,  the  Paulus 
vineyards  are  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
Garonne,  near  Chartons  ;  the  Medoc  is 
from  the  vineyard  of  Latour,  although  the 
lightest  and  choicest  is  from  the  Lafitte 
vineyard,  and  the  Graves  wine  is  the  pro- 
duct of  the  grape  on  the  gravelly  soil  on 
the  banks  of  the  Garonne.  These  are  re- 
garded as  the  most  perfect  wines  in  France, 
and  the  highest  price  is  paid  for  the  red. 

But,  as  a  general  rule,  the  wines  of 
Southern  France  do  not  hold  equal  in 
quality  to  those  of  the  Northern  Depart- 
ments, although  in  quantity  the  product  is 
nearly  double ;  and  in  a  commercial  point 
of  view,  as  an  agricultural  value  to  France, 
the  wine  crop  is  only  exceeded  by  the 
wheat. 

The  best  of  the  Champagne  wine  is  said 
to  be  made  from  a  small  green  or  whitish - 
yellow  grape,  although  in  that  department 
both  white  and  red  grapes  are  cultivated, 
and  white  and  red  wines  made  of  the  most 
excellent  quality. 

In  Burgundy,  the  true  Burgundy  grape 
of  our  graperies  is  that  which  produces  the 
best  wine  in  that  Province.  The  berries 
kre  roundish,  oval,  average  size,  and  deep 
black ;  juice,  rich  and  sweet.  The  Black 
Frontignan  is  also  much  used  in  the  South 
of  France,  and  used  in  producing  the  Mus- 
cadine wine.  Berries  medium,  round,  and 
black. 

The  Royal  Muscadine,  or  White  Chasse- 
las,  is  considered  the  second  best  white 
grape  of  France,  and  goes  by  a  hundred 
names.  The  bunches  are  large  and  shoul- 
dered, berries   largo,  of  a   greenish-white, 


turning  to  amber  color  in  the  sun ;  flesh 
rich  and  delicious. 

The  Virdelho,  or  Madeira  wine  grape  is 
also  cultivated  in  France,  the  bunches  and 
berries  of  which  are  small,  rich  and  excel- 
lent, semi-transparent  ;  color,  yellowish 
green. 

The  White  Muscat  and  the  White  Fron- 
tignan are  also  cultivated  in  the  South  of 
France  extensively ;  so  are  the  Red  or 
Grizzly,  Frontignan,  and  Red  Chasselas ; 
but  the  White  Shiraz,  of  Persian  nativity, 
is  the  grape  from  which  the  celebrated 
white  Hermitage  wine  is  made,  and  is  said 
to  be  the  finest  white  grape  in  France,  su- 
perior to  the  Royal  Muscadine  ;  whilst  the 
red  Shiraz  is  the  grape  from  which  the  red 
Hermitage  is  produced,  ranking  side  by 
side  with  the  white.  These  are  said  to  be 
small  grapes,  almost  without  seeds,  and 
very  delicate. 

So  much  for  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
wine  and  the  grapes  of  La  Belle  France. 

HOME  CUTTINGS. 

A  happy  New  Year  to  you  all,  editors, 
contributors,  and  readers,  and  if  in  the 
past  one  single  day  has  been  spent  in  vain, 
let  us  in  the  present  improve  our  industry, 
so  that  we  will  not  only  secure  properly 
each  fleeting  moment,  but  redeem  that 
which  has  been  lost. 

The  stormy  wind  of  January  is  howling 
around  me  as  I  am  now  writing ;  the  vine- 
yard looks  bare  and  cold,  the  earth  is  cov- 
ered with  the  frost  of  winter,  and  all  is 
desolate  and  lone ;  but  a  few  months,  and 
Spring,  with  her  mantle  of  green,  will  be 
clothing  the  orchard  and  the  vineyard  ;  the 
young  buds  will  become  alive  again,  and 
break  forth  into  joy  and  rejoicing  at  the 
voice  of  Spring;  and  the  air  will  become 
fragrant  with  the  perfume  of  the  vine-blos- 
som, a  welcome  harbinger  of  a  glorious 
vintage. 

So  may  it  be ;  but  for  these  two  years 
past,  my  vineyard  has  produced  nothing 
but  blossoms.  True,  the  fruit  has  always 
set  well ;  but  the  mildew  and  rot  came  and 


148 


The  Horticulturist. 


destroyed  the  prospect,  leaving  nothing  but 
the  brown  leaf  and  the  unripened  wood. 

"Well,  be  it  so.  I  have  again  laid  my  choice 
vines  down,  and  trimmed  all  of  my  more 
hardy.  I  have  prepared  for  a  year  of  hope 
and  promise,  and  shall  not  despair,  even 
although  there  should  be  no  herd  in  the 
stall,  and  the  vine  should  not  yield  its 
fruit. 

My  vineyard  (Catawba)  is  about  fifteen 
years  old,  and  is  planted  on  a  gently-sloping 
hill,  inclining  to  the  east  and  south.  My 
other  grape  vines  range  from  one  to  six 


years  old ;  and  I  have  a  few  of  almost  every 
variety  of  acknowledged  merit.  I  have  two 
seedlings — one  blueish-black.and  the  other 
white — of  promising  appearance  ;  both  stood 
last  year's  rot  and  mildew  unharmed,  but 
were  protected  by  a  brick  wall.  I  have  left 
tliem,  out  uncovered  this  winter,  in  order  to 
test  their  durability ;  and  if  they  are  hardy 
as  they  are  good,  I  know  that  I  have  a 
white  grape  superior  to  Dr.  Grant's  Anna, 
and  a  black,  in  bunch  and  berry,  superior 
to  the  Concord. 


NOTES  ON  THE  MARCH  NUMBER. 


Discourse  of  "Wintkr. — A  readable 
article,  pleasant,  but  as  I  deal  mostly  in  the 
plain  practical  adaptation  of  methods  relat- 
ing to  subjects  in  moral  life,  and  not  much 
in  sentiment,  I  must  pass  without  further 
remark  to  the 

Design  for  a  Country  House. — Every 
thing  that  can  help  to  elevate  and  improve 
a  taste  for  rural  architeture,  and  the  pleas- 
ing embellishment  of  the  house  buildings^ 
has  my  most  hearty  assent. 

The  design  here  given  has  much  in  its 
favor — but  the  author  must  permit  me  to 
question  the  adoption  of  such  style  for  a 
level  lot  of  C5  by  200  feet  on  a  village  street. 
To  me  there  is  much  in  association,  and  al- 
though it  is  said  "  contrast  makes  harmony," 
I  cannot  harmonise  pointed  gables,  etc., 
with  flat  and  tame  surroundings  of  scenery. 
In  selecting  the  architectural  features  of 
a  building,  I  think,  the  country  surround- 
ings should  be  carefully  studied,  and  the 
architecture,  as  well  as  the  grouping  and 
style  of  trees  to  form  its  border  and  back 
ground  sought  for,  and  made  to  assimilate 
with  the  natural  face  of  the  immediate 
surrounding  country. 

I  have  never  yet  felt  that  a  style  of 
architecture,  etc.,  suited  to  the  bold,  rocky, 
romantic  character  of  the  Hudson  River 
Highlands,  was  equally  adapted  to  a  plain, 
level,  sandy  country. 


With  the  interior  arrangement  of  this 
plan  I  shall  not  quarrel,  as  it  is  well  known 
hardly  any  two  families  have  the  same 
wants  or  actual  uses  of  rooms.  I  will  only 
say,  that  in  designing  some  hundreds  or 
more  of  houses,  I  have  found  nearly  all  to 
want  a  bed-room  on  the  first  or  main  floor, 
and  that  in  small  houses,  in  order  to  effect 
it,  some  one  other  room  had  to  do  double 
duty. 

Peach  Trees  in  Pots. — Apropos  to  the 
season — for  unless  we  have  peaches  grow  in 
pots,  under  glass,  I  fear  me,  we  shall  have 
none  this  year.  As  our  country  increases 
in  wealth,  more  and  more  attention  will 
naturally  be  given  to  the  luxurious ;  and 
what  among  all  the  luxuries  surpasses  that 
of  having  the  rich  fruits  of  the  earth  in  a  ripe 
and  perfect  condition  always  at  command  ? 

The  writer  of  this  article  has  so  plainly 
given  the  course  to  be  pursued,  that  it  would 
seem  any  one  of  ordinary  sense  could  take 
it  up  with  success.  Orchard  houses  and 
winter  garden  conservatories — not  green- 
houses,— I  hope  to  see  increase  rapidly; 
because  our  country  has  wealth  to  support 
them,  and  because  a  daily  association  with 
plant  and  fruit  tree,  summer  and  winter,  re- 
fines and  improves  the  mind. 

The  Currant  Worm. — A  good  descrip- 
tion— but  will  not  syringing  the  plants 
destroy  the  worm  ?    It  is  so  said.     I  have 


Should  Plants  he  ^'Crocked. 


149 


never  had  any  trouble  with  the  worm,  al- 
though I  have  over  a  thousand  bearing 
currant  bushes. 

Antirrhinum,  Silver  Belt,  New  Seedling 
Carnations,  New  Pear — Mary,  and  the 
Reading  Pear. — Here  we  have  a  list  of 
native  Americans  of  no  mean  pretensions, 
and  deserving  the  attention  of  every  ama- 
teur flower  or  fruit  grower. 

Plan  for  Imphovement  of  Grounds. — 
In  the  main  features  the  designer  has  been 
very  successful,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  the 
place  as  he  left  it,  would  hardly  be  recog- 
nized by  one  who  knew  it  ere  he  put  "  his 
cannie  hand"  upon  it.  It  is  so  much  easier 
to  criticise  than  to  create,  that  I  must  beg 
pardon  when  taking  the  liberty  of  saying 
that  the  group  made  to  screen  the  stable 
yard  from  view  on  the  appoach,  does  not 
appear  as  effectual.  I  should  have  made 
but  one  entrance  to  the  approach  from  the 
stable,  and  thrown  in  my  trees,  etc.,  so  that 
no  direct  view  could  be  had  of  the  stable 
from  that  road. 

Diagonal  Training  in  Vineyard  Cul- 
ture  We  are  fast  growing  to  be  a  grape 

growing  country,  and  at  this  time,  when 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  vines  are  being 
planted,  it  is  doubted  by  many,  whether  any 
present  work  or  general  writing  on  grape 
training,  etc.,  is  '■'■jitst  the  thing.''''  The 
diagonal  training  is  an  old  practice,  and 
in  the  renewal  course  of  many  of  our  West- 
ern vineyards  is  often  adopted.  Mr.  Balch 
may,  however,  give  us  something  new,  and 
we  therefore  wait,  ere  further  remark. 


What  we  now  want  is  a  small,  practical 
work,  taking  each  distinct  variety  of 
grape,  designating  the  soil  best  suited  to 
it,  and  giving  modes  and  their  results  of 
training  and  pruning — for  while  one  prac- 
tice and  soil  may  suit  Delaware,  it  is  well 
known  the  same  practice  and  soil  does  not 
equally  well  with  Isabella,  etc.  He  who 
prepares  such  a  hand-book  as,  to  me  appears, 
now  wanted  by  the  people,  has  no  light 
task  to  perform  ;  for  he  must  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  all  varieties  of  hardy  grapes, 
and  have  been  with  them  in  varied  soils,  and 
observed  many  modes  of  pruning. 

Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. — I 
have  nothing  to  add,  only  that  I  read  these 
descriptions  with  pleasure  and  instruction. 

Greely  Prizes. — A  difficult  task  had 
that  committee,  and  as  they  are  all  hon- 
orable men,  and  good  judges  of  fruits,  it  is 
hoped  they  are  satisfied  with  their  own 
work.  Of  one  thing  they  may  rest  assured 
the  fruits  recommended  are  reliable,  and 
cannot  fail  to  please  the  growers  over  a 
large  portion  of  our  country ;  but  there  are 
persons  who  may  be  permitted  to  doubt  the 
infallibility  of  any  list  of  fruits  to  plant  in 
all  the  varied  localities  and  soils  of  our 
States.  I  am  one  of  those  persons,  and 
while  I  concede  favor  to  any  man  who  shall 
aid  public  good,  I  must  think  corrected 
list  of  fruits,  made  by  old  practical  fruit 
growers,  in  various  section  of  the  country, 
are  more  to  be  valued  by  the  tree  planter 
of  those  sections,  than  any  previium  award 
like  the  Greely  one. 

Reuben. 


I -."«-©-•+- 


SHOULD  PLANTS  BE  "CROCKED. 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 


I  SEE  I  am  taken  to  task  for  my  opinion 
on  this  matter  by  my  friend,  Mr.  Cowan. 
I  am  glad  that  he  questions  the  propriety 
of  my  practice,  as  it  gives  me  an  opportu- 
nity to  state  another  reason  or  two  against 
what  I  believe  to  be  a  useless  and  absurd 


waste  of  labor,  in  using  the  so-called 
'"'  drainage  "  in  pots,  even  in  growing  Mr. 
Cowan's  Azaleas,  Camellias,  Heaths,  Aca- 
sias,  or  Terrestrial  Orchids.  I  have  grown 
all  of  these  (with  the  exception  of  the  or- 
chids) icithout    "  drainage,"  and  have  had 


150 


Tlie   Horticulturist. 


them  in  as  fine  condition  [as  ever  I  bad 
roses  or  soft-wooded  plants  by  the  same 
method ;  and  how  I  grow  these,  many  of 
the  readers  of  the  Horticulturist  can 
decide. 

I  am  astonished  that  Mr.  Cowan  should 
cite  terrestrial  orchids  as  plants  that  could 
not  be  grown  without  the  inevitable  pot- 
shred.  He  surely  remembers  that,  in  his 
botanizing  daj^s,  Orchis  Maculata,  Listera, 
Liparis,  &c.,  &c.,  grew  in  marshes  in  the 
British  Isles ;  and  if  he  ever  indulged  in 
the  science  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
found  Platanthera,  Calopogon,  Arethusa, 
and  many  other  terrestrial  orchids  only  in 
the  sioamps.  Then,  in  the  name  of  common 
sense,  why  does  he  think  it  indispensible  to 
grow  his  Bletias,  Calanthes,  Cyprepediums, 
&c.,  without  "drainage?"  for  it  requires 
but  little  botanical  analogy  to  know  that 
they,  too,  have  their  habitat  in  the  swamps 
of  the  tropics.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever 
that  Mr.  C.  grows  all  these  varieties  finely, 
as  he  does  everything  else  that  comes  under 
his  hands  ;  but  he  must  look  to  some  other 
and  better  reason  for  his  success  than  the 
few  pieces  of  broken  pots  or  charcoal  that 
he  has  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  pots. 

I  once  knew  an  old  gardener  that,  when 
he  put  in  his  cuttings  of  carnations  or  pinks, 
always  put  in  a  single  grain  of  oats  with 
each.  The  oats  grew,  and  so  usually  did 
his  cuttings ;  and  great  credit  was  given  to 
the  oats  for  their  agency  in  producing  the 
desired  result.  This  practice  is  not  quite 
so  common  as  that  of  "  pot-draining,"  but 
I  do  not  believe  it  to  be  one  whit  more 
useless  or  absurd. 

The  great  misapprehension  is,  I  think,  in 
ivTiere  the  soil  is  drained  from.  Mr.  C.  does 
not  mean  to  say,  surely,  that  all  the  super- 
fluous moisture  is  carried  off"  from  the  hot- 
torn  of  the  pot.  He  can  satisfy  himself 
about  this  with  a  simple  experiment.  Let 
him  take  a  plant,  say  in  an  8-inch  pot,  that 
is  in  a  condition  requiring  water ;  let  him 
pour  in,  say  a  pint,  or  as  much  as  it  will 
take  ;  let  him  observe  ^h&t proportion  of  the 
water  is  absorbed  by  the  soil,  and  what 


proportion  has  drained  through  the  bottom. 
I  think  he  will  find  that  but  a  very  small 
portion,  if  any,  will  pass  through  the  drain 
hole.  Now,  I  contend — and  this  is  the  gist 
of  the  whole  argument — the  drainage  of  the 
soil  is  through  the  porous  sides  of  the  jM,  and 
not  through  the  bottom,  as  that  portion  is 
usually  excluded  from  the  air,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  resting  on  its  bed  of  sand  or 
ashes,  or  on  the  board  of  the  bench.  Did 
we  grow  our  plants  in  glass  or  glazed  pots, 
then  drainage  might  assist,  as  the  water 
would  have  only  one  point  of  escape  ;  but 
we  don't  do  this,  and  our  porous  earthen 
pots  give  many  hundreds  of  drain  holes  in 
each. 

Mr.  Cowan  anticipates  for  me  a  "  whip- 
ping," for  my  radical  views  in  matters  hor- 
ticultural, from  the  English  journals.  I 
truly  believe  that  my  veneration  for  the 
opinion  or  the  practice  of  our  English  cou- 
sins is  not  so  great  as  that  of  Mr.  C;  for  I 
believe  that,  in  many  practical  working 
operations,  they  are  far  behind  us,  particu- 
larly in  commercial  gardening.  Have  we 
any  nurseries,  not  only  in  England,  but  in 
Europe,  worked  as  cheaply,  profitably,  and 
well  as  those  of  Rochester  ?  Or  any  grape- 
ries that  ever  excelled  (on  such  a  large 
scale)  those  under  the  supervision  of  Mr. 
Ellis,  of  Hart's  Corners  ?  I  think  not ;  and 
3'et,  in  the  practice  of  both,  you  will  find 
far  more  radical  changes  than  that  which  T 
advocate  in  the  culture  of  plants  in  pots. 

Even  the  famed  market  gardeners  of  Lon- 
don might  take  a  few  profitable  lessons  from 
those  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  York. — 
For  example,  all  their  gardens  are  worked 
by  the  spade,  a  plough  and  harrow  would 
be  like  sacrilege  in  a  London  market  garden 
— I  have  no  doubt  Mr.  Cowan  would  view 
it  as  such  in  his — yet  I  have  worked  nearly 
thirty  acres  in  market  gardens  for  upwards 
of  eighteen  years,  and  have  long  ago  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  plough  and  har- 
row are  far  better  pulverizers  of  the  soil 
than  the  spade  ;  and  if  Mr.  C.  has  any 
doubts  on  this  subject,  I  extend  him  an  in- 
vitation— not  to  see  orchids,  for  I  have  none 


Notes  on  Grape  Culture. 


151 


of  these — but  to  compare  our  vegetable 
crops  with  those  in  his  gardens  at  ]\Iatte- 
awan,  which  I  have  no  doubt  ar.e  religiously- 
worked  with  the  spade. 

It  is  wonderful  with  what  tenacity  the 
human  mind  adheres  to  custom,  no  matter 
how  obvious  its  absurditj^  is  shown  to  be. 

Chambers  tells  us  that  in  the  year  1720, 
in  an  isolated  community  in  the  south  of 
Ireland,  the  only  known  manner  of  attach- 


ing horses  to  the  plough  was  by  the  tail ; 
and  that,  when  this  barbarous  practice  was 
stopped  by  legislative  enactment,  a  serious 
riot  ensued. 

I  think  it  very  likely  that  if  Mr.  Cowan 
had  been  an  Irishman,  and  lived  in  1720, 
he  would  have  fought  desperately  for  his 
"  rights  "  in  doing  what  he  pleased  with  his 
"  oun  baste." 

South  Bergen^  N.  J. 


NOTES  ON  GRAPE  CULTURE. 

BY    H.    L.    YOUNG. 


Having  taken  considerable  interest  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  and  having  ior 
a  few  years  past  occupied  myself  in  the 
care  of  a  small  vineyard,  I  send  you  some 
observations  on  grape-culture  as  I  have 
found  it  in  my  experience. 

The  vines  are  mostly  Concords,  planted 
upon  the  southerly  slope  of  a  low  hill,  and 
looking  a  little  to  the  southeast.  I  have 
in  addition  a  few  vines  of  each  of  the  newer 
kinds  that  are  competitors  for  public  favor. 
My  soil  is  a  clayey  loam,  underlaid  by 
rock ;  in  making  the  borders  for  the  vines 
I  was  obliged  in  several  places  to  excavate 
this  slaty  rock  in  order  to  obtain  a  suffi- 
cient depth  for  the  plants.  Towards  the 
foot  of  the  hill  I  have  some  Concords  in  a 
soil  both  deep  and  rich,  and  inclining  to 
moisture.  I  ha^e  found  that  vines  on  a 
dry  sub-soil,  though  it  may  be  shallow,  do 
far  better  than  those  which  enjoy  a  rich 
soil,  but  moist.  I  would  not  ordinarily^  at- 
tempt to  raise  the  later  grapes,  such  as  the 
Concord,  Isabella,  and  Catawba,  unless  en- 
tire exemption  from  moisture  could  be  se- 
cured. My  crop  last  year  was  a  good 
one — I  may  say  very  good,  considering  the 
tendency  to  mildew,  which  so  generally 
prevailed  along  the  line  of  the  Hudson, 
from  Poughkeepsie  and  vicinity  south  to 
New  York,  and  through  portions  of  New 
Jersey.  I  did  not  suffer  at  all  on  my 
grounds  from  the  mildew  of  the  leaf,  and 


but  little  from  the  mildew  of  the  berry. 
^ly  Catawbas,  however,  were  much  affect- 
ed by  the  rot ;  those  in  the  garden,  on  vines 
growing  in  a  soil  enriched  by  a  deep  and 
thorough  culture,  were  totall}'  ruined. 
Two  or  three  vines  on  the  stony  hillside 
produced  as  sweet  and  as  beautiful  speci- 
mens of  this  grape  as  I  think  the  West 
could  furnish.  Could  such  a  product  be  re- 
lied upon  every  year,  with  any  degree  of 
certainty,  I  doubt  if  any  new  sort  could 
supplant  the  Catawba  as  a  late  grape. 
During  previous  j^ears  I  have  had  the  rot 
to  a  small  extent  on  the  vines  last  men- 
tioned— that  is,  on  the  hill — but  never  to 
the  extent  that  it  has  appeared  on  those 
spoken  of  a-*  in  the  garden.  I  should  here 
mention  a  Catawba  vine  which  I  have  run- 
ning high  up  into  two  cherry  trees,  whicli, 
although  growing  in  a  very  rich  and  moist 
soil,  nevertheless  perfects  its  fruit  almost 
every  year.  It  is  true  the  bunches  are 
small,  and  the  berries  are  not  very  thick  on 
the  bunch,  nor  are  the}'  of  very  large  size, 
but  still  the  grapes  are,  on  the  whole,  quite 
fair.  For  several  seasons  I  had  attempted 
to  confine  this  vine  to  a  trellis,  but  finalh- 
its  vigorous  growth  carried  it  to  the  neigh- 
boring trees,  and  I  let  it  go.  "While  it  was 
confined  to  the  trellis  I  never  obtained  z.\\j 
ripe  grapes  ;  the  n^t  always  destroyed  the 
fruit  before  maturity.  Since  reaching  the 
trees  it  has  produced  good  fruit  quite  regu- 


152 


The  Horticulturist. 


larly.  I  attribute  the  cliange  to  the 
greater  degree  of  light  and  air  obtained 
among  the  branches  of  the  tree,  and  it  may 
be  owing  also  to  the  greater  height  of  the 
fruit  above  the  damp  air  which  rests  at 
times  for  a  few  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  increasing  in  density  as  it  approaches 
the  ground.  I  intend  to  try  still  further 
this  experiment  of  planting  the  Catawba  by 
trees,  and  with  this  view  I  have  just  trans- 
planted two  vines  from  the  garden  into  a 
dry,  rich  soil  by  the  side  of  trees.  This 
transplanting  I  have  accomplished  by  means 
of  a  frozen  ball  of  earth  attached  to  the 
roots,  just  as  we  now  comm(mly  transplant 
trees  in  winter.  In  this  way  a  vigorous 
vine  is  obtained  and  made  to  grow  where  a 
young  and  feeble  vine  might  not  readily 
succeed — that  is,  under  or  very  near  the 
shade  of  a  tree.  I  transplanted  in  this 
manner,  three  or  four  winters  ago,  two 
Concord  vines,  and  upon  these  I  have  raised 
since  some  of  my  best  fruit.  This  is  an  ex- 
cellent way  of  transplanting  layers.  I 
would  not  advise  planting  by  a  tree  any 
variety  of  grape  subject  to  depredation  by 
birds.  I  had  a  Northern  Muscadine  vine 
trained  on  a  plum  tree ;  depending  from 
the  tree  on  every  side,  and  thick  with  red- 
dening clusters,  it  was  a  beautiful  sight 
but  as  the  grapes  ripened,  the  birds  w^ere 
attracted  to  them,  and  no  amount  of 
attention  was  sufficient  to  prevent  the 
almost  entire  loss  of  the  crop;  hardly  a 
perfect  bunch  was  left :  but  more  of  the 
birds  hereafter. 

I  used  last  season  on  some  of  my  vines 
the  bellows  for  throwing  sulphur,  recom- 
mended in  the  March  number  of  the 
Horticulturist,  18G5,  by  Ilorticola.  I 
prefaced  the  use  of  the  sulphur,  with 
the  wash  composed  of  a  solution  of  salt, 
saltpetre,  etc.,  according  to  the  direc- 
tions. The  vines  were  dusted  with  the 
sulphur  four  times,  beginning  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  leaves,  and  ceasing  at  the 
time  the  berries  began  to  color.  I  had  no 
mildew  of  the  leaf  on  any  of  uiy  vines. 
There  was  a  trellis  of  Isabellas,  which  re- 


ceived one  coating  of  sulphur  late  in  the 
season,  and  many  Concords  which  were  not 
dusted  at  all ;  the  leaves  on  these  also  re- 
mained perfect,  as  well  as  the  leaves  on  the 
vines  thoroughly  treated.  My  Delaware 
vines  retained  their  foliage  until  the  last, 
and  the  fruit  matured  ;  the  crop  however 
was  not  abundant,  and  the  vines  themselves 
not  very  vigorous. 

Some  cultivators  in  my  vicinity  lost  the 
leaves  of  their  Delawares  from  mildew  very 
early,  and  of  the  masses  of  handsome  fruit 
which  hung  on  their  vines,  only  a  portion 
colored  well ;  the  remainder  refused  to  color 
or  to  become  sweet. 

Whether  it  was  the  paucity  of  fruit,  or  the 
use  of  the  sulphur,  or  a  fortunate  location 
of  my  vines  that  caused  them  to  retain  their 
foliage  I  cannot  say.  I  am  inclined  to  give 
credit  to  the  sulphur,  and  shall  continue  its 
use  next  season. 

In  the  article  in  the  IIorticultutrist, 
already  referred  to,  it  is  stated  that  a  lady 
had  saved  her  gooseberries  from  mildew  by 
the  use  of  the  bellows.  I  tried  the  experi- 
ment on  my  gooseberries  soon  after  they  had 
formed  on  the  trees ;  the  result  was  not  very 
satisfactory  ;  most  of  the  berries  and  many 
of  the  younger  leaves  it  is  true  were  saved 
from  mildew,  but  only  by  being  killed  before 
the  blight  had  a  chance  to  show  itself;  the 
sulphur  had  proved  too  strong  for  them ;  the 
very  few  gooseberries  that  survived  the 
treatment  ripened  free  from  disease.  I  had 
almost  forgotten  to  say  that  the  sulphur  rf/tZ 
prevent  the  ravages  of  the  thrips  ;  of  this  I 
am  confident;  it  was  only  at  the  close  of  the 
season,  when  sulphur  had  been  discontinued, 
that  these  insects  began  to  show  themselves. 

About  the  7th  of  July,  I  found  on  several, 
of  my  Concord  vines  a  number  of  bunches  of 
young  grapes,  covered  alike  on  stem  and 
berr}^,  with  a  greenish-white  mildew;  the 
leaves  of  the  vine  were  as  fair  as  usual.  Up 
to  this  time  these  vines  had  not  received 
any  sulphur.  I  commenced  the  dusting  at 
once,  rendering  those  branches  and  the  ad- 
jacent leaves  yellow  with  the  sulphurous 


Notes  on  Grape  Culture. 


153 


deposit.  I  repeated  this  twice  after\yard3  ; 
the  mildew  did  not  extend  beyond  where  I 
first  saw  it,  but  the  bunches  aflFected  were 
not  cured  ;  they  colored  and  ripened  after  a 
fashion,  but  on  the  slightest  movement  of 
the  vine  the  berries  would  drop  from  the 
stem  in  numbers,  and  the  ground  would  be 
covered  with  them.  On  one  luxuriant  vine 
the  south  half  was  badly  mildewed,  while 
the  north  half,  trained  along  the  same  trel- 
lis, and  growing  under  precisely  the  same 
circumstances,  produced  fine,  healthy  fruit. 
As  these  mildewed  branches  showed  them- 
selves where  the  vines  were  thickly  planted, 
and  the  leaves  formed  a  somewhat  dense 
covering,  and  as  they  were  withal  within 
two  or  three  feet  of  the  ground,  I  concluded 
that  a  want  of  proper  ventilation  and  ob- 
struction of  the  sunlight  might  have  induced 
the  disease.  I  have  no  doubt  but  these 
circumstances  do  serve  to  favor  its  propa- 
gation, if  they  do  not  originate  it.  On  the 
22d  of  Jul}^,  I  found  this  same  mildew  of 
the  berry  prevailing  in  a  large  vineyard  of 
Concords,  where  the  disease  could  not  be 
traced  to  any  of  the  causes  above  described. 
These  vines  were  on  the  grounds  of  Messrs. 
H.  &  J.  Carpenter,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  me.  They  were  situated  on  a  gravelly 
knoll,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  field,  away 
from  any  trees,  and  were  trained  on  poles, 
with  ample  room  for  light  and  air,  yet  under 
thetie  circumstances,  a  crop  of  perhaps  a 
thou.->and  pounds  or  more,  was  ruined  by  mil- 
dew. I  saw  the  vineyard  again  in  the  fall, 
the  ground  under  the  vines  was  strewed  with 
the  falling  grapes,  which,  although  diseased, 
had  up  to  this  late  period  remained  upon 
the  vines  and  had  colored,  but  now  dropping 
from  the  stem  were  without  flavor  and 
worthless.  For  several  previous  years  these 
vines  had  been  free  from  every  disease,  and 
had  borne  splendid  crops  of  grapes.  No 
manure  of  a  stimulating  character  had  been 
used.  Since  setting  out  the  plants,  bone 
dust  has  been  the  only  manure  applied,  and 
that  not  abundantly.  How  could  this  dis- 
ease have  appeared  under  such  conditions  if 
not  through  some  atmospheric  influence,  yet 
eluding  the  search  of  our  cultivators'? 


On  the  appearance  of  this  mildew  the 
Messrs.  C.  had  a|)plied  a  solution,  or  rather 
a  mixture  of  sulphur  and  lime  in  water,  but 
apparently  with  little  or  no  effect  in  re- 
moving the  disease.  The  foliage  of  these 
vines  did  not  have  a  healthy  look ;  the  want 
of  a  bright  green  color  to  the  leaves  was 
visible  at  some  distance,  yet  they  were  not 
so  affected  as  to  drop  off. 

Although  mildew  did  not  effect  my  ber- 
ries materially,  my  crop  of  Concords  was 
diminished  somewhat  from  several  other 
causes.  There  was  a  species  of  rot  prevalent 
to  a  small  extent,  and  distinguished  by  a 
yellowish  rusty  spot  on  the  berrj^,  as  though 
it  had  been  scalded  by  the  sun,  though  I 
do  not  think  it  was  tlms  caused.  Another 
kind  of  rot  prevailed,  which  caused  a  prema- 
ture coloring  of  the  berry;  in  this  case  the 
berry  hardened^  instead  of  becoming  softer, 
and  at  the  time  of  ripening  was  red  in  color 
and  had  to  be  cut  out  of  the  bunch  when 
picked  for  market.  This  rot,  if  it  may  be 
so  called,  showed  itself  in  spoiling  single 
berries  on  the  bunch  ;  sometimes  one  or  two 
on  a  bunch,  at  other  times  many  more. 
Large  bunches  of  grapes  were  thus  reduced 
by  the  necessary  thinning  out  to  very  small 
specimens.  I  think  this  difficulty  occurs 
during  the  same  kind  of  weather  that  seems 
often  to  generate  the  rot  on  the  Catawba. 
I  mean  the  hot,  close  weather,  which  with 
alternate  sun  and  shower  brings  out  rust 
upon  wheat. 

My  crop  of  Concords  was  also  shortened  by 
the  splitting  of  the  thin  skin  that  envelopes 
this  grape;  this  happens  often  just  at  the 
point  of  connection  with  the  stem,  and  is  not 
perceived  until  the  berry  is  found  to  lose  its 
fullness,  and  to  dry  up.  In  picking  for 
market,  many  berries  thus  split  have  to  be 
removed. 

The  birds  also  inflicted  much  damage, 
perhaps  as  much  as  was  caused  by  any  two 
of  the  agencies  I  have  just  mentioned.  I 
suppose  I  am  more  of  a  sufierer  in  this  way 
than  many  others,  because  my  grounds  are 
thickly  planted  with  trees,  and  these  in 
groves,  and  adjacent  to  the  vine3'ard.  The 
determination  of  the  birds  to  regale  them- 


154 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


selves  on  my  choicest  Delawares,  Dianas, 
Concords  was  most  persistent.  In  my  first 
experience  in  this  line,  I  merely  frightened 
the  birds  away  from  the  vines,  but  this  was 
a  lenity  for  which  I  dearly  paid.  I  constantly 
found  my  choicest  bunches  of  grapes  one 
after  another  turned  into  unsightly  masses 
of  decaying  fruit,  and  the  crop  daily  dimin- 
ishing from  the  attack  of  these  intruders. 

I  was  unable  to  save  any  superior  bunches 
for  exhibition,  until  I  finally  covered  a  few 
with  bags  made  of  coarse  millinet,  and  this 
protected  them.  After  several  seasons  of 
trial  I  have  at  last  resorted  to  the  gun  as  the 
best  mode  of  defence.  I  do  not  mean  merely 
the  exhibition  of  this  instrument  as  a  terror 
to  evil  doers,  but  something  more :  I  mean 
its  use  for  the  actual  destruction  of  all 
depredators.  I  know  some  will  deem  the 
treatment  harsh  and  cruel.  If  so,  then  we 
must  give  up  the  cultivation  of  the  earlier 
and  sweeter  grapes,  or  else  discover  some 
other  means  for  the  constant  and  effectual 
expulsion  of  the  depredating  birds.  Two 
gentlemen  of  my  acquaintance  set  up  scare- 
crows among  their  vines ;  these  were  found 
serviceable,  at  least  for  a  time,  but  they  are 
not  practicable  on  a  large  scale,  as  they 
would  have  to  be  distributed  at  frequent 
intervals  along  the  trellises. 

As  for  driving  away  the  birds  by  the  throw- 
ing of  stones  at  them,  it  is  useless  to  attempt 
it ;  made  to  fly  from  one  corner  of  the  vine- 
yard, they  will  alight  in  another ;  then,  if 
pursued,  they  will  most  likely  take  refuge 
in  the  place  whence  they  were  at  first 
expelled,  and  so  back  and  forth,  until  the 
discomfited  pursuer  is  breathless  and  dis- 
heartened, or  if  the  birds  fly  from  the  vines 
into  neighboring  trees,  the  wily  thieves  will 
wait  there,  until  the  back  of  the  vineyardist 
is  turned,  and  then  swoop  down  again  to 
renew  the  feast  with  an  appetite  only 
sharpened  by  the  temporary  interruption. 
If  you  wish  to  save  your  choice  and  early 
grapes  for  your  own  eating,  rather  than 
furnish  delicate  food  for  the  fowls  of  the  air, 
early  in  the  morning  light  seize  your  gun, 
rush  out,  and  lay  low  the  very  first  bird 


found  perching  on  your  treliises,  or  covertly 
flitting  from  row  to  row  under  the  vine 
leaves.  But,  hold,  I  should  not  say  every 
bird ;  I  do  not  think  I  ever  saw  the  wren, 
or  the  blue  bird,  or  chipping  bird,  or  the 
yellow  bird  guilty  of  this  wasteful  foraging ; 
but  if  you  see  under  these  circumstances  a 
cat  bird,  a  robin,  or  an  oriole,  forget  for  a 
moment  their  sweet  songs  of  a  spring  morn- 
ing, and  shoot ;  it  is  hard,  I  acknowledge? 
but  to  lose  all  your  grapes  right  before  your 
eyes   is  still  harder. 

In  addition  to  the  kinds  of  grapes  already 
named,  suffering  from  the  rapacity  of  the 
birds,  add  the  Hartford  Prolific,  and  I  may 
perhaps  say.  all  of  the  very  early  grapes. 
The  Isabellas  are  rarely  touched,  except  by 
an  occasional  flock  of  robins  ;  the  Catawbas 
never.  A  gentleman  living  within  the 
limits  ofthis  city,  where  we  do  not  ordinarily 
look  for  many  birds,  told  me,  last  summer, 
that  he  should  give  up  the  cultivation  of  the 
Elsingburgh,  among  the  many  varieties  that 
he  raised,  solely  on  account  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  obtaining  any  fruit  of  this  sort ; 
the  birds  devoured  or  destroyed  the  whole 
of  it.  Others  in  this  vicinity  picked  their 
grapes  before  they  had  fairly  matured,  in 
order  to  save  them  from  total  destruction 
by  the  marauders. 

Some  cultivators  complain  of  the  bees 
and  the  wasps  injuring  their  crops;  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  from  my  observation, 
that  as  long  as  the  grape  berry  is  sound,  it 
is  impermeable  to  the  attacks  of  these 
insects;  but  as  soon  as  a  Delaware  or  a 
Concord  splits,  as  they  both  will  at  times, 
or  as  soon  as  they  are  punctured  by  the  bills 
of  birds,  the  juice  exudes,  and  then  the 
wasps  and  bees,  with  the  flies,  all  congregate 
to  feast  on  the  unimprisoned  sweets.  I 
could  always  tell  on  my  vines  where  the 
birds  had  been  at  work,  by  the  activity 
of  these  insects  in  th^  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. I  am  aware  that  wasps  destroy 
blackberries,  and  injure  pears  and  peaches, 
but  in  these  fruits,  there  is  always  a  soft 
place  frequently  of  initial  decay,  which  gives 
opportunity  for   the  first  perforation,  and 


Editor's  Table. 


155 


the  work  is  continued  by  undermining  the 
skin  and  consuming  the  tender  flesh  beneath. 
The  enveloping  skin  of  the  grape  is  equally 
hard  and  tough  at  all  points.  I  speak 
of  our  out  door  grapes  ;  those  grown  under 
glass,  with  a  tender  skin,  may  possibly 
rbe  liable  to  injury  from  wasps. 

These  insects,  then,  do  not  originate  injury 
but  only  continue  it ;  coming  to  feed  where 
some  operation  of  nature,  or  the  art  of 
a  bird,  has  already  opened  for  them  in  a 
fountain  of  sweet  juice,  a  most  inviting 
entertainment. 

My  rambling  notes  are  perhaps  already 
extended,  but  as  a  part  of  my  experience  I 
would  like  to  add  the  fact,  that  out  of  twelve 
or  thirteen  or  more  varieties  of  grape  cul- 
tivated by  me,  I  find  that  Rogers  No.  15 
exceeds  them  all  in  his-h  aromatic  flavor,  so 


much  so,  that  the  finest  Concord  tasted 
after  it,  is  tame  and  vapid.  I  tried  this  ex- 
periment on  several  visitors  to  my  vineyard 
last  summer,  and  they  all  acquiesced  in  this 
opinion. 

This  grape  has  not  the  delicate  juices  of 
the  Delaware,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
a  sweet,  tender  and  meaty  pulp,  highly 
flavored,  and  at  once  reminding  the  taster 
of  the  Black  Hamburgh  grape,  from  which^ 
variety  it  is  said  to  have  been  in  part 
derived.  The  vine  itself  is  vigorous  and 
hardy,  and  has  the  merit  of  retaining  its 
foliage  in  perfection,  an  advantage  not  to  be 
despised,  where  the  Delaware  is  apt  to  cast 
its  leaves  before  maturing  its  fruit,  and  of 
which  fact  I  saw  many  instances  last  season. 

Po'keepsie,  Feb'y  1st,  1860. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


We  have  just  published,  at  this  office, 
new  and  revised  editions  of  Jacques'  popular 
manuals  of  The  Garden,  The  Farm, 
The  Barn-Yard,  and  The  House. — 
These  treat  very  thoroughly  the  subjects 
named,  have  been  carefully  prepared  and 
revised  by  a  popular  writer,  and  we  com- 
mend them  to  our  readers  as  valuable  addi- 
tions to  their  libraries.  Sent,  post  paid,  on 
receipt  of  price.  The  Garden,  Farm, 
and  Barn  Yard,  $1  each  ;  Thk  House, 
^1.50. 


Early  Disbudding  the  GRAPE.^The 
old  saying  of  "  a  stitch  in  time,"  etc.,  is 
strictly  applicable  in  training  the  grape 
vine.  As  soon  as  the  buds  have  grown  to 
four  inches,  they  should  be  carefully  looked 
over,  and  all  shoots  rubbed  oft' except  such 
as  are  wanted  to  grow  and  leave  the  vine 
in  good  shape  lor  another  year.      In  vine- 


yard culture,  the  shoots  to  be  left,  for  new 
and  fruiting  canes  the  following  year,  will 
vary  from  one  to  three,  according  to  the 
strength  and  vigor  of  the  root.  In  the 
spur  practice,  buds  for  new  canes  are  only 
to  be  left  where  an  arm  or  upright  is  need- 
ed to  fill  up,  or  some  old  one  renewed. 
The  pruning  of  the  grape  vine  is  really  sim- 
plicity itself,  notwithstanding  so  much,  pro 
and  con.,  written  upon  it.  If  care  is  given 
to  disbudding  at  the  right  time, — that  is, 
before  the  shoots  have  made  over  4  inches 
(better  even  less)  growth,  and  a  little  com- 
mon sense  as  to  how  much  nature  can  en- 
dure, and  keep  healthy,  in  the  way  of  wood 
and  fruit,  the  pruning  of  a  vine  would  re- 
quire little  use  of  anything  but  thumb  and 
finger. 


Failure  of    Cuttings  to   Grow. — We 
believe  many  grape  and  other  cuttings  fail 


156 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


to  grow  because  of  too  long  drying,  or 
being  out  of  the  ground  from  the  time  of 
cutting  from  the  vine  or  bush,  until  plant- 
ing out.  In  our  practice,  we  have  rarely 
lost  a  cutting  whenever  we  put  it  in  sand 
or  earth  immediately  after  taking  it  from 
the  parent  plant.  When  we  have  received 
cuttings  too  dry  to  please  us,  we  have  prac- 
tised laying  them  horizontally  under  ground 
about  four  inches  deep,  in  a  well-drained 
place,  and  then  frequently  saturating  the 
ground  with  water.  "We  thus  keep  them 
wet,  and  the  wood  and  buds  swell  alike 
evenly,  while  the  well-drained  or  sandy 
land   prevents  any   standing  water. 


Remember  to  pluck  off  any  fruit  that 
may  set  on  a  newly  transplanted  tree  or 
vine.  If  left  to  perfect,  it  will  be  at  the 
expense  of  healthy,  vigorous  growth  of  the 
plants,  and  corresponding  depreciation  in 
quantity  and  quality  of  fruit  the  next 
season. 


Grape-IIouses. — When  the  roots  are  en- 
tire inside,  it  is  better  to  thoroughly  satu- 
rate the  ground  once  a  week,  or  as  often 
as  necessary,  than  to  be  dribbling  on  water 
daily.  With  good  drainage,  the  former 
course  wets  and  stimulates  all  the  roots 
alike,  while  the  latter  only  gives  but  half  a 
drink  to  those  near  the  surlace.  With 
good,  vigorous,  healthy  roots,  no  failures 
need  occur  in  growing  grapes  inside. 


Dahlias  and  Double  Hollyhocks 
form  elegant  features  as  backgrounds  to  a 
flower  border,  and  masses  of  them,  at  inter- 
vals, on  the  sides  of  approach  roads,  are 
very  pleasing,  and  help  to  give  variety 
and  charm  to  the  grounds.  In  planting 
out  the  dahlias,  use  but  one  stem  at  a 
place ;  set  them  about  three  feet  apart,  and 
as  they  grow,  pinch  back,  so  as  to  make 
them  grow  more  like  bushes  than  trees. 
The  waste  water  from  the  kitchen — soap- 
suds, &c.,  is  one  of  the  best  manures  for 
the  Dahlia. 

Hollyhocks   have   come    to   be  equally 


beautiful  in  flower  as  the  Dahlia;  and,  as 
they  can  be  left  in  the  ground,  will  prob- 
ably become  more  and  more  in  vogue. 
They  should  be  transplanted  and  divided, 
about  once  in  two  years. 


Choice  of  Roses. — Although  the  Hy- 
brid Perpetual  Roses  give  blooms  more  or 
less  during  the  season,  and  are  perfectly 
hardy,  so  that  they  may  be  left  out  all 
winter,  yet  the  beauty  of  a  rose-bed — one 
where  buds  and  blossoms  may  daily  be 
gathered — will  be  found  to  consist  in  hav- 
ing a  large  proportion  of  Teas,  Bengals  and 
Bourbons.  Novelties,  i.e.,  new  varieties, 
arc  brought  out  each  season,  one  or  more 
of  which  every  amateur  is  expected  to 
buy  ;  but  of  the  old  sorts  that  have  proved 
good  with  us  we  name — Adam,  Boiigere, 
Caroline,  Sombreuil,  and  Cels,  as  of  Teas  ; 
Agrippina,  Louis  Philippe,  and  Lady  Byron, 
as  of  Bengals  ;  Bosanquet,  Ilermosa,  Sou- 
venir Malmaison,  and  Paul  Joseph,  as  of 
the  Bourbons.  There  are  many  others, 
perhaps,  equally  good,  perhaps,  better,  but 
the  above  small  list  embraces  those  that 
have  always  given  us  pleasure,  as  good 
growers  and  free  bloomers. 

Flowering  Shrubs,  such  as  Weigela,  and 
others  that  flower  on  the  preceding  year's 
growth,  should  be  trimmed  back  imme- 
diately after  they  have  done  flowering  in 
June.  By  so  doing,  the  plants  can  be  kept 
in  just  such  shape  as  may  be  desired  by  the 
operator. 


Roses,  as  soon  as  the  flowers  have  open- 
ed and  bloomed  one  day,  should  have  the 
decaying  flower  cut  away  ;  cutting  back  to 
a  good  strong  bud,  from  which  will  come  a 
new  stem  and  flowers.  Attention  to  this 
practice  of  cutting  will  keep  plants  bloom- 
ing almost  continuously. 


The  White  Sugar  Beet,  if  grown  in 
ground  not  too  rich,  we  have  found  more 
delicate  for  the  table  than  any  other  variety, 
if  we  except  the  Bassano. 


Editor's  Table, 


157 


Beds,  or  Borders,  where  Tulips,  Hya- 
cinths, &c.,  are  grown,  may  be  planted 
with  verbenas  and  other  bedding  out  plants, 
taking  care  to  so  plant  that  when  the  time 
— August — comes  for  taking  up  the  bulbs, 
the  roots  of  the  bedding  plant  may  not  be 
disturbed. 


When  Transplanting  Tomatoes,  Egg 
Plants,  &c.,  set  the  roots  in  a  pan  of  mud- 
dy water.  Perform  the  work  just  before 
sundown,  and  few  will  fail.  If  the  follow- 
ing day  is  a  very  clear,  hot  and  sunny  one, 
then  it  is  best  to  shade  them  during  the 
heat.  Shingles,  stuck  on  the  south  and 
west  side,  answer  well. 


stance ;  but  such  expression  does  injustice 
to  the  persimmon,  which  varies  as  much  in 
its  fruit,  as  a  like  number  of  apples  and 
pears.  In  Southern  Illinois,  Missouri,  and 
elsewhere,  there  are  many  trees  of  persim- 
mons that  ripen  their  fruits  in  August  and 
September.  Seeds  of  such  should  be  ob- 
tained, if  to  be  grown  from  seed,  but  if 
young  trees  can  be  obtained,  it  is  better  to 
engraft  with  scions  from  trees  known  to 
produce  large  fruit,  and  that  ripen  early  in 
the  season.  The  late  ripening  sorts  are 
many  of  them  good,  and  if  left  on  the  trees 
until  midwinter  are  almost  as  good  as  ban- 
anas, or  pawpaws,  which  they  nearest  re- 
semble in  taste. 


Those  who  have  peach  trees  should  not 
fail  to  cut  them  back  this  spring,  and  so 
cause  them  to  throw  out  new  and  vigorous 
shoots,  and  give  improved  shape  to  the  tree. 
Do  not  cut,  however,  until  about  the  usual 
time  for  the  peach  to  bloom,  but  then  head 
back  severely.  Old  and  scrawny  trees  will 
bear  to  be  cut  nearly  back  to  mere  stubs, 
or  with  limbs  only  one  to  two  feet  long. 

Fruit  Trees  should  be  carefully  looked 
over  in  April  and  May,  and  the  webs  or 
cocoons  of  insects  destroyed.  Any  appear- 
ance of  black  knot  on  young  trees  should  be 
cutaway.  If  the  coccus  or  scale  insect  shows 
itself,  wash  the  bodies  at  once  with  strong 
ley  and  sulphur.  Some  advise  a  wash  of 
salt  brine  all  over  the  tree  at  this  time  ;  we 
have  never  tried  it,  and  therefore  cannot 
speak  knowingly  of  it,  but  intend  to  be 
able  to  do  so  another  year. 

The  Persimmon. — The  tree  of  the  Per- 
simmon is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  its 
habits  of  growth,  as  well  as  in  the  glossy 
character  of  its  foliage ;  but,  aside  from  its 
beauty  and  adaptation  as  an  ornamental 
tree  on  lawn  or  road  side,  its  fruit  is  very 
delicious.  Many  are  under  the  impression 
that  persimmons  are  utterly  unfit  to  eat, 
and  the  expression  "  as  puckery  as  a  pre- 
simmon "  is  used  to  decry  any  acid  sub- 


The  Peach  Worm — Egeria  Exitiosa. — 
May  be  prevented  from  doing  much  injury 
to  the  peach  tree,  by  clearing  away  the 
dirt,  say  four  inches  deep  at  the  crown  of 
the  root,  and  painting  it  six  inches  up  on 
the  body  of  the  tree,  with  coal  or  gas  tar ; 
but  the  work  must  be  done  before  the  leaf 
starts. 


Grape  Cuttings. — For  some  years  we 
have  grown  more  or  less  of  grape  cuttings 
from  single  eyes,  in  the  open  ground ;  we 
first  prepare  the  ground,  by  trenching  and 
enriching ;  then  our  eyes  are  cut,  with 
about  one  and  a  half  inch  of  wood  below  the 
bud,  and  about  half  an  inch  above;  we  set 
our  eyes  carefully,  in  an  erect  position,  and 
cover  nearly  an  inch  with  the  fine  soil ; 
then  we  add  about  three  inches  of  a  light 
mulch,  saw-dust,  or  fine  chopped  straw  and 
saw-dust  mixed;  water  thoroughly,  if  it 
does  not  rain  about  the  time  of  planting — 
and  afterward  we  look  over  our  beds  from 
time  to  time,  and  whenever  they  appear 
dry  we  water;  but  in  most  seasons  this 
part  of  the  work  is  only  on  paper  ;  occasion- 
ally we  have  had  to  do  it,  and  only  name  it 
here  because  success  depends  on  keeping  an 
even  state  of  moisture  in  and  around  the 
cuttings ;  others  may  not  succeed  as  we 
have,  but  any  one  can  try  it. 


158 


The  Horticulturist. 


New  Strawberries. — "We  have  had  our 
day  of  entliusiasm  on  new  plants,  fruits,  etc, 
and  especially  have  we  "gone  it"  on  straw- 
berries ;  our  experience,  therefore,  may  per- 
haps cause  us  to  be  now  more  than  careful 
ere  we  dictate  on  the  "  wonderful  "  qualities 
of  new  sorts,  as  they  are  from  time  to  time 
being  introduced.  The  present  season,  per- 
haps, as  many  or  more  new  varieties  are 
being  offered  for  sale  than  usual,  and  while 
it  may  be  well  for  the  amateur  to  try  all, 
the  owner  of  a  garden  spot,  wherein  he 
designs  to  grow  strawberries  for  their  fruit, 
had  best  confine  himself  to  some  two  or  so  of 
leading  well  known  kinds,  that  all  acknow- 
ledge to  be  good  in  their  fruit,  vigorous  of 
vine,  and  productive  of  quantity.  To  select 
these  sorts  it  is  only  requisite  to  look  into 
a  few  of  your  neighbor's  gardens,  and  use  the 
Yankee's  privilege  of  asking  a  question. 


Peas  soaked  twenty-four  hours  in  urine, 
then  dried  off  in  ashes  or  plaster,  are  said  to 
come  forward  much  earlier,  and  stronger, 
than  when  planted  in  a  dry  state. 


Oyster  Plant  or  Salsify — Remember 
that  to  grow  this  plant  well,  it  requires  a 
deep  and  rich  soil.  Sow  the  seed  pretty 
thick,  and  after  the  plants  are  up  two  inches 
high,  thin  out  to  one  in  about  four  to  six 
inches  in  the  row,  with  the  rows  one  foot 
apart.  No  Vegetable  is  more  delicate  or 
attractive  to  the  palate  in  early  spring  than 
the  salsify,  when  it  is  well  grown  and  well 
cooked — every  garden  should  have  a  bed 
of  it. 


Grafting  or  Spring  Budding  the 
Peach. — When  a  new  variety  is  obtained 
in  spring,  with  some  doubt  of  the  tree 
living,  or  when  trees  budded  last  fall  have 
failed  to  unite,  it  may  be  desirable  to 
graft  or  bud  in  spring ;  to  do  this,  cut  the 
grafts  and  place  them  in  the  cellar  about 
ten  days  before  you  design  to  perform  the 
work ;  then  use  a  graft  or  cutting  of  two 
buds,  on  a  lateral,  inserting  it  as  in  bud- 


ing,  and  tie  with  bass  matting  as  usual  in 
budding ;  or  form  a  graft  of  two  eyes,  as  for 
a  pear  or  apple,  inserting  it  as  described  in 
the  books  for  side  grafting,  and  immediately 
tie  the  branch  above,  over  in  the  form  of  an 
arc.  If  the  branch  on  which  you  engraft 
is  too  large  to  bend  over  easily,  then  cut  it 
off  at  once,  about  six  to  eight  inches  above 
the  insertion  of  the  graft. 

Strawberry. — Vines,  planted  at  this 
season  of  the  year  and  mulched,  will  often 
give  a  partial  crop  of  fruit — are  very  sure  to 
live  and  grow,  and  increase  during  the  sum- 
mer ;  so  that  vines  now  planted  three  feet 
apart  each  wa}^,  will  by  fall  nearly  cover  the 
entire  ground.  Spade  or  plow  the  ground 
as  deep  as  possible,  say  nine  to  twelve 
inches,  rake  level,  and  plant.  Moderately 
rich  ground  is  better  than  either  very  rich 
soil,  or  that  which  is  poor.  Too  rich  a  soil 
causes  the  plants  to  make  too  many  run- 
ners and  new  plants,  at  a  loss  of  fruit, 
while  too  poor  ground  gives  a  feeble  growth 
of  vine,  and  a  small  fruit.  If  manure  is 
used  to  enrich,  it  should  be  old  and  well 
rotted. 


Celery. — The  seed  of  celery  should  be 
but  barely  pressed  into  the  mold,  and  then 
a  board  laid  upon  it,  say  for  forty-eight 
hours;  afterwards  raise  the  board  up,  say 
about  two  inches,  and  keep  the  celery 
shaded  until  it  has  grown  an  inch,  when  the 
shade  should  be  removed,  except  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
have  a  hot  bed  in  which  to  grow  celery 
plants  for  next  winter's  use ;  but  if  you 
have  a  gentle  bottom  heat  from  a  spent  hot 
bed,  all  the  better.  Many  burn  their  seeds 
and  young  plants  by  using  too  strong  a 
bottom  heat. 

When  transplanting  to  the  rows  for  per- 
manent growth,  trenches  may  or  may  not 
be  made.  We  have*  grown  just  as  good 
celery  plants,  when  planted  on  level  ground 
— soil  having  first  been  made  deep  and 
loose, — as  we  have  in  trenches. 


Editor's  Table. 


159 


Salt  we  Lave  found  one  of  the  best  ma- 
nures ;  use  at  the  rate  of  eight  bushels  to 
the  acre,  or,  if  you  have  animal  manure 
which  you  design  to  apply  to  your  celery 
ground,  use  half  the  quantity  in  proportion, 
diluted  and  poured  on,  and  mixed  up  with 
the  manure  before  applying  it  on  the  land. 

Plaster  Paris. — G3'-psum  is  extremely 
beneficial  ou  every  garden  wh,ere  animal 
manures  have  been  applied  for  years.  If 
your  garden  soil  was  last  year  pretty  full  of 
worms,  leave  off  the  dressing  of  animal 
manure  this  year,  and  apply  at  the  rate  of 
four  bushels  of  salt,  and  one  and  a  half  of 
plaster  per  acre. 


The  Linnceus  Wine  Plant  is  one  of 
the  numerous  barefaced  impositions  of  the 
day,  which  is  receiving  merited  exposure  in 
various  quarters.  This  wine  plant,  as  it  is 
called,  is  nothing  but  the  common  garden 
rhubarb,  and  yet  it  is  sold,  by  itinerant 
swindlers,  by  tens  of  thousand  dollars 
worth,  in  various  parts  of  the  country — 
The  American  Institute  Farmers'  Club 
have  tested  the  liquor  made  from  it,  and 
pronounce  it  ''  a  nauseous,  unwholesome 
compound  of  acid  and  sugar,  partly  con- 
verted into  rum,  as  unlike  wine  as  those 
who  sell  the  plants  are  unlike  honest 
men." 


"We  are  always  interested  and  gratified 
in  hearing  of  anything  new  in  the  way  of 
material  for  hedges.  "While  the  necessity 
exists  for  every  man's  fencing  out  his  neigh- 
bor's stock,  every  plant  that  will  form  a 
live  fence,  in  the  place  of  the  costly  and 
unsightly  rails,  and  boards  and  posts,  which 
now  encumber  our  lawns  and  fields,  is  valu- 
able, not  only  in  an  esthetic,  but  in  an 
economical  point  of  view.  The  annual  cost 
of  fencing  the  farms  of  the  United  States  ' 
would  soon  pay  the  national  debt,  large  as 
that  is.  The  desideratum  for  live  fences  is, 
to  find  a  hedge-plant  that  shall  be  perfectly 
hardy,  easy  to  propagate,  and  that  shall  af- 
ford protection  against  the  intrusive  propen- 


sities of  cattle  and  other  animals.  It  is  said 
that  the  common  barberry  (barhens  vulgaris) 
combines  these  qualities  in  a  noteworthy 
degree.  The  barberry  is  indigenous  to  the 
northern  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  but  has 
become  thoroughly  naturalized — like  many 
other  foreigners — to  the  American  soil. — 
The  Wallingford  Cirmlar  speaks  in  high 
terms  of  the  barberry  as  a  hedge-plant,  and 
notes  in  its  favor  its  "  habit  of  sending  up 
suckers  from  the  bottom,  by  which,  in  a 
few  years,  it  comes  to  have  a  base  from  six 
to  twelve  inches  in  diameter."  It  occurs 
to  us  that  this  "  habit  of  sending  up  suck- 
ers "  might  become  troublesome  in  the 
neighboring  lawn  or  garden.  However 
this  may  be,  the  barberry  is  worth  testing 
for  hedges. 


Our  Correspondent  who  inquires  as  to 
the  expediency  of  plowing  up  his  lawn,  on 
account  of  the  running  out  of  the  grass,  is 
informed  that  there  is  a  remedy  for  this 
difficulty,  without  the  necessity  of  any  such 
inconvenience  as  is  suggested.  The  fertility 
of  the  lawn  may  be  restored  and  preserved 
by  thorough  top-dressing.  Use  for  this 
purpose  stable  manure,  bone  dust,  plaster, 
muck,  ashes — whatever  the  soil  seems  most 
to  need  to  restore  and  enrich.  The  lawn 
should  be,  of  course,  properly  underdrained, 
and  then,  with  judicious  treatment  in  top- 
dressing,  rolling,  and  mowing,  it  may  be 
kept  perpetually  in  the  finest  condition. 


The  Gardener's  Chronicle  (Eng.)  re- 
commends the  planting  of  snowdrops  in 
masses  on  lawns,  and  tells  us  that  the  efiect 
in  early  spring  is  admirable.  The  roots  are 
planted  in  the  green  sward,  and  on  the 
melting  of  the  snow,  before  the  grass  starts 
so  as  to  conceal  them,  they  burst  forth  into 
full  bloom.  The  leaves  of  the  snowdrop 
are  formed  early  in  the  season,  and  before 
the  grass  requires  to  be  cut  they  have  per- 
formed their  functions.  The  bulbs,  there- 
fore, lie  securely  under  the  surface  ready  to 
start  up  into  beauty  the  following  spring. 
"We  should  be  pleased  to  see  this  experiment 
tried  on  some  of  our  beautiful  lawns. 


160 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


An  elegant  testimonial,  in  the  shape  of 
a  gold  medal,  Las  been  presented  to  an 
American  savant.,  Tovvnsend  Glover,  Esq., 
by  the  French  Emperor.  The  occasion  was 
an  exposition  at  the  Palais  d'Industrie,  in 
Paris,  of  useful  and  injurious  insects.  Mr. 
Glover  has  been  employed  for  some  time  in 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washing- 
ton. He  is  well  skilled  in  the  science  of 
Entomology,  and  his  researches  and  labors 
in  the  interests  of  Pomology  have  been  of 
great  value  to  horticulture.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  the  French  Exposition,  his  contri- 
butions to  the  knowledge  of  insects  injuri- 
ous to  horticulture,  &c.,  gained  him  the 
Imperial  gold  medal.  It  is  an  honorable 
distinction  for  our  country  to  be  so  repre- 
sented among  European  savants  in  the 
walks  of  science. 


The  application  of  manure  to  fruit  trees 
should  be  made  with  a  view  to  feed  the 
roots  and  not  the  trunk.  We  often  see  a 
heap  of  compost,  or  some  sort  of  fertilizer, 
piled  up  around  the  foot  of  the  stem,  where 
it  can  do  very  little  good.  Fruit  trees  of 
six  or  eight  feet  in  length  extend  their 
roots  about  the  same  distance  on  every 
side.  The  fertilizer  should,  therefore,  be 
spread  over  that  amount  of  surface,  worked 
into  the  top  of  the  soil,  so  that  its  stimulus 
may  reach  the  roots  and  rootlets,  and  so 
supply  nourishment  to  the  tree. 


Caladiums,  to  our  fancy,  are  not  particu- 
larly ornamental  as  house  plants  for  sum- 
mer, except  to  hide  the  nakedness  of  a 
greenhouse  ;  but  if  they  are  massed  out  in 
the  grounds,  they  grow  so  large  and  rapid- 
ly, and  their  foliage  is  so  strong,  that  they 
make  a  very  distinctive  feature  in  the 
grounds,  and  so  ornamental.  They  may 
be  taken  up  in  the  Fall,  and  kept  with 
little  or  no  care,  in  a  cellar  that  is  dry  and 
free  of  frost. 


IIovey's  Magazine,  in  a  notice  of  the 
chief  publications  on  horticultural  subjects 
which  appeared  during  the  past  year,  thus 
speaks  kindly  and  genially  of  the  two 
works  which  have  been  issued  from  our 
office  :  —  "  Woodward's  Graperies  and 
Horticultural  Buildings,  an  excellent 
volume,  giving  a  variety  of  information  in 
regard  to  the  constructing,  warming,  &c., 
of  such  structures  ;  also,  Woodward's 
Country  Homes,  a  work  which  may  be 
read  to  advantage  by  all  who  are  about 
building  in  the  country." 


We  observe  that  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society  has  made  an  appro- 
priation of  $3,100  for  premiums  the  ensu- 
ing year,  to  be  divided  between  gardens, 
flowers,  fruits,  and  vegetables.  What  is 
the  New  York  Society  doing  to  stimulate 
competition  and  encourage  horticulture  ? 


BOOKS,  CATALOGUES,  AND  PAM- 
PHLETS RECEIVED. 

Rural  Affairs. — We  have  received  Vol. 
IV  of  this  welcome  publication.  Much  use- 
ful information  to  those  who  have  a  farm 
or  garden  to  cultivate  is  to  be  found  in  its 
];ages.      Published   by  L.  Tucker    &  Son, 

Albany,       Price,    S;l   50 Transactions 

of  the  Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society. 
....Transactions  of  the  Agricultural  So- 
ciety of  the  County  of  Plymouth,  Mass. . . . 
John  W.  Adams,  Portland,  Maine,  Ever- 
greens and  General  Nursery  Stock . . .  .F.  B. 
Fancher,  Catalogue  of  Grape  Vines.... 
Henry    A.    Dreer,     Philadelphia,     Flower 

Seeds G.  Marc,  Astoria,  Long   Island, 

Trees,    Shrubs,    Vines,    Greenhouse,    and 

Hardy    Plants E.     Ferrand,     Detroit, 

Mich.,  French  H^-brid  Gladiolus -John 

C.  Teas,  Raysville,  Indiana,  Raysville  Nur- 
sery  E.  Y.  Teas  &  Bro.,  Richmond,  In- 
diana, Nursery  Stock John  Saul,  Wash- 
ington,   D.    C,    Catalogue   of  Plants 

Prince  &  Co.,  Flushing,  L.  I.,  Grape  Vines, 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


YOL.  XXL. 


.JUNE,   1806 NO.  COXL. 


VENTILATION. 


5Y    A.    U.    CJ. 


If  we  mistake  not,  this  subject  lias  already 
been  touched  upon  in  boolvs  and  papers,  but 
perhaps  it  will  bear  another  citing.  Much 
as  has  been  said  about  it,  few  persons  are 
sensible  of  its  importance.  Many  are  care- 
ful to  provide  excellent  food  and  clothing 
for  themselves  and  their  families  ;  their 
houses  must  be  handsome  and  filled  with 
elegant  furniture,  but  as  to  the  quality 
of  the  air  they  inhale,  they  give  themselves 
little  concern. 

Providence  has  surrounded  us  with  an 
ocean  of  pure  air  fifty  miles  deep,  but  we 
bottle  up  a  portion  of  it  and  seclude  our- 
selves within  it,  rendering  it  poisonous,  and 
then  ask  one  another  if  this  is  not  domestic 
comfort?  If  we  exclude  air  entirely  from 
the  lungs  longer  than  three  minutes,  death 
will  surely  follow,  but  impure  air  may  be 
breathed  for  many  years,  and  the  patient 
continue  to  live.  Bad  air  is  a  slow  poison. 
That's  the  trouble  ;  if  it  only  did  its  work 
quicker,  and  in  a  more  striking  and  con- 
spicuous way,  men  might  be  deterred  from 


recklessly  breathing  it.  Those  who  habitu- 
ally inhale  it  are  rendered  insensible  to  the 
sweetness  of  a  pure  atmosphere ;  their  taste 
becomes  as  vitiated  as  the  air  in  which  they 
dwell. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  importance  of  ven- 
tilation, we  beg  to  remind  him  of  a  few 
facts.  Science  tells  us  that  atmospheric 
air  is  composed  of  oxygen  gas  and  nitro- 
gen gas  ;  the  former  being  a  supporter  of 
combustion  and  of  animal  life,  the  latter 
not  such  a  supporter,  nor  yet  positively 
destructive  of  either ;  its  office  in  the  animal 
economy  seeming  to  be  to  dilute  the  oxygen 
which  in  its  pure  state  would  act  too  power- 
fully on  the  system.  In  the  process  of  respira- 
tion, while  the  nitrogen  is  given  ofi"  from 
the  lungs  essentially  unchanged,  the  oxygen 
unites  with  the  carbon  of  the  blood,  form- 
ing carbonic  acid — the  same  gas  which  is 
produced  by  burning  charcoal  in  the  open 
air — and  this  poisonous  substance  constantly 
being  exhaled  into  the  rooms  we  occupy,  it 
would  seem  important  to  dispose  of  as  soon 


Enteked  according  to  A.ot  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F  W.  Woodward,  in  the  Clerk's 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 

11 


162 


The  Horticulturist. 


as  possible.  To  this  it  might  be  added 
that  more  or  less  excrementitious  matter 
passes  off  continually  by  insensible  perspira- 
tion through  the  pores  of  the  skin,  which  is 
of  the  same  deleterious  character,  and  urges 
the  same  plea  for  ventilation. 

We  are  told,  again,  that  "  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  there  flows  to  the  lungs  sixty 
hogsheads  of  air,  and  thirty  hogsheads  of 
blood."*  What  is  the  design  of  this  ?  To 
purify  and  vitalize  the  blood.  Now,  as  the 
health  of  the  body  depends  largely  upon 
the  purity  of  the  blood,  and  this  last  upon 
the  purity  of  the  air,  we  may  estimate  the 
importance  of  looking  well  to  the  quality 
of  what  we  every  moment  breathe. 

And  these  conclusions  of  science  are  con- 
firmed and  illustrated  by  daily  observation 
and  expedience.  Whence  come  the  pale  and 
sallow  faces,  languid  eyes,  headaches,  ca- 
tarrhs, debility,  coughs,  and  consumptions 
which  we  continually  meet  with  ?  Whence, 
chiefly,  except  from  long  confinement  in  the 
unwholesome  air  of  unventilated  houses  ? 
And  yet  we  wonder  what  can  be  the  matter. 
Are  not  our  dwellings  warm  and  comforta- 
ble, and  perhaps  genteel  ?  We  Americans 
are  less  robust  than  our  English  cousins, 
men  and  women.  Travelers  from  abroad, 
while  acknowledging  the  delicate  hot-house 
beauty  of  our  young  ladies;  yet  tell  us  our 
wives  and  daughters  look  sickly  and  frail 
beside  the  ruddy,  round,  elastic  figures  of 
their  own  fair  ones.  English  women  live 
more  out  of  doors,  and  ventilate  their  houses 
better  than  we  do. 

In  the  great  majority  of  our  school-houses, 
work-shops,  court-houses,  hotels,  railway- 
cars,  concert-halls  and  churches,  the  air  is 
unfit  for  breathing.  As  a  general  rule,  the 
windows  and  doors  are  kept  closed,  and  the 
oxygen  of  the  air  being  rapidly  consumed 
by  the  burning  of  many  lamps  and  fires,  and 
by  the  inspiration  of  numerous  occupants, 
it  is  impossible  for  one  to  remain  long  in 
such  places  without  serious  injury  to  his 
health.  Whence  the  nausea  and  headache 
next  morning  after  concerts  and  lectures  1 

"Uses  and  Abuses  of  Air,"  by  Dr.  Griscouk,  p.  29. 


Whence  much  of  the  lassitude,  listlessness 
and  irritability  of  scholars  and  teachers? 
Whence  the  dullness  of  sermons  and  the 
drowsiness  of  congregations  1  True  to  life 
is  the  story  of  the  old  Scotch  minister  who, 
greatly  troubled  with  the  inattention  of  his 
auditors,  preached  to  them  a  series  of  dis- 
courses on  "  The  Sin  and  Shame  o'  Sleepin' 
in  Kirks,"  but  without  any  appreciable 
improvement  of  their  manners  ;  when,  at 
length,  ordering  the  sexton  to  partially 
open  several  windows  during  service,  the 
result  was  all  that  he  could  desire. 

Time  was  when  our  dwellings  and  public 
buildings  were  so  constructed  that  ventila- 
tion came  as  a  matter  of  course.  The 
doors  and  windows  rattled  with  their  loose- 
ness. In  private  houses,  the  broad  fire-place 
sucked  up  and  carried  off  the  foul  air  as  fast 
as  it  was  generated.  Then,  too,  men  and 
women  lived  muck  in  the  open  air,  and 
were  not  afraid  of  it.  Now,  we  make  our 
doors  and  windows  air-tight  ;  our  rooms 
over  heated  by  air-tight  stoves  and  furnaces ; 
fire-places  are  seldom  seen,  or  are  made  for 
ornament,  and  closed  up  with  fire-boards  ; 
and  our  food  is  cooked  in  air-tight  kitchen 
stoves.  These  modern  improvements  cost 
us  dearly,  and  must  continue  to  do  so  until 
we  conform  more  to  the  laws  of  health. 

In  sugesting  a  few  hints  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  ventilation,  the  writer  will  speak 
only  of  those  which  may  be  applied  in 
winter ;  for  in  summer,  this  matter  will 
mostly  take  care  of  itself. 

To  provide  fresh  air  for  a  dwelling-house, 
some  would  say,  knock  out  a  panel  from 
every  door,  and  a  pane  of  glass  from  every 
window.  Others,  less  heroic,  would  pro- 
pose that  every  door  be  set  ajar  often  during 
the  day,  and  that  rolling  blinds  be  inserted 
in  every  fire-board,  to  be  opened  and  closed 
at  pleasure.  It  is  an  excellent  arrange- 
ment, also,  to  insert  a  register,  or  a  valve 
like  Dr.  Arnott's  patent,  in  the  chimney- 
breast  near  the  ceiling,  which  can  be  con- 
trolled by  a  simple  pulley  and  cord. 

But  it  is  important  to  bring  in  a  constant 
supply  of  fresh  air,  as  well  as  to  expel  that 


Ventilatio7i. 


163 


which  is  vitiated  by  use,  and  to  introduce 
it  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  let  in  also  the 
influenza.  When  grates  are  used,  it  is  cus- 
tomary sometimes  to  introduce  a  current 
of  out-door  air  into  a  hollow  space  in  the 
chimney,  behind  the  fire,  where  it  becomes 
warm  before  entering  the  room.  But  for 
the  majority  of  country-houses,  grates  are 
the  exception,  and  close  stoves  the  general 
rule :  how,  then,  can  we  ventilate  rooms 
warmed  by  stoves  ?  One  simple  method  is 
this  : — Surround  a  common  iron  stove  with 
a  neat  Russia  iron  case,  leaving  a  space  of 
six  inches  between  the  two,  and  cover  the 
whole  at  the  top  with  an  ornamental  grat- 
ing. Connect  this  apparatus  with  the  air 
out  of  doors  by  a  tin  conductor  four  inches 
in  diameter,  leading  from  a  cellar  window 
along  under  the  parlor  floor,  and  then  up 
through  the  floor  into  the  open  space  before 
described.  A  damper  should  be  inserted  in 
this  pipe,  to  regulate  the  amount  of  air 
brought  in.  By  some  arrangement  like  this, 
we  can  introduce  a  constant  supply  of  pure 
air,  which,  when  warmed  in  the  air-chamber 
around  the  stove,  will  flow  out  in  a  genial 
current  through  the  perforated  top  into  the 
apartment.  It  is  to  be  supposed,  however, 
that  a  register  or  valve  is  also  provided  in 
the  chimney  flue  for  carrying  off  impure 
air  as  fast  as  fresh  is  brought  in.  The 
method  thus  stated,  is  the  same  in  principle 
a?  "  Clate'e  Patent  Ventilating  Stove," 
which  is  used  in  some  of  our  large  public 
schools. 

The  grate,  or  the  close  stove  arranged  in 
the  above  manner,  will  answer  well  when 
only  one  or  two  rooms  are  to  be  heated ; 
but  when  a  whole  house  or  large  public 
building  is  to  be  warmed  and  ventilated. 
The  hct-aii  furnace  will  do  the  work  bettor. 
{"We  speak  not  now  of  warming  by  steam 
or  Lot  water  :  for  these  methods  are  too 
expensive  for  general  adoption,  and  where 
used  do  not  seem  to  give  entire  satisfaction.)  • 
The  hot-air  furnace,  properly  constructed, 
with  gas-tight  joints,  and  a  large  copper 
pan  in  the  air-chamber  for  evaporating 
water,  provides  a  constant  supply  of  fresh, 


summer-like  air,  and  sends  the  wholesome 
current,  hour  after  hour,  through  all  the 
building. 

It  is,  however,  an  essential  requisite  of 
this  method  of  warming  a  house,  that  pro- 
vision be  made  for  a  current  of  air  to  flow 
out  of  every  room,  as  well  as  one  to  flow  in. 
Indeed  it  is  difficult  to  warm  a  house  in 
this  way,  unless  some  such  provision  is 
made.  Can  you  blow  wind  into  a  bottle, 
without  first  displacing  an  equal  portion  of 
the  air  within  it  ?  *  Properly  to  ventilate 
a  house  warmed  by  a  furnace,  every  room 
should  be  provided  with  a  ventilator  lead- 
ing into  the  chimney-flue  or  into  a  venti- 
duct carried  up  by  its  side.  For,  if  not  so 
provided,  not  only  will  it  be  hard  to  force 
fresh  air  into  the  rooms,  but  that  which  is 
forced  in  will  be  drawn  down  again  through 
the  registers  into  the  furnace-chamber, 
whence  it  will  be  returned  again  and  again 
to  the  apartments  for  repeated  respiration. 
This  is  continually  occurring  in  multitudes 
of  houses,  and  public  buildings. 

The  opening  referred  to,  for  the  escape  of 
impure  air,  should  be  on  the  side  of  the  room 
opposite  to  the  register,  and  should  be  as 
near  the  floor  as  practicable.  If  it  is  made 
near  the  ceiling,  the  freshly-heated  air  rising 
at  once  to  the  top  of  the  room  will  pass  off" 
through  the  ventilator  and  be  lost,  leaving 
the  cold  and  impure  air  near  the  floor  un- 
warmed  and  undisturbed ;  whereas,  if  the 
opening  were  made  near  the  base  of  the 
chimney,  then  the  newly- warmed  air,  after 
first  rising  to  the  ceiling,  would  descend 
and  drive  the  cold  air  along  the  flue  up 
the  chimney  or  ventiduct,  and  so  facilitate 

*  Soon  after  the  erection  of  the  splendid  edifice  for  the 
Smithsonian  Institute,  it  was  found  impossible  to  warm 
one  ( f  the  large  halls  of  the  building,  so  as  to  make  it 
comfortable.  The  windows  and  doors  were  made  air- 
tight, and  the  large  furnace  in  the  basement  was  driven 
up  to  red  heat.  Siill,  the  air  in  the  lecture-room  remained 
dull  and  cold — the  thermometer  indicating  only  from  45° 
to  50°.  After  some  time,  a  man  of  common  sense  hear- 
ing of  the  difiaculty,  called  for  an  auger  and  hand-saw, 
with  which  he  soon  cut  a  hole  in  one  corner  of  the  floor 
about  eighteen  inches  square.  Immediately,  there  was 
a  change  in  the  air— a  healthful  circulation  commenced, 
and  in  half  an  hour,  the  mercury  ran  up  to  75°  ! 


164 


The  Horticulturist. 


both  the  warming  and  the  ventilating  of  the 
apartment.  The  escape  of  the  vitiated  air 
up  the  chimney  flue  would  be  helped  by 
kindling  a  small  fire  on  the  hearth  or  in  the 
grate.  Indeed,  this  arrangement — the  fur- 
nace and  a  fire  on  the  hearth,  constitutes, 
to  our  mind,  the  best  known  method  of 
warming  and  ventilating  a  dwelling-house  : 
the  furnace  affording  a  comfortable  warmth 
to  the  halls  and  rooms  of  the  entire  build- 


ing, while  the  ruddy  light  in  the  fire-place 
gives  a  cheerful,  homelike  expression  to  the 
apartments  occupied,  which  can  be  gained 
in  no  other  way ;  and  both  together  fur- 
nishing ample  ventilation. 

Let  it  be  added,  finally,  that  while  speci- 
fying these  several  plans  for  ventilating 
buildings,  we  have  desired  to  suggest  cor- 
rect principles,  rather  than  to  advocate 
particular  methods. 


DESIGN  IN  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE— No.  15.     A  SMALL  STABLE. 


G.  K.  HARNEY,  ARCHITECT,    COLD    SPRING,    PUTNAM    COUNTY,   N.  Y. 


We  offer  the  readers  of  the  Horticultu- 
rist this  month  a  design  for  a  ?mall  stable. 
It  has  accommodation  for  two  horses  and  a 
cow,  besides  a  separate  apartment  for  car- 
riages, and  another  smaller  room  for  har- 
nesses, &c. 


The  carriage  room  measures  13  feet  by 
22.  Each  horse-stall  is  5^  feet  wide,  and 
9|-  feet  long  to  the  rear  of  the  stall  parti- 
tion, or  17  feet  to  the  partition  of  the  car- 
riage-room. 

The  stalls  are  provided  with  cast  iron 


Fig.  70. — Perspective. 


mangers  and  iron  hay-racks  each  secured  to 
opposite  corners  of  the  stall.  We  consider 
these  iron  fixtures  the  best  in  use,  but  care 
should  be  taken  to  keep  them  always  coat- 
ed with  some  kind  of  paint,  to  prevent  in- 
jury to  the  horses  mouths  in  winter,  when 
they  are  liable  to  become  frosted. 


The  cow-stall  is  4^  feet  wide,  and  is  pro- 
vided with  a  manger  and  some  suitable 
fastening  apparatus  ;  for  the  latter,  we  pre- 
fer the  ring  and  chain,  though  the  old- 
fashioned  stanchion  is  recommended  by 
many. 

The  floors  of  the  stalls   should  be   laid 


BaiGing  Grape  Vines  from  Seeds. 


165 


with  smootlily-planed  locust  joists,  slanted 
towards  the  gutter  just  enough  to  take 
away  the  water — say  two  inches  in  the  9^ 
feet. 

The  harness-room  is  provided  with  hooks 
for  harness  j  a  closet  to  keep  brushes,  soap, 
oils,  medicines,  &c.,  &c. ;  and  a  small  stove 
to  heat  water  for  washing  harness,  &c. 

There  is  a  rain-water  cistern,  built  with 
brick  and  cement,  in  the  yard,  near  the 
rear  of  the  stable,  and  this,  taking  water 
from  the  roof,  by  means  of  tin  conductors, 
supplies  all  the  water  required. 


Fig.  71. — Ground  Plan. 

Rain  water  is  much  better  for  stock  than 
spring  water.  The  pump  is  inside  the  sta- 
ble, as  will  be  seen  in  the  plan,  and  empties 
into  a  trough,  convenient  to  which  are 
chests  lined  with  tin,  for  holding  oats  and 
meal,  &c. 

A  ventilating  shaft  rises  from  the  stable- 
room  to  the  ventilator  shown  in  the  sketch, 
and  this,  with  the  small  windows  in  the 
head  of  each  stall,  provides  sufficient  circu- 
lation of  air.  In  the  summer,  the  doors 
may  be  taken  ofi  their  hinges,  and  gates 


with  locks  substituted  in  their  place.  The 
little  windows  spoken  of  are  placed  above 
the  heads  of  the  horses — say  seven  feet 
from  the  floor,  and  are  opened  by  means  of 
pulley  and  rope. 

At  the  rear  of  the  building,  a  door  opens 
into  a  yard  enclosed  by  a  high  fence ;  and, 
if  there  be  a  desire  to  make  the  establish 
ment  quite  complete,  there  may  be  bu  It 
around  this  yard  a  range  of  buildings  for 
poultry,  pigs,  &c.,  and  open  sheds  for 
wagons  and  carts.  Such  a  range  of  build- 
ings we  shall  present  at  some  future  time. 

This  stable  is  built  of  wood,  and  covered 
with  vertical  boarding  and  battens;  the 
roof  is  covered  with  slate ;  the  doors  all 
have  simple  hoods  as  well  as  the  windows, 
and  the  glass  for  the  latter,  we  would  have 
set  in  diamond-shaped  panes,  which,  at  a 
little  or  no  extra  expense,  heightens  won- 
derfully the  artistic  effect  of  such  a  building 
as  this. 

Paint  the  building  a  warm  cream  color, 
the  eaves,  and  window-trimmings,  and  doors 
considerably  darker ;  plant  a  good  many 
trees  around  it,  and  set  a  flowering  vine 
here  and  there,  so  as  it  may  run  along 
its  walls;  take  good  care  of  the  grass,  and 
keep  the  drive-way  well  rolled  and  clear 
of  weeds,  and  then  we  think  the  eifect  of 
the  whole  will  be  rather  pleasing  than 
otherwise. 

This  stable  will  cost  at  present  prices 
about  1,200  dollars. 


RAISING  GRAPE  VINES  FROM  SEEDS. 

BY   A.    J.    CAYWOOD,    POUGHKEEPSIE,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  Merrick,  in  his  interesting  article  on 
"  Grapes  in  '65,"  in  your  February  number, 
asks  for  information  in  relation  to  expedit- 
ing the  germination  of  grape  seeds.  "When 
I  came  tc  this,  my  mind  recurred  to  my 
labors  for  the  past  sixteen  years,  in  trying 
to  discover  some  of  the  enjoyments  and 
luxuries  by  Nature  hidden,  but  designed  to 
be  revealed  in  time,  as  necessity  demands. 


The  lawyer  says  he  wants  the  worst  of  his 
client's  case  first,  and  I  would  hint  to  Mr. 
Merrick  that  his  chances  of  failure  are  far 
greater  than  those  of  success. 

All  those  who  would  produce  valuable 
varieties  of  fruit  must  expect  many  disap- 
pointments, unless  there  is  a  more  perfect 
system  of  hybridization  discovered.  I  think 
I  have  tried  all  the  appproved  modes  of 


166 


The  Horticulturist. 


fertilization,  and  from  tlie  thousands  of  vices 
I  have  raised,  many  of  which  I  have  not 
abandoned  until  they  were  five  years  old, 
only  two  are  considered  valuable.  One  is  a 
hybrid  of  the  Diana  and  Delaware ;  the 
other  was  raised  from  Concord  seed,  not 
hybridized,  at  least  by  any  effort  of  mine. 

You  may  call  this  poor  luck,  but  I  think 
all  others  who  have  experimented  with 
grape  seeds  extensively  have  shared  the 
same  fate,  Mr.  Rogers  being  an  exception. 
I  am  well  aware  that,  in  some  cases,  good 
varieties  have  been  produced  by  the  first 
attempt  at  crossing ;  and  the  process  has 
been  continued  by  the  same  person  for 
years  without  obtaining  another.  I  sup- 
pose this  want  of  success  is  the  result  of 
many  causes.  The  incongruity  which  may 
exist  between  two  of  the  strongest  varie- 
ties might  lead  to  degeneracy — the  pollen  of 
one  flower  being  in  a  more  advanced  stage 
than  that  of  the  other ;  one  being  naturally 
stronger  than  the  other  ;  earliness  and  late- 
ness ;  the  difference  in  form  of  flower  or 
fruit :  and  other  differences  in  the  same  fa- 
mily. The  effect  we  can  see ;  but  why 
crossing  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  tends  to 
retrogradation  we  cannot  fully  explain.  It 
is  barely  possible  that  from  a  single  seed, 
planted  without  any  pretensions  to  hybrid- 
ization, might  be  produced  a  better  variety 
than  any  we  now  have ;  while  thousands 
might  be  hybridized,  and  all  prove  worth- 
less. By  this,  you  will  perceive  that  I  do 
not  fully  believe  the  doctrine  that  the 
blossoms  of  the  grape  cannot  be  fertilized 
unless  it  is  done  scientifically.  We  have 
now,  in  several  instances,  the  characteristics 
of  two  distinct  varieties,  so  completely 
blended  in  the  chance  seedling,  that  it  is 
no  longer  a  question  whether  they  may 
become  hybridized  naturally.  If  Mr.  Ro- 
gers should  succeed  in  the  future  as  he  has 
in  the  past,  I  will  conclude  that  there  is 
not  so  much  uncertainty  about  grape  seed- 
lings after  all,  and  that  he  has  discovered  a 
more  pertain  method  of  hybridizing. 

It  is  not  my  design  in  the  foregoing  to 
discourage  Mr.  1)1,  in  the  planting  of  seeds  ; 


on  the  contrary,  I  would  advise  him,  as  I 
have  others,  to  do  it.  If  all  who  own  land 
should  devote  two  feet  square  to  seedlings, 
we  would,  in  a  few  years,  have  what  the 
present  eff'orts  would  not  bring  us  in  as 
many  centuries.  Although  the  prospect 
would  not  be  flattering  to  the  individual, 
the  general  effect  would  be  great.  Who- 
ever, by  his  indefatigable  energy,  develops 
some  of  the  good  things  now  in  waiting, 
confers  a  lasting  benefit  on  mankind. — 
Downing,  Kirtland,  Wilson,  Hovey,  Bull, 
Allen,  Rogers,  Wilder,  Grant,  Brinkle,  Van 
Mons,  Rivers,  Le  Roy,  and  a  host  of  others 
in  Europe  and  America,  will  be  looked  upon 
by  future  generations  as  benefactors  of  their 
race.  I  have  concluded  at  several  different 
times  to  save  no  more  seeds ;  but,  when  the 
grape  season  came,  I,  irresistibly,  would 
prepare  a  few  more  for  the  next  spring's 
planting. 

I  have  derived  mach  pleasure  from  watch- 
ing their  growth  and  development.  It  is  a 
game  of  chance,  which  all  may  play  at,  and 
do  no  violence  to  the  moral  law ;  a  recrea- 
tion attended  with  novelty  and  hope,  which 
well  pays  its  way,  even  if  the  goal  is  never 
reached. 

To  Mr.  M.  I  would  say,  grape  seeds 
should  be  put  in  earth  in  a  pot  or  box,  im- 
mediately on  being  taken  from  the  fruit, 
and  the  vessel  buried  one  or  two  inches 
from  the  surface,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
frozen  during  winter.  A  box  should  then 
be  prepared,  of  suitable  size,  ten  or  twelve 
inches  deep,  placed  in  a  hot  or  cold  glass- 
house, and  filled  with  soil  properly  pre- 
pared, within  three  inches  of  the  top. — 
About  the  1st  of  April,  the  contents  of  the 
pot,  seeds  and  earth,  should  be  evenly 
spread  over  the  surface,  after  having  been 
well  mixed.  Over  all,  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  of  good  soil  should  be  sifted,  being 
careful  to  exclude  the  earth-worms,  as  they 
will  destroy  a  portion,  if  not  all,  of  the 
young  plants.  This  may  be  done  by  taking 
the  earth  from  the  surface  as  it  begins  to 
thaw  in  the  spring,  the  worms  being  below 
the  frost  J  or  sift  the  earth  if  later  in  the 


Design  for  a  House  for  Drying  Fruits. 


167 


season.  A  portion  of  the  young  plants  will 
damp  off'.  If  they  should  yet  be  too  thick, 
thin  out  the  smaller  ones,  not  allowing 
them  to  be  crowded,  "When  they  strike 
the  third  leaf,  those  taken  out  may  be  re- 
planted ;  the  vines  remaining  in  the  box 
will  make  from  three  to  fifteen  feet  the 
first  summer.  Those  grown  out  doors  will 
seldom  ripen  any  buds  before  the  early  frost 
kills  them ;  they  may  also  be  successfully 
grown  in  hotbeds.  Some  seedlings  will 
bear  at  the  age  of  three  years,  but  many 
more  will  not  until  four.  As  soon  as  the 
cluster  of  blossoms  is  sent  forth,  and  before 
the  cap  of  each  little  flower  falls,  its  gen- 
der can  be  easily  decided.  I  say  gender,  as 
we  here  call  the  non-bearing  vines  males. 
The  peduncle  of  the  fruitless  vines  is  very 


small,  not  larger  than  a  cambric  needle; 
clusters  very  large,  and  highly  perfumed. 
You  must  not  expect  to  see  grapes  on  a  clus- 
ter of  this  description.  When  the  cap 
bursts,  a  small  yellow  knot  will  appear 
where  there  should  be  a  grape.  The  entire 
cluster  will  fall,  and  the  vine  might  as  well 
be  destroyed.  If  it  does  not  bear  the  first 
time  it  blossoms,  it  will  never  bear  after. 
The  cap  may  be  removed,  and  its  character 
ascertained,  a  weelc  before  the  young  grape 
woulS  be  sufficiently  developed  to  throw  it 
off. 

Now,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  hope  you  will 
not  think  these  unclassified  jottings  the 
communication  I  have  long  promised  you 
on  this  subject,  but  will  try  at  some  future 
time  to  redeem  my  promise. 


DESIGN  FOR  A  HOUSE  FOR  DRYING  FRUITS, 


HOBSON,    CARDINGTON,    OHIO. 


The  following  sketch  is  of  a  building  of 
moderate  dimensions,  4x12  feet,  and  five 
feet  in  height,  set  upon  a  wall  of  brick  or 
stone  twenty  inches  high  ;  and,  to  obviate 
the  necessity  of  going  inside  when  heated 
up  for  drying,  it  is  constructed  with  two 
tiers  of  drawers  on  either  side,  23  inches 
by  5  feet,  with  slat  or  wire  bottoms  •  each 


one  made  to  slide  in  and  out  independent 
of  the  rest,  and  each  tier  enclosed  with 
double  doors.  The  building  is  heated  by 
means  of  furnaces  extending  from  either 
end,  and  communicating  with  the  flue  in 
the  centre. 

By  reason  of  the  drawers  meeting  over 
the  furnaces  in  the  middle,  the  heat  in  rising 


Fig.  72. — Drying  House. 


is  compelled  to  pass  through  them,  thus 
the  fruit  is  dried  faster  than  by  the  usual 
mode  of  placing  it  on  shelves  against  the 
wall  of  the  house. 

The  number  of  drawers  maybe  increased 
to  double  the  amount  represented  in  the 
drawing  if  necessary,  which   would  make 


them  hold  a  considerable  quantity  of  fruit, 
say  from  twenty  to  thirty  bushels. 

The  building  should  be  constructed  of 
light  timber,  may  be  weather-boarded  hori- 
zontally or  vertically,  and  made  ornamental 
or  otherwise,  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
owner. 


168 


The  Horticulturist. 
HEARTS'  PIPPIN. 


Some  years   since,   the   writer  received  and    cooks    among    tbo    best.      The   tree 

this  variety  from  Charles  Downing,  Esq.  is  a  good  bearer.     "We  find  no  published 

It   is   not   of   the    higliest    flavor    as    an  description   of  it,  except  in   the    Western 

eating  apple,  but  the    flesh    is  very  ten-  Fruit  Book.     Fruit,  medium  size,  roundish, 

der,  of  a    pleasant,  mild,  sub-acid  taste,  flattened  at  ends,  oblique.     Color,  pale  jel- 


FiG.  73 Hearts'  Pippin. 

low,  with  suffused  shades  of  whitish  yel-  tinct,  erect,  open  segments.     Basin,  deep, 

low,  and  a  faint  blush  cheek  in  the  sun. —  Flesh,  white,  very   tender,  juicy.      Core, 

Stem  medium,  generally  curved.     Cavity,  medium,  or  below.     Season,  November, 
regular,   russetted.     Calyx   with  five  dis- 


PROTECTION  OF  PEACH  TREES  IN  WINTER. 


BY  JOHN    H.    JENKINS. 


We  must  resort  to  some  protecting 
system  for  peach  culture,  or  be  disappoint- 
ed, year  after  year,  by  late  spring  frosts— 
at  least,  such  has  been  our  situation.  For 
four  years,  our  peach  crop  has  been  smitten 
by  May  frosts ;  and,  if  we  do  not  grow  our 
trees  in  the  future  so  that  we  may  protect 
the  buds  from  hard  winter  freezing  and  late 


spring  frosts,  we  may  expect  nothing  but 
disappointment  for  the  next  four  hundred 
years. 

The  system  is  simply  as  follows : — Buy 
only  the  best  trees,  one  year  from  the  bud, 
and  if  they  havn't  low  heads,  cut  back  to 
18  or  20  inches  from  the  ground,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  74.     Plant  the  tree,  in  good  soil,  of 


Protection  of  Peach  Trees  in  Winter. 


169 


course,  mixing  witli  the  soil  one-half  bushel 
of  leached  ashes  to  each  tree.  Let  no  stock 
run  in  the  orchard  without  the  trees  are 
enclosed.  The  first  Fall  after  planting  the 
tree  ought  to  appear  as  shown  in  Fig.  75. 
The  winter  preceding  the  second  spring, 
make,  or  have  made,  or  go  to  the  woods  and 
cut  them,  a  lot  of  stakes  made  from  boards 
2^  to  3  inches  wide,  and  3,  3-^  to  4  feet 


long,  sharpened  at  one  end,  and  with  an  inch 
hole  inclining  at  a  small  angle  near  the  up- 
per end  ;  drive  in  a  strong  pin,  and  you  have 
them  made.  We  will  suppose  the  tree  has 
made  from  three  to  five  strong  side-branches 
the  first  summer,  within  20  inches  from  the 
ground,  and  has  sent  up  a  strong  leader. — 
We  commence  this  the  second  spring  with 
our  horizontal  training,  by  bending  down 


Fig.  74. 


Fig.  75. 


Fig 


each  side-branch,  and  securing  it  at  about 
two  feet  from  the  ground  with  these  stakes. 
The  tree  has  then  the  appearance  of  Fig.  76. 
Of  course  we  cut  back,  to  form  the  tree  to 
suit  our  taste,  and  cut  out  unnecessary 
limbs.  We  let  the  tree  grow,  keeping  the 
worms  away,  hoping  to  have  a  good  growth 
by  Fall. 


The  next  summer  we  may  expect  some 
fruit — a  pretty  good  crop,  provided  we  in- 
sure the  life  of  the  buds.  Sometime  in 
November,  or  before  hard  freezing,  we  bend 
down  the  side  branches,  so  that  they  will 
rest  on  the  ground,  and  secure  them  by 
driving  down  another  stake  near  the  end  of 
the  branches,  and   cover  entire  with  soil, 


Fig.  77. 


Fig.  78. 


say  from  1  foot  to  15  inches  deep,  owing  to 
the  climate,  of  course.  Then  crowd  the 
leader  with  its  branches  into  a  long  box, 
resting  on  four  legs,  according  to  Mr.  Palm- 
er's plan;  or,  what  is  cheaper  and  as  good. 


make  straw  bands,  twisted,  and  wrap  close- 
ly around  the  leader,  drawing  in  the  side 
branches  as  you  proceed,  until  it  resembles 
Figure  77.  Figure  78  represents  the  tree  the 
winter  of  the  second  year,  the  dotted  lines 


170 


The  Horticulturist. 


over  the  branches  showing  the  earth ;  the 
dotted  lines  over  the  leader  shows  the  box. 
Allow  the  tree  to  remain  in  this  situation 
until  the  middle  of  April,  or  thereabouts, 
when  the  soil  is  to  be  removed  from  the 
branches,  and  the  second  stake  pulled  up. — 


The  branches  will  then  rise,  and  be  about 
three  feet  from  the  ground  ;  remove  the  box 
or  straw  from  the  leader ;  the  tree  will  then 
bloom  so  late  as  to  insure  the  fruit  crop. 

East  Bethlehem^  Washington  Co.,  Pa. 


PLAN  FOR  LAYING-OUT  A  SQUARE  ACRE  LOT. 

BY    E.    FERRAND,    DETROIT,    MICH. 


This  garden  contains  everything  that  can 
conveniently  be  established  on  an  acre  lot- 
The  stables  and  out-buildings  are  separated 
from  the  main  place  by  two  gates ;  one,  M, 
opens  the  way  to  the  dwelling;  and  the 
other,  N,  leads  into  the  garden.  There  is 
a  passage,  0,  to  the  street,  entirely  hidden 
by  the  thicket  alongside  of  it,  so  that  hay, 


manure,  &c.,  may  be  taken  in  and  out  with, 
out  interfering  at  all  with  the  cleanliness 
of  the  place.  The  shrubbery  has  been  so 
disposed  as  to  conceal  the  limited  dimen- 
sions of  the  place.  The  greenhouse  is  con- 
veniently situated  near  to  the  house,  and  a 
view  of  it  is  afforded  from  the  street.  The 
walks  around  the  kitchen  garden  are  plant- 


Fig.  79. — Plan  of  Square  Acre  Lot. 


A  Dwelling. 

B  Piazza. 

C  Stable,  Birn,  and  other  Out-Building:8. 

D  Greenhouse. 

E  Grapery  (house). 

F  Flower-beds, 


H  Kitchen  Garden,  with  dirar    fruit  trees  and  smal 

fruits. 
K  Trellis  of  Grape-Vines. 
L  Yard. 
M  Gate. 
N  Gate. 
0  Passage  from  the  Barn  to  the  Street. 


ed  with  dwarf  fruit  trees,  and  the  space  de- 
voted to  that  garden  is  sufficiently  large  to 
provide  a  family  with  the  usual  vegetables 
and  small  fruits.  There  is  a  vinery,  E,  and 
a  trellis  of  native  grapes  separating  the  or- 
namental from  the  vegetable  grounds.     The 


yard,  L,  is  shut  by  the  gates  M  and  N,  and  at 
the  entrance  of  passage  0  on  the  street,  so 
that  horses  or  other  animals  may  be  let 
loose  in  that  yard  without  fear  of  their 
running  away,  or  through  the  garden. 


Wharton's  Early  Pear. 


171 


WHARTON'S  EARLY  PEAK. 


This  pear  was  distributed  many  years 
since  by  that  zealous  horticulturist,  A.  H. 
Ernst    of  Cincinnati,  but  since  his  death, 


little  or  nothing  has  been  heard  of  it. 
Can  Mr.  Downing,  or  Wilder,  etc.,  tell  us 
aught  of  it  ?     Here  is  an  outline  of  it. 


Pig.  19.— Wharton's  Early  Pear. 


The  tree  is  described  as  a  strong,  healthy  melting,  juicy,  sweet  and  high-flavored  ; 
grower  ;  the  fruit  above  medium ;  yellowish  bearing  well,  and  ripening  middle  of 
green,  with  more  or  less  of  russet,  and  flesh     August. 


172 


The  Horticulhirist. 


MARGARET  PEAR. 


■In  our  Marcli  number  we  gave  an  illus- 
tration and  description  of  one — ''  Mary" — 
of  two  new  pears  originated  witli  Mr.  Chris- 
topher Wiegel,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  We  now 
give  outline,  figure  and  description  of  num- 
ber two,  which  he  desires  named  Margaret. 


Its  history  is  the  same  as  Mary's,  and  given 
in  our  March  number. 

Description. — Size^  medium.  Form,  ob- 
long, ovate.  Stem,  one  to  one  and  a  half 
inches  ;  straight ;  inserted  without  depres- 
sion.   Calyx,  large,  open,  with  long,  reflexed 


Fig. 


-Margaret  Pear. 


segments ;  without  basin,  but  irregular, 
uneven  surface  surrounding.  Color,  lemon- 
yellow  ground,  when  fully  ripe ;  mostly  over- 
spread with  deep,  dull-red.  small  russet 
dots,  with  occasional  small  russet  marblings 
and  patches  of  russet ;  where  the  surface  is 


not  reddened  the  dots  appear  green  under- 
neath the  skin.  Flesh,  white,  finely  granu- 
lated, juicy,  vinous,  sweet,  and  free  from 
astringency.  Co?'e,  small.  &erfs,  dark  brown. 
Season,  last  of  July,  and  early  August. 


Notes  on  the  April  Number. 


173 


NOTES  ON  THE  APRIL  NUMBER. 


The  Enemy Come,  come,  good  editors, 

you  must  not  lay  all  the  blame  of  a  scarcity 
of  apples  on  the  codling  moth,  forsooth. — 
Because,  as  you  say,  apples  are  dearer  in 
New  York  market  than  oranges,  must  it  all 
be  attributable  to  the  depredations  of  in- 
sects ?  Stop  a  minute.  You  say  New  Jer- 
sey was  once  famous  for  its  fine  fruit,  but 
now  for  its  toant  of  fine  fruit.  I  am  not  a 
Jerseyman,  but  I  have  had  some  whole- 
souled  friends  in  that  State,  and  I  feel  like, 
in  a  short  way,  taking  up  the  cudgel  in  her 
behalf,  and  say,  therefore,  that  you  are 
perhaps  mistaken,  and  your  enthusiasm  for 
once  has  led  you  to  erroneous  conclusions. 
I  may  not  say  that  New  Jersey  has  pro- 
duced perfect  apples  this  past  year,  but  I 
may  say  that  you  are  making  surprising  as- 
sertions. In,  say,  1832,  and  onward  to 
1840,  very  fsw  perfect  apples  were  grown  in 
the  New  England  States,  but  the  past  year 
their  apples  have  been  more  perfect  than  in 
New  Jersey,  or  onward  to  Ohio.  Michigan, 
as  yet,  and  the  Canadas,  are  comparatively 
clear  of  the  codling  moth,  and  their  fruits 
have  this  year  commanded  prices  over  the 
above-named  intermediate  space.  Now, 
while  I  shall  go  with  you  heart  and  hand 
toward  perfect  extinction  of  the  insects, 
and  would  urge,  as  you  do,  "  the  impor- 
tance of  prompt  and  energetic  action  to- 
wards the  destructipn  of  the  apple  moth, 
and  all  other  insects  injurious  to  the  horti- 
culturist," I  cannot  agree  with  your  pro- 
phetic vision,  "  that  of  no  fruit  will  we  ever 
have  an  abundance,  but  with  each  year  an 
increasing  scarcity."  I  have  looked  care- 
fully over  fruit-growing  more  than  forty 
years,  and  find  that  occasional  seasons  oc- 
cur of  adversity  in  the  products  of  the 
earth,  to  be  followed  soon,  if  not  directly 
after,  with  profuse  abundance.  I  will, 
therefore,  as  an  offset  against  your  prophesy, 
say  that  I  believe  the  coming  year  will  be 
one  of  great  abundance  in  product  of  the 
apj.le  and  pear,  and  that,  as  a  feature,  there 


will  be  less  injury  from  insect  depradations 
than  for  several  years  past. 

I  am  with  you  in  urging  attention  of 
fruit-growers  to  the  study  and  habits  of  in- 
sect life,  that  they  may  the  better  know 
how  to  protect  their  own  interests,  for  it  is 
the  interest  of  every  fiuit-grower  to  ripen 
as  perfect  a  crop  as  possible ;  and  the  more 
he  knows  of  the  soil,  the  habits  of  the  tree 
and  of  the  insect,  and  diseases  attendant 
upon  tree  and  fruit,  the  better  is  he  enabled 
to  guide  his  labors  toward  profitable  re- 
sults. 

Designs  in  Rural  Architectujie — No. 
13. — In  certain  locations,  I  think  that,  arch- 
itecturally, the  appearance  of  this  cottage 
would  be  very  pretty.  Its  effect  on  paper 
is  certainly  good,  and  there  does  not  ap- 
pear any  useless  ornamentation  ;  yet  most 
who  build  at  a  cost  of  ^1,800  to  $2,000 
look  for  more  room,  and  the  rooms  of  larger 
size  than  are  here  portrayed.  I  think  the 
house  could  be  spread  out  on  ground  plan, 
and  thus  improved,  at  a  comparatively 
trifling  cost. 

Mildew  and  Grape  Culture.  —  Mr. 
Saunders  is  a  man  so  conversant  with  grapes, 
and  withal  so  observing,  that  it  is  hardly  to 
be  expected  he  can  err— but  "  ain  the  best 
aft  gang  aglee,"  and  I  may  be  permitted  to 
record,  that  while  measurably  agreeing  with 
his  convictions,  that  "  atmospheric  influence 
is  the  cause  of  mildew,"  I  cannot  submit  to 
the  covered  trellis  ;  because  I  have  seen 
mildew  underneath  it ;  and  also  abundantly 
on  vines  covering  trees. 

Diagonal  Training  in  Vineyard  Cul- 
ture, No.  2. — With  the  writers  opposition 
to  "  stopping  and  pinching  in,"  *.  e.,  severe 
summer  pruning,  I  fully  agree,  and  believe 
that  more  of  injury  than  good  to  our  native 
grape  vines  has  been  caused  by  following 
old  country  dogmas  in  regard  to  this  practice: 
The  distance  apart  of  vines  I  however  think 
is  not  sufficient,  unless  it  may  be  such  va- 
rieties as  Delaware,  Rebecca,  etc.     If  we 


174 


The  Horticulturist, 


may  judge  from  all  our  readings  tlie  ad- 
vantage to  the  grower  is  obtained  by  placing 
his  strong-growing  vines,  as  Concord,  etc., 
at  distances  of  eight  or  more  feet  apart, 
rather  than  at  less  than  six  feet,  as  here 
advised. 

Abbot  Pear. — I  am  glad  to  see  this 
good,  and  handsome  pear  brought  again  into 
notice.  I  have  grown  most  beautiful,  as 
well  as  good  fruit  of  it;  and  were  it  not  for 
one  single  fault,  viz.,  that  of  ripening  up  too 
fast,  it  would  be  one  of  the  most  desirable 
in  all  choice  collections. 

Masten's  Seedling  Apple.  —  Judging 
from  the  description,  this  must  be  a  most 
remarkable  apple,  but  perhaps  a  little  too 
large,  and  open  core.  I  should  like  much 
to  see  the  fruit,  and  must  write  Mr.  Hasten 
at  proper  season  for  samples. 

Cleft    Grafting A    timely    article, 

wherein  the  writer  has  remembered  that  all 
the  readers  of  the  Horticulturist  are  not 
experienced  in  all  the  practical  arts  of  which 
its  pages  treat.  I  would  add,  that  the  old 
practice  of  using  grafting  clay  as  a  wrap 
over  the  tie  of  grafting  wax  is  good  as  a 
preventative  to  dr3nng. 

Report  on  Grapes  in  Missouri— 1865. 
— A  most  valuable  record  !  I  am  a  little 
surprised  at  the  conduct  of  Anna  and  Cuya- 
hoga, for  I  have  been  impressed  with  an 
idea   that   they  would   prove  valuable   in 


Missouri.  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Husmann, 
of  whom  he  procured  the  Martha,  as  I  sus- 
pect there  are  two  grapes  sent  out  under 
this  name.  Again,  I  would  like  to  ask,  if 
Mr.  H.  has  Rogers  No.  3 — and  if  so,  what 
observations  he  made  on  that.  I  have  a 
belief  that  it  will  make  a  fine  wine,  and 
tolerable  table  grape  for  his  section. 

Gardens  and  Parks  of  Germany. — All 
travelers  over  the  section  traversed  by  this 
writer,  join  in  their  praise  of  the  roads,  and 
road-side  trees.  The  example  of  planting 
fruit  trees  by  the  road  side  has  been  ad- 
vised in  this  country,  and  while  we  acknow- 
ledge its  beauty  and  usefulness,  we  are  and 
perhaps  ever  will  be,  a  too  roving  and 
restless  people,  with  too  many  regardless  of 
laws  or  property  to  make  the  practice  de- 
sirable. 

As  we  now  are,  these  very  peasants,  who 
so  carefully  respect  the  ownership  of  these 
road-side-trecs  in  Germany,  no  sooner  ar- 
rive here  than  their  first  onslaught  is  on 
any  and  all  property  not  protected  by  fence, 
dog,  etc. 

Time  perhaps,  will  be  when  it  maybe  ad- 
visable and  safe  to  plant  fruit  trees  on  road- 
sides, but  at  this  stage  of  our  progress  I 
think  we  had  best  stick  to  our  elms,  maples, 
etc.,  for  our  street  shades. 

Reuben. 


HORTICULTURAL  MATTERS  AT  THE  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS. 

FROM    OUR    OWN    CORRESPONDENT. 


In  the  tropical  regions,  the  vegetation  is 
always  of  a  greener  and  fresher  verdure,  the 
foliage  more  luxuriant,  and  the  leaves  more 
beautiful  in  shape  and  texture,  than  in  your 
Northern  climates — even  in  the  summer 
months — for  the  varieties  are  more  numer- 
ous, and  each  possessing  some  marked  and 
peculiar  character,  interesting  to  the  bot 
anist  and  tourist,  and  every  true  lover  of 
nature.  The  frequent,  light  showers  of 
rain,  which  occur  almost  daily,  in  the  warm 
latitudes,  seem  a  wise  dispensation  of  that 
over  ruling  Providence  for  the  beauty  and 


preservation  of  the  foliage,  and  vegetation, 
which  otherwise  would  scorch  and  dry  up 
under  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun. 

There  are  a  large  variety  of  flowering 
trees  and  shrubs  in  and  about  Honolulu,  of 
every  size  and  shade  of  foliage,  beautiful 
and  attractive  to  the  eye  of  every  tourist 
who  visits  the  islands,  a  description  of 
which,  botanical ly  arranged  and  classified, 
T  will  endeavor  to  give  you  from  time  to 
time,  as  my  health  may  permit.  Among 
them  are  some  indigenuous  to  the  country, 
and  others,  exotic  in  character,  which  have 


EorticuUural  Blatters  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 


175 


been  brouglit  here  by  the  early  settlers, 
or  introduced  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Royal  Hawaiian  Agricultural  Society,  by 
Dr.  Iliklebrand,  who  is  now  in  China. 

The  ostensible  object  of  Dr.  Hildebrand's 
mission  to  China  and  India,  where  he  has 
been  since  last  summer,  was  to  obtain 
suitable  laborers  for  the  plantations,  having 
received  the  appointment  of  Royal  Com- 
missioner of  Immigration.  The  Royal 
Hawaiian  Agricultural  Society,  to  improve 
so  valuable  an  opportunity,  at  the  same 
time,  made  an  appropriation  of  $500,  for 
the  purpose  of  providing,  through  Dr.  H., 
seeds,  plants,  shrubs,  and  fruit-bearing 
shrubs  and  trees  of  every  description  that 
are  natives  of  China  and  India,  and  that 
have  not  already  been  introduced  to  the 
islands.  From  his  thorough  knowledge  of 
botany  and  the  sciences,  as  well  as  general 
information  concerning  packing  and  ship- 
ping plants,  no  one  is  better  fitted  for  the 
important  mission.  There  is  every  reason 
to  believe,  that  by  the  liberal  encourage- 
ment of  the  Hawaiian  Agricultural  Society, 
the  mission  mmjI  result  in  vast  good  to  the 
islands,  and  by  the  exertions  of  Dr.  II.,  a 
large  and  valuable  collection  of  hitherto  un- 
known plants  and  shrubs,  and  spice  grow- 
ing plants,  and  trees  and  fruits  maj^  find 
their  way  to  these  islands,  where  there  are 
abundant  tracts  of  fertile  soil,  suitable  to 
their  culture  and  growth,  on  an  advan- 
tageous and  beneficial  scale,  and  their  pro- 
ducts in  time  be  reckoned  among  the  future 
resources  of  Hawaii  nei  ! 

Among  the  many  beautiful  trees  I  have 
seen,  in  the  gardens,  is  one,  in  size  and  shape 
about  the  same  as  your  Northern  apple- 
trees,  covered  with  beautiful  foliage,  very 
ornamental,  and  adorned  with  large,  mag- 
nificent flowers — showy  as  some  of  your 
lilies.  The  seed  pods  are  from  six  to  eight 
inches  long,  of  a  rich  dark  brown  color,  and 
filled  with  seeds.  I  have  procured  some  of 
these,  which  I  shall  send  with  the  other 
collection  I  have  made,  and  may  make,  to 
the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Society. 
The  tree  would  thrive  well  in  any  locality, 
I  think,  where  the  magnolia  would  flourish. 


I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  of  its  successful 
culture  in  your  State. 

There  is  also  a  species  of  Acacia  tree, 
which  bears  a  seed  pod,  long  as  your  arm, 
and  very  tough  and  wood}^  They  are 
quite  a  curiosity  even  here,  and  I  shall  try 
and  send  you  one  or  two  the  first  convenient 
opportunity. 

In  the  beautiful,  almost  paradisal  gardens 
of  Dr.  Hildebraud,  and  Judge  Montgomery, 
President  of  the  Royal  Hawaiian  Agricul- 
tural Society,  may  be  seen  hundreds  of 
tropical  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  vines,  rich  in 
foliage  and  bloom,  growing  luxuriantly,  and 
in  other  and  future  letters,  I  may  tell  you 
what  I  have  seen  in  my  walks  among  the 
shady  avenues  and  groves,  around  the  trim 
beds,  covered  with  a  thousand  gaudy  and 
beautiful  flowers,  and  in  the  wilderness 
of  luxuriance  of  those  charming  Edens  of 
Honolulu. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  Royal 
Hawaiian  Agricultural  Society  is  at  present 
in  such  a  dormant  state,  owing  to  a  want 
of  proper  interest  and  attention  to  the  pro- 
motion of  agriculture  at  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  Sugar  has  been  and  is  the  great 
staple  commoditj^,  and  the  great  trouble  has 
been  a  disease  called  "  Sugar  on  the  Brain.'''' 
The  climate  is  unsurpassed,  and  the  soil 
rich  and  fertile,  and  there  is  an  ample  field 
of  encouragement  for  the  horticulturist  and 
agriculturist.  The  Agricultural  Society,  it 
is  hoped,  will  again  rise  to  view,  where  such 
abroad  field  is  open  for  their  glorious  work. 
Fairs  should  be  held  annually,  and  meetings 
held  for  the  discussion  of  vai-ious  themes, 
and  to  report  experiments.  As  civilization 
advances,  agriculture  should  keep  pace,  and 
where  Nature  has  done  so  much,  man  should 
certainly  improve  and  cultivate,  and  the 
avenues  of  improvement  should  be  opened 
wider  and  wider,  that  all  who  choose 
might  enter  in  and  study  and  enjoy.  A 
department  of  agriculture  here  should  be 
an  obligation  of  government,  and  be  fostered 
and  protected,  for  upon  this  important  arm, 
as  is  well  known,  depends  in  a  great  measure 
the  weal  or  woe  of  an};-  civilized  country. 
Honolulu  S.  I.  Nov.  1865. 


176 


The  Horticulturist, 


MY  NEIGHBOR  AND  HIS    GUN. 


lY    A.    S.     F. 


Crack  !  goes  my  neighbor's  gun,  and  an- 
other sweet  song-bird  comes  fluttering  to 
the  ground;  and  what  for?  Is  it  because 
the  little  songster  has  been  in  mischief? 
Has  it  been  pilfering  some  stray  head  of 
rye,  or  a  few  grains  of  buckwheat  ?  More 
likely  neither,  but  probably  it  was  search- 
ing for  the  eggs  of  the  tent -worm  on  that 
apple-tree  from  which  it  fell. 

Shall  I  call  my  neighbor  a  wretch  for 
killing  these  innocent  birds  ?  It  is  certainly 
a  wretched  habit  that  some  otherwise  good 
people  possess. 

Why  should  these  little  pet  friends  of 
mine  be  killed  ?  They  are  guilty  of  no 
crime,  and  how  faithfully  they  work  to 
bless  mankind.  How  that  gentle  shower, 
in  a  warm  spring  day,  opens  their  throats 
to  warble  forth  the  melody  that  should 
find  an  echo  in  every  heart. 

Sing  and  be  happy,  little  birds,  for  thy 
Creator  is  also  mine,  and  I  know  not  which 
is  most  acceptable  to  Him— thy  song  or 
mine. 

How  few  of  those  little  friends  do  I  meet 
when  strolling  in  those  grand  old  woods 
down  by  the  side  of  Spring  Creek. 

Here  are  trees  in  which  to  build  their 
nests ;  they  are  tall,  and  their  thickly- 
woven  branches  would  protect  them  from- 
intrusive  eyes.  Here  are  deep,  low  vales, 
with  a  dense  undergrowth — a  fine  cover  for 
partridge  and  quail ;  yes,  methinks  a  thrush 
might  find  a  retreat  here,  and  there  is  a 
lofty  oak  on  which  she  might  pour  forth 
her  song  for  above  the  surrounding  trees. 

I  know  she  loves  these  high  wood-marks 
for  song,  although  she  builds  her  nest  so 
low.  Why  do  I  not  hear  her  song  ?  The 
day  is  fine,  and  it's  the  time  of  year  for  her 
sweetest  note. 

Where  is  the  redbreast?  No  song  from 
her  this  fine  spring  morn.  'Tis  strange  that 
not  even  the  tat-too  of  the  woodpecker  or 
a  note  from  the  che-weep  breaks  the  stillness 
of  the  fine  old  woods. 


I  hear  no  sound  from  j^onder  meadow 
Where  is  the  meadow  lark  and  bob-o'-link 
which  have  so  often  given  forth  their 
quaint  song  as  they  floated  from  fence  to  tree. 

Is  all  nature  dead,  or  asleep — which  ? 
Let  us  listen.  There  is  a  sound — a  low 
buzzing  which  we  hear  through  field  and 
forest.  It  sounds  like  a  coming  storm,  but 
it  is  not  one  that  will  refresh  the  drooping 
foliage  of  tree  or  shrub,  for  it  is  a  storming 
host  of  insect-invaders. 

The  winged  progenitor  of  the  apple- 
worm  is  already  dropping  its  eggs  among 
the  blossoms.  The  enemies  of  the  pear, 
cherry  and  plum  are  among  this  invading 
host,  and  the  rose,  with  all  its  beauty  and 
fragrance,  shall  also  perish,  for  I  can  hear 
the  whetting  of  mandibles  for  its  destruc- 
tion. Shall  these  destroyers  go  on  to  their 
work  of  devastation  without  a  check  ? 
Alas  !  we  cannot  stay  their  progress,  for 
my  neighbor's  gun  has  either  killed  or 
frightened  away  my  swift-winged  friends 
who  have  ever  faithfully  beaten  back  the 
invading  army  from  j^ear  to  year. 

Shall  I  expostulate  with  my  neighbor 
and  kindly  request  him  to  spare  the  birds  ? 
I  have  often  done  so,  but  he  replies  :  "  the 
law  does  not  forbid  it."  He  professes  to 
be  a  Christian,  and  sti'ongly  orthodox,  so  I 
appeal  to  his  Christianity.  He  replies  that 
he  is  not  forbidden  to  kill  birds  by  the  Ten 
Commandments.  At  last,  in  despair,  I  say; 
"  A  fig  for  your  law  or  dogmas  ;  have  you 
no  love  for  the  little  pets  of  j^our  Creator?" 
"  Most  certainly  he  has,  for  he  loves  to  eat 
them  ;  a  dozen  robins,"  he  says,  "  wiP  make 
a  fine  pot-pie." 

This  morning,  before  the  sun  had  shown 
his  face,  my  neighbor  was  tramping  to  the 
woods,  with  gun  across  his  shoulder,  and  a 
well-filled  shot-pouch  by  his  side.  At  noon 
I  saw  him  coming  home,  and  I  ventured  to 
say  :  "  What  luck,  neighbor  ?"  "  Fine," 
replied  he;  "I  got  a  splendid  grey  squir- 
rel." 


Pots  should  he  Drained. 


177 


What  a  magnificent  half-day's  work  for 
a  farmer,  whose  land  yields  but  ten  bushels 
of  rye  per  acre,  because  he  has  no  time  to 
haul  out  muck  to  enrich  it,  or  to  subsoil 
his  shallow  cultivated  fields. 

What  a  fine  example  he  is  setting  for  his 
son.  I  pray  that  he  may  not  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  murderous  predecessor. 

Many  and  long  are  the  black  marks  which 
I  have  scored  against  that  neighbor  of  mine. 
There  is  a  long  mark  under  the  word  squir 
rel^  and  it  brings  to  mind  four  little  chat- 
tering pels,  for  whom  I  have  cracked  many 
a  handful  of  nuts  on  a  cold  winter  day,  and 
placed  at  the  root  of  the  hickory  tree  they 
often  visited.  Then,  listening,  I  thought  I 
could  hear  them  chatter  their  thanks  for 
such  a  tree  that  gave  them  cracked  nuts  in 
winter.      But'   one    fine  morning,    crack  ! 


crack !  crack !  went  my  neighbor's  gun, 
and  now  there  is  but  one  of  my  little  pets 
that  visits  the  hickory  tree. 

Where  are  those  six  chubby  little  quails 
that  came  every  morning  for  the  little  hand- 
full  of  wheat  I  tossed  them,  or  to  pick  up 
the  grass  seed  scattered  in  the  barnyard, 
and  all  through  the  day  I  could  see  them 
running  through  the  shrubbery,  picking  out 
the  seeds  from  the  weeds  which  had  been 
carelessly  left  to  mature.  ^ 

Mj  neighbors  gun  told  the  tale.  One 
fine  morning  and  my  little  quails  came  no 
more  for  their  handfull  of  wheat. 

Dark  as  the  score  is  against  my  neigh- 
bor, there  are  others  as  guilty  as  he,  and 
may  their  Creator  forgive  them,  for  I  can- 
not. 

WOODSIDE,    N.    J. 


POIS  SHOULD  BE  DRAINED. 


BY    JAMES    COWAN. 


Observing  in  the  last  Horticulturist 
another  article,  by  our  highly  esteemed 
friend,  Mr.  Henderson,  headed  "  Should 
Plants  be  Crocked,"  I  beg  leave,  most  res- 
pectfully to  answer  his  modest  question, 
by  saying  that  plants  should  not  only  be 
"  crocked,"  but  all  pots  in  which  they  grow 
should  be  thoroughly  drained,  it  being,  in 
my  opinion,  absolutely  necessary  to  insure 
the  specimen-grower  complete  success. 

Mr.  H.  also  remarks  that  it  is  not  the 
pieces  of  broken  pots  and  charcoal  placed 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pot  that  causes  my 
success  in  plant-growing.  I  can  assure  him 
that  it  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it.  He 
must  reraerabor  that  there  is  great  virtue 
in  charcoal  and  broken  pots  ;  for  such  ma- 
terials, together  with  a  little  moss,  form  a 
thorough  drainage.  After  that,  the  plant 
requires  careful  watering,  but  not  so  much 
so  as  one  that  has  no  drainage. 

It  is  my  firm  opinion   that   all  tropical 
plants  should  have  the  very  same  treatment 
June,  1866. 


as    to    drainage,    with    the    exception    of 
aquatics. 

Mr.  Henderson  has  had  extensive  prac- 
tice in  growing  hard- wooded  plants,  as  well 
as  florists  flowers,  in  Jersey  City,  but  he 
has  dispensed  with  the  former,  because  they 
did  not  pay.  I  really  believe  it ;  for  it  is 
quite  absurd  to  attempt  to  grow  hard- 
wooded  specimens  without  thoroughly 
drained  pots.  Mr.  Buist,  of  Philadelphia, 
says  in  his  book  every  now  and  then  "drain 
your  pots  thoroughly." 

Mr.  H.  advised  me  to  place  a  thorough 
drained  pot,  say  8-inch  or  so,  on  the  bare 
boards  of  the  stage.  I  have  done  so ;  and 
find,  by  experience,  that  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  water  runs  out,  and  at  the  same 
time  can  be  seen  air  bubbles,  as  the  water 
passes  through  the  soil.  Frequent  watering 
carries  down  the  gas  of  which  the  air  is 
composed,  to  feed  the  roots  of  plants.- 
These  bubbles  could  not  be  seen  if  there 
were  no  holes  in  the  bottom  of  pots. 
12 


178 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


I\Ir.  II.  argues  that  pots  with  drainage 
deprive  the  plants  of  so  much  earth  to  leed 
upor?.  I  maintain  that  such  plants  should 
have  larger  pots,  as  I  am  led  to  believe  that 
the  most  useful  roots  of  plants  are  near  the 
surface,  where  the}^  can  have  a  liberal  sup- 
ply of  atmospheric  air,  which  is  most  bene- 
ficial to  their  growth.  I  maintain,  also, 
that  the  same  law  holds  good  in  the  case  of 
pots,  as  well  as  in  the  draining  of  land. 

Allow,  me  to  make  a  few  extracts  from 
Johnston's  Elements  of  Agriculture  : 

"  The  advantages  that  result  from  drain- 
ing are  manifold.  The  presence  of  too  much 
water  in  the  soil  keeps  it  constantly  cold. 
The  heat  of  the  sun's  rays,  which  is  intend- 
ed by  Nature  to  warm  the  land,  is  expend- 
ed in  caporating  the  water  from  its  sur- 
face, and  thus  the  plants  never  experience 
that  genial  warmth  about  their  roots,  which 
so  much  favors  their  rapid  growth,  whore 
too  much  water  is  present  in  the  soil ;  also, 
that  food  of  the  plant  which  the  soil  sup- 


plies is  so  much  diluted,  that  either  a  much 
greater  quantity  of  fluid  must  be  taken  in 
by  the  roots,  much  more  work  done  by 
them,  that  is,  or  the  plant  will  be  scantily 
nourished. 

"  The  access  of  air  is  essential  to  the  fer- 
tilitj^  of  the  soil,  and  to  the  healthy  growth 
of  most  of  our  cultivated  crops." 

"  The  insertion  of  drains  not  only  makes 
room  for  the  air  to  enter,  by  removing  the 
water,  but  actually  compels  the  air  to  pen- 
etrate into  the  under  parts  of  the  soil,  and 
renews  it  at  every  successive  fall  of  rain. 
Open  such  outlets  for  the  water  below,  and 
as  it  sinks  and  trickles  awaj',  it  will  suck 
the  air  after  it,  and  draw  it  into  the  pores 
of  the  soil  wherever  itself  has  been." 

I  have  made  the  above  extracts  to  show 
Mr.  Henderson  the  necessity  of  draining, 
and  the  benefit  plants  derive  from  it. 

I  appeal  to  the  gardening  community  to 
express  their  views-  in  the  matter,  as  this 
will  be  my  last  on  this  subject. 


FOWLS  AROUND  A  COUNTRY  HOME. 


BY    F.   R.   E. 


The  advantages  and  pleasing  associat'ons 
derived  by  having  a  cow  and  pig  as  part 
and  parcel  of  the  ruralist's  homestead,  have 
been  portrayed  by  an  able  writer  in  the 
pages  of  this  Magazine,  and  while  he  may 
gain  all  the  favor  of  the  men  on  his  side  in 
so  advising,  I  think  I  will  have  the  ap- 
proval of  the  women,  in  asserting  that  the 
poultry  yard  should  be  attached  to  every 
home  where  half  an  acre  of  ground  makes 
part  and  parcel  thereof. 

The  advantages  of  fresh  eggs — of  having 
a  fine  fat  bird  to  kill,  when  wanted,— to- 
gether with  the  cheerful  and  life-like  char- 
acter given  by  the  loud  and  shrill  crow  of 
the  cock  as  he  rolls  out  defiance  to  all  the 
world  in  defence  of  his  harem  of  full  breasted, 
well-formed  hens,  decked  in  their  flaunting 
garbs  of  colors,  ranging  from  pure  white,  to 
sober  shades  of  graj'  and  brown,  with  perhaps 
an  occasional  sprinkling  of  black,  are  appar- 
ent to  every  housekeeper,  xilthough  a  Horti- 


culturist, with  flowers  and  fruits  around 
me,  and  where  hens  delight  to  bask,  sun 
themselves  and  scratch,  to  the  often  annoy- 
ance of  a  lover  of  neat  kept  flower-borders, 
or  an  enthusiast  in  examining  and  testing 
some  new  strawberrj^  etc.,  yet  after  years 
of  housekeeping,  I  could  no  more  keep  house 
without  my  Speckled  Dorking  fowls  around 
me  than  without  my  flowers  and  fruits. 

I  name  Speckled  Dorkings,  because  hav- 
ing once  had  a  regular  course  of  the  "Chick- 
en fever,"  during  which  I  paid  fancy  prices 
for  Brahma  Pootras,  Buff,  White  and  Black, 
ShanghaeS;  etc.,  etc.,  and  .tried  nearly  every 
breed  of  poultry,  I  have  settled  back  to  my 
first  impression,  viz  :  that  taking  all  in  all, 
the  best  breed  of  fowls  is  the  Speckled  or 
Colored  Dorking.  They  are  hardj^,  are  good 
layers — do  not  roam  or  wander  from  their 
immediate  roosting  house  as  far  as  most 
other  breeds,  their  eggs  are  more  than  me- 
dium size,  the  chicks  come  to  a  size  fit  for 


Buskin's  Cloud  and  Torrent. 


179 


the  table  sooner  than  any  other  breed,  and 
when  dressed  are  full,  plump,  and  round  in 
form,  and,  corresponding  Avith  their  age, 
weigh  more  clear  meat  and  less  bone.  I 
have,  this  past  autumn,  killed  and  dressed 
birds  not  quite  four  months  old,  that 
weighed  four  and  one-half  pounds  after  be- 
ing thoroughly  drawn. 

As  I  have  said,  I  could  not  keep  house 
without  having  fowls  around  me,  and  this, 
I  believe,  would  be  the  saying  of  nearly 
every  country  resident ;  yet  how  few  think 


of  the  difference  in  value  that  might  yearly 
be  added  by  the  keeping  of  some  puie  and 
well-formed  breed  of  fowls,  over  the  com- 
mon dung-hill  mixture  so  generally  found, 
and  that  cost  just  as  much  to  feed,  but  when 
dressed  and  weighed  only  weigh  one-half 
to  one  third  as  much.  The  raiser  of  only 
fift}^  chickens  a  year  will  have  gained  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  clear  white 
meat,  to  say  nothing  of  the  pleasure  derived 
from  showing  a  flock  of  birds  creditable  to 
appreciative  intelligence. 


RUSKIN'S  CLOUD  AND  TORRENT. 


The  most  remarkable  quality,  perhaps, 
in  Mr.  Ruskin  is  his  pure  and  earnest  love  of 
nature.  Herein  lies  the  charm  of  his  works, 
which  are  so  familiar  to  many  of  our  read- 
ers. To  this  may  be  traced  the  main  vir- 
tue there  is  in  them,  and  the  main  utility 
they  possess.  They  will  send  the  painter 
more  than  ever  to  the  study  of  nature,  and 
perhaps  they  will  have  a  still  more  benefi- 
cial effect  on  the  art  by  sending  the  critic 
of  painting  to  the  same  school. 

Mr.  Ruskin,  in  his  love  for  Nature,  brings 
forward  and  displays  the  palpable  facts  of 
Nature — the  sky,  the  sea,  the  earth,  the 
foliage,  the  clouds — which  the  painter  has 
to  represent.  His  descriptions  are  some- 
times made  somewhat  indistinct  by  an  ex- 
uberance of  words  ;  but  there  is  a  light  in 
the  haze— there  is  a  genuine  love  and  ap- 
preciation of  Nature  felt  through  them. 
And  this  is  the  essential  point  of  sympa- 
thy, we  take  it,  between  Ruskin  and  his 
readers.  We  will  illustrate  this  love  of 
Nature  by  quotmg  a  specimen  or  two  of  his 
happiest  descriptions.  We  begin  with  the 
Cloud.^  and  our  readers  will  confess  that  their 
first  feeling,  after  the  perusal,  will  be  an  ir- 
resistible impulse  to  throw  open  the  win- 
dow, and  look  upon  the  clouds  again  as  they 
roll  through  the  sky. 

"  It  is  to  be  remembered  that,  although 
clouds  of  course  arrange  themselves  more 
or  less  in  broad  masses,  with  a  light  side 


and  a  dark  side,  both  their  light  and  shade 
are  invariably  composed  of  a  series  of  di- 
vided masses,  each  of  which  has  iu  its  out- 
line as  much  variety  and  chai'acter  as  the 
great  outline  of  the  cloud;  presenting, 
therefore,  a  thousand  times  repeated,  all 
that  I  have  described  as  the  general  form. 
Nor  are  these  multitudinous  divisions  of  s, 
truth  of  slight  importance  in  the  character 
of  sky,  for  they  are  dependent  on,  and  il- 
lustrative of,  a  quality  which  is  usually  in 
a  great  degree  overlooked — the  enormous 
retiring  spaces  of  solid  clouds.  Between 
the  illuminated  edge  of  a  heaped  cloud  and 
that  part  of  its  body  which  turns  into  sha- 
dow, there  will  generally  be  a  clear  distance 
of  several  miles — more  or  less,  of  course, 
according  to  the  general  size  of  the  cloud  ; 
but  in  such  large  masses  as  Poussin  and 
others  of  the  old  masters,  which  occupy  the 
fourth  or  fifth  of  the  visible  sky,  the  clear 
illuminated  breadth  of  vapor,  from  the  edge 
to  the  shadow,  involves  at  least  the  distance 
of  five  or  six  miles.  We  are  little  apt,  in 
watching  the  changes  of  a  mountainous 
range  of  cloud,  to  reflect  that  the  masses 
of  vapor  which  compose  it  are  huger  and 
higher  than  any  mountain-range  of  the 
earth;  and  the  distance  between  mass  and 
mass  are  not  yards  of  air,  traversed  in  an 
instant  by  the  flying  form,  but  valle  of 
changing  atmosphere  leagues  over  ;  that  the 
slow  motion  of  ascending  curves  which  we 


180 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


can  scarcely  trace,  is  a  boiling  energy  of  ex- 
ulting vapor  rushing  into  the  heaven  a  thou- 
sand feet  in  a  minute ;  and  that  the  topling 
angle  whose  sharp  edge  almost  escapes  no- 
tice in  the  multitudinous  forms  around  it, 
is  a  nodding  precipice  of  storms  three  thou- 
sand feet  from  base  to  summit.  It  is  not 
until  we  have  actually  compared  the  forms 
of  the  sky  with  the  hill-ranges  of  the  earth, 
and  seen  the  soaring  alp  overtopped  and 
buried  in  one  surge  of  the  sky,  that  we 
begin  to  conceive  or  appreciate  the  colossal 
scale  of  the  phenomena  of  the  latter.  But 
of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind 
of  any  one  accustomed  to  trace  the  forms 
of  cloud  among  hill  ranges — as  it  is  there  a 
demonstrable  and  evident  fact — that  the 
space  of  vapor  visibly  extended  over  an  or- 
dinarily clouded  sky,  is  not  less,  from  the 
point  nearest  to  the  observer  to  the  horizon, 
than  twenty  leagues ;  that  the  size  of  every 
mass  of  separate  form,  if  it  be  at  all  large- 
ly divided,  is  to  be  expressed  in  terms  of 
miles  ;  and  that  every  boiling  heap  of  illu- 
minated mist  in  the  nearer  sky  is  an  enor- 
mous mountain,  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand 
feet  in  height,  six  or  seven  miles  in  illu- 
luminated  surface,  furrowed  by  a  thousand 
colossal  ravines,  torn  by  local  tempests  into 
peaks  and  promontories,  and  changing  its 
features  with  the  majestic  velocity  of  a 
volcano." 

The  forms  of  clouds,  it  seems,  are  worth 
studying,  and  their  study  will  richly  repay 
the  lover  of  nature.  After  reading  this,  no 
landscape  painter  will  be  disposed,  with 
hasty  slight  invention,  or  with  careless  ob- 
servation, to  sketch  these  "  mountains"  of 
the  sky.  Let  us  see  what  he  says  of  water, 
first  of  a  falling  stream,  and  then  of  running 
water  : 

"  A  little  crumbling  white  or  lightly- 
rubbed  paper  will  soon  give  the  effect  of 
indiscriminate  foam ;  but  Nature  siives  more 
than  foam — she  shows,  beneath  it  and 
through  it,  a  peculiar  character  of  exqui- 
sitely-studied form  bestowed  on  tvery  wave 
and  line  of  fall ;  it  is  this  variety  of  definite 
character  which  Turner  always  aims  at, 


rejecting   as  much  as  possible   everything 
that  conceals  or  overwhelms  it.     Thus  in 
the  upper   Fall  of  the  Tees,   though   the 
whole  basin  of  the  fall  is   blue,  and  dim 
with  the  rising  vapor,  yet  the  attention  of 
the  spectator  is  chiefly  directed  to  the  con- 
centric  zones   and    delicate  curves    of  the 
falling  water  itself;  and  it  is  impossible  to 
express  with  what  exquisite  accuracy  these 
are  given.     They  are  the  characteristics  of 
a  powerful  stream  descending  without  im- 
pediment or  break,  but  from  a  narrow  chan- 
nel, so  as  to  expand  as  it  falls.     They  are 
the  constant  form  which  such  a  stream  as- 
sumes as  it  descends;  and  yet  I  think  it 
would  be  difficult  to  point  to  another  in- 
stance of  their  being  rendered  in  art.    You 
will  find  nothing  even  in  the  water-falls  of 
our  best   painters,  but   springing  lines  of 
parabolic  descent,  and  splashing  and  shape- 
less foam ;    and,   in    consequence,    though 
they  make  you   understand  the  swiftness 
of  the  water,  they  never  let  you  feel  the 
weight   of  it;  the  stream,  in  their  hands, 
looks  active,  not  supine^  as  if  it  leaped,  not 
as  if  it  fell.     Now,  water  will  leap  a  little 
way — it  will  leap  down  a  weir  or  over  a 
stone — but  it  tuvibles  over  a  high  fall  like 
this  :  and  it  is  when  we  have  lost  the  para- 
bolic line,  and  arrived  at  the  catenary — 
when  we  have  lost  the  spring  of  the  fall  and 
arrived  at  the  23hmge  of  it — that  we  begin 
really   to   feel   its  weight    and    wildness. 
Where  water  takes  its  first  leap  from  the 
top,   it  is  cool  and  collected,  and  uninter- 
esting and  mathematical  ;  but  it  is  when  it 
finds  that  it  has  got  into  a  scrape,  and  has 
further  to  go  than  it  thought  for,  that  its 
character  comes  out ;  it  is  tlien  that  it  be- 
gins to  writhe,  and  twist,  and  to  sweep 
out,  zone  after  zone,  in  wilder  stretching  as 
it  falls,  and  to  send  down  the  rocket-like, 
lance-pointed,  whizzing  shafts  at  its  sides, 
sounding  for  the  bottom.     And  it  is  this 
prostration,  the  hopeless  abandonment  of 
its  ponderous  power  in  the  air,  which   is 
always  peculiarly  expressed  by  Turner. 

When  water,  not  in  a  very  great  body, 
runs  in  a  rocky  bed  much  interrupted  by 


Glazed  vs.  Unglazed  Floiver  Pots. 


181 


hollows,  so  tliat  it  can  rest  every  now  and 
then  in  a  pool  as  it  goes  along,  it  does  not 
acquire  a  continuous  velocity  of  motion.  It 
pauses  after  every  leap,  and  curdles  about, 
and  rests  a  little,  and  then  goes  on  again  ; 
and  if,  in  this  comparatively  tranquil  and 
rational  state  of  mind,  it  meets  with  any 
obstacles,  as  a  rock  or  a  stone,  it  parts  on 
each  side  of  it  with  a  little  bubbling  foam, 
and  goes  round :  if  it  comes  to  a  stop  in  its 
bed  it  leaps  it  lightly,  and  then,  after  a  lit- 
tle splashing  at  the  bottom,  stops  again  to 
take  breath.  But  if  its  bed  be  on  a  con- 
tinuous slope,  not  much  interrrupted  by 
hollows,  so  that  it  cannot  rest — or  if  its 
own  mass  be  so  increased  by  flood  that  its 
usual  resting-places  are  not  sufficient  for 
it,  but  that  it  is  perpetually  pushed  out  of 
them  by  the  following  current,  before  it  has 
had  time  to  tranquilize  itself — it  of  course 
gains  velocity  with  every  yard  that  it  runs  ; 
the  impetus  got  at  one  leap  is  carried  to  the 
credit  of  the  next,  until  the  whole  stream 
becomes  one  mass  of  unchecked  accelerating 
motion.  Now,  when  water  in  this  state 
comes  to  an  obstacle,  it  does  not  part  at  it, 
but  clears  it  like  a  race-horse  ;  and  when  it 
comes  to  a  hollow,  it  does  not  fill  it  up,  and 
run  out  leisurely  at  the  other  side,  but  it 
rushes  down  into  it,  and  comes  up  on  the 
other  side,  as  a  ship  into  the  hollow  of  the 
sea.  Hence,  the  whole  appearance  of  the 
bed  of  the  stream  is  changed,  and  all  the 
lines  of  the  water  altered  in  their  nature. 
The  quiet  stream  is  a  succession  of  leaps 
and  pools  ;  the  leaps  are  light  and  springy. 


and  parabolic,  and  make  a  great  deal  of 
splashing  when  they  tumble  into  the  pool  ; 
then  we  have  a  space  of  quiet  curling  water, 
and  another  similar  leap  below.  But  the 
stream,  when  it  has  gained  an  impetus, 
takes  the  shape  of  its  bed,  never  stops,  is 
equally  deep  and  equally  swift  everywhere, 
goes  down  into  every  hollow,  not  with  a 
leap,  but  with  a  swing — not  foaming  nor 
splashing,  but  in  the  bending  line  of  a  strong 
sea-wave,  and  comes  up  again  on  the  other 
side,  over  rock  and  ridge,  with  the  ease  of 
a  bounding  leopard.  If  it  meet  a  rock  three 
or  four  feet  above  the  level  of  its  bed,  it 
will  neither  part  nor  foam,  nor  express  any 
concern  about  the  matter,  but  clear  it  in  a 
smooth  dome  of  water  without  apparent 
exertion,  coming  down  again  as  smoothly 
on  the  other  side,  the  whole  surface  of  the 
surge  being  drawn  into  parallel  lines  by  its 
extreme  velocity,  but  foamless,  except  in 
places  where  the  form  of  the  bed  opposes 
itself  at  some  direct  angle  to  the  line  of 
fall  and  causes  a  breaker  ;  so  that  the  whole 
river  has  the  appearance  of  a  deep  and  rag- 
ing sea,  with  this  only  difference,  that  the 
torrent  waves  always  break  backwards,  and 
sea  waves  forwards.  Thus,  then,  in  the 
water  that  has  gained  an  impetus,  we  have 
the  most  exquisite  arrangement  of  curved 
lines,  perpetually  changing  from  convex  to 
concave,  following  every  swell  and  hollow 
of  the  bed  with  their  modulating  grace, 
and  all  in  unison  of  motion,  presenting  per^ 
haps  the  most  beautiful  series  of  inorganic 
forms  which  nature  can  possibly  produce." 


GLAZED  vs.  UNGLAZED  FLOWER  POTS. 


BY    S.    REID,    PITTSFIELD,    MASS. 


I  HAVE  had  an  article  on  the  above  topic 
partly  in  and  half  out  of  my  head  for  some 
time,  but  your  correspondent,  "  B.  S.."  has 
taken  all  the  thunder  out  of  it.  Well, 
thunder  owes  some  of  its  impressiveness 
to  echo;  with  echoes  from  them  I  will  be 
contented. 

The  prejudice  against  glazed  pots,  we 
have  had  occasion  to  know,  is  very  general. 


Offer  a  lady  a  glazed  pot,  and  she  will  re- 
ply, "  I  wish  I  could  use  them,  they  are  so 
much  nicer  and  so  much  easier  kept  clean  ; 
but  everybody  says  plants  will  not  do  as 
well  in  them,"  But  who  is  this  every- 
body ?  "  0,  I  have  asked  Gen.  A's  gar- 
dener, and  Col.  B's  gardener,  and  Judge  O's 
gardener,  and  they  all  say  plants  do  much 
better  in  unglazed  pots,  and  that  you  can 


182 


TJie   Horticulturist. 


not  Lire  a  gardener  who  knows  anytli  ng 
about  his  business  to  use  a  glazed  pot.  Is 
not  this  enough." 

Well,  let  it  pass. 

We  like  early  tomatoes,  and  to  gratify 
this  liking,  we  usually  start  the  plants  in 
pots  the  last  of  February,  and  have  them 
in  full  bloom,  and  sometimes  further  ad- 
vanced, by  the  time  the  open  ground  is 
sufficiently  warm  and  dry  to  receive  them. 
For  pots,  we  use  such  refuse  ones  as  come 
conveniently  to  hand,  some  glazed,  some 
unglazed.  Now,  we  have  noticed,  for  a  se- 
ries of  at  least  four  or  five  years,  that  the 
plants  in  the  glazed  pots  uniformly  make 
the  largest  and  most  healthy  growth.  We 
allow  the  gardeners  experiments  to  be  just 
as  reliable  as  our  own.  But  the  results  are 
contradictory.  The  experiments  are  just 
like  those  for  which  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural societies  are  paymg  thousands  of 
dollars  annually,  and  the  results  are  the 
same — a  bundle  of  contradictions.  And 
such  will  be  the  case  so  long  as  the  circum- 
stance?,, the  very  hinges  on  lohicli  results  turn, 
are  neglected.  "  Half  the  truth  is  general- 
ly a  lie  "  is  an  old  maxim,  and  experiments 
with  half  the  circumstances  omitted  give 
a  lying  result.  We  tried  our  experiments 
in  a  dry,  stove-heated  room,  the  water  ap- 
plied only  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  the 
gardener  his,  in  a  green-house,  the  watering, 
principally,  by  sprinkling  foliage,  pots, 
benches,  stools,  &c.,  with  tepid  water. — 
The  air  of  the  house  is  kept  loaded  with 
moisture,  so  that  there  is  but  little,  if  any, 
evaporation  from  the  surface  of  the  pot. — 
The  air  is  as  ready  to  give  moisture  to  the 
pot  as  to  ask  it.  The  pot  is  not  wanted  to 
hold  water,  but  simply  to  hold  the  earth, 
and  keep  the  plant  right  side  up.  A  gauze 
pot,  had  it  firmness  enough  to  do  this, 
would  answer  quite  well,  while  a  glazed 
one  would  defeat  the  prime  object — a  uni- 
form heat  and  moisture  through  the  whole 
concern. 

Step  now,  sir,  to  the  sitting-room  of  any 
ordinary  family — a  room  warmed  b}'  a 
stove,  perhaps  a  coal  stove,  the  air,  the  fur- 
niture, carpet,  and  walls  are  as  dry  as  a 


piece  of — anything  you  may  please  to  com- 
pare them  with.  If  a  whiff  of  steam  es- 
cape from  any  transient  vessel  of  water,  it 
is  drank  up  instantl3\  Bring  into  this 
room,  a  plant  in  an  unglazed,  a  porous  pot, 
having  the  earth  well  wet ;  evaporation 
from  the  surface  of  the  pot  instantly  be- 
gins; and  such  is  the  rapidity  with  which  it 
goes  on,  that  it  almost  freezes  the  very 
earth  in  the  pot — for  all  know,  or  ought  to 
know,  that  evaporation  is  a  freezing  pro- 
cess;  that  it  is  not  the  melting,  but  the 
drying  that  carries  off  the  heat.  In  a  short 
time  the  earth  in  contact  with  the  pot  be- 
comes dry.  In  watering,  especial  care  is 
taken  to  give  the  outer  edge  of  the  earth 
its  full  share,  yet  it  is  soon  dry ;  and,  al- 
though we  are  cautioned  against  too  fre- 
quent watering,  yet  the  drooping  leaf  will 
remind  us  that  its  outer,  its  fibrous  roots 
are  thirsty. 

The  pot  in  the  sitting-room  has  a  very 
different  office  from  its  fellow  in  the  green- 
house. It  is  to  hold  moisture  as  well  as 
earth,  and  prevent  evaporation  with  the 
consequent  chilling  of  the  roots  of  the 
plant.  The  plant  needs  its  protection. — 
Give  the  plant  language,  and  you  would 
hear  it  say,  "  This  air  is  a  thirsty  old  fel- 
low; I  give  him  drink  from  the  surface  of 
every  leaf,  but  he  is  not  satisfied.  He  comes 
into  my  kitchen,  takes  the  water  in  which 
I  mix  my  fooo,  and  in  getting  away  with 
it,  puts  out  my  fire,  and  leaves  me  cold  and 
dry.  He  should  be  taught  to  know  his 
place." 

The  whole  matter,  then,  lies  here:  A 
healthy  growth  of  the  plant  requires  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  heat  and  moisture,  and  this 
kept  as  uniform  as  possible.  In  the  green- 
house, with  its  usual  attending  circum- 
stances, this  is  best  secured  by  porous  pots; 
in  the  sitting-room,  under  very  different 
circumstances,  by  pots  not  porous. 

We  feel  very  confident  that,  for  parlor 
use,  the  hard,  non-porous  pot  will  give  a 
healthier  growth  of  the  plant,  keep  itself 
much  more  neat  and  cleanly,  be  more  dura- 
ble, and  ask  for  less  care  in  watering,  thus 
combining  economy,  beauty,  and  comfort 


Editor's  Table.  381 

EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


St.  Catharines,  C.  W.,  19  Jan.  1866. 
Messrs.  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward. 

Various  matters  requiring  my  attention 
have  prevented  my  replying  to  your  favor  of 
16th  November  last,  relative  to  my  humble 
experience  in  the  cultivation  of  the  Grape. 
Although  always  an  enthusiastic  Horticul- 
turist 1  have  only  of  late  years  turned  my 
attention  to  Grape  Culture  and  I  am  pleased 
to  find  that  it  is  attracting  so  much  atten- 
tion in  the  Horticultural  World,  it  is  in  my 
opinion  a  most  delightful  and  profitable 
employment  and  in  a  very  few  3^ears  there 
will  be  as  many  varieties  of  grapes  as  there 
now  are  of  apples  and  pears,  I  speak  with 
reference  to  hardy  varieties,  or  what  are  so 
called.  Look  at  what  already  has  been  ac- 
complished '.  Many  can  remember  when 
the  Isabella  was  the  only  grape  cultivated 
and  was  considered  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  per- 
fection, and  now  what  a  variety  of  Grape 
vines  are  offered  for  sale  in  every  catalogue 
we  take  up,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  grape 
culture  is  only  in  its  infancy  in  this  counti'y 
and  that  its  cultivation  is  destined  to  be  of 
great  importance  in  the  manufacture  of 
native  wine  which  is  already  attracting 
much  attention.  I  have  often  been  much 
amused  at  the  elaborate  articles,  appearing 
from  time  to  time  in  the  different  periodi- 
cals, relative  to  the  management  of  grape 
vines,  the  necessary  pruning  required  and 
the  requisite  ingredients  to  form  a  suitable 
soil,  a  great  deal  of  which  in  my  opinion,  is 
quite  unnecessary  for  the  successful  cultiva- 
tion of  the  grape  ;  no  doubt  a  certain  degree 
of  knowledge  is  desirable,  but  the  conclusion 
I  have  arrived  at  is,  that  we  should  leave 
more  to  nature  and  less  to  art,  and  if  we 
paid  more  attention  to  top-dressing  and  less 
to  the  number  of  carcases  deposited  in  our 


grape  quarters,  we  should  hear  less  of  rot 
and  other  diseases  to  which  grapes  are  liable. 
By  making  our  borders  too  rich  we  stimulate 
the  vines  to  unnatural  growth,  and  vre 
make  the  matter  worse  by  taking  off  this 
luxuriant  wood,  and  destroying  the  vigor  of 
the  vine.  I  notice  in  your  December  num- 
ber that  one  of  your  correspondents,  D. 
W.  Adams,  of  Waukon,  Alamakee  county, 
Iowa,  quite  agrees  with  me,  he  says  very 
pertinently  "  that  the  better  they  are 
treated,  the  worse  they  are  diseased  " — this 
subject  I  should  like  to  see  well  discussed 
in  your  columns.  I  have  been  fortunate  so 
far  as  rot  is  concerned,  the  only  varieties 
on  which  I  have  seen  it  are  the  Curtis  or 
Stetson's  Hybrid  (an  early  black  grape  sim- 
ilar to  Blood's  Bhick),  badly  touched,  and 
Perkins  and  Concord  slightly,  Delaware 
also  showed  symptoms  of  the  disease  in  a 
few  berries.  I  much  fear  that  under  our 
present  (in  my  opinion)  erroneous  sj-stem 
of  pruning  and  manuring  we  shall  see  much 
more  of  it  every  season.  I  will  now  give 
you  a  list  of  such  grapes  as  I  have  tested, 
and  of  my  vines,  as  to  their  adaptability  to 
our  soil  and  climate,  and  their  season  of 
ripening  in  this  part  of  Canada;  the  soil 
and  climate  of  which,  is  very  similar,  to 
that  of  your  famous  Grape  Valley,  with  the 
advantage  of  having  water  on  both  sides 
within  a  few  miles  of  us.  St.  Catharines  is 
situated  at  the  base  of  the  same  range  of 
hills,  that  run  through  that  beautiful  sec- 
tion of  country,  and  is  well  described  as 
the  Garden  of  Canada. 

The  varieties  I  have  hitherto  tested,  are 
as  follows  viz:  Delaware,  Rebecca,  Diana, 
Union  Village,  Clara,  Allen's  Hybrid,  Cas- 
sidy,  Elsingburgh,  Ontario,  Louisa,  Isabella, 
Canadian  Chief,  Taylor  or  Bullit,  Lenoir, 


184 


TJie  EorticuUimst. 


Logan,  Concord,  Anna,  Perkins,  Black  Clus- 
ter, Pelbam  Seedling,  Secord,  Catawba, 
Hartford  Prolific,  Curtis,  Blood's  Black, 
Tokalon,  Rogers'  3,  4,  15,  19,  20,  33  and 
41;  I  have  also  Lydia,  Creveling,  Worden's 
Seedling,  Zona,  Israella,  Rogers  1,  2  and 
9,  Adirondac,  Underbill's  Seedling,  Maxa- 
tawny,  Cuyahoga,  Alvey  and  some  others 
whose  names  I  do  not  remember,  none  of 
which  are  yet  in  bearing. 

Of  the  above  varieties  Curtis,  Blood's 
Black  and  Hartfoi'd  Prolific  and  Rogers' 
number  3,  ripen  with  us  the  first  week  in  Sep- 
tember, none  of  them  are  high  flavored  and 
are  only  valuable  on  account  of  their  ripen- 
ing earl}^,  the  Curtis  was  badly  afiected 
with  the  rot;  the  next  to  ripen  with  us  are 
Delaware,  Logan,  Allen's  Hybrid,  Concord, 
Rebecca,  Elsingburg,  Ontario,  Alvey,  Secord 
Perkins  and  Rogers'  4,  15  and  19  all  ripening 
about  the  middle  of  September. 

The  last  to  ripen  here  are  Isabella,  Diana, 
Louisa,  Union  Village  and  Rogers'  number 
1,  the  first  week  in  October. 

The  question  now  arises  which  of  the 
above  numerous  varieties  would  I  recom- 
mend for  cultivation.  This  must  depend  in  a 
great  measure  on  soil  and  climate,  our  soils 
are  various  from  sand  to  heavy  clay,  the 
climate  generally  dry  and  on  that  account 
well  adapted  to  the  grape. 

For  an  early  grape  I  would  take  Hartford 
Prolific  or  Rogers'  number  3,  of  the  next  in 
order  to  ripen,  Delaware,  Allen's  Hybrid, 
Concord  and  Rogers'  4,  15  and  19  ;  and  I 
should  still  cling  to  our  old  favorite  the 
Isabella,  and,  where  it  will  ripen,  the  Diana, 
which  will  become  one  of  our  best  varieties 
or  wiue  in  favorable  localities.  I  made  a 
wine  from  it  last  season  for  which  I  received 
a  diploma  and  first  prize  at  our  Provincial 
exhibition,  it  requires,  however  a  warm  ex- 
posure and  is  then  a  very  delicious  grape, 
perfectly  hardy,  standing  our  most  severe 
winters,  without  protection  and  free  so  far 
from  all  disease,  its  only  fault  is  that  it 
grows  too  close  on  the  bunch.  Allen's  Hy- 
brid is  the  finest  white  grape  we  have  for 
the  table,  but  this  year  the  flavor  did  not 


come  up  to  the  mark.  Rogers'  were  all 
very  fine  and  are  destined,  if  they  retain 
their  present  good  qualities  to  form  a  new 
era  in  grape  culture.  Some  varieties  I  have 
thrown  out  as  w^orthless,  viz.,  Taylor  or 
Bullit  and  Lenoir,  two  miserable  wild  sour 
things,  I  cannot  call  them  grapes,  the  Anna, 
one  of  Dr.  Grant''s  htimhtigs,  and  I  must  here 
express  my  surprise  that  a  man  of  his 
standing  should  send  out  such  rubbish  as 
this  and  devote  nearly  two  pages  of  his 
catalogue  to  a  description!  of  this  grape, 
and  from  which  I  was  induced  to  purchase 
a  vine  now  pulled  up  and  thrown  away  after 
nursing  it  with  great  care  for  several  years  ; 
it  would  be  only  occupying  your  pages  un- 
necessarily to  go  over  bis  description  of  its 
perfections,  suflQce  it  to  say,  that  it  is  a 
miserable  flavorless  thing  totally  unfit  for 
general  cultivation.  I  had  the  Diana  close  to 
it  ripening  perfectly  every  season  and  I 
never  had  an  eatable  grape  from  the  Anna, 
I  can  get  any  number  of  respectable  people 
in  this  town  to  substantiate  what  I  say. 
The  Black  Cluster  and  Pelbam  Seedling  I 
have  also  discarded.  We  have  lately  formed 
a  Grape  Growlers  Association  for  the  purpose 
of  encouraging  the  growth  of  grapes  and  the 
manufacture  of  wine  with  every  prospect 
of  success,  as  we  think  we  possess  a  soil  and 
climate  well  adapted  to  the  successful  cul- 
tivation of  the  grape. 

I  fear  gentlemen  that  I  have  wearied  you 
with  my  rambling  remarks,  I  shall  be  well 
repaid  however,  if  they  are  the  humble 
means  of  awakening  a  spirit  of  inquiry  into 
the  resources  of,  I  may  say,  otir  country  and 
in  my  opinion  of  its  adaptability  in  many 
parts  of  it  to  grape  growing. 

Very  truly  yours 

James  Taylor. 


Dr.  Schrceder's  Method. — Messrs.  Ed- 
itors:— In  the  February  number  of  the  Gar- 
denerh  Monthly,  is  a  lecture  by  Dr.  Schrceder 
upon  the  prevention  of  rot  in  Catawba 
vines,  by  continued  laj^'ering,  so  as  always 
to  have  fruit  on  new  vines,  and  the  author  of 
the  plan  claims  that  it  is  a  successful  one. 


Editor's  Table. 


185 


He  claims  also,  that  he  has  discovered 
the  law,  that  as  vines  get  older  they  are 
more  disposed  to  rot,  a  law  of  disease  that 
does  not  seem  to  hold  good  with  other 
fruits. 

"Whether  this  method  of  treatment  is  the 
true  one  or  not,  it  is  almost  identical  with  a 
plan  recommended  for  the  prevention  of 
mildew  (in  foreign  grapes  grown  out  of 
doors)  by  A.  J.  Downing,  in  Hovey''s  Maga- 
zine, volume  v.,  page  121. 

Speaking  of  a  person  who  grows  foreign 
grapes  successfully  out  doors,  Mr.  Downing 
says : 

"  In  the  month  of  June,  every  year,  he 
selects  on  every  vine,  a  clean  shoot,  some 
five  to  eight  feet  in  length,  of  which  he 
buries  about  eighteen  inches  of  the  middle 
part,  in  the  common  method  of  layering. 
The  plants  in  the  vineyard  are  planted  in 
rows,  and  the  layers  are  made  in  the  line  of 
rows  between  the  old  plants. 

The  second  year  all  the  old  plants  are 
dug  up  and  flung  away,  if  they  are  not  per- 
fectly strong  and  vigorous.  In  this  way  he 
preserves  a  constant  stock  of  strong,  new 
vines,  which  are  able,  by  their  superior 
vigor,  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  mildew, 
and  bear  abundant  and  beautiful  crops." 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  plan,  published 
in  1839,  does  not  differ  much  from  Dr. 
Schrceder's,  and  as  we  have  Mr.  Downing's 
assurance  that  it  prevents  mildew,  there 
seems  to  be  good  reason  to  think  that  the 
Doctor's  may  prevent  rot.  If  it  does  it  will 
be  a  blessing,  in  spite  of  the  labor  it  involves. 

J.  M.  M.,  Jr. 
"Walpole,  Mass. 


Remedy  for  Mildew.— The  moment 
of  troubles  for  vine-growers  and  garden- 
ers in  general,  by  the  oidium,  is  getting 
near,  and  I  thought  that  some  of  your 
readers  may  read,  with  some  interest, 
a  remedy  which  is  not  new,  but  which 
proved,  in  every  respect,  satisfactory  for 
years,  and  may,  perhaps,  not  be  gener- 
ally known. 

For  a  long  time  the  application  of  flour 


of  sulphur,  in  a  dry  state  to  plants,  was 
recommended,  and  is  still  in  use  in  many 
places,  but  has  never  answered  completely. 
Others  recommend  the  application  of 
flour  of  sulphur  during  a  wet  day,  or  after 
syringing  the  plants  all  over. 

This  also  did  not  give  full  satisfaction. 
In  1852  the  French  Government  recom- 
mended the  following  remedy — first  pro- 
posed b}^  a  gentleman,  M.  Grison,  in  the 
Journal  cle  la  Societe  cV Horticulture  Pratique 
cle  PA  in : 

One  pound  of  flower  of  sulphur,  and  one 
pound  of  slack  lime,  to  which  three  quarts 
of  water  are  added,  gradually,  by  stirring 
the  mixture ;  the  whole  put  over  a  slow 
fire,  and  to  remain  boiling,  stirring  it  until 
reduced  to  2^  qviarts. 

The  liquid,  after  the  solid  matter  has 
deposited,  is  to  be  corked  in  bottles,  and 
in  case  of  want,  mixed  with  one  hundred 
times  the  quantity  of  rain  water,  and  ap- 
plied all  over  the  plants,  first  before  the 
buds  open,  and  a  second  time  before  the 
blooming,  and  the  cure  generally  is  radical. 

I  have  just  applied  this  remedy,  with 
full  success,  to  a  lot  of  roses  which  I  intend 
to  force.  Three  weeks  ago  they  were  all 
at  once  completely  checked  in  their  growth, 
and  I  could  not  detect  the  reason  until  the 
leaves  commenced  to  drop.  It  was  sim- 
ply the  oidium,  which  I  cured  in  this  way. 
There  is  not  the  least  injury  to  be  feared 
to  any  plants  from  it. 

By  E.  A.  Baumann,  Rahaway,  N.J. 


Peaches  South. — This  month  peach  trees 
in  our  Southern  States  will  do  to  bud.  As 
soon  as  the  bud  starts,  head  off  the  top,  and 
a  growth  of  from  three  to  four  feet  will  be 
the  result  by  autumn. 

Trees  transplanted  this  past  Spring  should 
be  carefully  looked  over,  and  if  they  are  not 
pushing  strong  will  require  perhaps  more 
cutting  back — perhaps  mulching  and  water- 
ing. Thoroughly  examine  them,  and  attend 
to  their  wants  iu  time. 


186 


The  HorficuUu7'ist. 


Annuals  sLould  be  carefully  looked  over 
tliis  montli,  and  if  inclined  to  grow  too 
rank  or  misshapen  should  have  the  ends 
nipped  off.  As  they  come  into  bloom  thin 
out  some  of  the  vreakly  buds,  and  thei'eby 
assist  the  remaining  ones  to  give  you  larger 
size  flowers  and  brighter  colors. 

In  transplanting  annual  flowers  try  and 
study  their  heights  and  colors  so  that  as 
they  come  into  bloom  the  flowers  and  foliage 
will  blend  harmoniously  ;  as  a  rule,  the  dark 
colors  to  the  centre  or  back  ground,  shading 
down  to  pure  white  for  the  margin. 

Annual  vines  are  usually  trained  on  poles 
or  cords,  in  cone,  fan  or  other  shaped  forms ; 
thej"  are  also  made  very  attractive  as  mass- 
es when  trained  on  a  light  wire  or  thread 
lattice,  laid  horizontally,  about  four  inches 
from  the  ground.  If  several  varieties  are 
so  trained  together  the  effect  is  often  very 
pleasing. 


The  American  Cowslip — Dodecatheon 
3ie«fZ/a.— Although  a  native,  is  none  the 
less  deserving  a  place  in  all  the  grounds, 
and  is  one  of  the  few  plants  admirably 
adopted  to  shady  borders.  If  to  be  grown 
from  seeds,  thej^  should  be  gathered  and 
sown  as  soon  as  ripe,  in  a  sandy  border,  pot 
or  frame,  shaded  from  the  south  sun.  If  to 
be  propagated  by  offsets,  they  should  be 
taken  off  about  the  last  of  July  and  at  once 
replanted  in  a  shady  border,  of  good,  light, 
rich,  sandy  loam. 


Cauliflower  and  Late  Cabbage. — 
Seed  sown  early  in  this  month  will  give 
good  heads  late  in  autumn.  If  severe 
weather  comes  on  before  all  the  cauliflowers 
head,  they  may  be  taken  up  and  trans- 
planted in  good  soil,  in  a  light  cellar  or 
shed  enclosure,  where  they  will  complete 
their  growth  nearly  as  well  as  in  the  open 
ground.  Cabbage  plants  sown  now  for 
transplanting  for  winter  use  are  much  more 
reliable  than  plants  already  advanced.  The 
heads  of  late  cabbages  are  almost  always 
firmer  and  keep  better. 


Wash  for  Bjdies  of  Fruit  Trees. — 
One  ounce  of  copperas  to  eight  or  ten  gal- 
lons of  water  forms  a  good  wash,  and  is  ad- 
vised for  trial  as  preventative  against  blight. 
One  pound  of  bleachers  soda  and  one  gallon 
of  water  forms  a  wash  that  cleans  off  all  in- 
sects, and  leaves  the  trees  with  fresh  young 
looking  healthy  bark. 


Mulching  or  Shading  Ground. — Not 
only  does  mulching  the  ground  keep  more 
uniform  the  temperature  and  moisture 
about  the  trees  and  plants,  but  it  is  ac- 
knowledged that  the  shade  so  obtained  as- 
sists in  a  supply  of  fertilization.  Now  is 
the  time,  if  you  have  not  yet  applied  a 
mulch  around  your  young  trees,  etc.,  to  do 
it.  Newly  mown  grass  we  have  found  one 
of  the  best,  because  it  retained  its  place  well, 
and  gave  no  seeds  to  vegetate  ;  but  any  lit- 
ter will  answer,  or  if  saw-dust  or  tan  bark 
are  easily  accessible,  they  make  a  durable 
and  neat  material. 

Roses. — Remember,  that  to  keep  up  a 
continuous  blooming  on  Tea,  Bengal  and 
Bourbon  roses,  they  require  to  have  the 
blossoms  removed,  ere  the  petals  fall,  and 
that  occasionally  weak  shoots  require  pinch- 
ing back.  Keep  the  ground  always  fresh 
and  loose  throughout  the  rose  bed. 

Remontant  roses  should  have  their 
first  flower  buds  entirely  removed  ;  because 
at  this  time  (June),  there  are  abundance 
of  roses,  and  because  by  so  doing,  the  plants 
will  form  stronger,  and  more  abundant 
buds  to  bloom  a  month  hence.  Layers 
should  be  put  down  the  latter  part  of  this 
month. 


If  buds  occasionally  force  out  on  the  bodies 
of  your  young  trees,  let  them  grow — do  not 
rub  them  off — many  trees  are  injured  by 
exposure  of  a  long  bare  trunk  to  summer 
and  winter's  suns — let  the'  buds  grow  and 
thus  form  branches  near  to  the  ground, 
shielding  by  foliage,  and  adding  to  vigor 
and  permanency  of  the  tree. 


Editor's  Table. 


187 


Thinning  Fruit. — "We  might  write  page 
on  page  recounting  experiments  and  results 
of  thinning  out  fruit,  but  it  would  only  be 
to  prove  that  which  all  good  fruit  cultiva- 
tors now  concede — viz :  that  one-third  to 
one-half  in  number  of  fruits,  well  distributed 
on  the  tree  or  vine,  produce  at  maturity 
equal  bulk,  better  quality,  handsomer  ap- 
pearance, more  satisfaction  of  mind  to  the 
grower,  and  finally  yield  in  the  market  a 
greater  pecuniary  return. 

The  present  and  coming  months  call 
therefore  for  attention  of  fruit  growers  to 
this  subject.  All  fruits  on  young  and 
weakly  spurs  or  twigs  should  be  taken  away, 
and  clusters  or  groups  so  thinned,  that 
while  a  supply  of  foliage  will  assist  in  ma- 
turing each  distinct  fruit  or  cluster,  they 
may  also  be  pretty  evenly  distributed  over 
the  tree  or  vine. 


Charred  Turfs  form  one  of  the  best  ma- 
terials for  cucumbers,  melons,  egg  plants, 
annual  flowers,  etc.,  that  we  have  ever 
tried.  In  growing  we  have  used  about  a 
peck  of  char  to  each  hill,  and  for  our  annual 
flowers  a  handful  or  so  to  each  plant  ac- 
cording to  its  vigor  and  habit. 

Rustic  Baskets  filled  with  Verbenas, 
Phloxdrummondi,  etc.,  etc.,  form  one  of  the 
prettiest  as  well  as  cheap  decorations  to 
small  or  large  grounds.  The  Irish  Ivy, 
Clematis,  or  Pcrriwinkle,  each  and  all  are 
good  as  a  border  to  run  over,  and  with  their 
rich,  green  foliage  soon  hide  the  rough  ex- 
terior, leaving  the  form  of  the  basket,  with 
its  green  surroundings,  and  its  bright  and 
cheery  flowers  to  meet  the  eye.  Baskets 
may  be  made  with  a  few  boards  and  strips 
of  bark,  or  of  wires,  with  twigs  interwoven, 
or  of  wicker-work,  with  bark  intertwined, 
and  of  form  to  please  the  taste. 


Salvias,  Petunias,  &c.,  when  about  to 
be  planted  out  for  summer  blooming,  in 
beds  or  borders,  will  have  their  bloom  in- 
creased in  quantity,  and  hastened  in  matu- 
rity, by  laying  the  ball  of  roots  from  the 
pot  on  its  side,  and.  pegging  down  the 
branches. 


Greenhouse  plants  should  be  mostly 
placed  out  of  doors  this  month.  Geraniums 
and  many  others  are  the  better  for  being  cut 
back.  In  placing  plants  out  of  doors,  try 
to  have  them  so  that  they  will  be  in  shade 
soon  after  mid-daj^  This  is  especially  a 
point  of  importance  as  we  go  farther  south, 
where  the  heat  of  afternoon  suns  often 
rearl3-  destroys  the  plants. 


The  Pear  and  Cherry  Slug  may  be 
easily  destroyed  by  dusting  them  over  with 
air-slacked  lime.  We  usually  go  through 
our  dwarf  pear  grounds  about  twice  in  a 
season,  sowing  broad  cast  air-slacked  lime, 
at  about  the  rate  of  four  bushels  to  the 
acre,  by  which  means  we  destroy  the  slug, 
and  apply  lime  to  the  soil  and  wants  of  the 
pear.  Some  soils,  we  think,  would  perhaps 
be  more  benefitted  by  gypsum  (plaster  of 
paris),  in  place  of  lime,  and  the  slug  as 
effectively  destroyed. 


Bee  Management. — We  are  no  bee 
manager,  and  ourself  can  never  approach 
one  of  the  little  workers  without  receiving 
from  him  a  stinging  hint  that  our  room  is 
what  he  wants,  not  our  company.  Never- 
theless, we  love  the  honey,  and  know  many 
people  who  know  more  or  less  of  hives.  We 
have  been  reading,  and  from  our  readings 
gather  the  following  as  principles  in  their 
government : 

To  prevent  their  swarming,  keep  them 
moderately  cool.  Keep  them  constantly 
working  by  depriving  them  of  most  of  their 
honey  as  it  is  produced.  Never  allow  them 
to  be  starved  for  want  of  food  ;  and  never 
allow  the  larvae  to  be  reared  in  old  cells. 


Reserve  Gardens. — Every  garden  of 
any  pretension  requires  a  piece  of  ground 
set  apart  for  a  reserve  garden.  Its  advan- 
tages will  be  daily  more  and  more  apparent 
as  the  place  grows  older  and  older,  until  he 
who  has  been  accustomed  to  its  benefits 
will  hardly  know  how  to  care  for  a  place 
without  such  an  apportionment,  as  part  and 
parcel   of  a  good  place.      Of  some  of  the 


188 


The  Horticulturist. 


advantages  of  a  reserve  garden,  we  may 
enumerate  the  starting  at  various  times  of 
annual  seed,  to  bring  forward  and  transplant 
in  the  border,  just  before  their  flowering 
period;  for  growing  slips  and  cuttings  of 
choice  new  plants  ;  for  starting  bulbs  in 
pots  ;  for  position  and  shielding  of  forcing- 
frames  ;  for  potting  and  shading  of  old 
plants  that  require  a  renewal,  or  young 
plants  yet  untested,  or  sickly  and  delicate 
plants.  Many  more  items  for  the  use  of 
such  a  piece  of  ground  could  be  stated  ;  but 
we  have  said  enough,  we  hope,  to  induce 
every  owner  of  a  garden,  in  planning  his 
grounds,  to  provide  for  a  reserve  garden. 


Training  Trees. — While  we  do  not  ad- 
vise the  commercial  fruit-grower  to  expend 
time  in  giving  variety  of  form  to  his  fruit 
trees  by  other  means  than  the  best  practi- 
cal use  of  the  knife,  yet  we  do  like  occa- 
sionally to  see  diversity  of  form  produced 
by  artificial  methods,  exhibiting  skill  and 
control  of  plant  life  in  grounds  of  amateurs. 
Trees  in  fan  shape  bordering  walks,  with 
spreading  flat  tops,  almost  umbrella  forms, 
on  lawns,  or  some  points  or  places  where 
space  is  a  part  of  the  scenery,  and  elevation 
not  admissible.  This  month  is  a  good  time 
to  train  and  tie  the  branches,  just  before  or 
about  the  time  of  forming  the  terminal 
buds.  Many  sorts  of  trees,  those  espe- 
cially of  a  straggling  habit  of  growth,  can 
be  not  only  improved  in  forms,  but  their 
bearing  surfaces  often  enlarged  and  increas- 
ed or  improved  in  character. 

Gardeners  and  amateurs  can  often,  with 
a  little  labor  and  care,  give  additional  in- 
terest and  diversity  to  small  extent  of 
grounds  by  attention  to  this  item  of  fancy 
form  in  training  trees. 


Strawberry  Month. — June  is  unques- 
tionably the  strawberry  month  over  a  great 
part  of  our  Union;  and  now,  while  they  are 
in  fruit,  we  shall  feel  obliged  to  our  friends 
if  they  will  send  us  notes  of  their  observa- 
tions 


Destroy  the  Weeds. — It  seems  unne- 
cessary ever  to  hint  that  weeds  require 
often  to  be  destroyed,  in  order  to  keep 
them  down ;  but  we  find  some  cultivators 
are  like  the  weeds,  and  require  line  upon 
line,  in  order  to  induce  their  action  to  that 
which  will  result  only  to  their  benefit. — 
June  is  essentially  the  month  of  flowers, 
and  equally  so  of  weeds ;  and  if  the  weeds 
are  taken  when  not  more  than  an  inch 
above  ground,  a  mere  brusH  with  hoe  cr 
cultivator  will  destroy  them  rapidly  and 
easily  ;  whereas,  if  left  until  they  are  firmly 
fastened  in  the  soil,  a  great  amount  of  labor 
is  needed  to  destroy  them ;  and,  besides, 
they  have  reduced  and  consumed  a  portion 
of  the  food  in  the  soil  designed  for  the 
valued  crop. 


Bulbs  of  hyacinth,  tulip,  crocus,  &c.,  re- 
quire to  be  lifted  during  the  latter  part  of 
this,  or  fore  part  of  the  coming  (July) 
month.  Their  position  of  exposure  to  sun, 
the  soil,  &c.,  will  retard  or  hasten  their 
maturity.  When  taken  up,  let  them  dry 
an  hour  or  so  in  the  sun,  then  lay  away  on 
shelves,  in  a  cool  but  dry  place.  Some 
practice  packing  the  bulbs,  immediately  on 
taking  from  the  bed  or  border,  in  dry  clean 
sand.  Cut  away  all  leaves,  but  do  not  in- 
jure any  of  the  root  fibres.  Pack  by  laying 
the  bulbs  on  their  sides,  and  so  that  they 
will  not  touch  each  othei\ 


Daphne-Mezereum. — Were  the  meze- 
reon  to  be  now  first  introduced,  its  early 
flowering  and  profusion  of  blossoms  would 
cause  a  demand  for  it  from  far  and  wide, 
rich  and  poor.  The  plant  is  perfectly  hardy; 
and  a  c:uster  of  the  pink  and  while  varie- 
ties, with  their  profusion  of  fragrant  blos- 
soms in  Spring,  before  any  leaves  expand, 
command  the  admiration  of  every  one. — 
They  maybe  easily  grown  from  layers,  cut- 
tings, or  seeds,  and  this  is  a  good  time  for 
cuttings  or  layers.  The  seeds  should  be 
sown  as  soon  as  ripe.  Light,  sandy,  loamy 
soil  suits  the  Daphne-Mezereum  best,  but 
we  have  grown  it  well  in  clay  loam  under- 
drained. 


Editor's  Table. 


189 


Messrs.  Editors. 

A  correspondent  in  the  April  Horticul- 
turist alludes  to  Mr.  Griffitli's  plan  of  rais- 
ing grape  vines  from  eyesi  in  the  open  air, 
and  I  beg  leave  to  say  a  word  about  raising 
vines  -without  heat. 

For  the  last  two  years,  I  have  raised,  for 
my  own  use.  Concord,  Diana,  Rebecca,  and 
Eogers'  15  and  19  vines,  in  an  ordinary  cold 
frame,  without  the  least  trouble. 

Some  Concord  eyes,  transplanted  into 
the  open  ground  in  May,  unsheltered,  and 
.never  watered  once,  produced  very  stocky 
vines,-with  roots  four  feet  long,  and  as  large 
as  a  goose  quill ;  and  the  same  plants,  last 
year,  made  canes,  in  the  second  season,  as 
large  as  a  man's  finger.  The  Diana  and 
Rebecca  received  rather  more  careful  treat- 
ment, being  kept  in  the  frame  all  summer. 

Some  of  the  eyes  were  put  into  the  frame 
in  April,  and  some  in  May,  and  took  care 
of  themselves,  with  occasional  waterings 
and  a  very  little  care — just  enough  to  see 
that  the  young  plants  did  not  get  burnt  up. 

Grapes  lead  naturally  to  strawberries,  and 
I  wish  to  ask : 

1.  Of  what  is  La  Constante  a  seedling, 
and  what  are  the  ancestors  of  the  Agricul- 
turist ? 

2.  Where  can  exact  and  trustworthy  in- 
formation be  found  about  the  Chili  straw- 
berry, and  the  advertised  varieties,  viz 

Chili  Orange,  Vilmorin,  &c.  ? 

J.  M.  Merrick,  Jr. 
Walpole,  Mass.,  March  31,  1866. 


Messrs.  Editors. — The  article  in  Jan. 
number,  "  Dirscrepancies  of  Grape  Culture," 
reminds  me  of  a  similar  case  : 

A  gentleman  of  a  neighboring  town  was 
the  owner  of  a  swamp  pasture  lot.  Part 
of  the  year  this  was  covered  with  water. 
It  is  situated  in  a  long,  narrow  valley. 
The  soil  a  black  muck,  and  quite  deep. 
Through  this  field  was  cut  several  open 
ditches,  through  which  the  surface-water 
found  its  exit.  "With  no  other  preparation 
of  the  land,  save  deep  ploughing,  the  field 
was  planted  out  to  grape  vines.  They  grew 
vigorously  and  healthy,  and  have  been*  for 


some  years  in  full  bearing,  and  the  crops 
they  produce  are  really  quite  surprising — 
the  vines  hanging  loaded  with  fruit.  The 
variety  is  Isabella,  but  one  would  hardly 
recognize  it.  Bunch  and  berry  are  both 
unusually  large  ;  color  deep,  and  fine  bloom 
and  quality  of  fruit — better  than  ordinary. 
Mildew  does  not  in  the  least  effect  it.  The 
experiment  is  a  success. 

It  is  a  pretty  conceit  to  call  Nature  a 
steady,  reliable  old  Dame,  and  talk  learnedly 
about  "immutable  laws."  But  facts,  (and 
by  many  learned  by  costly  experience), 
show,  that  when  we  try  to  chain  her  down 
to  mathematical  exactness — to  make  her 
work  in  a  harness  of  our  own  fitting — she 
will  sometimes  play  the  coquette,  bringing 
your  carefully  laid  plans  to  utter  disgrace 
and  then  rewarding  some  blunderer  with 
provoking  success.  The  one  studiously  did 
wrong ;  the  other  accidentally  did  right. 
The  fault  often  lies  in  trying  to  make  Na- 
ture abide  by  man's  laws  ;  to  make  her  pro- 
duce like  results  under  all  circumstances, 
or  what  seem  to  be  so  to  man.  If  some- 
times she  will  grow  better  grapes  in  a  swamp 
than  on  a  sunny  hill-side,  plant  in  a  swamp. 
Go  with  Nature,  instead  of  trying  to  make 
her  go  with  you.  Bear  good  humoredly 
when  her  plans  and  yours  don't  happen  to 
agree.  Learn  when  she  teaches,  and  you 
cannot  help  loving  the  dear  old  Dame  better 
and  better  forever.  T.  T.  S. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  April  2,  1866. 
Messrs.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row. 

Gentlemen, — Enclosed  find  three  dol- 
lars, for  which  send  me  one  copy  of  colored 
plate  of  the  Delaware  Grape.  In  the  Hor- 
ticulturist for  September  1863,  you  speak 
of  the  Yeddo  Grape  Mith  great  expecta- 
tions. Has  it  been  fruited,  and  is  it  suita- 
ble to  this  climate  ?  Please  give  us  more 
light  on  it.  I  have  an  amateur's  collection 
of  the  reputed  first  class  vines  coming  for- 
ward and  wish  to  experiment  with  some 
foreign  out-door  kinds,  A  gentleman  who 
has  spent  several  years  in  China,  tells  me  of 
a  grape,  which  the  same  kind  is  much  finer 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  empire  than  the 


190 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


southern.  The  finest  he  saw  was  in  40° 
of  latitude,  and  was  called  "  Lang-yein  Bee- 
tree,"  in  Chinese — meaning  "  Dragon's  Eye 
Grape."  which  with  them  was  the  highest 
name  for  excellence  they  could  give  it. 

If  it  could  be  introduced  here  it  might 
prove  a  valuable  acquisition,  and  if  the  at- 
tention of  the  importers  of  seeds  and  plants 
from  that  part  of  the  world  was  called  to  it, 
they  might  be  induced  to  bring  over  some 
specimens.  Let  us  hear  some  more  from 
the  Yeddo.  Yours  truly, 

S.  G.  Wight,  503  Jeff  Ave. 

[Has  the  Yeddo  sunk  into  oblivion  that 
we  hear  nothing  about  it  of  late?  What 
says  Mr.  Parsons  ? — Eds.J 


We  have  received  the  following  circular, 
which  will,  no  doubt,  prove  interesting  to 
many  of  our  readers  : — 

Painesville,  Ohio,  March  20,  1866. 
Dear  Sir  : 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Lake  Shore 
Grape  Growers'  Association,  held  in  Cleve- 
land the  past  month,  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions  were  adopted: 

"  Whereas,  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
has  invited  our  Government  to  send  to  the 
approaching  World's  Exposition  at  Paris 
American  products  and  works  of  art ;  and 
since  it  is  our  belief  that  the  wines  made 
in  our  country,  especially  in  the  regions 
embraced  in  this  Association,  will  compare 
favorably  with  the  best  specimens  produced 
in  Europe, 

Resolved^  That  we  learn  with  great  pleas- 
ure that  one  of  our  directors,  Wm.  GrifBth, 
Esq.,  purposes  attending  the  Paris  Exhibi- 
tion in  1867,  and  that  we  hereby  appoint 
him  our  representative  there,  and  request 
him  to  take  in  charge  all  specimens  furnish- 
ed by  members  of  this  Association. 

Resolved^  That  we  earnestly  request  all 
our  members,  and  others  interested,  to  for- 
ward specimens  of  native  wine  and  brandy, 
lor  this  purpose,  to  William  Griffith  or  J. 
E.  Mottier,  South  Shore  Vineyards,  North 
East,  Pennsylvania. 


Resolved^  That  we  request  Mr.  GrifBth  to 
procure  all  the  information  he  can  obtain 
in  regard  to  grape  culture  and  wine  making 
in  his  proposed  tour  in  Europe,  and  report 
the  same  to  this  Association." 

In  behalf  of  the  grape  and  wine  interests 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  obedience  to 
instructions  of  our  Society,  we  beg  leave  to 
invite  your  co-operation  in  furtherance  of 
tlie  object  of  the  above  resolutions.  Mr. 
Griffith  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and 
successful  grape  and  wine  producers  in  this 
country,  and  we  take  pleasure  in  recom- 
mending him  as  a  gentleman  every  way 
competent  and  worthy  to  represent  these 
interests  at  the  Paris  Exposition. 

We,  therefore,  respectfully  request  you 
to  send  to  him,  for  this  purpose,  specimens 
of  wines  made  from  native  grapes,  by  your- 
self or  others.  The  wines  must  be  pure, 
free  from  addition  of  sugar,  or  other  ex- 
traneous substance ;  at  least  two  bottles  of 
each  variety,  distinctly  labelled,  giving 
name  of  grape,  location  of  vineyard,  name 
and  residence  of  maker,  date,  &c. ;  to  be 
sent  to  William  Griffitk,  North  East,  Pa., 
so  as  to  reach  there  not  later  than  1st  No- 
vember, 1866,  when  they  will  be  inspected 
and  classified  by  a  committee,  consisting  of 
L.  F.  Allen,  of  New  York ;  J.  A.  Warder 
and  Charles  Carpenter,  of  Ohio;  and  J.  E. 
Mottier  and  Wm.  Griffith,  of  Pa. 

For  further  particulars,  address  William 
Griffith,  North  East,  Pa.,  who  will  be 
happy  to  answer  all  questions. 

J.  P.  Dake,  President. 

M.  B.  Bateham,  Secretary. 


Flushing,  March,  1866. 

Editors  Horticulturist. — The  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  letter  received  from  a 
prominent  lover  of  grape  culture  at  Great 
Salt  Lake  City  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
your  readers,  as  showing  the  adaptation  of 
the  climate  of  Utah  to  the  culture  of  the 
vine.  The  letter  is  dated  Sept.  12th,  1865, 
and  says  : 

"  I  received  from  you  quite  a  variety  of 
fq-reign  grapes  some  years  ago,  through  the 


Editor's  Table. 


191 


Post  Office.  Among  them  were  Buckland 
Sweetwater,  White  Frontignan,  Chasselas 
de  Fontainblcau,  &c.,  all  very  fine ;  and  all 
ripe  here  now  in  the  open  air.  I  pulled  one 
bunch  from  the  former  ten  da3rs  ago,  weigh- 
ing 3  lbs.,  less  two  ounces,  and  yesterday 
two  bunches,  together  weighing  4;^  pounds, 
all  from  one  vine,  in  the  open  air,  and  it  had 
Tperhaps  Jifti/  pounds  more  on." 

It  is  certainly  one  inducement  to  emigrate 
to  Mormondom  if  one  can  have  these  deli- 
cious varieties  of  grapes  arrive  at  such  per- 
fection in  the  open  air. 

Yours  trul}^, 

Prince  &  Co. 


also  to  keep  the  trees  within  such  narrow 
bounds  that  a  large  number  may  be  grown 
within  the  limits  of  an  ordinary  garden. 


BOOKS,  &c.,  RECEIVED. 

Grape-Growing  and  Wine-Making,  by 
George  Ilusmann,  Hermann,  Missouri.  G. 
E.  &  F.  ^Y.  Woodward,  publishers,  37  Park 
Row,  New  York.     Price,  f^l.50. 

A  new  and  practical  work,  fully  illustrat- 
ed, treating  of  the  propagation,  training, 
and  culture  of.  the  native  vine,  both  in  the 
vineyard  and  garden,  with  a  carefully  pre- 
pared list  of  those  varieties  which,  after 
extensive  trial,  are  found  free  from  disease, 
and  adapted  to  our  wants. 

Also,  thorough  and  comprehensive  direc- 
tions for  wine-making,  with  illustrations  of 
all  the  various  instruments  and  utensils 
used  in  the  manufacture. 

Mr.  Ilusmann  has  here  given  the  results 
of  his  experience  of  many  years  in  the  cul- 
ture of  the  vine  and  in  wine-making,  in 
such  a  clear  and  concise  manner,  that  all 
may  understand  the  various  processes. 

Miniature  Fruit  Garden,  by  Thomas 
Rivers,  from  the  thirteenth  English  edition. 
Orange,  Judd  &  Co.,  publishers,  41  Park 
Row,  New  York.     Price  $1. 

This  work  has  already  passed  through 
thirteen  editions  in  England,  which  fact 
would  seem  to  be  a  suflBcient  guarantee  of 
its  worth.  The  author  is  a  well-known 
practical  nurseryman  and  fruit-grower,  and, 
we  ma}'  add,  has  met  with  great  success  in  his 
mode  of  culture.  In  the  work  before  us,  we 
have  a  thorough  system  of  pruning  and  train- 
ing to  induce  fruitfulness  at  an  early  age,  and 


Essays  on  Soiling  Cattle,  by  Josiah 
Quinc}',  with  a  Memoir  of  the  Author,  by 
Edmund  Quincy.  A.  Williams  &  Co.,  pub- 
lishers, 100  Washington  Street,  Boston. — 
Price,  SI. 

The  subject  of  soiling  cattle,  as  it  is  call- 
ed— that  is,  feeding  them  upon  green  food 
in  sheds  or  stalls,  instead  of  allowing  them 
to  loam  at  will  in  pastures — is  attracting 
considerable  attention  among  our  farming 
community,  especially  near  large  cities  and 
towns,  where  farms  are  small,  and  the  value 
of  land  great.  The  author  shows  most  con- 
clusively, from  his  own  experience,  that 
there  is  great  economy  in  the  practice,  and 
that  our  small  farmers  may,  by  adopting 
this  system,  be  enabled  to  keep  as  much 
stock  as  the  possessor  of  a  hundicd  acres 
upon  the  old  system. 


Six  Lectures  on  Agriculture,  by  Mr. 
George  Ville.  A.  Williams,  Boston.  Price 
30  cents.  Translated  from  the  French  by 
Chas.  Martel. 

Scientific  Essays  on  the  chemical  con- 
stituents of  soils,  and  the  crops  grown  upon 
them,  with  results  of  expeiiments  made  to 
ascertain  what  properties  of  the  soil  are 
taken  up  by  the  growth  of  certain  crops  5 
with  suggestions  as  to  the  proper  elements 
to  be  returned  to  exhausted  lands  to  renew 
their  fertility. 


The  Book  of  Roses,  by  Francis  Parkman. 
J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.  Publishers.  Boston. 
Price  ^3. 

The  author  of  this  elegant  volume  will 
be  remembered  bj^  our  readers  as  a  frequent 
contributer  to  the  pages  of  the  Horticul- 
turist during  the  past  year,  and  is  well 
known  as  a  skilful  cultivator,  as  well  as  an 
accomplished  writer.  Mr.  Parkman  has 
given  us  in  this  book  much  useful  informa- 
tion, which  if  followed,  cannot  fail  to  ensure 
success  in  the  cultivation  of  this  ([ueen  of 
flowers.  Explicit  directions  for  culture,  both 
in  the  open  air  and  in  pots,  for  greenhouse 


192 


The  Horticulturist. 


and  parlor  decoration  are  fully  given,  as 
well  as  the  various  operations  of  plant- 
ing, pruning  and  training,  with  lists  of  the 
best  varieties  in  their  respective  classes. 
The  book  is  a  valuable  addition  to  any 
horticultural  library,  and  an  elegant  orna- 
ment for  the  drawing-room  table. 


Culture  of  the  Grape,  by  W.  C.  Strong. 
J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.  Publishers,  Boston  Mass. 
Price,  igi3. 

Grape  culture  is  attracting  much  atten- 
tion in  our  country,  and  more  especially  in 
those  portions  of  it,  where  experiments 
have  demonstrated  the  adaptability  of  the 
soil  and  climate.  The  most  casual  reader 
of  Horticultural  and  Agricultural  periodi- 
cals cannot  fail  to  notice  the  frequent 
articles  upon  the  grape,  and  if  he  turns  to 
the  advertising  pages,  he  will  perhaps  won- 
der where  can  be  found  purchasers  for  the 
immense  number  of  vines  for  sale  ;  and  yet 
all  are  sold  without  diflSculty.  Now  and 
then  a  new  book  upon  the  subject  appears, 
which  cultivators  hail  with  delight,  hoping 
to  obtain  more  information. 

In  the  book  before  us,  we  have  the  Grape 
very  thoroughly  treated,  from  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  vine  through  the  various  systems 
of  training,  until  the  fruit  is  ripened  and 
marketed  or  consumed,  with  full  remarks 
on  diseases  and  insects  The  work  is  not 
claimed  to  be  entirely  original ;  the  author 
acknowledging  himself  indebted  to  numer- 
ous writers  in  our  horticultural  monthlies 
for  practical  suggestions.  This  is  a  valua- 
ble feature  in  the  work,  as  much  time  will 
be  thereby  saved  to  the  reader,  by  having 
the  experience  of  many  collected  in  one 
volume. 

Mr.  Strong  devotes  but  little  space  to 
culture  under  glass,  and  still  less  to  wine- 
making.  Much  more  might  have  been  said 
on  both  these  topics  without  making  the 
book  too  voluminous. 


lished  fifteen  years  ago — the  last  in  1856, — 
since  which  time  it  is  almost  needless  to 
say,  to  those  of  our  readers  who  have  kept 
pace  with  floriculture,  that  a  vast  number 
of  new  plants  have  been  introduced  to  their 
notice.  Much  of  the  book  has  been  re- 
written, incorporating  only  those  portions 
of  the  old  editions,  where  no  improvement 
could  be  made.  About  one  hundred  pages 
have  been  added,  and  the  culture  of  flowers 
brought  down  to  the  present  time. 

Indian  Corn.  Its  value,  culture  and 
uses,  by  Edward  Enfield.  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.  Publishers,  New  York.     Price  ^l  75. 

Heretofore  no  work  has  been  published 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  culture  of  this 
most  important  staple  crop.  We  may  say 
that  almost  every  farmer,  however  few  the 
number  of  his  acres,  finds  place  for  his  corn 
patch,  and  yet  how  few  cultivate  it  well 
enough  to  obtain  the  yield  that  the  land  is 
capable  of  producing.  To  endeavor  to  in- 
struct his  readers  in  the  proper  mode  of 
culture  and  harvesting  the  corn  and  stalks, 
is  the  author's  aim  in  this  work,  and  he  has 
succeeded  in  giving  much  desirable  informa- 
tion in  a  pleasing  style. 


De  La  Vergne's  Sulphur  Bellows. — 
We  are  prepared  to  furnish  this  instrument, 
which  is  used  so  successfully  in  France  and 
Germany  for  the  destruction  of  mildew  en 
the  grape  vine  and  other  plants.  Any  pul- 
verized substance  can  be  thrown  by  it  either 
upon  the  under  or  upper  side  of  leaves  of 
plants.     Price  $3  50. 


Breck's  New  Book  of  Flowers,  by 
Joseph  Breck.  Orange  Judd  &  Co.  Publish- 
ers, 41  Park  Row,  New  York.     Price  $1  75. 

The  first  edition  of  this  work  was  pub. 


We  have  received  a  large  supply  of  Eng- 
lish publications  on  the  subject  of  Agricul- 
ture, Horticulture,  Landscape  Gardening, 
and  Architecture,  and  are  prepared  to  im- 
port to  order  books  on  any  subjects  on  the 
most  favorable  terms.  See  advertisement 
of  English  books  in  this  number. 

Secretaries  of  State  and  county  agricul- 
tural societies  are  requested  to  send  their 
last  reports,  or  information  to  where  they 
may  be  had  to  Messrs  J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co., 
Boston,  Mass. 


THE 


lORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXI JULY,    1806, 


,N0.  COXLL 


TREES  IN  ASSEMBLAGES. 


By  nature,  trees  are  eminently  social : 
human  art  alone  separates  them.  When 
Columbus  first  touched  these  shores,  he 
found  no  lawn  trees,  parks  or  avenues  ;  no 
groves,  even.  It  was  all  one  wide  stretch- 
ing forest;  except,  it  may  be,  where  the 
Indian's  rude  axe  or  the  fire  had  made  here 
and  there  a  clearing. 

But  nature  does  not  always  do  things  in 
the  best  way:  a  hint,  now  and  then,  from 
art  helps  her  amazingly.  In  my  friend's 
pleasure-ground,  yonder,  is  a  model  speci- 
men of  the  Norway  Spruce,  fifty  feet  high. 
Its  lower  branches  rest  gracefully  upon  the 
lawn  ;  thence  midway  and  up  to  the  apex, 
the  limbs  extend  outward  in  unbroken 
whorls ;  the  foliage  hanging  from  them  like 
tresses,  and  swaying  in  the  wind ;  near  the 
top  are  multitudes  of  bronzy  cones,  con- 
trasting finely  with  the  deep  green  of  the 
leaves  ;  and  the  whole  tree  from  the  ground 
to  its  highest  point  forms  a  symmetrical 
pyramid  of  waving  verdure.  Now,  if  na- 
ture had  had  her  own  way  with  this  tree. 


she  would  have  set  it  with  a  multitude  of 
shrubs  on  some  cold,  Norwegian  mountain, 
where,  though  it  might  have  made  good 
ship  timber,  its  lower  branches  would  have 
been  killed  out  by  the  shade  of  the  sur- 
rounding forest,  and  its  beauty  entirely  de- 
stroyed. What  say  you  also,  of  yonder 
Elm,  standing  alone  in  the  meadow,  with 
its  colossal  trunk  so  strongly  buttressed  at 
the  base,  then  tapering  as  it  rises,  until  it 
spreads  out  and  supports  a  leafy  dome,  so 
light,  symmetrical  and  graceful  as  per- 
fectly to  satisfy  the  eye  with  its  grand 
beauty.  You  don't  find  such  trees  in  a 
primitive  forest. 

Exceptions  of  this  sort  being  borne  in 
mind,  let  us  consider  trees  socially  related. 
Tne  young  artist  in  composing  his  landscape 
is  apt  to  set  his  trees  one  by  one  at  regular 
distances  on  the  canvas,  like  soldiers  on 
parade.  Experience  teaches  him  to  group 
them.  And  the  young  landscape-gardener 
is  apt  to  dot  his  ground  over  with  trees  and 
shrubs  the  same  distance  apart,  and  perhaps 


E.NTEEEu  according  to  A.ct  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18GG,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  in  the  Clerk'i 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 

13 


194 


The  Horticulturist. 


in  parallel  rows ;  but  after  more  study  and 
observation  lie  finds  that  a  better  result 
can  be  attained  by  disposing  some  of  tlicm 
in  irregular  groups  and  masses.  There  are 
cases,  indeed,  where  trees  should  be  set  in 
rows  and  at  regular  intervals  ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, by  the  side  of  streets,  and  in  broad 
avenues  in  public  parks.  Whoever  has 
walked  under  the  elms  on  Church  street, 
New  Haven,  that  long,  Gothic  aisle,  with 
natural  columns,  vaulted  roof  and  twilight 
shade  beneath,  will  not  speak  lightly  of 
Buch  artificial  planting.  Yet  cases  like  this 
are  the  exception,  and  the  rule  prevails  in 
favor  of  some  degree  of  irregularity. 

Along  )'onder  fence-row,  several  maples 
have  sprung  up  within  a  few  feet  of  each 
other  and  as  they  have  grown  from  year  to 
year,  they  have  formed  a  large,  rounded 
mass  of  luxuriant  foliage.  Being  a  little 
crowded  as  they  grow,  their  trunks  are 
thrown  somewhat  out  of  the  perpendicular, 
but  they  have  locked  arms  above,  and  present 
to  the  ej^e  one  vast  symmetrical  ball  of  rich- 
est verdure.  In  the  field  beyond,  nature 
shows  a  more  sportive  mood.  A  scarlet  maple 
has  sprung  up  by  the  side  of  a  rock  maple, 
and  close  by  is  a  white  ash  ;  in  the  rear 
towers  a  white-armed  buttonwood.  Here 
is  little  or  no  symmetry  of  outline,  or  uni- 
formity of  color,  but  the  effect  is  striking  in 
summer,  and  in  autumn  it  is  grandly  beau- 
tiful. One  of  the  most  pleasing  combina- 
tions, whether  natural  or  artificial,  is  seen 
Avhen  a  group  of  round-headed  trees  is  over 
topped  by  one  or  more  spiry  trees,  like  the 
poplar,  larch  or  fir. 

Nature  coes  some  of  her  finest  works  on 
the  banks  of  rivers  and  lakes,  where  the 
trees  shoot  out  with  great  irregularity ; 
some  hanging  over  the  water,  perhaps  trail- 
ing their  branches  in  it;  others  throwing 
their  arms  abroad  horizontally  or  aloft,  wnth 
ever-varying  form  and  color  of  branch  and 
leaf.  If  one  would  learn  the  beauty  there 
often  is  in  simple  lines,  let  him  study  the 
trunks  and  limbs  of  these  trees  ;  the  roots 
perhaps  a  little  undermined  by  the  water; 
the  branches  crowded  forward  by  trees  be- 


hind, and  bending  outward  over  the  stream 
to  get  more  light  and  freedom,  yet  again 
ascending  to  maintain  the  balance  of  the 
structure.  On  hill  sides  and  rocky  precipices, 
trees  often  assume  bold  and  picturesque 
forms.  If  they  could  be  transplanted  bodily 
into  a  smooth  lawn,  they  Avould  be  scouted 
at  as  coarse  and  scraggy,  and  fit  only  for 
the  axe  and  fire,  but  standing  where  nature 
has  reared  them,  they  possess  the  highest 
charm.  They  are  the  trees  most  beloved 
by  painters  and  poets. 

Few  natural  scenes  are  more  unpleasant 
than  a  recent  clearing  in  a  dense  forest, 
palisaded  with  tall,  gaunt  trees,  and  stand- 
ing perpendicularly  with  here  and  there 
one  leaning  and  threatening  to  fall,  with  no 
side  branches  to  hide  their  nakedness,  or  to 
conceal  the  wild  undergrowth  behind  them. 
The  second  growth  of  timber  presents  us 
the  most  handsome  woods,  where,  the  trees 
grow  up  with  some  degree  of  uniformity; 
those  on  the  outside  of  the  woods  especially 
being  well  developed,  billowy  and  graceful. 
Each  tree  follows  its  own  law  of  growth, 
giving  variety  in  outline,  branches  and 
spra}',  while  all  together  form  a  pleas- 
ing, harmoneous  scene.  "  It  is  curious  to 
see,"  says  Gilpin,  "with  what  richness  of 
invention,  if  I  may  so  speak.  Nature  mixes 
and  intermixes  her  trees,  and  shapes 
them  into  such  a  wonderful  variety  of 
groups  and  beautiful  forms.  Art  may  ad- 
mire and  attempt  to  plant  and  to  form 
combinations  like  hers ;  but  whoever  ob- 
serves the  wild  combinations  of  a  forest, 
and  compares  them  with  the  attempts  of 
Art,  has  little  taste,  if  he  do  not  acknowl- 
edge with  astonishment  the  superiority  of 
Nature's  workmanship." 

However  pleasing  scattered  masses  of 
wood  may  be,  vast,  unbroken  forests  are 
monotonous  and  gloomy.  Nature,  to  be 
most  attractive,  must  be  associated  in  some 
way  with  human  life  and  art.  Hence  it  is 
that  a  woodman's  cottage  with  its  curling 
femoke,  or  a  fisherman's  boat  on  a  secluded 
lake,  gives  a  Avild  forest  picture  a  tender, 
human  interest  and  a  tinge  of  romance. 


Trees  in  Assemblages. 


195 


Trees  exhibit  themselves  best,  socially, 
in  the  autumn.  During  the  summer  they 
hold  their  powers  in  some  reserve.  But 
when  October  comes,  they  put  on  their 
holiday  attire  ;  they  gather  up  all  the  rain- 
bows of  the  vernal  year  and  twine  them 
about  their  brows ;  they  dress  themselves 
in  all  the  tints  of  sunset,  and  then  call  upon 
man  and  nature  to  admire. 

But,  leaving  the  domain  of  beauty  and 
poetry,  let  us  look  at  trees  as  scientifically 
related  The  natural  philosopher  may  not 
be  wholly  wanting  in  itsthctic  feeling,  yet 
he  finds  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  grouping 
trees  together  botanically.  Who  will  say, 
too,  that  his  heart  does  not  somewhat 
inspire  his  scientific  zeal  to  bring  together 
the  scattered  members  of  each  household, 
and  so  to  "set  the  solitary  in  families"? 
But  whatever  the  motive,  it  is  in  this  way 
that  arboretums  have  been  established, 
where  we  find  trees  of  different  orders, 
species  and  varieties  collected  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  classified  more  or  less  in 
a  scientific  manner. 

The  best  arboretums  of  which  the  writer 
has  any  knowledge,  are  those  of  Chiswick 
and  Chatsworth,  England.  The  latter  has 
a  world-wide  reputation.  It  embraces 
forty  or  more  acres,  and  contains  upwards 
of  two  thousand  species  and  varieties.  The 
trees,  shrubs  and  plants  are  set  near  the 
margin  of  the  carriage-road,  which  winds 
through  the  premises.  They  are  set  far 
enough  apart  to  allow  their  full  develop- 
ment, and  to  admit  of  the  subsequent  in- 
troduction of  other  newly  discovered  speci- 
mens. Being  classified  in  families,  it  affords 
an  interesting  study  to  seek  out  the  re- 
lationship where  the  external  resemblance 
is  often  very  slight.  The  name  of  every 
tree  and  plant  is  marked  on  a  wooden  label, 
the  letters  being  so  large,  and  distinctly 
painted  as  to  be  read  at  ten  yards'  distance. 
Each  tree  is  marked  with  its  scientific 
name,  its  common  English  name,  its  native 
country,  the  year  of  its  introduction,  and 
the  height  which  it  attains  at  maturitj^. 

These  trees  and  shrubs,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, are  those  only  which  are  hardy 


in  Great  Britain,  and  of  course  many  im- 
portant species  have  to  be  left  out.  This 
great  assemblage  of  rare  vegetation  has  not 
cost  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  (the  owner  of 
the  property,)  a  sixpence.  The  ground  was 
prepared,  the  trees  bought,  and  all  the  other 
expenses  paid  from  the  proceeds  of  the  tim- 
ber trees  with  which  the  domain  was 
originallj' covered,  and  which  were  removed 
and  sold  only  as  fast  as  the  room  was 
wanted  for  planting.  This  fact  indicates 
either  that  this  timber  was  of  remarkable 
quality,  or  that  the  price  of  lumber  is  much 
higher  around  Chatsworth  than  in  our  own 
countrJ^ 

As  this  public  ground  is  centrally  situa- 
ted, and  is  generously  thrown  open  to  all 
visitors,  its  infltience  must  be  salutary  and 
wide-spread.  Many  a  person  imbibes  here 
his  first  love  of  rural  pursuits.  Many  a 
visitor  is  surprised  to  learn  of  the  great 
variety  of  trees  and  plants  which  have  been 
brought  into  cultivation.  The  day  seldom 
passes  when  botanists  or  amateurs  or  nur- 
serymen may  not  be  seen  here,  examining 
the  trees  and  making  notes  in  their  memo- 
randum-books, for  use  elsewhere.  As  the 
late  Mr.  Downing  said,  when  visiting  it, 
"  The  most  perfect  novice  in  trees  can  thus, 
by  walking  round  the  arboretum^  obtain  in 
a  short  time  much  knowledge  of  the  hardy 
Sylva;  while  the  arboriculturist  can  solve 
many  a  knotty  point  by  looking  at  the  trees 
and  plants,  which  no  amount  of  study,  with- 
out the  living  specimen,  would  settle." 

We  are  happy  to  know  that  some  of  our 
leading  nurserymen  in  this  country  are 
establishing  arboretums  of  considerable  ex- 
tent. On  some  cf  the  older  estates  along 
the  Hudson,  and  around  Boston,  Philadel- 
phia and  Baltimore,  valuable  collections  are 
being  made,  which  are  interesting  as  objects 
of  curiosit}',  and  not  altogether  lacking  in 
beaut3^  And,  not  least  in  importance, 
several  of  our  first  colleges  have  begun  the 
work  of  gathering  into  their  grounds  speci- 
mens of  all  the  trees,  shrubs  and  plants 
which  are  hardy  in  their  respective  climates. 
Jlay  these  good  works  go  forward  to  their 
completion. 


196 


The  Horticulturist. 


DESIGNS    IN    RURAL    ARCHITECTURE.— No.  15. 


BY   GKO.   K.    irARNEY,    (OLD  SPRING,   N.  Y'. 


Our  design  for  this  month  represents  a 
porter's  lodge,  built  about  a  year  ago  by 
Mr.  P.  P.  James,  and  situated  near  the 
gates  at  the  entrance  to  his  country  place 
iu  Cold  Spring. 

It  is  constructed  of  rough  stone,  quarried 
in  the  immediate  vicinity,  lad  in  its  na- 
tural bed,  and  pointed  up  afterwards  with 
light-colored  mortar,  and — though  we  ob- 


ject to  the  use  of  this  light  mortar,  prefer- 
ing  the  softer  tint  of  the  dark — the  effect 
of  the  whole  is  very  good,  the  bright  green 
foliage  of  the  trees,  by  which  it  is  nearly 
hidden,  contrasting  well  Avith  the  dark  gray 
tone  of  the  stone. 

Its  walls  are  low,  and  its  roof  projecting 
boldly,  covered  with  slates  cut  in  an  orna- 
mental pattern.     The  tower,  which  is  the 


Fig.  81. — Fcrsjjective. 


principal  feature  of  the  exterior,  rises  from 
the  angle  of  the  front  nearest  the  public 
road,  and  contains  the  stairways  to  the 
chamber  and  cellar. 

The  plan  shows  four  apartments  on  the 
principal  floor,  as  follows  : — 

The  hall  is  approached  by  two  or  three 
steps,  leading  to  a  wide  porch,  covered  with 
a  broadly  projecting  hood,  supported  on 
heavy  brackets.  This  hood  is,  in  fact,  a 
continuation  of  the  roof  of  the  main  house 


beyond  the  eaves,  as  is  also  the  roof  of  the 
bay  window  on  the  adjoining  side. 

The  staircase  in  the  tower  is  on  the  right 
of  the  front  door,  and  is  separated  by  an 
archway  from  the  hall. 

The  room  on  the  left,  containing  the  bay 
■window,  is  the  living  room,  and  measures 
11  feet  G  inches  by  thirteen  feet.  It  opens 
into  a  room  15  feot  by  11  feet  G  inches, 
and  is  used  as  a  kitchen.  The  other 
room  is  a  bedroom,  and  measures  8  feet 


Plan  for  Layirig  Out  a  Three- Acre  Lot. 


197 


hy   9  feet.     The  kitclien  lias  a  door  com- 
municating with  the  yard  in  the  rear. 


The  chimney  is  in  the  centre  of  the 
house,  and  one  stack  of  three  flues  answers 
for  all  the  rooms. 

There  are  ventilators  on  the  roof,  and  a 
dormer  window  to  light  tha  attic,  which 
has  one  room  finished  off  for  a  sleeping- 
room.  All  the  principal  windows  are 
glazed  with  diamond  -  shaped  panes  of 
glass. 

There  is  a  collar  under  the  whole  house, 
containing  bins  for  coal,  store  closets, 
&c.,  &c 


Fig.  ^±— Ground  Plan. 


PLAN  FOU  LAYING  OUT  A  THREE-ACRE  LOT. 

BY    E.     FERRAND,    DETROIT,    MICH. 


This  garden  has  the  appearance  of  a  much 
larger  place  than  it  really  is  ;  in  fact,  the 
plan  could  be  applied  to  a  place  of  ten  or 
more  acres  just  as  v.-ell  as  to  the  limited 
space  of  three.  The  roads  are  numerous; 
it  is  intended  for  a  lot  in  the  proximate 
vicinity  of  the  city,  and  to  be  occupied  by 
a  man  who  has  means  to  keep  it  in  order  ; 
this  also  applies  to  the  drawing  for  a  five- 
acre  lot,  to  be  given  hereafter. 

7^11  these  gardens  are  intended  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  laid  out  according  to  the 
fame  principle  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  most  is 
done  to  conceal  their  narrow  limits,  and 
leave  one  to  guess  how  far  one  may  be  from 
the  end  of  it  when  one  is  no  more  than  ten 
feet  from  the  well-concealed  fence  ;  at  the 
same  time,  all  the  secondary  buildings,  such 
as  barns,  stables,  &c.,  are  very  close  to  the 
iiiain  house,  though  they  are  entirely  out  of 
sight. 

In  the  plan,  smoothly-curved  walks  are 
drawn  in  the  thickets  of  large  trees  ;  there 
is  also  a  vine  harbor,  which  is  a  handsome 
ornament.  The  kitchen  garden  occupies 
about  1^  acre,  and  is  in  proportion  to  the 
whole  extent  of  the  place. 


PVB.ro  AD 

Fig.  ^2,.— Plan. 
EEFERENCES. 
A  DwellingHousp.  K  Place  for  Small  Fruits. 

li  t-table.  Barn,  &c.  L  Strawberries. 

C  Barn-Yard,  with  Three  N  Flower  Beds. 


Openings. 
D  Graiery. 
E  Greenhouse. 
F  Water. 

H  Kitchen  Garden. 
J  Grapevine  Harbor. 


O  Places  for  Knstic  Seats. 
P  Principal  Eatranee. 
K  Eitrance  to  the  Barn. 
S  Gardener's  House. 
V  Dwarf  Fruit  Trees. 


198 


The  Horticulturist. 


'•HEBE"  PEAR. 


!Y    WM.    SUKNER,    POMARIA,    S.   C. 


Hebe     Pear. — Fruit    Jarge  ;    specimens  greenish  ;  dotted  .lU  over  with  russet  specks 

bave  frequently  weighed  28  ounces.     Six  of  and  deep  irregular  russet  blotches.     Stem, 

fair  size  of  this  pear  generally  weigh  eight  short,  thick,  in  deep  basin.     Form,  round, 

pounds.     Color,  lemon-yellow,  inclined  to  obovate,  with  irregular  protuberances,  sim- 


Fig.  M.—Hcbe  Pear. 


ilar  to  the  Duchesse  d'Angouleme.     Flesh,  Carolina  in  December.    Tree  vigorous,  with 

sprightly,   melting,    buttery,    with   slight  linely    matured    wood,    free   from   thorns, 

vinous  flavor;  has  no  matured  seeds,  and  Shape,  naturally  pyramidal, 
seldom  forms  seeds  at  all.    Ripens  in  South 


The  Horticulturist. 
THE  CANKEK  WORM. 


199 


COL.    3).    S.    REWET,    HARTFORD,    CONN. 


"  Qw:e;i  &.6e  ?"  — that  is  it  exactly— 
**  Who  knows"  a  preventive  or  cure  for  the 
periodical  and  pestiferous  attacks  of  the 
canker  worm?  Do  yoii,?  If  so,  have  j'ou 
not  hid  your  light  under  a  bushel  ?  If  not, 
then  are  we  all  equally  in  the  dark. 

Here  now  are  my  fifteen  volumes  of  the 
Horticulturist, — '51  to  '05  inclusive — 
and  not  one  word  of  caution  or  advice 
on  the  subject.  If  science  and  experience 
were  not  somewhat  at  fault  this  blank 
might  have  been  filled.  Direct  information 
would  have  been  of  incalculable  service  ; 
and  even  negative  statements  would  have 
been  of  great  value. 

Can  anyone, — will  any  one, — now  furnish 
a  positive  and  perfectly  reliable  prescrip- 
tion for  the  prevention  of  the  ravages  of 
this  cankerpest,  which  has  been  such  a 
scourge  to  certain  portions  of  the  country 
for  the  past  two  or  three  years  ? 

I  venture  to  offer,  in  advance,  a  supple- 
mentary summary  of  negative  testimony  on 
the  subject; — a  reference  to  certain  propos- 
ed remedial  measures,  all  of  which,  I  think, 
and  most  of  which  I  know,  will  not  and  can 
not  be  effectually  used  in  the  case  :  that  is, 
without  much  more  than  the  ordinary,  and 
even  extraordinary  care  which  any  pomol- 
ogist  can  afford  to  give,  or  can  be  reasonably 
expected  to  give,  to  such  an  orchard  as 
I  have  in  my  mind's  eye;  say  of  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  thrifty  twenty- 
years'-old  apple,  cherry,  plum  and  quince 
trees. 

Failing,  as  above  stated,  in  my  review 
of  the  volumes  of  the  Horticulturist,  to 
find  printed  testimony,  recourse  was  next 
had  to  parole  evidence.  The  only  knowl- 
edge thus  attainable  was  that  tar  was  the 
remedy.  So,  tar  it  was;  and,  for  sixteen 
successive  evenings,  (commencing  March 
17th,  18G5,)  the  application  was  faithfully 
made,  upon  some  sixty  choice  apple  trees 
Many  neighbors  followed  suit;  "anyquan 


tity"  of  grubs  were  caught;  but  the  result 
uniformly  showed  a  perfect  waste  of  time 
and  money. 

(Mem.  Gas  tar  was  freely  applied  by 
some,  directly  upon  the  bark,  without 
causing  any  apparent  future  injury  to  the 
tree,  contrary  to  a  generally  received 
opinion.) 

In  one  orchard  of  considerable  extent, 
straw  was  scientifically  arranged  and  tied 
around  vhe  trunks  of  the  trees  ;  in  another, 
the  soil  around  the  collars,  and  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  beyond,  was  up-turned 
in  the  fall,  and  left  to  the  action  of  the 
frost ;  in  another,  tin  collars,  or  capes,  were 
nicel}'-  adjusted,  some  flat  and  some  flaring  ; 
in  others,  lime,  ashes,  and  other  materials, 
were  spread  as  a  mulch,  or  piled  up  around 
the  bodies,  and  so  on  \—tliey  all  failed^  as 
did,  also,  even  Seymour's  and  Allen's  regu- 
larly patented  tree-protectors. 

Now,  the  prime  question  recurs,  what 
shall  we  do  next  ? 

Mr.  Seymour,  (the  protector-man,  whose 
article  was  advertised  in  the  Horticultur- 
ist, last  August,)  tells  me  that  he  can  im- 
prove upon  this  idea,  and  give  us  something, 
next  fall,  which  will  be  "  a  surething."  But 
his  plan,  (even  if  it  could  be  warranted,) 
is  rather  too  expensive  for  general  adop- 
tion. 

Mr.  Allen,  (another  protector-man,)  has 
shown  me  an  improvement  upon  hJ3  ar- 
rangement, which,  he  asserts,  is  cheap  and 
reliable.     But 

"  Mr.  Allen,"  said  I,  "  how  often  is  this 
oil  to  be  applied  to  your  patent  tins  ?" 

■'  Once  a  day  will  answer." 

"  Once  a  day  !  If  that  is  so,  why  not  use 
tar,  which  will  remain  sticky  for  at  least 
twenty-four  hours,  and  is  comparatively 
inexpensive  ?" 

I  report,  in  brief,  only  the  substance  of 
our  short  coloquy;  the  fact  is  that  the 
same  plan  has  been  tried  by  others,  as  well 


200 


The  Horticulturist. 


as  myself,  and  rejected,  as  involving  too 
incessant  attention. 

For  my  own  use  I,  also,  compounded  and 
applied  a  slow-drying  varnish,  whicli  I 
thouglit  was  just  the  thing,  but  the  punc- 
tured leaves  of  my  cherry  and  apple  trees 
prove  its  ineflficiency. 

]\Ir.  Ilovey  tells  us,  in  his  j\Iay  number, 
that  canker  worms  "  may  all  be  destroyed 
by  a  thorough  syringing  with  whale  oil 
soap."  My  opinion  is  that  farmers  and 
orchardists  can  never  be  induced  to  pur- 
chase, and  apply  to  such  a  use,  the  requisite 
syringes  and  soap ;  nor  be  made  to  think 
that  they  can  spend  their  lime  in  sudsing 
off  the  underside  of  each  leaf  on  a  hundred 
or  more  trees. 

Neither  do  I  think  that  they  can  be  per- 
suaded to  box  around  the  trunks  of  a  hun- 
dred or  more  trees,  and  pack  with  sawdust, 
and  arrange  nicelj'-soldered  oil-troughs  to 
entrap  the  moths  and  larvas,  as  recommended 
by  some. 

Neither  have  I  full  faith  in  the  use  of 
the  murate  of  lime,  so  highly  recommended 
by  the  Neio  England  Farmer  of  April  28th ; 
but  if  any  union  of  hydrogen  and  chlorine 
with  a  base  from  which  carbonic  acid  has 
been  expelled,  will  compose  a  material 
which  will  destroy  insect  existence,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  increase  vegetable  vigor, 
it  would  seem  that  its  application  to  soils 
filled  with  such  noxious  things  as  canker- 
worms  should  be  made,  bv  way  of  further 
trial. 

Has  any  one  in  "  our  parish,"  tried  it  ?" 

This  incomplete  article, — intended  more 
as  a  simple  finger-post  to  warn  off  from  the 
wrong  way,  (or  to  tell  "  what  not  to  do,") 
rather  than  a  correct  guide-board  to  show 
the  true  way, — would  be  more  incomplete 
without  the  addition  of  the  following  brief 
description  of  "  the  enemy,"  and  some  of 
his  antecedents  and  surroundings. 

We  may  find  the  first  indication  of  the 
dreaded  presence  of  the  canker  worm  quite 
early  in  the  fall,  when  forking  up  the  soil 
under  our  fruit  trees,  for  their  dressing  of 
manure  or  mulch.     It  is  then  made  visible 


in  the  shape  of  a   light   brown    chrysalis. 
(Fig.  No.  85.)  By  the  way,  these  are  readily 


Fig.  85. — Cnjsalis. 

devoured  by  poultry,  and  I  judge  from  my 
experience,  last  fall,  that  if  I  had  but  half 
a  dozen  choice  trees  to  protect,  I  could  do 
it  quite  effectually  by  carefully  exposing 
the  soil,  (from  three  to  four  inches  in  depth) 
and  breaking  it  up  so  that  my  hens  could 
get  at  the  chrysalides,  and  thus  make  away 
with  them  in  their  embryo  state. 

Its  next  appearance  is  in  the  form  of  the 
male  miller,  (Fig.  No.  8G,)  and   the  female 


8G.— iliftZe  Moth. 


grub.  The  male,  with  the  aid  of  its  wing?, 
can,  of  course,  fly  from  the  ground  to  any 
part  of  the  tree  ;  but  the  female  is  obliged 
to  crawl  up  the  trunk  ;  and  it  is  to  prevent 
her   ascent  that   the  main    eflbrts    of  the 


Fig.  87 Female  Moth. 

fruit-grower  are  to  be  directed ;  to  entrap 
and  destroy  the  vermin  in  this  stage  of  its 
progress,  if  not  previously  destroyed  while 
in  its  chrysalid  condition.  The  precise 
time  of  its  appearance  may  vary  with  the 
character  of  the  season ;  its  first  occurrence 
last  year  was  on  the  evening  of  March  15th, 
and  its  second,  October  28th. 


Fig.  S8.— Eggs. 

Meanwhile,  we  find  it  in  the  egg,  (Fig.  No. 
88,)  deposed,  generally,  in  small  clusters,  in 


Hirds  on  Transplanting  Evergreens. 


201 


e  forks  of  tlie  spray,  but  sometimes  on     developed  with   the   first  young  foliao-e  of 

spring.  It  rapidly  increases  in  size  until  it 
appears  to  be  full  grown  (Fig.  No.  89)  about 
the  middle  of  June,  when  it  descends  to 
the  ground,  spinning  down  its  spider-like 
web  from  the  limbs,  whose  leaves  and 
blossoms  have  been  entirely  consumed  by 
it ;  leaving  the  tree  with  the  appearance  of 
Fig.  83.— CaHA-c;-  Worm.  having  been  scorched,  as  by  fire. 


th. 

other  parts  of  trees  ;  and  even  upon  fences. 

and  out-buildings. 

Finally,   we    again    recognize   it  in  the 
shape  of  a  tiny  black  worm,  simultaneously 


HINTS  ON  TRxiNSPLANTIXG  EVERGREENS. 


BY    CHAUTAUQUA. 


The  warm  summer  months,  now  at  hand, 
are  the  best  time  in  the  year  for  trans- 
planting evergreen  trees,  and  a  few  short 
hints  on  the  subject  may  not  be  amiss.  A 
large  percentage  of  nursery-grown  ever- 
greens, and  probably  three -fourths  of  these 
trees  taken  from  the  forest,  are  killed  out- 
right in  transplanting,  simply  on  account  of 
ignorance  of  the  necessary  precautions  to 
be  taken  in  their  treatment  at  the  time 
they  are  transplanted,  and  afterwards. 

The  principal  thing  to  be  observed  is 
nexer  to  let  the  roots  see  the  sun  ^  or  feel  the  wind  ^ 
long  enough  to  lose  their  surface  moisture. 
The  reason  for  this  is  not  agreed  upon  by 
all  vegetable  physiologists.  Hon.  John  II. 
Klippart,  so  widely  known  in  connection 
with  Ohio  agricultural  matter?,  in  a  conver- 
sation on  the  subject,  gave  me,  as  his  opin- 
ion, that  the  bark  of  the  roots  of  ever- 
greens, and  many  other  plants,  is  as  sensi- 
tive to  light  as  are  the  chemicals  of  the 
photographist,  and  that  the  rays  of  sunlight, 
either  direct  or  refracted,  produced  a  chem- 
ical change  in  the  bark,  or  vessels  therein, 
injuring  them  to  a  greater  or  less  extent. — 
In  support  of  his  theory,  Mr.  Klippart  can 
certainly  show  some  good  evidences.  Ever- 
greens, and  some  wild  flowers  and  plants 
from  the  woods,  in  his  grounds  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  are  much  thriltier  if  transplanted  in 
the  night ! 

My  own  theory  is,  that  if  the  sap  in  the 
roots,  which  is  more  or  less  resinous,  is  suf- 
fered to  become  even  partially  dried  by  the 


sun  or  wind,  it  (the  sap)  is  rendered  thick- 
er, and  becomes  almost,  or  quite,  indissolu- 
ble, choking  up  the  vessels  or  ducts,  and 
thus  rendering  the  roots  incapable  of  assim- 
ilating the  necessary  food  for  the  growing 
tree  from  the  surrounding  soil. 

Whatever  the  theory,  the  fact  remains, 
that  if  the  roots  of  evergreen?  are  kept 
moist  and  shaded  from  the  sun,  these  trees, 
are,  as  a  class,  more  sure  to  grow  when 
transplanted  than  any  other  living  plants, 
except  some  weeds. 

Furthermore,  if  possible,  get  the  ever- 
greens from  a  good  nurseryman,  vrho  is  a 
good  propagator,  and,  if  to  be  shipped  to 
any  distance,  who  will  pack  the  trees  so 
that  the  roots  will  keep  moist,  and  the  fo- 
liage and  branches  cool  and  dry.  Nurseiy- 
grown  trees  are  already  prepared  as  to  their 
roots  for  transplanting,  many  or  all  the 
rootlets  remaining  on  the  roots,  while  trees 
from  the  forest  unavoidably  lose  nearly  or 
quite  all  the  rootlets,  unless  the  trees  are 
very  small  when  transplanted. 

As  to  the  time  of  year,  from  the  first  of 
jMay  to  the  end  of  August  is  as  good  as 
any  time,  provided  always  that  the  roots 
are  kept  covered  and  moist.  I  have  taken 
hemlock  from  the  woods  in  August  with 
better  success  than  in  April  or  lls^j.  They 
seem  to  do  better  when  the  sap  is  in  motion 
than  before  or  after. 

Lastl}',  set  out  plent}-,  and  you  will  get 
the  benefit,  and  also  the  thanks  of  the  next 
generation. 


202 


The  Horticulturist. 


E.   W.   BULL    ON    GRAPE    CULTURE. 


BY    J.    M.    MERRICK,    JR.,   WALPOI.E,   MASS. 


The  Massaclmsetts  Phmghvian  is  publisli- 
ing  a  series  of  sliort,  practical  papers  on 
tlieopen  air  cultivation  of  the  grape,  written 
by  the  Hon.  E.  "VY.  Bull,  of  Concord,  Mass., 
the  originator  of  the  Concord  Grape,  and  a 
cultivator  of  the  vine,  whose  experience  and 
success  have  given  him  a  very  honorable 
position  among  the  horticulturists  of  this 
country. 

The  solid  basis  of  fact  and  experience  on 
which  Mr.  Bull's  papers  are  founded,  and 
the  general  soundness  of  his  views,  make 
me  think  that  a  brief  resw??ie  of  these  Essays, 
with  such  criticisms  as  may  not  seem  im- 
pertinentorpresumptuous,will  be  acceptable 
to  the  numerous  readers  of  the  Horticul- 
turist, and  I  therefore  ask  leave  to  present 
a  sketch  of  the  learned  Vigneron's  remarks, 
with  a  word  of  comment  of  my  own. 

In  his  first  paper,  Mr.  Bull  discusses  the 
question  Avhether  grape  growing  is  profita- 
ble or  not,  and  answers  it  in  the  affirmative. 
He  says,  "  the  Concord  is  the  only  grape  1 
cultivate  on  a  large  scale,  and  that  for  six- 
teen 3'ears  has  not  failed  to  give  me  a 
remunerating  crop. 

One  acre  of  well-established,  healthy 
vines,  will  give  about  seven  tons  of  grapes, 
worth  at  wholesale,  on  the  average  of  the 
last  four  years^  fourteen  cents  per  pound, 
or  about  2,000  dollars.  This  amount,  large 
as  it  is,  has  been  exceeded  in  many  cases, 
but  if  you  reduce  the  result  one-half, 
you  still  have  one  of  the  most  profitable 
crops  known  to  our  husbandry."  (I  may  say 
in  parenthesis,  that  two  of  the  largest 
grape-growers  in  this  State  tell  me  that  they 
make  ^1,200  per  acre  per  annum  with  the 
Concord.) 

"  At  present,  and  indeed  for  a  long  time  to 
come,  the  market  price  of  the  fruit  will  be 
so  high  as  to  prevent  the  making  of 
wine  to  very  great  extent ;  but  whenever 
the  crop  of  fruit  becomes  so  abundant  that 


the  price  declines,  wine  will  be  made  in 
large  quantities,  and  its  manufacture  will  be 
found  more  profitable  than  selling  the  fruit. 

No  other  f:um  crop  requires  so  little  of 
the  farmers  ready  capital,  manure,  as  the 
grape. 

I  have  vines  which  give  me  annual  crops 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  each, 
and  which  have  had  no  manure  for  ten 
years.  I  have  no  occasion  to  give  the  Con- 
cord any  manures  except  a  dressing,  once  in 
three  years,  of  twenty  bushels  of  bone-dust, 
twenty  bushels  of  unleached  wood  ashes, 
and  five  bushels  of  plaster  of  Paris  to  the 
acre,  spread  broadcast  and  harrowed  in." 

I  believe  that  we  are  gradually  reaching 
a  more  rational  view  of  tlie  wants  and  re- 
quirements of  the  grape,  and  that  Mr.  Bull 
is  right  in  what  he  says  about  manures. 
For  vines  that  are  to  bring  money  into  the 
owner's  pocket,  the  days  of  deep  trenching 
and  high  manuring  are  past  and  gone. 
Certain  kinds  of  grapes,  as  the  lona  and 
the  Delaware  need  a  rich  soil  and  the  high- 
est possible  cultivation,  and  this  is  a  great 
pity,  for  if  the  lona  had  the  freedom  of 
growth  and  vigor  of  the  Concord,  we  should 
not  have  much  further  to  go  to  find  the 
perfect  grape. 

A  vine  that  requires  constant  attention 
and  petting,  and  a  considerable  annual  out- 
lay for  manuie,  can  hardly  be  cultivated 
with  profit  on  a  large  scale. 

I  have  seen  the  vines  of  which  Mr.  Bull 
speaks,  in  full  bearing,  and  can  testify  to 
their  splendid  appearance,  vigor,  and  capa- 
city to  produce  loads  of  fruit.  They  had  had 
no  manure  for  ten  years,  but  their  owner 
proposed  to  give  them  a  slight  dressing  of 
ashes  the  present  season. 

Mr.  Bull  advises  planting  vines  in  rows 
running  north  and  south  ;  the  rows  being 
ten  feet  apart,  and  the  vines  six  feet  apart 
in  the  row.     This  gives  sixty  square  feet  to 


E.  W.  Bull  on  Grape  Culture. 


203 


a  vine,  and  facilitates  -vrorking  witli  a  horse 
and  cart  in  the  yineyard. 

The  following  is  the  estimate  of  the  cost 
of  planting  an  acre  : — ■ 

726  vines,  at  $25  per  100 181  50 

40  loads  compost 40  00 

Ploughing G  00 

Carting  and  cross-ploughing 3  00 

726  poles  at  let 7  26 

Planting,  two  men,  ten  days 30  00 


207  70 

There  ■will  be  a  difference  in  the  cost  in 
various  localities,  but  the  above  is  a  Aiir 
average.  Mr.  Bull,  we  presume  plants  two 
year  old  vines,  judging  from  the  price  he 
gives,  for  first  class  one-year  old  Concords 
can  be  bought  for  ninety  dollars  per 
thousand. 

The  forty  loads  of  light  compost  is  to 
promote  the  formation  of  roots  the  first 
year,  and  the  application  of  the  compost  is 
not  to  be  repeated. 

Mr.  Bull's  second  paper  is  devoted  to 
the  operation  of  planting,  and  we  quote  the 
substance  of  it,  condensing  a  little  here  and 
there  for  the  sake  of  brevity  : 

"  Having  prepared  the  ground  for  plant- 
ing, open  a  furrow  on  each  side  of  the  line 
on  which  the  grapes  are  to  be  placed,  and 
two  feet  from  it,  turning  the  earth  to- 
wards the  middle  of  the  bed  and  ridging  it 
slightly. 

Let  one  man  bestride  this  ridge  at  the 
end  of  the  line,  and  throw  out  the  soil  to 
the  depth  of  six  inches  over  a  space  four 
feet  square,  i.  e.,  let  him  form  a  bed  for  the 
vine  four  feet  on  each  side,  and  six  inches 
below  the  general  level  of  the  field.  A 
ficcond  man  having  placed  the  vine  in  the 
centre  of  this  table  and  spread  the  roots 
out;  the  first  man,  still  bestriding  the 
lidge,  must  step  backwards  and  throw  out 
from  between  his  feet  soil  enough  to  cover 
t'.ie  roots  to  the  depth  of  six  inches,  thus 
planting  one  vine  and  making  a  bed  or  table 
for  the  second.  The  earth  for  covering  the 
last  vine  in  the  row  is  taken  from  the  end 
of  the  second  row,  that  from  the  last   in 


the  second,  from  the  third,  and  so  on,  and 
two  men  can  thus  plant  with  ease  and 
rapidity.  If  the  soil  is  wet  and  strong  the 
vines  should  be  planted  four  inches  deep 
instead  of  six,  this  being  the  distance  from 
the  surface  the  roots  are  usually  found 
when  they  have  the  power  of  selecting  fjr 
themselves.  Never  shorten  the  roots  of  a 
grape  vine.  You  may  cut  the  top  in  with- 
in two  eyes  of  the  level  of  the  ground,  but 
by  all  means  save  all  the  roots  " 

To  recapitulate,  we  may  say  that  in  these 
two  papers  Mr.  Bull  recommends  a  light, 
warm  friable  soil,  not  too  rich;  advocates 
the  use  of  mineral  manures  only,  and  these 
in  small  quantities;  advises  us  to  give  each 
vine  sixty  square  feet  of  room ;  to  plant 
shallow,  without  shortening  the  roots,  and, 
though  this  we  should  have  put  first,  ho 
insists  that  grape  growing  is  profitable 

While  waiting  for  the  third  article  of  this 
series  to  appear,  an  opportunity  is  given, 
perhaps,  to  say  a  word  or  two  about  the 
Concord  grape,  and  its  relation  to  other 
varieties.  Passing  by  those  growers  who 
call  the  Concord  "  horrible,"  "  containing 
not  a  single  element  of  goodness,"  we  come 
to  the  class  that  declares  it  to  be  a  good 
grape,  but  now  surpassed  by  better  kinds, 
and  that  its  day  is  drawing  to  a  close. 

Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth 
than  this  last  notion. 

Neither  Mr.  Bull,  nor  the  present  writer, 
nor  in  fact  anybody  of  common  sense  main- 
tains that  the  Concord  is  the  best  out-door 
grape  we  have,  for  all  know  that  there  are 
many  kinds  superior  to  this  variety.  The 
Diana  is  a  better  grape  ;  the  Delaware  is 
decidedly  superior ;  Allen's  Hybrid  and 
lona,  in  point  of  flavor,  leave  the  Concord 
out  of  sight, — and,  in  fact,  we  might  go  on 
and  name  other  grapes  that  for  table  use 
claim  a  place  in  the  garden  with  mach  bet- 
ter right  than  the  variety  we  are  discussing. 
We  met  a  refined  connoisseur  the  other 
day  who  professed  to  detect  something 
"  earthy"  (!)  in  the  flavor  of  the  Concord, 
but  without  pretending  to  any  such  deli- 
cacy of  taste,  we  admit  that  the  Concord  is 
a  second  class  grape. 


204 


The  Horticulturist. 


flaking  this  inevitable  concession  we 
find  on  the  other  hand  an  immense  Yolumc 
of  testimony  in  its  favor.  From  vineyards 
scattered  from  iSIaine  to  Kansas  comes  proof 
that  the  Concord  is  hardy,  is  a  sure  and 
regular  bearer,  is  vigorous  and  easy  of 
propagation,  grows  well  in  a  poor  soil,  and 
does  not  do  badly  in  a  rich  one ;  endures 
the  extremes  of  neglect  and  ill-treatment, 
and  produces  fruit  that  sells  readily,  and 
makes  a  good  wine. 

Has  any  one  well-known  variety  now 
cultivated  in  the  United  States  an  equal 
mass  of  evidence  in  its  favor  ?  We  think 
not. 

Delaware  Grapes  were  forty  cents  per 
pound  in  the  Boston  market  last  year,  and 
Concords  twenty- five  cents,  both  these,  of 
course,  being  the  retail  prices. 

The  latter  kind  may  have  sold  so  low 
as  twenty  cents  some  days,  but  we  saw 
none  at  less  than  twenty-five. 

Its  wine-making  properties  have  been 
settled  decisively  by  Mr.  Bull,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Mr.  llusmann,  in  Missouri, 
and  thousands  of  experimenters  on  a  smaller 
scale. 

I  solicited  last  year  the  opinion  of  the 
three  largest  growers  of  grapes  in  Massa- 
chusetts respecting  the  Concord,  and  re- 
ceived the  following  answers  : 


The  first  says,  "  I  know  no  grape  possess- 
ing so  many  good  qualities,  either  for  the  ta- 
ble or  for  wine  as  the  Concord."  The  second 
writes  :  "  I  regard  the  Concord  decidedly 
the  best  out-door  grape  that  has  yet  been 
proved  for  field  culture."  The  third  says, 
''  All  things  considered  the  Concord  is  the 
best  grape  with  which  I  am  practically 
acquainted." 

It  is  needless  to  accumulate  more  evi- 
dence, and  I  should  not  have  said  so  much 
if  I  were  not  tired  of  hearing  people  talk 
contemptuously  about  a  grape  whose  work 
is  not  yet  half  done,  and  for  an  index  of 
whose  popularity  the  sales  books  of  our 
leading  propagators  may  safely  be  consulted. 

"We  hear  that  Rogers'  4  and  19  are  to 
take  the  place  of  the  Concord.  If  they  are 
better,  hardier,  more  productive  and  vigor- 
ous, we  shall  all  welcome  them  with  open 
arms,  but  until  we  have  conclusive  proof 
that  the  Concord  is  surpassed  we  shall 
cling  to  it  as  to  an  old  and  faithful  friend 

That  t!ic  best  out-door  grape  we  now 
have  is  nearly  as  good  as  varieties  that  will 
appear  and  be  disseminated  in  less  than  a 
score  of  years,  we  cannot  believe. 

The  chances  of  getting  improved  kinds 
are  too  many  ;  the  experimenters  too  nu- 
merous, and  their  enthusiasm  too  genuine 
to  leave  any  doubt  about  the  result. 


THE  ORIGINAL  RED  BEECH  TREE. 

BY    )IOrvTICOLA. 


Geo.  B.  Emerson,  in  his  report  on  the 
trees  and  shrubs  of  Massachusetts,  has  the 
following,  in  regard  to  the  original  red  (or 
purple)  beech  tree,  on  page  C3  : — "  Among 
the  most  remarkable,  are  the  purple,  or 
copper  beech,  and  the  weeping.  The  original 
tree,  from  which  all  the  varieties  of  the 
former  of  these  have  been  propagated,  is 
said  to  have  been  discovered  by  accident, 
in  a  wood  in  Germany,  towards  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  and  is  supposed  to  he  still 
sfandingy 


If  a  man  of  Emerson's  extensive  know- 
ledge of  trees  had  no  better  information  of 
a  tree  so  remarkable,  and  propagated  and 
planted  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  where  the 
climate  is  adapted  to  the  growth  of  the 
beech,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  others  arc 
better  acquainted  with  it.  As  I  was  born 
in  a  village  near  enough  to  the  place  where 
that  tree  is  still  growing  to  enable  me, 
when  a  boy,  to  go  there  often  to  look  at  it, 
and  to  admire  it,  I  concluded  to  write 
somethinj:  about  it,  thinkiDs:  that  such  an 


The  Original  Bed  Beech  Tree. 


205 


account  might  be  of  interest  to  those  who 
like  to  investigate  the  history  of  our  cul- 
tivated plants. 

The  original  red  beech  tree  is  found  in 
Tlmringia,  a  part  of  German}-,  lying  be- 
tween the  Harz  Mountains  and  the  Thurin- 
gian  Forest.  Thuringia  bad  formerly  a 
sovereign  of  her  own  ;  then  the  city  of  Er- 
furt was  her  capital.  At  present,  it  is  di- 
vided among  Prussia,  the  principalities  of 
Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen  and  Rudolstadt, 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Saxeweimar,  l%c.  Par- 
allel to  the  Harz  Mountains,  at  a  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  from  them,  there 
stretches  from  west  to  east  a  calcareous 
ridge  (shell  lime),  called  the  HainleUc,  or 
Hagelleite,  which  I  mentioned  in  this  maga- 
zine several  years  ago  (See  Horticul- 
turist, 1861,  p.  2G2).  On  the  southern 
declivity  of  that  ridge  is  the  original  red 
beech  tree,  still  growing.  The  exact  spot 
where  it  is  standing  is  about  live  miles  to 
the  south  of  the  city  of  Sondershausen,  the 
capital  of  the  principality  of  Schwarzburg- 
Sondershausen.  The  village  nearest  to  it 
is  Ober  Spira. 
Although  I  saw  the  tree  often  in  my  child- 
hood, I  did  not  wish  to  trust  my  memory. 
So  many  years  have  elapsed  since  that  time, 
so  many  events  have  crossed  my  path  of  life, 
that  I  felt  unable  to  depend  exclusively  on 
my  recollections.  I,  therefo'e,  applied  to  a 
gentleman,  than  whom,  there  cannot  be 
found  a  better  or  more  trustworthy  author- 
ity in  all  Germany.  That  gentleman  is  A. 
F.  Magerstedt,  D.  D.,  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel at  Grossen,  Ehrich,  and  counsellor  in 
the  highest  ecclesiastical  board  at  Sonder- 
shausen (Consiotorial  Rath).  His  place  of 
residence  is  not  quite  five  miles  distant 
from  the  original  red  beech  tree.  Dr.  Mag- 
erstedt is  not  only  one  of  the  most  profound 
Latin  and  Greek  scholars,  having  published 
a  number  of  books  on  the  agriculture  of  the 
Romans,  but  he  is  also  a  scientific  as  well  as 
practical  farmer  himself.  His  zeal  and  en- 
thusiasm to  excite  and  promote  the  interests 
of  farming  and  farmers  is  so  great,  that  he 
founded  the  Agricultural  Society  at  Son- 


dershausen many  years  ago.  As  president 
of  that  society,  he  has  already  published 
twenty-five  volumes  of  its  transactions. — 
His  work  on  tlie  management  of  trees  is 
considered  classical,  like  another  one  on  the 
gradual  development  of  agriculture  in  the 
principality  of  Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. 
He  is  honorary  member  of  a  large  number 
of  agricultural  societies  in  Europe,  and  has 
been  honored  by  kings  and  princes  with 
orders  ;  and  by  universities  and  literary  so- 
cieties with  many  tokens  of  their  respect 
and  admiration. 

To  my  inquir}-,  he  replied  kindly  and 
promptly.  His  letter  is  dated  January  IG, 
18G6.  His  statements  concerning  the  tree 
in  question  are  so  full  and  accurate,  that  it 
would  be  wrong  to  suppress  even  the  small- 
est part  of  them  :  they  cover  the  whole 
ground,  and  form  the  basis  of  the  history  of 
that  interesting  tree.  They  are  invaluable, 
both  for  the  scientific  botanist  and  the 
amateur.  The  readers  of  the  Horticul- 
turist will,  I  hope,  peruse  the  translation 
of  Dr.  Magerstedt's  letter  with  pleasure. — 
He  writes  as  follows : 

"  That  the  red  beech  is  of  Thuringian  or- 
igin, is  shown  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Bechstein,  the 
great  ornithologist.  See  Bechstein's  Forest 
Botany  (Forst-botanih),  fourth  edition 
from  page  238.  The  original  tree  is  grow- 
ing in  the  forest  of  Oberspira,  a  village  be- 
longing to  the  principality  of  Schwarzburg- 
Sondershausen,  not  far  from  the  north  west 
corner  of  the  CM  f  Valley  Meadoto  (Klippen- 
thals-Wiese),  in  the  Hainleite,  or  Hagelleite, 
the  ridge  mentioned  in  the  above.  The 
tree  which  is  an  ornament  of  the  beautiful 
forests  of  the  Hainleite,  is  standing  on  a 
deep  clay  soil,  overlaid  with  rich  vegetable 
mold.  The  clay  rests  on  shell  lime  rock. 
It  is  about  100  feet  high  ;  its  diameter,  from 
east  to  west,  is  2  feet  and  10^  inches  ,  from 
south  to  north,  2  feet  and  11  15-16  inches. 
Some  branches  appear  at  a  height  of  20  feet, 
but  those  of  the  true  head  at  a  height  of  30 
feet  from  the  ground.  The  diameter  of  the 
head  is,  from  east  to  west,  68^  feet ;  from 
south  to  north,  64  feet.     The  head  is,  at 


206 


The  Horticulturist. 


the  south  and  east  sides,  not  well  balanced 
or  proportioned ;  it  is  not  compact  enough  ; 
at  the  west  and  north  sides  it  is  better. — 
The  age  of  the  tree  is  estimated  at  from 
170  to  180  years.  There  are  four  common 
beech  trees  (fagus  sylvatica)  in  its  imme- 
diate neighborhood,  nearly  of  the  size  of  the 
red  beech. 

Bcchstein  asserts  that  the  seed  from  the 
tree  rarely  produces  red,but  general!}^  com- 
mon beeches.  Experience  shows  that  he  is 
not  quite  correct  in  this  respect.  If  the 
nuts  are  taken  from  branches  inside  the 
tree,  success  is  almost  certain  ,  while  nuts 
from  the  outside  branches  are  often  the 
product  of  the  pollen  from  the  neighboring 
common  beeches,  yielding,  for  this  reason, 
beeches  with  green  leaves.  This  was 
proved  in  1823  and  in  1829,  by  direct  ex- 
periments instituted  by  the  Government, 
and  corroborated  in  1839;  for  in  1842  there 
were  about  sixty  seedlings,  sfiowing  the 
characteristics  of  the  mother  plant,  grow- 
ing near  it,  every  one  of  which  was,  how- 
ever, stolen  and  sold.  In  order  to  protect 
seedlings  as  well  as  grafts,  nurseries  have 
been  established,  so  that,  since  1842.  the 
number  of  red  beeches  has  very  much  in- 


creased. Now  the  turnpike  leading  through 
a  narrow  defile  or  ravine  of  the  Hainleite, 
called  The  Geshling^  is  lined  with  red 
beeches. 

Tliose  grafted  on  the  common  beech 
change  the  color  of  their  leaves  gradually, 
according  to  their  increasing  age  ;  they  are 
darker  than  those  of  the  mother  tree,  so 
that  some  are  black  red.  Where  a  number 
of  such  grafts  of  different  ages  are  growing 
together,  it  is  easy  to  observe  the  change  of 
the  color  of  the  leaves,  the  youngest  being 
the  lightest,  the  oldest  the  darkest. 

Should  you  wish  to  read  all  that  is  known 
and  that  has  been  done  in  regard  to  the  red 
beech,  you  will  find  it  in  the  Translations 
of  the  Agricultural  Society  at  Sondershau- 
sen  for  the  year  1842;  page  65." 

Many  readers  of  the  Horticulturist,  as 
weil  as  scientific  amateurs,  will  be  very 
thankful  to  my  learned  friend,  Dr.  Mager- 
stedt,  for  the  pains  lie  nas  taken  in  giving 
an  account  so  full  and  interesting  of  a  tree 
which  is  so  widely  disseminated,  and  which, 
as  a  Lusus  Naturae,  Las  inaugurated  that 
love  for  similar  trees  and  shrubs,  now  or- 
namenting our  gardens,  parks,  and  pleasure 
grounds. 


NOTES  ON  THE  MAY  NUMBER. 


About  the  Grape. — The  writer  has 
given  facts  and  points  that  may,  perhaps, 
induce  some  new  rules  in  grape  locations  ; 
at  the  same  time,  he  has  cut  so  hard  on 
some  of  the  "  grape  savants,"  and  the  hor- 
ticultural world  generally,  that  I  shall  look 
to  see  him  handled,  as  the  boy  said,  "  pretty 
severally."  The  grape  is  fast  becoming  a 
very  important  item  in  its  amount  of  rev- 
enue to  our  country,  and  any  and  every 
factor  opinion  tending  to  its  successful  cul- 
ture should  be  pleasantly  and  thankfully 
received.  If  the  next  meeting  of  the 
American  Pomological  Society  would  ap- 
point a  committee  to  collate  the  facts  ob- 
tained and  opinions  given  relative  to  soils 
adanted  to  varieties-  as  well  as  the  uses  aud 


values  of  varieties,  they  would  do  much  in 
aid  of  information  now  accessible  only  to 
comparatively  few  persons. 

Design  for  a  Country  House.  —  The 
design  exhibits  taste,  and  is  well  drawn.  I 
have,  in  previous  notes,  stated  my  doubts 
as  to  the  universal  adaptability  of  this  style 
of  architecture.  On  the  borders  of  the 
Hudson,  some  points  on  the  Ohio,  sections 
of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Massachusetts,  pos- 
sibly one  or  two  small  sections  of  Connec- 
ticut, maj',  in  their  natural  formations,  har- 
monize with  the  gothic  pointed  style  of 
architecture;  but,  as  a  rule,  I  doubt  the 
adaptation  of  the  style.  Another  thing 
that  in  my  mind  opposes  it  is,  that  while  it 
is  good  when  fully  carried  out,  and  con- 


Notes  on  the  May  Nwnher. 


207 


structed  of  material  to  sustain  its  grandeur 
and  beauty,  cheap  inch  board  carvings, 
verge  boards,  arches,  &c.,  are  an  abomina- 
tion, and  result  more  in  annoyance  and  cost 
for  repairs  to  the  owner  than  in  pleasing 
association  to  the  observer.  Some  years 
since,  the  Grecian  column  was  entailed  on 
every  house,  from  a  one-story  cottage  to 
state  buildings,  and  with,  perhaps,  just  as 
much  appropriateness  as  any  one  style  of 
architecture  can  be  adapted  to  all  uses  and 
situations  ;  yet  we  all  know  how  tho  use  of 
the  Grecian,  so  common  all  over  the  coun- 
try, came  rather  to  annoy  than  please.  I 
would,  therefore,  caution  all  builders  to 
study  well  their  natural  locations,  their 
wants  and  means  of  keeping  up  a  style,  ere 
adopting  any  design,  no  matter  how  pleas- 
ing its  architectural  effect. 

Plan  for  Improvement  of  Grounds. — 
A  capital  design,  and,  from  description,  has 
been  well  carried  out.  There  is  one  thing, 
however,  which,  although  it  involves  con- 
siderable labor,  I  would  much  like  to  see 
connected  with  these  designs,  and  that  is, 
the  showing  of  position  and  kinds  of  the 
various  trees.  The  grouping  of  trees,  se- 
lecting forms,  habits  of  growth,  color  of 
foliage,  ibc,  I  find  one  of  the  items  wherein 
most  planters  are  deficient.  It  requires  a 
natural  taste,  and  years  of  careful  study,  to 
enable  a  planter  to  so  arrange  his  trees, 
that,  with  little  or  no  care,  the  end  of  ten 
years  will  show  them  well  and  harmoniously 
grown  and  grouped.  I  have  no  doubt  Mr. 
Baumann  can  do  it,  and  suggest  that  he 
give  us  a  little  plan  adapted,  say,  to  a  lot 
fifty  feet  front  by  one  hundred  deep.  I  re- 
cently saw  grouping  of  trees  in  this  man- 
ner, viz.,  a  Scotch  pine  in  the  centre,  three 
balsam  firs  surrounding,  and  an  elm  at  a 
short  distance,  the  gardener  having  obtain- 
ed the  idea,  that  there  must  be  an  unequal 
number  of  trees  in  a  group,  and  that  one 
must  be  planted  a  little  away  from  the 
others,     "Was  he  right,  think  you  ? 

Design  for  a  Grape  Arbor. — A  very 
good  design,  and  one  that  will  Well  suit 
many  places.     I  have  no  disposition  to  place 


my  design  in  competition,  but  for  some 
years  I  have  superintended  the  construc- 
tion, from  time  to  time,  of  grape  arbors  in 
this  way  :  My  posts  arc  turned  of  locusts  or 
cedar  5  sit  three  feet  in  the  ground,  and 
seven  feet  out  of  the  ground  ;  a  quarter 
inch  iron  rod  is  sprung  from  the  top  of  each 
post  to  its  opposite,  to  form  the  arch,  or 
roof;  to  the  posts  on  the  sides.  No.  9  wire 
is  fastened  laterally,  by  staples  driven  into 
the  post ;  and  the  same  wire  to  the  arch 
rods  overhead,  by  a  twist  at  each  end,  and 
by  winding  with  smaller  wire  at  each  cross- 
ing of  wires.  This  forms  a  light  trellis  ; 
the  tendrils  of  the  grape  cling  to  the  wire, 
requiring  little  or  no  care  in  training,  and 
there  is  no  breaking  away  of  slats  or  other 
woodwork. 

Pears. — Emile  cVHeyst  and  General  Totle- 
hen — With  the  first-named  I  have  some  little 
acquaintance,  and  doubt  not  Mr.  Downing's 
description,  for  we  all  know  him  in  fruits 
to  be  generally  correct,  but  he  must  have 
had  the  fruit  in  better  condition  than  I 
have.  My  notes  of  it,  with  a  shaded  draw- 
ing, made  two  years  since,  place  it  as 
"  villous,  melting,  pleasant ;  good  second 
quality." 

Propagation  of  Hardwood  Grapes 
Made  Easv. — Thanks  for  this  plain  state- 
ment. It  is  one  more  proof  that  all  of 
grape-growing  has  not  been  written  in  the 
books,  and  that  experiments  are  now  being 
made  of  new  methods,  resulting  in  better 
success  than  folio w"ig  the  practise  of  the 
old  guide  books. 

Planting  Street  Trees. — I  wish  every 
owner  of  a  country  home  could  read  and 
profit  by  this  article,  as  profit  he  must  who 
reads  it.  The  filling  up  around  trees  with 
manure  is  often  practised,  and  counted  by 
those  of  little  acquaintance  in  tree  plant- 
ing as  the  "  very  best  way."  I  recently 
examined  two  trees,  tho  owner  of  which 
wondered  what  had  killed  them.  Both  had 
a  mass  of  manure  around  the  crown  and 
upper  roots,  tho  fermenting  of  which  had 
affected  and  destroyed  the  flow  of  sap. 

There  is  one  other  item  in  connection 


208 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


with  street  planting  of  country  roadsides 
that  should  be  heeded,  and  that  is  the  mov- 
ing a  fence  temporarily — i.  e.,  three  or  four 
years— out  on  to  the  line  of  road,  thereby 
narrowing  and  detracting  from  the  appear- 
ance and  value  of  the  lands  as  much  or 
more  than  the  trees,  hedges,  &c.,  advances 
it.  Add  to  this  the  slovenly  practice  of 
throwing  all  the  waste  brush,  dead  briars, 
&c.,  upon  the  road  side,  and  you  have  a  man 
before  you  that  deserves  preaching  to,  if 
nothing  more. 

Cordon  Dwarf  Apple  Trees. — An  ar- 
ticle illustrative  of  the  practice  which  the 
present  writer  has  endeavored  to  induce 
some  gardeners  to  adopt.  It  is  even  of  less 
trouble,  once  the  form  is  established,  than 
the  keeping  in  form  of  dwarf  bush  trees.  1 
am  glad  to  see  an  advocate,  and  hope,  now 
the  Horticulturist  has  touched  it,  that 
gentlemen's  gardeners  will  devote  a  little 
time  to  its  practice. 

Grape  Cuttings  from  Modern  His- 
tory.— The  record  here  collated  of  the  ca- 


priciousness  of  the  vine  i^  France  and  else- 
where, is  analagous  to  what  -"^r.  Elliott,  in 
his  "About the  Grape,"  would  apparently 
have  us  understand,  as  a  point  to  study  in 
its  culture  in  this  country.  All  these  ac- 
cords are  worthy  the  attention  of  those 
who  look  to  profitable  results  in  grape 
growing.  If  that  new  white  grape,  superior 
to  Dr.  Grant's  Anna,  produces  any  fruit 
this  season,  I  hope  Mr.  Reid  will  let  us 
see  it. 

Should  Plants  re  "  Crocked." — Thanks 
to  Mr.  Cowan  for  bringing  out  from  Mr. 
Henderson  this  article.  .Although  a  little 
crisp,  the  readers  of  this  journal  have  gain- 
ed in  getting  full  reasoning  for  a  practice 
new  to  many. 

Notes  on  Grape  Culture. — Another 
collation  of  facts  and  observations  of  value 
to  all  grape-growers.  I  am  glad  to  see  this 
record  of  the  quality  of  Rogers'  15  grape.  I 
have  no  doubt  this  variety  will  prove  one  of 
very  best  of  hardy  grapes,  both  for  table 
and  dry  wine  purposes. 

Reuben. 


SIR  THOMAS  BROWNE'S  GARDEN  OF  CYRUS. 


Seeing,  Messrs.  Editors,  in  your  well- 
spread  and  abundant  Table  for  January,  a 
tid-bit,  or  bonne  bouch'e,  from  Sir  Thomas 
Browne — for  many  years  one  of  my  fiivorite 
and  familiar  authors — T  take  leave  to  send 
you  a  brief  notice  of  him,  and  of  his  quaint 
and  curious  work  whose  title  I  have  writ- 
ten above. 

Sir  Thomas  was  born  in  London  in  1C05. 
After  a  liberal  education  at  Winchester  and 
Oxford,  he  settled  at  Norwich  as  a  physi- 
cian in  1G36,  and  retained  an  extensive 
practice  in  the  city  and  county  to  the  end 
of  his  life.  In  1641,  he  married  Mrs.  Doro- 
thy Mileham,  '■•  of  a  good  familj^  in  Nor- 
folk." In  1G42,  his  Religio  Medici  was  sur- 
reptitiously printed.  Even  iu  those  "  dis- 
sonant times" — to  use  the  gentle  phrase  of 
Harry  Lawes,  who  lived  in  them — this 
book    of   serene    wisdom  found  so  many 


readers  that  two  editions  were  immediately 
disposed  of.  It  came  out  under  the  au- 
thor's sanction  the  following  year,  and  nu- 
merous re-impressions  were  called  for  in 
his  lifetime, 

The  splendid  success  of  the  Religio  Me- 
dici most  likely  took  its  author  by  surprise. 
Though  possessed  of  a  moderate  sense  of  his 
own  abilitj^,  and  a  respectable  independence 
of  spirit,  he  was  far  above  the  arrogance  of 
vanitj'.  It  may  be  believed  that  most  wri- 
ters who  eventually  attained  great  popu- 
larity, although  they  might  have  some  in- 
stinctive consciousness  of  the  power  within 
them,  were  yet  unable  to  guess  exactly 
how  or  when  it  would  receive  a  public  re- 
cognition. They  just  let  their  inspiration 
Lave  its  utterance,  Nor,  in  many  cases  at 
least,  could  they  subsequently  tell  with 
precision  what   it    was    in   their   writings 


Sir  Thomas  Browne's  Garden  of  Gyrus. 


209 


which  ha,d  fastened  on  them  so  universal  a 
sympathy.  The  bond  of  attachment  be- 
tween an  author  and  his  reader  may  be  too 
subtle  for  analysis.  Perhaps,  granting  even 
a  superabundance  of  genius,  with  all  the 
acquired  skill  of  practice,  disappointment 
•would  be  the  fate  of  him  who  determined 
to  sit  down  and  compose,  resolutely,  a  book 
which  should  take^  as  decidedly  and  confess- 
edly as  the  Pilgrini's  Progress^  Robinson 
Crusoe,  or  the  Religlo  Medici. 

All  Sir  Thomas'  subsequent  works  were 
written  in  Norwich;  and  not  a  few  minor 
pieces,  specially  local,  were  the  results  of 
his  industry  and  love  of  letters.  In  1G71, 
he  was  knighted  hj  Charles  II.,  when  on  a 
visit  to  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Howards 
in  Norwich.  In  1682,  eleven  years  later, 
he  died,  after  a  short  illness,  in  the  7Gth 
j^ear  of  his  age. 

Of  those  productions  which  take  high 
rank  in  a  formal  list  of  02wra  omnia  the 
Garden  of  Cyrus,  which  was  first  published 
in  1658,  is  the  least  inviting,  though  emi- 
nently characteristic  of  its  author,  as  is  at 
once  shown  by  the  second  title,  namely — 
"  The  Quincuncial  Lozenge  ;  or  Network 
Plantation  of  the  Ancients,  Artificially, 
Naturally,  Mystically  Considered."  It 
must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  fanci- 
ful of  his  works  ;  and  the  most  eminent  of 
his  admirers  have  treated  it  as  the  mere 
sport  of  the  imagination.  These  are,  as 
Coleridge  says,  "  Quincunxes  in  Heaven 
above ;  quincunxes  in  earth  below ;  quin- 
cunxes in  the  mind  of  man ;  quincunxes  in 
tones,  in  optic  nerves,  in  roots  of  trees,  in 
leaves,  in  everything."  The  quinary  theory 
of  created  things,  as  propounded  by  some 
few  modern  naturalists,  would  have  been  a 
wonderful  suggestion  to  Sir  Thomas. 

The  Garden  of  Cyrus  is  so  styled  because, 
as  Browne  says,  "  all  stories  do  look  upon 
Cyrus  as  the  first  splendid  and  regular 
planter.  According  whereto,  Xenophon 
(GEconomico)  described  his  gallant  planta- 
tion at  Sardis,  thus  rendered  by  Strobaeus 
— Arbores  pari  intervallo  sitas,  rectos  ordines, 
et  omnia  perpulchre  in  quinctmcem  directa. — 


That  is,  the  rows  and  orders  so  handsomely 
disposed,  or  five  trees  so  set  together,  that 
a  regular  angularity  and  thorough  prospect 
was  left  on  every  side  ;  owing  this  name  not 
only  to  the  quintuple  number  of  trees,  but 
the  figure  declaring  that  number,  which, 
being  double  at  the  angle,  makes  up  the 
letter  X — that  is  the  emphatical  decussa- 
tion, or  fundamental  figure. 

"Now^,  though,  in  some  ancient  and  mod- 
ern practice,  the  area,  or  decussated  plot, 
might  be  a  perfect  square,  answerable  to  a 
Tuscan  pedestal,  and  the  quinquemio,  or 
cinque  point  of  a  dye,  wherein,  by  diagonal 
lines,  the  intersection  was  rectangular — 
accommodable  unto  plantations  of  large 
growing  trees — and  we  must  not  deny  our- 
selves the  advantages  of  this  order,  yet 
shall  we  chiefly  insist  upon  that  of  Curtius 
and  Porto  in  their  brief  description  hereof, 
wherein  the  decussis  is  made  within,  in  a 
longilateral  square,  with  opposite  angles, 
acute  and  obtuse  at  the  intersection,  and 
so  upon  progression,  making  a  rhombus  or 
lozenge  figuration." 

With  this  lozenge  as  his  sole  guide,  Sir 
Thomas  starts  at  full  gallop  on  his  literary 
steeple-chase.  If  he  halts  a  moment  for  re- 
freshment, it  can  only  be  at  the  sign  of  the 
Chequers.  He  becomes  more  and  more  ex- 
cited by  the  game ;  but  diamonds  are 
trumps  at  every  hand.  He  finds  even  the 
Garden  of  Eden  laid  out  in  the  Dutch  style, 
and  probably  full  of  quincunxes.  "  Since 
in  Paradise  itself,  the  Tree  of  Knowledge 
was  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  garden, 
whatever  was  the  ancient  figure,  there 
wanted  not  a  centre  and  rule  of  decussa- 
tion." Of  course  not  ;  where  there  is  a 
will  there  is  a  way  to  lozenges. 

Again,  Sir  Thomas — "  The  networks  and 
nets  of  antiquity  were  little  different  in  the 
form  from  ours  at  present.  As  for  that  fa- 
mous network  of  Vulcan,  which  enclosed 
Mars  and  Venus,  and  caused  that  unextin- 
guishable  laugh  in  Heaven,  since  the  gods 
themselves  could  not  discern  it,  we  shall 
not  pry  into  it.  *  *  *  Heralds  have 
not  omitted  this  order  or  imitation  thereof, 


210 


The  Horticulturist. 


while  they  symbolically  adorn  their  escutch- 
eons with  inascles,  fusils,  and  saltyres, 
and  while  they  dispose  the  figures  of  er- 
mines and  various  coats  in  this  quincuucial 
method.  The  same  is  not  forgot  by  lapida- 
ries while  they  cut  their  gems  pyramidally 
or  by  gequicrural  triangles.  Perspective 
pictures,  in  their  base,  horizon,  and  lines 
of  distances,  cannot  escape  these  rhora- 
boidal  decussations.  Sculptors,  in  their 
strongest  shadows,  after  this  order  do  draw 
their  double  hatches." 

And  so  on,  ad  infinitum ,  it  might  be.  Sir 
Thomas  stops  only  because  he  chooses  to 
stop,  not  because  he  has  run  himself  dry. — 
There  are  digressions,  it  is  true,  but  not  of 
wide  circuit.  We  do  not  regret  them  when 
they  contain  passages  like  the  following  : — 

"  Light  that  makes  some  things  seen, 
makes  some  invisible  ;  were  it  not  for  dai'k 
ness  and  the  shadow  of  the  earth,  the  no- 
blest part  of  the  creation  had  remained  un- 
seen, and  the  stars  in  Heaven  as  invisible 
as  on  the  fourth  day,  when  they  were  cre- 
ated above  the  horizon  with  the  sun,  or 
there  was  not  an  eye  to  behold  them.  The 
greatest  mystery  of  religion  is  expressed  by 
adumbration  ;  and  in  the  noblest  part  of 
Jewish  types  we  find  the  cherubims  sha- 


dowing the  mercy -seat.  Life  itself  is  but  a 
shadow  of  death,  and  souls  departed  but 
shadows  of  the  living.  All  things  fall  un- 
der this  name.  The  stm  itself  is  but  the 
dark  simulacrum,  and  the  light  but  the  sha- 
dow of  God." 

But  the  moment  the  clock  strikes  five  in 
any  way.  Sir  Thomas  is  back  again  amidst 
his  pentagons,  quincunxes,  and  lozenges. — 
He  nauseates  "  crambe  verities  and  ques- 
tions over-queried,"  and  informs  us  that  the 
"  noble  Antoninus  doth  in  some  sense  call 
the  soul  itself  a  rhombus."  This  proposition 
is  the  sum  of  all  things,  and  therefore,  as 
he  says  "  'tis  time  to  close  the  five  ports  of 
knowledge"  on  this  transcendental  matter. 
But  we  cannot  even  walk  away  from  his 
symmetrical  garden  without  being  remind- 
ed, finally,  that  "  the  incession  or  local  mo- 
tion of  animals  is  made  with  analogy  unto 
this  figure,  by  decussative  diametrals,  quin- 
cuucial lines,  and  angles,"  and  that  even  in 
the  motions  of  man,  the  legs  "  do  move 
quincuncially  by  single  angles,  with  some 
resemblance  of  a  V,  measured  by  successive 
advancement  from  each  foot,  and  the  angle 
of  indenture  greater  or  less,  according  to 
the  extent  or  brevitv  of  the  stride." 

S.  T.  D. 


■<-►<>-»■ -^0 


THE  CAMPANULA. 


iY    r.    PARKMAN,    JAMAICA    PLAINS,    MASS. 


The  family  of  the  Campanula  is  one  of 
the  largest  among  the  Herbaceous  Peren- 
nials, and  some  of  its  members  are  of  re- 
markable beauty.  Perennials,  a  description 
of  plants  which  a  caprice  of  fashion  has  for 
some  years  past  thrown  into  the  shade,  are 
beginning,  by  a  healthy  return,  to  resume 
their  natural  place  in  horticulture.  They 
vary  indefinitely  in  value  and  character, 
and  while  some  are  mere  weeds,  others  are 
among  the  most  beautiful  of  flowering 
plants.     We  propose  to  di-aw  attention  to 


a  few  of  them,  and   we   begin   with    the 
Campanulas. 

There  are  at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty 
species  in  the  genus,  and  some  of  them  have 
many  varieties  ;  so  that  of  the  Campanulas 
it  may  be  said  that  their  name  is  legion. 
Some  are  perennial,  some  biennial,  some 
annual,  some  are  hardy,  and  some  are  ten- 
der. There  are  several  allied  genera,  such 
as  Adenopho7'a,  Walilenhergia,  Platycodon,  ixud 
Canarina,  which  some  botanists  merge  with 
the  Campanulus,  and  which  have  so  close  an 


TJie  Campanula. 


211 


afBuitj^  with  them,  that  for  horticultural 
purposes  they  may  be  regarded  as  one. 
We  will  therefore  consider  them  all  uuder 
the  same  head. 

Perhaps  the  best  known  of  the  whole 
race  is  Campanula  Medium^  the  familiar 
Canterbury  Bell.  It  is  a  biennial,  and  must 
be  raised  every  year  from  seed.  There  are 
at  least  five  or  six  varieties  of  it  ; 

First,  the  original  species,  the  old  blue 
Canterbury  Bell ;  then  the  white  variety  ; 
then  the  lilac;  then  all  these  sorts,  double. 
The  double  kinds  are,  to  our  thinking,  less 
to  be  desired  than  the  single ;  for,  with 
them,  the  concavity  of  the  bell  is  stufted 
with  what  looks  like  a  confused  mass  of 
crumpled  petals,  which  destroy  the  peculiar 
beauty  of  the  flower.  Unlike  many  other 
double  flowers,  they  j^ield  seed  pretty 
freely,  and  this  seed  produces  a  good  pro- 
portion of  double-floweringplants.  Canter- 
bury Bells  thrive  best  in  a  rich  garden  loam. 
They  should  be  raised  from  seed  in  a  green- 
house or  hot-bed,  and  planted  out  in  May 
where  tl\ej  are  intended  to  bloom.  Treat- 
ed in  this  waj^,  they  will  make  avery  strong 
growth  during  the  season,  and  the  bloom 
will  be  proportionally  fine.  Or  they  may 
be  sown  in  the  open  border  in  May ;  but  in 
this  case^  neither  the  growth  or  the  bloom- 
ing will  be  so  vigorous. 

There  is  another  Campanula,  much  less 
known  than  the  Canterbury  Bell,  but  ex- 
ceedingly fine  and  well  worth  cultivation. 

"We  are  in  doubt  whether  to  call  it  a  true 
perennial  or  not.  On  one  occasion,  after 
blooming  properly  in  the  second  summer, 
it  died  like' a  Canterbury  Bell;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  have  now  a  bed  of  it  which 
has  remained  in  fine  blooming  condition  for 
several  yeais,  and  promises  this  season  an 
abundant  crop  of  flowers.  This  species  is 
Campanula  Macrantha.  The  flowers  are 
large,  elongated  bells,  of  a  deep  purplish 
blue,  growing  in  tall  spikes,  somewhat  like 
a  Foxglove,  and  the  plant,  when  in  bloom, 
has  much  of  the  same  stately  character.  It 
is  exceedingly  well  worth  cultivating. 


Campanula  punctata,  sometimes  called 
Cavijoanula  nobilis,  has  long,  drooping,  tubu- 
lar flowers,  which,  in  one  variety  are  purple, 
and,  in  another,  white  with  purple  spots. 
The  latter  are  very  beautiful,  hanging  in 
clusters  from  stems  some  two  feet  high, 
and  drooping  with  their  own  weight  till 
they  are  almost  vertical.  This  species,  like 
many  others,  is  easily  increased,  by  divid- 
ing its  creeping  roots  ;  but  the  best  plants 
are  those  raised  from  seed,  which  flower 
vigorously  the  second  year.  Campanula 
punctata  is  a  true  perennial,  and  has  proved, 
with  us,  perfectly  hardy. 

Campanula  traclielium,  and  CamjMnula 
rapunculoides  have  no  little  beauty,  and 
would  be  well  worth  a  place  in  the  garden, 
were  it  not  for  their  vicious  habit  of  throw- 
ing out  long,  underground  roots,  which,  if 
left  undisturbed,  would  take  possession  of 
the  entire  bed.  These  roots  insinuate 
themselves  among  those  of  other  plants, 
grow  up  under  their  shelter,  and  commonly 
end  by  overpowering  and  destroying  them. 

Campamda  perskafolia  is  entirely  free 
from  this  propensity;  for  though  it  increases 
fast  by  its  oifsets,  its  growth  is  open  and 
above-ground,  and  never  becomes  a  source 
of  annoyance.  It  is,  moreover,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  family.  There  are  at 
least  seven  varieties  of  it  worthy  of  notice  ; 
the  single  blue,  the  single  white,  the  large 
flowered  blue,  or  C.  persicafolia  maxima, 
the  two  double  varieties,  blue  and  white, 
and  lastly  the  two  crowned  varieties,  C. 
persicafolia  coronata,  blue  and  white.  These 
are,  in  fact,  semi-double,  and  are  of  beauty 
not  inferior  to  the  double  sorts.  The  last 
are  less  vigorous  in  growth  than  the  other 
members  of  the  family'-,  and  the  double 
white  variety  is  occasionally  winter-killed 
in  New  England.  Like  other  Campanulas, 
they  thrive  in  a  good  garden  loam,  well  en- 
riched with  rotted  leaves  and  very  old  ma- 
nure, and  are  easily  increased  by  dividing 
the  roots  in  August  or  September. 

Campamda  Carpatica  is  a  low-growing 
kind,  sometimes  used  for  edging,  a  purpose 


212 


The  Horticulturist, 


for  which  its  neat,  compact  foliage,  and  the 
beauty  and  profusion  of  its  bell-shaped 
flowers  very  well  adapt  it.  There  are  blue 
and  white  varieties,  and  also  a  cross  between 
the  two,  known  as  C.  CarjMtica  hicolor^ 
though  the  name  is  inappropriate,  for  the 
colors,  instead  of  being  distinct,  are  merged 
into  one, — a  white,  faintly  tinged  with 
blue. 

Campanula  jjyramidalis  is,  when  well 
grown,  a  superb  plant.  It  has  a  thick, 
fleshy  root,  a  rounded  or  heart-shaped  leaf, 
and  immense  spikes  of  bloom,  shooting  up 
from  the  crown  of  the  root  to  a  height  of 
five  feet  and  sometimes  more,  and  set 
thickly  with  flowers  from  the  summit 
nearly  to  the  base.  A  strong  plant  will 
produce  six  or  eight  of  these  flowering 
stems.  As  the  flower-buds  are  innumera- 
ble, and  as  they  develope  in  succession, 
flower  succeeding  flower  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  spike ;  the  bloom  is  of  great 
duration,  continuing  for  weeks  together. 
This  Campanula  wa's  once  in  great  request 
as  a  decoration  of  halls,  staircases  and  the 
capacious  chimney  corners  of  English  coun- 
tr3^-seats  of  the  last  century.  Nor  is  it  j^et 
out  of  favor.  Not  all  the  exotics  which 
English  horticulturists  have  gathered  from 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  have  availed 
wholly  to  supplant  it.  It  requires  good 
culture  to  develope  all  its  beauties.  The 
best  plants  are  raised  from  seed,  though  it 
may  also  be  increased  by  cuttings  of  the 
roots.  In  the  open  border,  it  makes  a 
handsome  and  effective  decoration  ;  but  to 
be  shown  to  the  best  advantage,  it  should 
be  grown  in  a  pot.  The  young  plants,  from 
the  seed-bed  may  be  potted  in  a  four- inch 
pot — or  smaller,  if  necessary — in  a  soil  rich 
in  vegetable  matter,  but  Avith  little  or  no 
animal  manure.  As  the  roots  fill  the  pot, 
shift  tl;em  into  one  a  little  larger,  and  re- 
peat this  process  until  the  plant  has  reach- 
ed its  full  gi'owth.  In  this  country  two 
summers  will  suffice  for  this.     In  England, 


more  are  said  to  be  required.  The  object 
of  this  repeated  shifting  is  to  prevent  it 
from  blooming  till  it  has  reached  its  great- 
est size  and  strength.  In  winter,  it  must 
be  sheltered  in  a  cold  frame  or  cellar,  and 
kept  moderately  dry,  but,  during  the  grow- 
ing season,  it  demands  an  abundance  of 
water.  When  its  maturity  is  reached,  you 
will  have  a  dense  tuft  of  vivid  green 
leaves,  some  two  feet  in  diameter,  whence 
the  flowering  stems  will  soon  begin  to  rise. 
These  may  be  trained  with  sticks,  in  a  fan 
shape.  Campanula  pyramidalis  is  not  per- 
fectly hardy  here. 

Among  all  the  Campanulas,  we  prefer  the 
species  GrancUJlora,  called  also  Platycoden 
Grandifiora  and  Wahlenhergia  Grandijiora, 
In  Europe,  it  is  greatly  esteemed,  but  is 
said  to  be  very  scarce,  from  the  difficulty 
of  propagating  it,  as  it  rarely  ripens  seeds 
there,  and  its  fleshy  roots  bleed  so  profusely 
when  divided,  that  they  commonly  die. 
Here,  however,  it  ripens  seeds  freely,  and 
is  certainly  destined  to  be  a  favorite  border 
flower.  Its  foliage  is  compact,  and  it  has 
alwaj's  a  neat,  clean  and  healthy  appearance. 
It  grows  about  two  feet  in  height,  and, 
in  the  blooming  season — June  and  July — 
hangs  out  a  profusion  of  very  large  bells,  of 
a  deep  purplish  blue  in  one  variety,  and,  in 
the  other,  of  a  pure  white.  There  is  also 
a  "crowned"  or  semi-double  variety.  The 
buds  are  peculiar,  and  almost  as  beautiful 
as  the  flower,  being  shaped  like  balloons. 
AVe  have  never  known  a  single  plant  of 
this  species  to  suffer  from  a  New  England 
winter. 

The  above,  we  think,  are  the  best  of  this 
very  beautiful  family.  There  is  a  host  of 
others,  including  the  small  Alpine  Campa- 
nulas—gems in  their  way,  but  which  require 
the  winter  protection  of  their  native  snows, 
and  several  fine  annuals,  among  which 
Campamda  Loreii  and  Campanida  speculuin 
will  deserve  to  be  mentioned. 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


213 


INSIDE  GRAPE  BORDERS. 


BY    J.    S.    HOUGHTON,   PHILADELPHIA. 


In  the  culture  of  foreign  grapes,  under 
glass,  it  has  been  thought  that  borders  en- 
tirely inside  the  house  promised  advantages 
over  oui;side  borders,  or  borders  partly  out- 
side, -which  rendered  such  borders  worthy 
of  trial,  especially  in  the  case  of  late  grapes. 
Inside  borders  are,  of  course,  entirely  pro- 
tected against  the  influence  of  storms  at  all 
times,  and  the  plants  may  be  started  or 
checked  at  will.  If  late  grapes  could  be 
successfully  grown  in  them,  the  fruit  might 
be  kept  for  many  weeks  on  the  vines  after 
the  natural  period  of  ripening,  without 
danger  of  being  injured  by  the  autumnal 
rains,  and  the  crop  would  then  be  quite  as 
valuable  as  early  forced  grapes.  Very  ex- 
tensive and  costlj''  experiments  having  been 
made  with  inside  borders  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Philadelphia,  I  have  thought  it 
might  be  useful  to  record  the  result  of  these 
trials,  for  the  benefit  of  grape-growers  gen- 
erally. 

The  plain  fact,  then,  is,  so  far  as  I  have 
seen,  that  the  inside  border  here  is  a  lament- 
able and  singular  failure. 

Reasoning  from  all  that  we  know  of  the 
conditions  necessary  for  the  growth  of  the 
vine,  and  from  its  success  in  pots,  no  one 
could  anticipate  such  complete  and  uniform 
failure  as  has  attended  its  culture  here  in 
inside  borders.  The  vine  may  be  grown 
with  a  great  show  of  success  for  one  or  two 
years  in  such  borders,  by  the  aid  of  plenty 
of  water  and  a  high  temperature,  but  as 
soon  as  they  begin  to  fruit,  they  decline 
and  die  most  mysteriously.  In  five  or  six 
large  grape-houses  within  my  knowledge, 
this  lias  been  the  certain  result.  These 
houses  were  built  by  Thomas  Drake,  Lewis 
Tawes,  and  Peter  Keyser,  Esqrs.,  of  Ger- 
mantown,  William  Bright,  and  myself. 

In  all  these  houses  the  floor  under  the 
borders  was  made  of  solid  concrete,  or 
bricks,  impervious  to  water,  and  in  several 
instances  the  borders  were  separated  from 


the  side  walls  by  air  chambers,  In  some 
of  them  air  was  conducted  under  the  bor- 
ders by  flues,  and  two  or  three  of  them  were 
entirely  separated  from  the  floor  by  four- 
inch  brick  work,  with  the  idea  of  giving 
them  some  bottom  heat.  The  suspended 
and  asrated  borders  proving  failures,  the  air 
conductors  were  in  several  instances  remov- 
ed from  the  bottom  of  the  pits,  and  the 
borders  were  placed  directly  upon  the  con. 
Crete  (good  drainage  being  provided),  but 
with  no  better  success.  The  most  ample 
provision  was  made  for  watering  the  bor- 
ders, by  means  of  large  rain-water  tanks, 
force  pumps,  evaporating  troughs,  and  con- 
crete paths  kept  constantly  wet  in  hot 
weather. 

In  borders  of  good  size,  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  watering  inside  borders  is  not 
the  chief  objection.  The  watering  is  a  for- 
midable job,  even  with  the  aid  of  a  large 
tank  and  force  pump,  but  this  could  be  en- 
dured if  the  borders  would  answer  the  pur- 
pose. The  question  of  watering,  however, 
is  a  very  perplexing  one.  How  to  water, 
when  to  water,  how  much  water  should  be 
used,  and  of  what  temperature— these  are 
questions  not  yet  satisfactorily  answered, 
although  we  have  tried  the  extra  wet  me- 
thod, the  partially  dry  method,  water  at 
55",  and  water  at  all  temperatures  up  to 
140°.  But  nothing  that  can  be  done  by 
the  most  skillful  will  make  the  vines  grow 
in  such  borders  after  the  second  or  third 
year,  especially  after  fruiting.  They  ap- 
appear  to  sicken  and  die,  and  refuse  to  be 
comforted  or  relieved  by  any  appliances  of 
water  or  manures  that  have  yet  been  tried. 
The  roots,  in  almost  all  instances,  become 
black  and  cankered,  and  no  new  or  healthy 
fibres  can  be  discovered. 

This  disease  of  the  roots  is  not  occasion- 
ed, in  all  instances,  by  over-rich  borders,  or 
by  over-manuring,  for  some  of  our  experi- 
menters have  gone  to  the  extreme  in  mak- 


214 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


ing  poor  borders  (for  late  grapes  of  strong 
growth),  composed  of  rotten  rock,  sand, 
plain  loam,  lime  rubbisb,  &c.,  with  only  a 
little  wood  ashes  and  pure  bone  dust.  Butno 
kind  or  qualitjrof  border  appears  to  answer 
Avben  entirely  inside  the  house,  and  separat- 
ed from  the  earth  by  a  concrete  bottom. 

Now,  what  is  the  cause  of  this  general 
failure  of  inside  borders'?  The  vine  will 
thrive  for  many  years,  if  not  over -cropped, 
in  a  common  pot ;  then  why  not  in  an  in- 
side border,  which  is  in  fact  only  a  large 
pot?  I  have  contended  for  six  j^ears  that 
an  inside  border  must  answer,  but  I  am 
compelled  to  give  it  up  now.  I  have  tried 
the  inside  border  in  all  shapes,  and  with 
the  most  skillful  management,  but  it  will 
not  do.  It  looks  reasonable  that  a  vine 
should  do  better  with  its  roots  all  inside 
the  house,  perfectly  under  control,  than  with 
part  of  the  roots  outside,  exposed  to  very 
different  degrees  of  temperature,  moisture, 
&c.     But  the  facts  condemn  the  reasonino;. 


The  causes  of  this  general  failure  of  in- 
side borders  I  cannot  understand.  The 
effect  of  constant  watering  which  such 
borders  require  may  be  injurious.  It  may 
make  the  borders  "sour,"  as  gardeners  say. 
I  have  also  thought  that  separating  the 
borders  from  the  earth  by  means  of  con- 
crete, prevented  the  soil  fiom  receiving 
some  natural  moisture  by  capillary  attrac- 
tion ;  and  perhaps,  al.?o,  some  magnetic  or 
electric  influence  from  the  body  of  the 
earth  which  may  be  necessary  to  the  life  of 
the  vine.  The  size  of  the  borders  has  ev- 
idently no  influence  in  producing  the  fail- 
ures, as  they  are  never  filled  with  roots, 
and  therefore  are  not  exhausted. 

I  have  been  told  that  inside  borders  have 
been  much  employed  about  New  York  city, 
but  with  what  results  I  have  not  learned. 
I  should  be  much  pleased  to  see  reports  of 
the  working  of  such  borders  there  or 
elsewhere.— //ore^'s  Magazine^  February. 


MATERIALS  FOR   FRAME   OF    ROOF  AND  SIDES  OF  GREEN-HOUSES. 


As  to  whether  iron  or  wood  is  most 
economical  and  best  for  flov.'ers  and  vines, 
provided  the  rafters  are  made  light,  we 
would  unhesitatingly  prefer  wood,  as  pre- 
ferable in  both  respects.  In  a  wide  house, 
and  where  lightness  is  an  object,  we  should 
prefer  the  necessary  pillars,  and  even  small 
rafters,  being  of  iron  ;  but  as  a  general 
principle,  for  everj^thing  connected  with 
the  roofs  of  plant-houses  and.  forcing-houses, 
we  prefer  wood  to  iron.  True,  some  of 
the  finest  productions  in  the  country 
are  grown  under  iron-framed  houses,  but 
that  does  not  prove  iron  to  be  the  best 
material.  Its  liability  to  rust,  and,  there- 
fore, the  need  of  painting  oftener,  and  con- 
sequent extra  expense,  and  its  heat-con- 
ducting properties,  which  cause  it  to  be  so 
hot  in  summer,  and  so  cold  in  winter,  oc- 
casioning often  additional  expense  for  fuel 
and  glass,  crackage  and  breakage,  ought  to 


be  thought  over  by  every  man  putting  up 
iron  houses.  We  know  that  when  kept 
well  painted  these  evils  are  lessened,  but 
not  removed.  And  then,  suppose  you  can- 
not, or  do  not  choose  to  paint  the  interior 
of  your  house  often,  the  drip  from  unpaint- 
ed  wood  will  do  no  harm  to  your  plants, 
but  from  unpainted  rusted  iron  it  leaves  its 
scathing  mark  wherever  it  falls.  A  num- 
ber of  years  ago  we  were  consulted  as  to 
building  a  conservatory.  The  owner  had 
set  his  mind  upon  iron,  as  more  lasting,  &c. ; 
we  urged  all  these  matters  in  order  to  have 
wood,  but  when  we  could  not  positively 
state  that  the  expense  of  the  iron  would 
exceed  that  of  wood,  in  the  article  of  fuel 
alone,  £20  per  annum,  it  v/as  decided  to 
have  iron,  and  there  it  is  incessantly  getting 
rusty  on  the  roof,  and  the  dripping  spotting 
every  leathery  leaf  on  which  it  falls,  it  be- 
ing scarcel}^  possible  to  keep  such  plants  as 


Forcing  Straioherries. 


215 


Camellias  in  a  healthy  state  beneath  it. 
Then  think,  too,  of  the  bother  of  ever  and 
anon  emptjing  houses  to  get  the  inside 
painted,  which  you  must  do  often^  in  the 
case  of  iron,  if  it  is  to  be  kept  from  rusting. 
A  wooden  roof,  when  well  done,  does  not 
require  painting  inside  so  often  in  a  lifetime, 
if  frequently  and  properly  washed.  Then, 
again,  as  to  the  expansion  of  the  metal,  and 
the  breakage  of  glass  in  consequence ;  we 
know  that  much  depends  on  the  glazing, 
giving  the  glass  ease  enough,  but  in  a  house 
well  painted  the  previous  summer,  and  so  far 
neutralizing  its  conducting  properties,  wo 


have  gone  out  on  a  cold,  frosty  night,  when 
there  was  just  enough  of  heat  to  keep  the 
temperature  a  little  above  freezing  within, 
and  have  heard  the  panes  crack  and  chip  in 
dismal  chorus,  when  those  under  similar 
circumstances  on  a  wood  roof  never  made  so 
much  as  a  chip.  In  such  houses,  where  no 
heat  was  applied,  the  matter  was  even 
worse,  though  wood  roofs  wholly  escaped, 
where  there  were  no  large  laps  in  the  glass. 
Good,  sound  deal,  say  we,  for  all  dimensions 
and  kinds  of  glass  roofing. — Manuals  for  the 
Many. — Gi 


FORCING  STRAWBERRIES. 


BY    GEORGE    CRUICKSHANKS,    ST.  JOHNSBURY,  VERMONT. 


In  detailing  my  method  of  forcing  the 
strawberry,  I  have  nothing  new  to  ofter; 
still,  as  some  of  your  amateur  readers  may 
wish  to  practice  this  mode  of  culture,  I  may 
be  excused  if  I  add  nothing  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  practical  gardener. 

Plants  for  forcing  are  usually  obtained 
from  runners  from  old  plants.  The  earlier 
in  the  season  these  can  be  procured,  the 
better;  and  it  is  also  important  that  they 
should  be  taken  from  none  but  vigorous 
plants  in  the  open  ground,  preferring  a 
young  plantation  to  an  old  one,  as  the  for- 
mer generally  produces,  the  most  vigorous 
runners.  As  soon  as  the  runners  have 
pushed  one  joint,  have  ready  a  number  of 
3-inch  pots,  filied  with  rich,  light  soil. — 
Plunge  the  pots  to  the  rims  in  the  ground 
near  the  old  plants,  so  that  the  joint  of  the 
runner  may  come  over  the  centre  of  each, 
and  place  a  small  stone  upon  them,  to  keep 
the  plant  from  being  displaced  until  rooted. 

Unless  there  is  ascarcity  of  runners,  take 
only  one  plant  from  each,  thus  securing  all 
the  strength  to  the  one  in  the  pot.  As  soon 
as  the  small  pots  are  well  filled  with  roots, 
the  plants  should  be  shifted  into  their  (6- 
inch)  fruiting  pots.  In  doing  this,  use  the 
following  soil :  Two  parts  good  turfy  loam; 


one  part  old  hot-bed  manure.  Place  one 
crock  in  each  pot,  and  cover  the  bottom 
with  the  coarsest  of  the  compost.  Fill  the 
pot  with  the  finer  material,  leaving  room 
enough  at  the  top  to  hold  water.  The 
plants  should  then  be  placed  in  the  shade 
for  a  few  days,  until  they  recover  from  the 
repotting,  and  then  plunged  in  some  open 
airy  situation,  where  they  can  have  the  full 
benefit  of  the  sunlight.  A  vigorous  growth 
at  this  season  will  ensure  a  future  fine  crop 
of  fruit. 

As  cold  weather  approaches,  the  pots 
should  be  moved  into  a  frame,  or  house,  and 
kept  from  freezing — some  place  where  they 
will  grow  slowly  all  winter,  until  required 
for  forcing. 

About  the  1st  of  February,  I  place  the 
plants  in  a  span  roofed  orchard-house,  on 
the  west  side,  near  the  glass. 

The  forcing  is  commenced  with  a  night 
temperature  of  40°  to  45°,  syringing  every 
pleasant  day,  until  the  fruit  begins  to  color; 
even  while  in  flower,  use  the  syringe  freely, 
which  will  cause  the  berries  to  set  better. 
When  the  fruit  begins  to  ripen,  the  temper- 
ature should  be  raised  from  50°  to  55°,  giv- 
ing all  the  air  possible  in  fine  weather.    By 


216 


The  Horticulturist. 


following  this  process,  I  this  year  had  ripe 
fruit  March  28. 

The  sort  cultivated  was  Triomphe  de 
Gand.  The  photograph  sent  you  was 
taken,  May  5,  of  a  plant  in  fruit,  on  which 
were  fifty- three  berries,  eight  of  them  fully 
ripe,  and  some  of  them  measuring  1^  inches 
in  diameter.  This  was  one  of  one  hundred 
pots,  many  of  which  had  larger  fruit. 

In  order  to  be  successful  in  forcing  the 
strawberry,  it  is  important  that  the  follow- 
ing conditions  be  complied  with  : 

First — Propagate  from  strong,  vigorous 
plants  in  the  open  ground. 


Second— Give  all  the  light  and  sun  pos- 
sible, after  being  placed  in  the  fruiting  pots. 

Third — Place  the  plants  where  they  will 
not  freeze,  but  be  kept  growing  moderately 
until  they  are  removed  to  the  forcing- 
house. 

Fourth— When  introduced  into  the  forc- 
ing-house, the  night  temperature  should 
not  at  the  commencement,  rise  above  40° 
or  45°,  gradually  increasing  to  55°,  as  the 
fruit  ripens.  The  day  temperature,  by  sun 
heat,  may  rise  to  75°  or  80°,  giving  an 
abundance  of  ventilation. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  "W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Hints  for  Amateurs  and  Others. — 
BY  AQELLULUS. — A  good  many  are  disap- 
pointment, when  they  open  the  boxes  or 
packages  of  plants,  they  have  ordered  from 
nurserymen.  I  do  not  now  mean  disap- 
pointed on  account  of  the  nurseryman's 
not  having  sent  what  was  ordered,  or  his 
having  sent,  what  is  worthless.  The  dis- 
appointment I  refer  to,  is  that  in  finding 
the  plants  in  a  bad  state,  viz.,  dry,  branch- 
es broken,  &c.,  the  fault  is  sometimes 
in  the  nurserymen — they  don't  pack  well 
enough,  sometimes  with  the  expressmen 
and  the  U.  S.  Mail  carriers,  they  forget  to 
"  handle  with  care  ;"  sometimes  both  are 
faultless,  and  the  damage  is  caused  by  the 
far  distance  the  plants  have  to  be  sent. 

Disappointment  is  an  evil,  and  the  hints 
I  offer  will,  in  many  cases,  remedy  the  evil. 

Your  strawberries  you  find  "  pretty  dry;" 
don't  despair !  don't  throw  them  away ; 
don't  plant  them  immediately,  but  take 
them  to  a  shady  place,  and  plunge  them  in 
water.  Let  them  lie  a  good  while,  and  yow 
wall  soon  see  them  all,  or  most  of  them 
fresh  :  then  you  may  plant  them. 


This  will  apply  also'  to  other  plants, 
roses,  geraniums,  &c.,  &c.,  but  some 
plants  wnll  require  more  time  to  lie  in 
water.  You  must  then  wait  a  little  lon- 
ger. 

I  once  received  from  a  friend,  living  at  a 
great  distance,  a  very  rare  plant.  The 
friend  did  not  think  of  packing  very  care- 
fully. He  put  a  little  earth  around  the 
roots,  and  wrapped  it  in  paper,  and  mailed 
it.  Well,  when  he  packed  it,  the  earth 
was  wet  enough.  But  the  mail !  When  I 
opened  the  package,  I  found  a  good  deal  ot 
dust  and  a  few  black  things,  that  seemed 
to  have  been  plants  at  a  former  time. 
I  did  not  despair;  I  got  a  tumbler  of 
water,  and  put  the  whole  mass  therein. 
The  next  day  I  saw  by  means  of  a  micros- 
cope, something  green,  but  very  small.  I 
waited  a  while  and  then  planted,  giving 
plenty  of  water. 

I  have  just  read,  in  a  horticultural  paper 
of  the  old  world  of  two  cases,  which,  I 
hope,  your  readers  will  find  very  interesting. 
They  are  narrated  by  a  highly  educated 
gardener.     In  a  part  of  his  garden  where 


Editor's  Table. 


217 


— in  the  month  of  April — roses  had  been 
planted,  he  found,  after  two  months,  one 
plant  that  had  been  forgotten,  to  be  planted 
out,  and  therefore  was  quite  dry.  He  put 
it  in  water,  in  a  shady  place.  Six  week's 
having  elapsed,  he  found  new  white  roots 
and  green  sprouts. 

In  the  month  of  July,  the  crown  of  a 
high-growing  Remontant  Rose  was  broken 
off  by  the  wind.  It  was,  when  found, 
quite  dry,  having  been  exposed  to  the  sun 
and  wind  during  six  weeks.  He  put  the 
crown  (which  had  had  thirty  to  forty  flow- 
ers) in  water.  After  three  weeks  he  found 
life,  whereupon  he  cut  it  in  pieces,  both  the 
old  and  the  young  wood,  and  planted  them 
in  an  old  hot-bed.  Most  all  of  them  grew. 


assume  their  proper  places,  and  seek,  by 
study  and  practice,  to  acquire  a  knowledge 
fitting  them  to  enjoy  in  reality  their  pre- 
sent assumption. 


Skilful  Gardeners. — "We  hear  frequent 
complaints  from  correspondents  relative  to 
the  blundering  and  unskillfiilness  of  their 
so-called  gardeners.  We  say  so-called  gar- 
deners, becatfte  we  know  there  are  a  great 
many  really  intelligent  men  in  the  class  of 
gardeners  who  deny  these  pretenders  as 
much  as  we  can.  As  a  class,  we  do  not  be- 
lieve there  are  a  greater  proportion  of  pre- 
tenders among  gardeners  than  among  law- 
yers or  doctors,  &c. ;  and  we  do  know  that 
there  is  in  gardening  a  constant  incentive 
to  attain  more  and  more  knowledge,  by  him 
who  has  studied  even  to  the  point  of  a  pas- 
sable cultivator.  As  the  gardener  rises  in 
knowledge  and  position,  horticultural  sci- 
ence multiplies  its  inventions,  and  demands 
from  him  more  and  more  study  and  obser- 
vation. Changes  and  improvements  con- 
stantly press  downward  Tipon  the  gardener 
wanting  in  a  love  of  knowledge,  while  they 
assist  and  heave  upward  the  student.  That 
there  are  too  many  unskilled  men  who 
pass  themselves  off  upon  the  uuinstructed 
amateurs  we  acknowledge;  but,  as  the 
amateurs  become  more  and  more  conversant 
themselves,  these  pretenders  will  be  re- 
duced in  numbers.  We  must  not  decry  the 
profession,  for  it  is  a  noble  one ;  but  we, 
and  all  true  gardeners,  must  discountenance 
all  and  every  unskilled  pretender,  until  they 


We  hear  frequent  complaints  of  the  ex- 
orbitant prices  demanded  for  new  varieties 
of  fruits  and  flowers,  as  they  appear  in  mar- 
ket. Probably,  in  some  instances,  these 
prices  are  excessive  :  but  it  must  be  consid- 
ered that  the  cultivator  who  brings  forward 
these  new  plants  has  spent  years,  and  much 
care  and  labor  in  producing  them.  If  they 
possess  merit,  it  is  only  fair  that  he  should 
receive  some  remuneration  for  the  time  and 
labor  expended.  This  must  be  done  in  two 
or  three  seasons,  for  then  they  will  be  in 
the  hands  of  other  propagators,  who  will 
divide  with  him  the  profits,  and  diminish 
the  amount  of  his  sales,  and  bring  down 
his  prices.  There  are  many  persons  who 
cannot  afford  to  pay  these  high  prices.  In 
a  few  seasons,  however,  they  will  be  re- 
duced so  as  to  come  within  the  reach  of 
all  who  desire  to  possess  them. 


Rhododendron  beds  should  now  have  a 
mulch  of  leaf-mold,  chopped  straw,  the  re- 
fuse fine  chips  or  dirt  of  a  woodyard,  or  its 
equivalent  in  vegetable  matter,  placed  all 
through  and  over  the  bed  to  a  depth  of 
three  to  four  inches.  Remember  that,  al- 
though some  of  the  varieties  are  found 
growing  wild  on  mountains,  and  in  clefts  of 
rocks,  &c.,  yet  all  such  positions,  on  a  close 
examination,  will  be  found  ever  moist  and 
cool  for  the  roots,  hence  their  cultivation 
in  our  gardens  should  be  measurably  to  the 
same  end,  and  no  better  way  do  we  know 
of  than  mulching  with  vegetable  debris. — 
Some  writers  have  urged  the  use  of  animal 
manures,  well  rotted,  around  rhododendrons 
and  other  evergreens.  We  have  used  it ; 
and  while  it,  at  the  time,  appears  to  give 
additional  vigor  and  rapid  growth,  the  re- 
sult, finally,  has  been  to  give  to  the  plant  a 
more  immature  habit,  and  less  capability 
to  withstand  the  extremes  of  temperature. 


218 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


Cucumbers  may  be  planted  any  time 
before  the  10th  of  this  month,  July,  and 
produce  abundance  for  pickling.  The  white 
spine  is  the  best  variety  we  have  grown 
for  such  use. 


All  Herbs  should  be  cut  from  time  to 
time,  just  as  they  are  coming  into  bloom. 
Spread  tliem  out  to  dry  in  a  shaded  place, 
and  as  soon  as  dry  pack  them  away  in 
paptr  bags. 


Strawberry  beds,  as  soon  as  they  have 
done  fruiting,  should  be  thoroughly  wed 
out,  and  the  present  paths  or  spaces  deeply 
spaded.  If  the  plants  are  kept  in  hills,  then 
work  the  ground  all  among  them. 

The  bearing  stems  of  all  Raspberries, 
except  the  ever  bearing  kinds,  should  be 
at  once  cut  away  as  soon  as  they  have  done 
fruiting.  Blackberry  plantations  are  also 
much  easier  handled  by  cutting  the  bear- 
ing canes  away  immediately  after  they  are 
done  fruiting. 


RaspberrIej  and  Blackberries  are 
among  the  fruits  of  this  month.  We 
will  thank  our  friends  for  notes  thereon, 
forwarded  as  soon  as  made. 


Cherry,  plum,  and  pear  trees  may  be 
budded  this  month.  Much,  however,  will 
depend  on  the  stock,  as  well  as  the  season. 
If  the  weather  is  wet  and  cool,  and  the 
stocks  are  growing  vigorously,  it  may  be  as 
well  to  wait  awhile.  If  the  weather  is 
dry,  and  stocks  are  about  closing  their 
growth,  the  sooner  the  bud  is  inserted  the 
better.  When  the  Mahaleb  Cherry  is  used 
as  a  stock  for  the  cherry,  it  may,  perhaps, 
be  as  well  to  omit  budding  until  early  in 
September;  but  if  the  Morello  is  used,  now 
is  the  time  to  bud. 

With  the  pear,  if  the  quince  is  to  be  the 
stock,  budding  may  be  omitted  a  month ; 
but  if  the  pear  stock  is  used,  the  last  of 
this,  or  first  of  next  month  will  be  late 
enouirh. 


"  Pruning  Trees  to  Let  the  Sun  In." 
— A  few  days  since,  happening  through  a 
friend's  young  orchard  of  apple  trees,  we 
found  them  all  pruned,  with  the  heads,  or 
leaders,  mostly  cut  out,  and  the  bare 
branches  and  centre  of  the  tree  fully  ex- 
posed to  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun.  We 
asked  the  why,  and  our  answer  was,  "It 
was  done  to  let  the  sun  in."  We  said  noth- 
ing, but  thought  to  ourself  that,  in  this 
clear  sunshiny  clime,  where  shade  is  essen- 
tial to  vegetable  life  at  mid-day,  our  friend 
must  have  been  conversing  with  some  old 
country  gardener,  whose  practice  had  been 
in  a  clime  of  moisture,  and  where  to  obtain 
sun,  not  shade,  was  a  part  of  his  routine. — 
As  a  rule,  more  injury  than  good  is  done  by 
this  severe  pruning.  Cut  away  all  crossing 
branches  or  twigs  ;  shorten  in  all  that  in- 
cline to  grow  too  strong,  and  throw  the 
tree  out  of  shape  ;  cut  away  some  few  little 
weak  shoots;  and  then  throw  away  your 
knife,  rather  than  mutilate  the  tree  by  cut- 
ting its  limbs,  and  causing  it  to  try  for  its 
life  by  sending  up  watersprouts. 

Dahlias  require  cai'e  this  month.  If 
you  want  the  best  flowers,  tie  the  rising 
plants  to  a  stake,  removing  all  but  a  single 
stem ;  and  if  they  show  flower  ere  the 
weather  becomes  cool,  remove  the  bud.  If 
you  want  a  profusion  of  blooms,  rather  than 
particular  forms,  then  peg  down  all  the 
branches,  and  head  back  the  leader,  thus 
forming  a  mass,  which,  if  carefully  attended, 
soon  becomes  very  effective.  The  best  ma- 
nure or  stimulant  to  growth  that  we 'have 
ever  used  is  soap  suds  water,  and  chamber 
lye  mixed,  four  of  the  former  to  one  of  the 
latter. 

Carnations  and  Picotee  Pinks  should 
now  be  layered.  Bend  the  branch  down, 
make  the  incision,  cut  on  the  upper,  instead 
of  the  under  side,  peg  it  carefully,  cover  an 
inch  with  sharp  sandy  loam,  then  mulch 
with  some  neat  material  that  will  not  be 
blown  aside  by  the  first  wind. 


Hollyhocks  should  be  firmly  secured  to 
stakes,  well  driven  into  the  ground. 


Editor's  Table. 


219 


Creeping  Plants,  such  as  honeysuckles, 
wistarias,  &c.,  require  to  be  occasionally 
gone  over  at  this  season — trained,  tied,  and 
an  occasional  shoot  nipped  in,  to  keep  them 
neat,  and  give  strength  to  the  remainder. 


Ice  "Water. — Some  years  since,  we  re- 
member, a  statement,  to  the  effect  that  a 
lump  of  ice — say  ten  pound? — placed  in  a 
well,  will  render  it  delightfully  cool,  and 
far  more  pleasant  than  water  from  a  pitcher 
of  ice.  The  ice  has  to  be  renewed  once  in 
about  ten  days. 


Tomatoes  may  be  trained  on  a  wall,  or 
board  fence,  with  little  trouble,  and  give 
in  return  an  abundant  crop  of  fruit.  In 
the  garden,  a  low  Lattice  rack — say  two 
feet  high,  and  the  same  wide — we  have 
found  a  neat  and  profitable  way  of  growing 
them. 


Dormant  Tree. — Record  is  made  of  a 
tree  planted  in  the  fall  of  1838,  which  re- 
mained dormant  until  June,  1840,  when  it 
shot  out,  and  made  fine  growths.  We  have 
frequently  had  trees  remain  dormant  until 
July  or  August  of  the  same  year  of  plant- 
ing, and  once  a  peach  tree  pushed  no  bud 
until  the  3d  of  September;  but  this  is  the 
only  instance  we  know  recorded  where  a 
tree  has  retained  vitality  in  a  dormant 
state  during  two  winters  and  one  summer. 

How  far  long  pruning  and  wide  planting 
may  be  profitable  we  imagine  is  yet  an  un- 
proved item ;  but  this  looks  to  us  as  much 
an  extreme  as  the  practice  of  three  by 
three  or  four  is  the  other  way. 


Salt  for  Mildew  on  the  Grape. — 
Looking  over  some  old  journals,  we  came 
across  a  statement  of  the  use  of  salt  as  a 
preventive  of  mildew  on  out-door  and  vine 
yard  grapes.  The  practice  was  a  solution 
of  salt  in  water,  just  sicfflcient  to  he  percepti- 
hle  to  the  taste,  and  syringing  the  vines  two 
or  more  times  with  it.  We  would  like  to 
hear  of  its  trial  and  the  results  on  some 
such  variety  as  the  Yeddo,  or  other  mildew- 
determined  sort. 


This  and  That. — The  other  day  we  were 
reading  the  transactions  of  the  Eastern 
Penn.  Fruit  Grower's  Society,  at  their  Jan- 
uary, 1806,  meeting,  where  we  found  Mr. 
Crucknell  said  "pears  worked  on  quince 
stocks  could  not  be  depended  on  to  live 
longer  than  about  twelve  years.  Mr. 
Meehan  said  the  object  of  dwarf  trees  was 
to  obtain  fruit  earlier  than  when  on  stand- 
ards, and  that  it  was  never  expected  the 
trees  would  live  to  a  great  age."  Now, 
this  may  be  all  correct,  but  we  have  ourself 
pear  trees  worked  on  the  quince  that  we 
planted  out  from  the  nursery  in  1847,  and 
they  are  now  vigorous  and  healthy.  We 
have  frequently  visited  gardens  where  pears 
on  qoince  roots  were  grown,  among  others, 
that  of  Mr.  Wilder,  Boston,  and  have  found 
trees  varying  from  twenty  to  forty  years 
and  more  old,  and  in  good  vigorous  bearing 
condition.  Our  belief  is,  that  with  judicious 
care  in  pruning  and  culture,  pears  worked 
on  quince  will  continue  good  one  hundred 
or  more  years. 

Coping  for  Grapes. — The  plan  of  pro- 
tecting grapes  from  dew  and  rains,  and 
thereby  prevent  rot,  we  believe  was  first 
tried  by  Mr.  J.  Van  Buren,  of  Georgia,  in 
1852.  By  some  the  practice  is  claimed  as 
a  successful  and  valuable  one,  fully  repaying 
in  one  season  the  cost  of  erecting ;  others 
say  it  is  of  no  value. 


Sixteen  and  a  half  Feet  Apart. — 
At  the  last  winter  meeting  of  the  New 
York  State  Agricultural  Society,  Mr.  Lay, 
of  Greece,  Monroe  County,  reported  his 
vineyard  as  being  planted  sixteen  and  a 
half  feet  apart,  and  trellised  eight  feet 
high.  He  claimed  for  this  distance  immu- 
nity from  diseases  and  permanency  of  vine- 
yard! 


Tradition  curiously  hath  it,  that  the 
tree  from  which  Zaccheus  saw  our  Saviour 
whilst  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  was  the 
acer  pseudo  plat'anus,  or  English  sycamore. 


220 


The  Horticulturist. 


Advice  Gratis. — If  j^ou  are  about  build- 
ing and  improving  a  new  place,  consult  your 
architect  in  the  design  and  character  of 
your  house,  and  call  your  ai'chitect  and 
your  landscape  gardener  together,  that  they 
ma}^  consult  as  to  tlio  position  for  placing  the 
house  in  the  grounds. 

The  architect  may  be  a  landscape  gar- 
dener, but,  as  a  rule,  the  study  of  architec- 
ture has  swallowed  or  detracted  from  that 
of  tree  and  plant,  hence  it  is  found,  that 
while  as  an  architect  he  may  design  an 
elegant  edifice,  it  may  not  be  in  the  best 
style  for  the  surrounding  country.  He  may 
also  know  when  the  position  on  the  grounds 
will  show  his  house  to  the  best  advan1,age  ; 
but  it  may  be  the  worst  position  for  the 
landscape  gardener  to  arrange  his  grounds 
to  produce  the  best  effect.  If  about  to 
build,  then  call  together  the  aid  of  both 
architect  and  landscapeist — consult  them 
together,  for  money  expended  before  making 
a  move,  and  for  such  purpose,  proves  the 
best  part  of  an  investment  in  building  and 
planting. 


Calcareous  Soil  for  Dry  Wines. — 
In  1834,  a  little  work  was  published  in 
London,  written  by  James  Busby,  and 
giving  an  account  of  the  vineyards  of  Spain 
and  France.  He  gives  an  account  of  the 
"  Hermitage  "  vines,  and  mode  of  making 
wine,  &c. 

In  speaking  of  soils,  and  the  wines  pro- 
duced therefrom  he  says  :  "  I  met  with  no 
vineyard  producing  dry  wines  of  reputation, 
which  was  not  more  or  less  calcareous." 

In  the  same  work  the  system  of  renewal 
of  the  vine  by  layering,  as  recently  advised 
by  Doctor  Schroeder,  is  described,  and  there 
called  "provignage." 

Progress  of  Vineyards. — In  1840,  the 
lamented  A.  J.  Downing,  first  editor  of  the 
Horticulturist,  estimated  the  vineyards 
of  the  States  at  3,000  acres.  May  we  not 
now  estimate  them  at  100,000  acres  ?  What 
say  our  grape  men  ? 


HusMANN-s  "  Grapes  and  Wine.  "  — 
Readers  of  the  Horticulturist  will  remember 
Mr.  Husmann,  of  Missouri,  as  the  author  of 
frequent  articles  on  grape  culture,  in  that 
journal,  for  a  year  or  two  past,  remarkable 
for  sensible  suggestions  and  practical  infor- 
mation. Mr.  Husmann,  who  is  a  resident  of 
Hermann  and,  we  believe,  one  of  the  old- 
est wine-growers  in  the  United  States,  has 
written  a  book  on  the  Culture  of  Grapes  and 
the  Making  of  Wine,  which  has  just  been 
published  by  the  Woodwards,  37  Park  Row, 
this  city. 

Mr.  Husmann's  book  is  very  clear,  plain 
and  practical.  He  gives  full  and  explicit 
directions  for  the  planting,  culture  and  gen- 
eral management  of  a  vineyard  ;  discusses 
the  merits  of  the  different  varieties  of 
grapes  now  used  here ;  and  finally  gives  the 
most  detailed  and  practical  directions  for 
wine-making.  At  the  close  of  the  book  are 
a  number  of  estimates  or  statements  of  the 
cost  of  planting  a  vineyard  with  different 
varieties  of  grapes.  We  have  no  doubt  these 
tables  will  have  practical  value  to  any  one 
who  will  bear  in  mind  that  Mr.  Husmann 
writes  in  Missouri,  where  wood  is  cheap,  and 
where  probably  some  of  the  required  opera- 
tions can  be  more  cheaply  performed  than 
in  the  eastern  states.  Mr  Husmann  writes 
in  the  spirit  of  a  real  lover  of  the  vine,  and 
his  book  contains  a  considerable  mass  of  in- 
formation which  will  interest  the  intelli- 
gent general  reader,  as  well  as  those  who 
think  of  trying  the  culture  of  the  grape. 

Ten  years  ago,  Mr.  Husmann  tells  us, 
there  were  not  more  than  three  or  four 
thousand  acres  planted  with  vines  in  the 
United  States ;  now  he  belives  there  are 
not  less  than  two  millions  of  acres  so  plant- 
ed. Formerly  American  wine  went  a  beg- 
ging at  one  dollar  per  gallon ;  now  it  sells, 
as  fast  as  made,  for  from  two  to  six  dollars 
per  gallon.  In  1854  not  more  than  two 
thousand  vines  were  grown  and  sold  in 
Hermann ;  last  season  tv/o  millions  of  plants 
were  grown  and  sold  in  that  place  ai.one, 
and  the  demand  was  not  nearly  supplied. 
The  last  and  perhaps  the  most  important 
sign  of  the  rapid  increase  of  vine  culture  in 


Editor's  Table. 


221 


this  country  is  Mr.  Husmann's  book  itself, 
which  concerns  itself  with  the  grape  chiefly 
as  planted  for  wine,  and  not  as  a  market 
fruit. 

His  objects  are  "  to  make  grape-growing 
as  easy  as  possible,"  and  "to  give  such  sim- 
ple instructions  about  wine-making  and  its 
management  as  will  enable  any  one  to  make 
a  good  saleable  and  drinkable  wine,  better 
than  nine-tenths  of  the  foreign  wines  which 
now  sell  for  two  or  three  dollars  per  bottle." 
He  has  accomplished  his  purpose  very  well 
indeed Eoening  Post. 


Indiana  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture.— Secretary''s  Office.,  Indianapolis^  Jan. 
6,  1866.— The  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
at  its  January  meeting  1866,  adopted  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the 
present  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  has 
totally  failed  to  satisfy  the  just  public  ex- 
pectation in  the  administration  of  the  Ag- 
ricultural Bureau;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this 
Board,  the  interests  which  the  Bureau  of 
Agriculture  was  intended  to  promote,  would 
be  materially  benefited  by  the  removal  of 
Isaac  Newton,  and  the  appointment  of  some 
competent,  educated  and  practical  Agricul- 
turist in  his  stead. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this 
Board  be,  and  he  is  hereby  directed  to 
furnish  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  with 
copies  of  these  resolutions. 

I  certify  the  above  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions to  be  a  true  copy,  from  the  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Indiana  State  Board 
of  Agriculture,  made  this  6th  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1866. 

Maj.  S.  Fisher,  President. 

W.  H.  LooMis,  Secretary. 


Indianapolis,  Jan.  5,  1866. 

The  Indiana  State  Pomological  So- 
ciety, at  its  January  meeting,  1866, 
unanimously  adopted  the  following : 

Whereas,  The  results  of  the  labors  of 
Isaac   Newton,    the   present   head  of    the 


Agricultural  Bureau  at  Washington,  have 
fallen  short  of  the  reasonable  expectations 
of  those  whose  interests  he  represents; 

Resolved,  That  the  views  of  this  Society 
be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  through  our  delegation  in  Congress, 
with  the  respectful  request  that  a  man 
better  fitted  be  appointed  for  the  place. 
I.  D.  G.  Nelson,  President. 

Geo,  M.  Beeler,  Secretary. 

From  time  to  time,  since  the  present 
Chief  of  the  Agricultural  Bureau  has  occupi- 
ed his  position,  various  agricultural  journals 
throughout  the  country — as  the  American 
Agriculturist,  Rurcd  New  Yorker,  and  other 
leading  and  influential  papers,  have  given 
the  public  specimens  of  the  learning  and 
scholarship  displayed  by  the  Chief,  some 
of  which  we  have  copied  for  the  benefit  of 
our  readers.  It  is  now  our  pleasure — and 
our  mortification,  also — to  present  to  our 
readers  one  or  two  examples  of  his  ability 
and  qualifications  for  the  distinguished  po- 
sition he  occupies,  which  have  not  before 
been  made  public.  We  have  it  from  a 
source  eminently  to  be  relied  upon,  that 
the  Commissioner  was  engaged  in  writing 
a  statement  concerning  sugar  cane  seed, 
and  being  called  away  from  his  desk  for  a 
few  moments,  one  of  the  clerks  made  a 
glance  at  his  unfinished  manuscript,  and 
found  he  had  written  it  Shuger  cain  sead  ! 
And  we  have  ourselves  seen  a  communica- 
tion, bearing  the  autograph  of  Mr.  New- 
ton, in  which  are  declarations  exhibiting 
ignorance  upon  common  farm  matters 
which,  if  made  by  a  farmer  boy  of  fifteen, 
would  be  inexcusable  !  And  yet,  such  a 
man — one  who  has  not  the  remotest  con- 
ception of  the  duties  of  his  office,  and 
whose  ignorance  and  incompetency  Avould 
have  caused  his  removal  long  ago,  had  it 
not  been  for  personal  friends  in  high 
places  who  keep  him  in  office — is  allowed 
to  disgrace  the  important  position  which 
should  be  filled  by  a  man  of  learning  and 
good  judgment,  one  of  broad  and  enlight- 
ened views,  and  of  some  executive  ability. 


222 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


The  farmers,  it  is  true,  have  no  represen- 
tative at  Washington  to  look  out  for  their 
interests — but  thanks  to  an  independent 
and  honest  agricultural  press,  they  are  be- 
ginning to  get  their  eyes  opened  to  their 
true  interests  in  this  matter.  Through  the 
press  and  the  State  Agricultural  organiza- 
tions, President  Johnson  shall  know  that 
the  farmers  of  the  United  States  demand 
the  removal  of  Isaac  Newton  from  a  posi- 
tion he  has  not  the  ability  to  fill.  The 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  Agricultural 
and  Horticultural  Societies  have  passed 
strong  resolutions  demanding  this.  The 
Maine  Board  of  Agriculture — now  in  ses- 
sion in  this  city — will,  probably,  do  like- 
wise, and  their  action  will  be  followed  up 
by  New  York,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan, 
by  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture, 
and  the  New  England  Agricultural  Society. 
We  will  compel  President  Johnson  to  no- 
tice us  and  heed  our  complaints. — Maine 
Farmer. 


New  Brunswick,  May  10,  18G6. 
Whereas,  the  New  Jersey  State  Agricul- 
tural Society  have  learned  that  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, at  a  meeting  held  on  the  I5th 
day  of  February  last,  had  taken  certain 
action  as  to  the  office  of  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture  in  the  Bureau  at  Washington, 
and  by  resolution  passed  at  such  meeting, 
earnestly  requested  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  appoint  some  one  to  that 
office  who,  from  his  practical  and  scientific 
attainments,soundjudgment  and  discretion, 
may  commend  himself  to  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  intelligent  farmers  of  the 
country,  and  wisely  promote  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  the  United  States.  And, 
whereas,  this  Society  has  also  learned  that 
this  action  has  been  endorsed  and  seconded 
by  many  other  States  of  this  Union,  There- 
fore, be  it  Resolved,  that  the  New  Jersey 
State  Agricultural  Society  do  most  cordi- 
ally approve  of  the  action  of  the  State 
Board  of  Massachusetts  in  the  premises, 
and   earnestly  and   respectfully   commend 


this  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this 
Society  be  directed  to  transmit  a  copy  of 
tliese  resolutions  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior. 

A  true  copy. 

Wm.  M.  Ford,  Recording  Secretary. 


Mr.  Editor: 

I  have  never  yet  seen  an  article  giving 
instruction  as  to  the  best  method  of  pack- 
ing grapes  for  market  in  any  of  our  agricul- 
tural or  horticultural  papers  or  magazines. 
Last  Fall  I  lost  two  hundred  pounds  of  Del- 
aware grapes  from  bad  packing,  and  am  now 
indebted  to  Mr.  Josiah  Carpenter  for  what 
knowledge  I  have  on  the  subject. 

Thinking  that  among  the  many  members 
of  the  Horticulturist  family  there  may 
be  some  one  who  may  have  a  crop  of  grapes 
to  sell  this  fall,  and  who  may  be  as  ignorant 
of  the  best  way  of  packing  them  as  I  was 
myself;  and  if  there  is  such  a  one,  then, 
Mr.  Editor,  this  article  will  be  worth  to 
him  what  some  of  the  articles  in  the  Hor- 
ticulturist ai'e  worth  to  all  its  subscribers 
— more  than  the  cost  of  the  magazine  for  a 
year. 

Fii'st,  then,  a  box,  twelve  inches  long  by 
nine  wide,  and  tliree  and  a  half  or  four 
inches  deep,  if  carefully  packed,  will  hold 
ten  pounds,  and  is  the  best  size  for  market. 

Now  the  packing :  first,  select  the  largest 
and  most  compact  clusters  ;  take  off  the 
bottom  of  box  and  nail  on  the  top  ;  lay  tis- 
sue, or  white  printing  paper,  to  cover  the 
inside  of  top ;  then  pack  in  the  selected  clus- 
ters, turning  the  stems  inward,  taking  care 
to  get  them  as  compact  as  possible,  without 
crushing  the  berries.  After  the  top  is  thus 
carefully  packed,  fill  the  box  a  little  more 
than  full,  using  the  small  to  fill  all  spaces 
between  the  larger  clusters  ;  then  press 
down  carefully,  using  the  bottom  board, 
and  nail  it  on.  If  they  are  well  packed, 
there  will  be  no  movement  of  the  grapes 
on  shaking  the  box,  and  on  opening  from 


Editor's  Tahle. 


223 


the  top,  and  removing  the  paper,  the  fruit 
will  present  a  solid  surface  of  berries,  no 
stems  to  be  seen.  Grapes  so  packed  are  in 
the  best  possible  condition  to  carry  and  to 
sell.  If  the  fruit  is  intended  to  be  sent  any 
distance,  then  these  boxes  must  be  packed 
in  crates  holding  nine  boxes.  The  ends  of 
the  crates  must  be  solid;  the  sides, bottom, 
and  top  formed  of  slats,  two  inches  wide, 
and  half  inch  thick;  the  spaces  between 
slats  about  two  inches  in  width. 

What  is  most  wanted  by  grape-growers 
who  market  their  fruit,  is  a  cheap  box  that 
can  be  given  to  the  buyer  of  the  fruit. — 
why  cannot  our  box-makers  offer  us  as 
cheap  a  box  in  proportion  to  size  and 
strength,  as  they  now  make  for  strawber- 
ries, &c.  ? 

Surely  there  would  be  a  great  demand 
for  them,  and  it  would  constantly  increase, 
as  many  who  now  make  wine  of  their  grapes 
would  send  them  to  market,  could  they  get 
a  box  that  they  could  afford  to  give  away. 
As  It  is,  the  boxes  cost  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  cents  each.  They  cannot  all  be  col- 
lected by  the  commission  merchants,  and  if 
they  could  be,  they  are  stained,  soiled,  and 
are  soon  broken,  so  as  to  be  useless. 

Would  not  such  a  box  be  the  best  in 
which  to  send  cherries  and  plums  of  extra 
quality  to  market  ? 

Your's  respectfully, 

C.  J.  May,  Wai'saw,  Illinois. 


Office  of  South  Shore  Wine  Co., 
North  East,  Pa,  April  3,  186G. 
Messrs.  Editors: 

Gentlemen — I  was  quite  amused  at  the 
remarks  of  your  correspondent  in  the  April 
number,  regarding  box  or  "  basket  layers  " 
for  immediate  fruiting. 

Early  fruiting  in  vine  or  tree  is  very  de- 
sirable, but  to  produce  a  good  vineyard  or 
orchard  in  much  less  time  than  is  ordinarily 
required  to  bring  vigorous  trees  taken  from 
the  nursery  at  four  or  five  years  of  age,  or 
well-grown  hardy  vines  of  ones  year's  growth, 
into  bearing,  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  a 


slight  innovation  upon  the  laws  of  vegeta- 
ble physiology. 

Your  correspondent  is  not  the  only  one 
who  has  been  sadly  disappointed  in  their 
.expectations  of  very  early  returns  for  con- 
siderable sums  invested  in  basket  layers. — 
Some  of  these  disappointed  amateurs  are 
doubtless  less  inclined  than  your  correspon- 
dent to  publish  their  folly,  or  to  admit  that 
they  have  been  made  the  victims  of  so  sim- 
ple a  sell,  and  yet- he  doubtless  discovers 
the  true  moral  courage  in  his  endeavors  to 
save  others  from  being  so  cruelly  hum- 
bugged. 

It  certainly  is  your  duty,  Messrs.  Editors, 
"  as  much  as  in  you  lies,"  to  protect  the 
uninformed  and  inexperienced  undertakers 
in  horticulture,  and  to  save  them  from 
the  devices  of  crafty  speculators,  since  it  is 
found  that  there  are  some  such  to  be  en- 
countered, even  in  this  sacred  calling.  Nor 
are  editors  of  horticultural  journals  inclined 
to  neglect  this  weighty  obligation,  as  their 
readers  can  abundantly  testify;  and  cer- 
tainly this  service  has  not  been  overlooked 
by  the  Editors  of  the  Horticulturist. 

The  writer  says  he  "  has  suffered  some." 

Is  any  one  curious  to  knowjust  how  much 
he  has  suffered  ?  I  think  I  can  determine 
the  sum,  or  very  nearly.  A  good,  strong, 
well-grown  yearling  plant  can  be  grown  for 
about  ten  cents ;  and  as  the  cutting  or  bud, 
except  of  the  '•  new  and  rare  "  sorts,  can 
be  obtained  for  about  half  a  cent,  such  vines 
ought  to  sell  for  something  less  than 
twenty  cents ;  and,  as  this  is  the  true  and 
most  valuable  vine  for  vineyard  or  garden, 
I  am  led  to  conclude  that  your  correspon- 
dent is  out  of  pocket  about  five  dollars  and 
eighty  cents,  besides  express  charges,  which 
would  range  from  one  to  four  dollars,  ac- 
cording to  distance.  So,  then,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  affirm  that  this  earnest  seeker 
for  "  an  early  fruiting  vine  "  should  have 
had,  or  might  have  procured  for  the  net  cost 
of  his  "promising  box,"  or  "basket  layer," 
from  ten  to  fifty  (according  to  the  variety) 
better  vines  than  the  one  he  has  been  so 
patiently  nursing. 


224 


The  Horticulturist. 


From  an  experience  of  more  than  twenty 
3'ears,  dui-ing  which  time  I  have  grown 
some  millions  of  grape  vines,  one  hundred 
thousand  of  which  I  have  fruited  in  my  own 
vineyards,  I  am  fully  able  to  demonstrate 
that  a  well-grown  one-j^ear-old  vine,  pro- 
duced from  a  single  bud  in  ojijch  culture 
(open  ground)  is  the  best  and  most  valua- 
ble plant  that  can  be  grown. 

Wm.  Griffith,  North  East,  Pa. 


We  have  received  from  Wm.  Griffith, 
Esq.,  of  North  East  Penn.,  samples  of  six 
varieties  of  native  vines,  viz..  Concord, 
Hartford  Prolific,  Diana,  Delaware,  Isabella, 
and  Catawba,  all  grown  from  single  eyes 
in  the  open  ground.  By  some  peculiar 
mode  of  his  own,  (which  we  hope  he  will 
divulge  for  the  benefit  of  grape  growers) 
Mr.  Griffith  is  able  to  produce  strong,  well 
rooted  vines  of  the  Delaware  from  single 
eyes,  planted  at  once  in  the  open  ground. 
We  can  commend  the  quality  of  the  vines, 
which  are  planted  in  our  own  garden,  and 
are  making  a  most  vigorous  growth. 


Black  Hamburgh  Grapes. — We  are 
indebtedto  John  Ellis,  Esq.,  of  FoxMeadow 
Garden,  for  a  fine  bunch  of  Hamburghs, 
the  produce  of  vines  that  have  been  hard 
forced  for  eleven  years.  The  color,  flavor, 
and  general  appearance  of  the  fruit  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired. 


Heyl's  Patent  Binding  Tags, — This 
is  a  very  desirable  article  for  those  who 
wish  to  bind  their  own  magazines  as  they 
are  received,  and  thus  preserve  them  from 
loss  or  mutilation.  A  box  of  tags  with 
punch  and  binding  strings  sent  post  paid 
for  $1.00  from  this  office. 


Darby's  Prophylactic  Fluid.  —  We 
have  used  this  article,  and  arc  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  inventor  and  proprietors, 
and  fully  believe  that  it  possesses  all  the 
qualities  which  are  set  forth  in  the  ad- 
vertisement, and  which  render  it  desirable 
that  it  should  be  in  every  family 


BOOKS,   &c.,   RECEIVED. 

Designs  for  Street  Fronts,  Suburban 
Houses  and  Cottages.  —  Price  $10 — 
Cummings  &  Miller  Architects,  Troy,  New 
York.  A.  J.  Bicknell,  General  Agent, 
Troy,  New  York. 

A  large  work,  11  by  14  inches  in  size, 
containing  382  designs  and  714  illustrations, 
of  the  various  features  which  go  to  make 
up  the  architecture  of  buildings,  as  Corni- 
ces, Doorways,  Porches,  Windows,  Veran- 
dahs, Railings,  Stairs,  and  French  Roofs, 
straight  and  curved,  and  all  styles  of  Mod- 
ern Finish,  &c. 

It  delineates  many  designs  of  each  of  the 
above  in  great  variety,  from  the  cheapest 
to  the  most  elaborate  ;  new  in  their  char- 
acter, and  such  as  avoid  the  many  defects 
which  mar  much  of  our  modern  archi- 
tecture. These  designs  are  accompanied 
by  Working  Drawings,  made  on  so  large  a 
scale  as  to  render  their  construction  obvious 
to  any  workman,  and  so  distinct  that  they 
can  be  readily  executed  without  any  doubt 
as  to  their  effect.  These  features  or  details 
are  again  given  in  numerous  elevations, 
showing  their  effect  when  combined  in 
buildings  of  various  classes  required  in  this 
country.     (See  our  book  list.) 


Elements  OF  Intellectual  Philosophy. 
By  Rev.  Joseph  Alden,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Late 
President  of  Jefferson  College.  New  York  : 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1866. 

Unlike  many  text  books  in  Mental  Phi- 
losophy, this  book  is  not  a  mere  recapitula- 
tion of  the  views  of  previous  writers.  It  is 
thoroughly  original  in  plan  and  purpose, 
and  might  be  properly  called  an  application 
of  common  sense  to  philosophy.  Its  aim  is 
to  train  the  student  to  habits  of  clear  and 
accurate  thinking,  and  though  designed 
merely  for  use  in  schools  and  colleges,  it 
can  be  used  to  advantage  by  those  who 
have  not  passed  through  a  course  of  college 
instruction.  The  author  has  expressed 
himself  with  great  clearness  and  simplicity, 
and  has  produced  an  excellent  system  of 
mental  gymnastics. 


THE 


HORTICULTUEIST 


VOL.  XXL., 


:  AUGUST,    18G6. 


NO.  COXLTL 


VARIETIES     OF     STRAWBERRIES. 


BY  F.   R.  ELLIOTT,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 


With  August  again  comes  the  forming  of 
new  strawberry  beds.  To  select  from  the 
many  sorts  now  offered  and  catalogued  as 
*'  excellent,"  "  very  superior,"  &c.,  is  a 
task  not  easily  performed. 

To  aid  the  difficulty  of  making  such  se- 
lection, we  have,  during  the  just  passed 
strawberr}'  season,  made  almost  daily  visits 
to  our  own  and  our  friends'  strawberry 
grounds,  treating  ourself  to  a  delicate,  high 
flavored  Ladies'  Finger,  and  anon  biting 
into  the  Agriculturist,  however  irregular 
the  form.  We  have  feasted  on  Jucunda, 
and,  both  early  in  the  season  and  at  its 
very  close,  have  found  well-ripened  Down- 
er's Prolific  to  relish  most  satisfactorily  on 
our  palate.  With  Triomphe  de  Gand  we 
have  imbibed  a  peculiar  aroma,  and  with 
Green  Prolific,  obtained  when  fully  ripe, 
the  nearest  to  the  perfect  in  quality  of 
strawberry. 

We  have  not  omitted  our  old  and  valued 
friend  Hovey ;  nor  could  we,  if  so  disposed, 
have  failed  to  notice  Wilson ;  but,  while 


we  have  partaken  of  the  good  fruit  of  dozens 
of  varieties,  our  limits  will  not  admit  of 
any  detailed  descriptions.  Even  a  record 
of  the  names  of  all  the  kinds  would  occupy 
too  much  room ;  and,  therefore,  while  we 
have  examined  manj^,  we  only  write  out 
our  notes  of  those  most  prominent  at  this 
present  time. 

If  our  notes  fail  to  make  record  of  any 
sorts  that  our  friends  imagine  most  deserv- 
ing of  culture,  we  will  thank  them  for  an 
expression  thereon. 

In  our  examination,  we  have  taken  up 
two  positions,  for  which,  or  on  which  the 
strawberry  should  be  judged — the  one  for 
market  purposes,  and  the  other  for  private 
gardens  or  family  use. 

For  market,  we  have  regarded  vigorous 
vines,  firm,  good-sized  fruit,  and  habits  of 
great  productiveness,  as  the  leading  char- 
acteristics to  be  sought. 

For  family  use,  we  have  borne  in  mind 
quality  and  size,  productiveness,  and  hardi- 
hood of  vine  in  their  order.     Flavor  and 


Enteked  according  t«  A.ct  of  Congress,  in  the  yrar  1866,  by  Gko.  E.  &  F.  W.  Wc  ouward,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District ,  of  Kew  York. 

15 


226 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


quality  as  a  market  fruit,  we  have  regarded 
as  desirable,  but  secondary  to  the  points 
we  have  named ;  while  for  family  use,  qual- 
ity is  a  point  that  cannot  be  overlooked, 
even  at  a  gain  in  productiveness. 

The  season  is  another  matter  of  account, 
both  to  the  market-grower  and  amateur, 
as  the  one  longer  supplies  his  pocket,  and 
the  other  his  table. 

The  old  Early  Scarlet,  or  Earlj'-  Virginia, 
so  long  and  so  generally  grown,  while  it 
has  a  fine-flavored  fruit,  is  so  small,  and  so 
much  less  productive  than  Ladies'  Finger, 
or  Downer's  Prolific,  or  French's  Seedling, 
that  we  unconsciously  gave  it  the  go  by  in 
our  first,  as  well  as  our  subsequent  exami- 
nations, and  for  early  ripening  settled  upon 
the  three  last  named. 

Ladies'  Finger,  we  find,  ripens  its  fruit 
very  early,  bears  abundantly,  vines  perfectly 
hardy,  enduring  even  neglect,  or  rather 
what  some  call  culture,  that  is,  running  to- 
gether in  a  mass.  We  made  outlines  of  this, 


Fig.  90. — Ladies  Finger. 

as  well  as  many  others,  more  to  retain  in 
our  mind  their  general  form  than  to  present 
,a  show  picture. 

This,  as  our  readers  will  see,  is  a  long, 
oval  fruit ;  it  is  sometimes  pointed ;  the 
stem  is  firmly  inserted ;  the  core  is  small, 
and  partially  hollow ;  the  flesh  fine,  light 
pink ;  while  outside,  it  is  a  deep,  rich  scar- 


let, with  light  yellow,  small,  and  deeply- 
imbedded  seeds.  As  an  amateur  or  a  mar- 
ket fruit,  we  consider  it  among  the  best. 

Downer's  Prolific  we  have  fruited 
yearly  for  several  years,  and  do  not  feel 
that  we  can  do  without  it,  although  it  is 
too  soft  for  market  purpose?.  It  is  a  great 
bearer,  carrying  its  fruit  high  and  clear  of 
the  ground.  It  commences  ripening  among 
the  very  earliest,  and  holds  it  until  the 
very  last.  In  quality,  unless  fully  ripe,  it 
is  too  acid;  but  when  fully  ripe,  it  is  deli- 
cious, and,  with  a  little  sugar,  makes  cer- 
tainly as  good,  if  not  the  best  mingling  of 
sugar  and  acid  of  any  of  the  strawberry 
family.  In  form,  it  is  very  regular,  and 
nearly  round. 


Fig.  'dl.— Downer'' s  Prolific. 


"With  this,  as  with  all  our  illustrations, 
we  give  only  an  average  sized  fruit.  The 
large  fruit  are  generally  figured  by  dealers 
in  vines,  while  the  small  fruit  no  one  cares 
to  see  figured. 

In  color.  Downer  is  a  light  clear  scarlet ; 
its  flesh  white  ;  and,  as  before  remarked, 
too  soft  when  ripe,  to  bear  carriage  any 
distance,  hence  it  is  not  desirable  for  the 
market-grower. 

French's  Seedling. — This  variety  we 
saw  but  little  of  this  year,  our  bed  being 
in  a  very  unfavorable  position,  but  what 
we  did  see  of  it  has  led  us  to  conclude  that 
it  has  not  been  over-rated,  and  we  should 
advise  its  planting  as  an  early  and  profita- 
ble sort  for  market  purposes. 

JucuNDA. — With  this  variety  we  have 


Varieties  of  Straivherries. 


227 


been  familiar  now  some  four  or  five  years, 
and  have  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  most 
productive  of  any  foreign  variety  ;  but  its 
vines  are  a  little  tender,  and  the  winters, 
where  they  are  unprotected,  cause  it  to 
make  but  a  poor  show  in  Spring  time.  If 
in  good  soil  however,  it  recovers  rapidly, 
and  produces  almost  equal  to  Green  Pro- 
lific or  Wilson's  Albany.  Its  fruit  is  irre- 
gular, roundish  in  form,   of  a   dark,   rich. 


Fig.  92. — Jucunda. 

glossy  scarlet,  with  light  yellow  and  prom- 
inent seeds.  Its  flesh,  firm,  yellowish  red, 
pinky  at  core:  of  good,  not  extra,  high 
flavor;  truss  of  medium  height;  stout  foot- 
stalk; dark  green,  broad  foliage.  Alto- 
gether, it  is  a  valuable  sort  fur  market  gar- 
dening, or  for  amateur  culture,  provided 
the  vines  be  sheltered  during  the  winter 
by  a  light  covering  of  straw,  old  pea  or 
bean  haulm,  &c. 

Green  Prolific. — This  variety  is  com- 
paratively new,  and  our  examinations  were 
made  all  on  new  beds,  of  last  August's  for- 
mation.    We  like  it. 

In  real  quality,  when  fully  ripe,  it  is  su- 
perior. Its  mingling  of  acid  and  sugar  is 
excellent.     The  vines  appear  as  vigorous  as 

Wilson's,  and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal 

In  productiveness,  few  varieties  are  its 
equals.  In  sizeof  fruit,  its  average  is  above 
medium,  while  they  are  uniform,  not  a  few 
large  and  the  remainder  quite  small,  as  in 
some  varieties. 


In  form,  they  are  roundish,  of  a  rich 
glossy  scarlet,  with  dark  seeds,  moderately 
imbedded.  Perhaps  it  may  not  prove  quite 
sufficiently  firm  for  long  carriage,  but  we 
should  feel  like  trying  it,  were  we  planting. 
The  trusses  are  strong,  and  well  up  out  of 
the  dirt. 


Fig.  ^2,.— Green  Prolific. 

It  is  not  an  early  sort,  coming  in  just 
about  as  Wilson's  are  half  gone,  and  hold- 
ing on  late. 

Agriculturist. — This  sort,  originating 
at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  grower, 
as  the  one  just  named,  has  had  so  much  more 
of  puffing,  that  it  is  found  ten  times  where 


Fig.  94. — Agriculturist. — 1. 

the  Green  Prolific  is  once.  Its  vines  are 
not  as  strong  and  vigorous  as  the  Green 
Prolific;  it  is  not  as  good  a  bearer;  the 
fruit  is  quite  irregular  in  form,  many  of 
them  quite  a  cockscomb  shape,  while  others 


228 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


have  a  neck,  and  are  long  and  pointed.  It 
is  a  handsame  scarlet,  witli  long,  pointed, 
light  yellow  seeds ;  flesh,  moderately  firm, 
a  pleasant  flavor — above  mediocrity,  but 
not  really  rich  ;  desirable  to  the  amateur, 


Fig.  95. — Agriculturist. — 2. 

but  not  to  the  grower  for  marketing  pur- 
poses. Its  trusses  bloom  abundantlj"-,  but 
do  not  set  well  in  all  cases;  and  its  foot- 
stalks are  so  low,  that  the  fruit  lies  too 
much  on  the  ground.  In  hills,  and  witli 
extra  culture,  doubtless  it  will  show  well. 

Wilson's  Albany,  so  well  known,  and 
so  universally  conceded  to  be  one  of  the 
best,  if  not  the  best  market  strawberry  in 
existence,  that  we  are  excusable  for  its  in- 
troduction only  on  the  ground  that  if  good, 
no  matter  how  common,  it  should  not  be 
omitted — forgotten  it  never  will  be.  We 
remember  the  good  man  who  originated 
this,  and  who,  during  his  life,  was  rather 
unwilling  to  say  much  about  it,  because  it 
had  not  the  quality  in  richness,  or  rather 
soft  delicacy  of  fruit  which  he  had  been 
educated  to  think  requisite  in  a  good  straw- 
berry. In  vigor  and  hardihood  of  vine  it 
has  no  superior,  if  an  equal ;  in  productive- 
ness, gi'owers  repeatedly  say  they  can  grow 
two  quarts  of  this  to  one  of  almost  any 
other  old  sort ;  and  although  it  has  one 
failing,  viz.,  that  of  becoming  of  a  dingy 
hue,  after  being  picked  four  or  five  hours, 


yet,  notwithstanding  that  and  its  acknowl- 
edged acidity,  the  public  are  yet  willing  to 
buy,  and  the  grower  pockets  the  money. 

As  an  amateur  sort,  few  are  willing  to 
grow  it ;  but  the  public  must  have  straw- 
berries, and  this  is  one  easily  grown,  pro- 
lific to  the  complete  satisfaction  of  every- 
body, and  the  public  do,  and  will  have  it. 


Fig.  9G. —  Wilson'' s  Albany. 

In  form,  it  is  very  regular,  nearly  or 
quite  conical ;  when  gathered  fresh,  a  bright, 
beautiful,  rich,  dark  scarlet,  that  in  a  few 
hours  changes  to  a  dingy,  dirty  hue.  All 
classes  of  soils  and  positions  seem  to  suit 
it,  in  so  far  as  gipowth  of  vine  and  produc- 
tiveness are  features;  while  its  quality  i? 
undoubtedly  best  on  strong  clay  loams,  and 
poorest,  or  most  acid,  on  sandy  soils. 

McAvoy's  Superior. — From  our  obser- 
vation during  this  and  last  year,  the  variety 


Fig.  97. — McAvoifs  Superior. 
sent  out  as  Buflfctlo  so  closely  resembles  this 
variety,  that  we  are  disposed  to  think  them 


Varieties  of  StroAoherries. 


229 


identical ;  if  not  so,  they  are  so  nearly- 
alike,  that  whoever  has  McAvoy's  Superior 
does  not  want  Buffalo.  The  Cincinnati 
Horticultural  Society  paid  a  ^100  premium 
for  this  variety  as  a  superior  one. 

In  quality,  it  has  really  no  equal,  if  we 
except  Burr's  New  Pine;  but  in  productive- 
ness, unless  the  beds  are  renewed  each  and 
every  year,  and  on  good,  strong,  deep  soil, 
it  fails.  It  is  too  soft,  and  too  irregular  in 
form,  for  market.  Frequently  it  is  a  broken 
cockscomb  form  ;  but,  as  a  general  thing,  it 
is  irregular,  pointed,  round. 

The  vines  are  liable  to  kill  out  in  winter, 
and  should  be  covered  with  pea  haulm,  or 
some  other  mulching  material. 

Hovey's  Seedling. — This  is  another  of 
the  old  sorts,  too  well  known  for  comment. 


Fig.  98. — Hovey''s  Seedling. 

but  yet  holding  qualities  that  will  yet  keep 
it  a  place  among  amateurs.  If  it  had  a  lit- 
tle more  of  a  productive  habit,  and  a  little 
more  of  flavor,  it  would  continue  to  keep 
the  place  it  has  held  for  many  years. 

In  size,  it  ranks  among  our  largest ;  of 
handsome  color ;  firm  for  transportation ; 
and  when  grown  on  deep  clay  loams,  and 
impregnated  with  some  variety  like  Boston 
Pine,  it  produces  a  good  moderate  crop.  In 
market,  for  price,  it  will  command  more 
than  any  other  berry,  although  its  quality 
is  hardly  second  rate,  being  deficient  in 
acidity  as  well  as  sugar. 


Triomphe  de  Gand. — This  variety,  with 
amateurs,  can  hardly  be  dispensed  with,  but 
market-growers,  as  a  general  thing,  have 
not  found  it  profitable. 

It  is  firm  ;  carries  well ;  is  of  a  peculiar 
flavor,  pleasant  to  most  people ;  of  good 
size;  glossy,  pale  scarlet;  but  even  then, 
as  a  general  market  fruit,  does  not  sell  for 
more  than  two  or  three  cents  a  quart  extra 
over  Wilson's,  which  can  be  produced  at 
half  the  cost.  Cultivated  in  hills,  wo  have 
record  of  two  or  more  cultivators  who  have 
made  it  a  paying  sort  for  market ;  but  they 
had  cheap  labor,  and  sold  at  high  prices ; 
in  other  words,  their  markets  were  excep- 
tions. In  good,  strong,  clay  loam  soils,  and 
well  cultivated,  it  gives  good  fair  crops,  and 
so  unlike  most  other  sorts,  that  all  amateurs 
should  have  it. 

Fruit,  of  a  bright,  clear,  glossy  red, 
often  almost  white  on  one  side  :  irre- 
gular in  form;  mainly  cockscomb;  some- 
times round. 

Burr's  New  Pine  is  one  of  the  highest 
flavored  sorts  ever  produced,  but  its  truth 
and  purity  is  now  rarely  to  be  found.  In 
most  cases,  we  find  Burr's  Seedling  grown 
for  Now  Pine.  The  New  Pine,  when  to  be 
had  true,  is  the  amateur's  berr3^ 

Burr's  Seedling,  as  above  remarked,- is 
often  grown  as  New  Pine.  It  is  a  light  red 
berry;  of  medium  size;  productive;  hardy 
vine;  not  high  enough  flavored  for  an  ama- 
teur's sort,  and  too  pale  in  color  for 
market. 

Prolific  Hautbois. — Of  all  the  Haut- 
bois,  we  think  this  preferable.  Its  peculiar 
musky  aroma,  when  mingled  with  the  scar- 
let sorts,  give  to  the  dish  a  character  unat- 
tainable in  any  other  manner. 

Metiiven  Scarlet. — This,  and  Trollop's 
Victoria,  we  have  looked  over  this  season, 
to  see  how  much  advance  was  made  in  the 
latter  over  that  of  the  former.  We  ac- 
knowledge an  advance,  but  do  not  think 
either  desirable. 

Willey,  Longworth's  Prolific,  and 
Jennky's  Seedling,  are  all  sorts  of  value, 
and  especially  so  for  carrying  purposes;  but 


230 


The  Horticulturist. 


as  the  Wilson  produces  most,  tliey  cannot 
come  in  for  market-growing. 

Brooklyn  Scarlet. — Don't  set  well. 
"We  can  see  nothing  in  it  desirable  at  this 
stage  of  strawberry  culture. 

Progress. — To  us  is  no  progress.  Vines 
of  only  moderate  size,  and  not  productive. 

Cutter  Seedling. — Very  much  like 
Burr's  Seedling.     Their  day  is  past. 

Lennig's  White,  Deptford  White, 
&c.,  are  of  little  or  no  value.  The  best  of 
this  fancy  class  i?  Lennig's,  and  that  re- 
quires high  culture  in  hills,  and  good  strong 
soil,  to  produce  a  dozen  fruit  to  a  vine. 

La  Constants. — A  delicious  fruit,  but 
vine  too  delicate. 

Col.  Ellsworth,  Emma,  Nero,  Moni- 
tor, and  some  others,  we  have  not  seen 
sufBcient  of  to  speak  in  their  praise.  They 
must  do  better  next  year,  or  stand  aside. 

La  Delicieuse,  like  La  Constante,  too 
delicate  in  foliage,  or  vigor  of  vine. 

Russell's  Prolific — Last  season  this 
variety  took  a  prominent  lead,  and  this 
season  we  notice  it  has  done  so  in  some  sec- 
tions, while  other  localities  have  pronounced 
it  of  no  value.  Our  belief  is,  that  it  re- 
quires strong  soil,  and  to  be  renewed  each 


year.  The  fruit  is,  however,  too  soft  for  a 
market  berry;  and,  as  an  amateur  sort, 
there  are  a  number  better. 

Fillmore,  as  usual,  gives  some  fine  fruit, 
and  so  does  Hooker,  but  comparison  with 
other  sorts  above  named,  places  them  in  a 
list  to  be  left  out,  except  by  large  amateur 
planters. 

Golden-Seeded  and  Robinson's  Per- 
fection are  two  sorts  unworthy  planting. 

Austin  Shaker,  on  some  grounds,  has 
given  fair  crops  of  a  large,  firm,  and  good 
fruit;  but,  as  a  general  thing,  it  is  not  pro- 
ductive. 

In  closing  our  notes,  we  will  say  one 
word  about  forming  new  beds  : 

First,  make  the  ground  as  deep  as  plow 
or  spade  can  do  it ;  enrich  it  with  old,  well 
rotted  manure  ;  select  your  plants  ;  cut  oft 
all  the  leaves  but  the  youngest  one ;  dip  the 
roots  in  soft  mud,  or  thick  muddy  water ; 
if  dry  weather,  give  one  good  watering,  say 
a  quait  to  one  plant ;  immediately  after 
watering,  draw  over  some  dry  soil,  and,  as 
a  general  thing,  the  plants  will  succeed. 

They  should  be  hoed  in  about  one  week 
or  ten  days  after  planting. 


DESIGN  IN  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE.— No.  16. 


BY    G.    E.    HARNEY,    COLDSPRING,  NEW  YORK. 


This  design  was  built  about  two  years 
ago,  by  Dr.  P.  C.  Parker,  of  Coldspring,  and 
is  situated  on  a  fine  piece  of  ground,  near 
and  overlooking  the  village,  and  embracing 
beyond,  tine  views  of  the  Hudson,  West 
Point  and  the  Newburgh  Gap,  and  of  the 
ranges  of  mountains  above  and  below. 

The  house  stands  between  the  approach 
road  and  the  river,  consequently  the  en- 
trance porch  is  on  one  front — that  towards 
the  road — the  living  apartments  and  veranda 
are  on  the  opposite  side,  fronting  the  river; 
by  this  means  .greater  privacy  is  given  to 
those  portions  of  the  house  usually  occupied 
by  the  family. 

The  arrangement  of  the  plan  is  as  follows: 


The  front  veranda,  No.  17,  opens  by  wide 
doors  into  a  vestibule,  No.  1,  seven  feet 
square  ;  No.  2  is  the  hall  containing  the 
staircases,  and  No.  3  is  a  small  room  or  re- 
cess opening  by  means  of  a  French  window 
upon  the" principal  veranda  which  extends 
round  the  river  side  of  the  house.  The  hall 
and  recess  are  separated  from  the  main  hall 
by  Gothic  arches  with  ornamental  columns 
and  moulded  spandrels ;  No.  4  ig  the  Doc- 
tor's business  office,  which  has  a  separate 
entrance,  for  persons  calling  specially  on 
him,  seen  at  No.  5  ;  No.  6  is  a  comfortable 
little  library  furnished  with  book  cases  and 
having  an  ornamental  chimney-piece ;  it 
has  two  windows  which  give  pleasant  north 


Design  in  Rural  Architecture. 


231 


and  west  views  ;  No.  7  is  a  parlor,  about 
sixteen  feet  squai'e,  exclusive  of  the  bay 
window  which  projects  from  its  western 
side  about  five  feet,  and  around  which 
the  veranda  extends  ;  No.  8  is  the  dining 
room  fifteen  feet  by  sixteen,  and  No.  9  is  a 
small  butler's  pantry,  fitted  up  with  shelves 
and  cupboards  and  opening  into  the  kitchen, 
No.  11.  The  kitchen  is  in  the  Southern 
wing,  and  is  furnished  with  sink  and  other 
kitchen  conveniences  ;  No.  10  is  a  scullery 
fitted  up  with  cupboards  and  a  sink,  and 
supplied  with  hot  and  cold  water ;  the 
dishes   are  washed    here,  and  passed  into 


the  butler's  pantry  through  a  small 
opening  left  for  that  purpose  in  the  wall 
between  tht-m,  and  on  a  level  with  the  wide 
shelf  of  the  pantry.  A  door  from  the 
kitchen  opens  out  upon  a  private  veranda. 
No.  13,  which  is  entirely  shut  in  by  lattice 
work,  and  this  is  used  in  summer  as  a 
laundry  or  washing  room ;  No.  14  is  the 
outside  stairway  of  stone,  leading  to  the 
cellar  ;  and  No.  15  is  a  water  closet,  made 
in  a  hollow  space  between  two  walls,  and 
ventilating  through  this  space  into  a  flue 
of  the  kitchen  chimney,  running  along  by 
the  side  of  the  kitchen  flue.    The  warmth 


Fig.  99. — Perspective. — A  Doctor's  Resiuencf,. 


of  the  kitchen  flue  produces  a  current  of 
air  in  the  ventilating  flue,  and  by  this 
means  the  water  closet  is  fullj^  ventilated, 
and  though  quite  near  the  house,  is  always 
cleanly  and  inoffensive.  Private  stairs  from 
the  kitchen  lead  to  the  chamber  floor  and  to 
the  cellar.  The  cellar  has  a  laundry  under 
the  kitchen,  a  large  store-room  under  the 
butler's  pantry,  and  an  open  cellar  under 
the  rest  of  the  house  where  ai-e  the  brick 
cistern,  the  furnace,  coal  bins,  wine  closet, 
and  other  conveniences  usually  found  in 
this  portion  of  the  house. 

In  the  second  story  are  two  square  cham- 
bers, with  full  ceilings  over  the  parlor  and 


dining  room ;  two  rooms  for  servants,  be- 
sides a  bathing-room  over  the  kitchen  ; 
and  a  stairway  to  an  unfinished  attic  over 
the  central  portion  of  the  house  ;  a  cham- 
ber over  the  library  and  a  large  linen  room 
over  the  ofBce ;  all  these  rooms  are  well 
lighted  and  well  supplied  with  closets. 

The  house  is  built  of  wood,  filled  in  with 
brick,  and  sided  with  narrow  pine  siding  ; 
the  roofs  throughout,  including  the  window 
hoods  are  all  covered  with  slate,  put  on  in 
alternate  bands  of  green  and  purple.  The 
interior  walls  and  ceilings  are  hard  finished 
and  the  interior  wood  work  is  stained  and 
oiled^three  different  shades  being  used  for 


232 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


tlie  staining  ;  dark  umber,  light  umber,  and 
annatto.    The  exterior  is  painted  three  dif- 


ferent shades  of  oil  paint,  of  browns  and 
grays,  and  the  doors  are  grained  like  oak 
and  walnut.  The  rooms  in  the  principal 
story  are  ten  feet  high,  and  those  in  the 
chambers  are  nine  feet  high. 

This  house  was  built  in  a  very  complete 
manner,  and  furnished  throughout  for  about 
six  thousand  live  hundred  dollars.  The 
work  was  all  done  by  the  day,  and  at  a 
season  when  labor  and  building  material 
were  higher  than  they  had  ever  been  before, 
though  much  lower  than  they  are  at 
present. 


Ground  Plan. 


NORTON'S    VIRGINIA    GRAPE. 

From  Husmann's  Grapes  and  "Wine. 


It  was  about  this  time  (1848)  that  the 
attention  of  some  of  our  grape  growers  was 
drawn  towards  a  small,  insignificant-look- 
ing gi'ape,  which  had  been  obtained  by  a 
'Mv.  Wiedersprecker  from  Mr.  Heinrichs, 
who  had  brought  it  from  Cincinnati  ;  and, 
almost  at  the  same  time,  by  Dr.  Kehr,  who 
had  brought  it  with  him  from  Virginia. — 
The  vine  seemed  a  rough  customer,  and  its 
fruit  very  insignificant  when  compared 
with  the  large  bunch  and  berry  of  the  Ca- 
tawba, but  we  soon  observed  that  it  kept 
its  foliage  bright  and  green  when  that  of 
the  Catawba  became  sickly  and  dropped; 
and  also,  that  no  rot  or  mildew  damaged 
tlie  fruit,  when  that  of  the  Catawba  was 
nearly  destroyed  by  it.  A  lew  tried  to 
propagate  it  by  cuttings,  but  generally  fail- 
ed to  make  it  grow,  They  then  resorted 
to  grafting  and  layering,  with  much  better 
success.  After  a  few  years,  a  few  bottles 
of  wine  were  made  from  it,  and  foimd  to 
be  very  good.  But  at  this  time  it  almost 
received  its  death-blow  by  a  very  unfavor- 
able letter  from  Mr.  Longworth^  who  had 
been  asked  his  opinion  of  it,  and  pronounced 
it  worthless.  Of  course,  with  the  majority, 
the  fiat  of  Mr.  Longworth,  the  father  of 
American     grape-culture,    was    conclusive 


evidence,  and  they  abandoned  it.  Not  all, 
however ;  a  few  persevered,  among  them 
Messrs.  Jacob  Rommel,  Poeschel,  Laugen- 
doerfer,  Grein,  and  myself.  We  thought 
Mr.  Longworth  was  human,  and  might  be 
mistaken  ;  and  trusted  as  much  to  the  evi- 
dence of  our  senses  as  his  verdict,  therefore 
increased  it  as  fast  as  we  could,  and  the 
sequel  proved  that  we  were  right.  After 
a  few  years,  more  wine  was  made  from  it 
in  larger  quantities,  found  to  be  much  bet- 
ter than  the  first  imperfect  samples ;  and 
now  that  despised  and  condemned  grape  is 
the  great  variety  for  red  wine,  equal,  if  not 
superior  to  the  best  Burgundy  and  Port ;  a 
wine  of  which  good  judges,  heavy  impor- 
ters of  the  best  European  wines  too,  will 
tell  you  that  it  has  not  its  equal  among  all 
the  foreign  red  wines ;  which  has  already 
saved  the  lives  of  thousands  of  sufiering 
children,  men,  and  women,  and  therefore 
one  of  the  greatest  blessings  an  all-merciful 
God  has  ever  bestowed  upon  suffering  hu- 
manity. This  despised  grape  is  now  the 
rage,  and  500,000  of  the  plants  could  have 
been  sold  from  this  place  alone  the  last  fall, 
if  they  could  have  been  obtained.  Need  I 
name  it  ?  It  is  the  Norton's  Virginia — 
Truly,    "great    oaks    from    Htttlo   acorns 


Norton's  Virginia  Grape. 


233 


grow  !"  and  I  boldly  prophecy  to-day,  that 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  our  hill-sides  will  be 
covered  with  its  luxuriant  foliage,  and  its 
purple  juice  become  one  of  the  exports  to 
Europe ;  provided,  always,  that  we  do  not 
grow  so  fond  of  it  as  to  drink  it  all.  I 
think  that  this  is  pre-eminently  a  Missouri 


grape.  Hei-e  it  seems  to  have  found  the 
soil  in  which  it  flourishes  best.  I  have  seen 
it  in  Ohio,  but  it  does  not  look  there  as  if 
it  was  the  same  grape.  And  why  should  it? 
They  drove  it  from  them,  and  discarded  it 
in  its  youth ;  we  fostered  it,  and  do  you 
not  think,  dear  reader,  there  sometimes  is 
gratitude  in  plants  as  well  as  in  men  ? — 


Fici.  101.— iVor^ora's 

Other  States  may  plant  it,  and  succeed 
with  it,  too,  to  a  certain  extent,  but  it  will 
cling  with  the  truest  devotion  to  those  lo- 
calities where  it  was  cared  for  in  its  youth. 
Have  we  not  also  found,  during  the  late 
war,  that  the  Germans,  the  adopted  citi- 
zens of  this  great  country,  clung  with  a 
heartier   devotion  to  our  noble  flag,   and 


Virginia  Gra2)e.     Berries  one-third  full  size. 

shed  their  blood  more  freely  for  it,  than 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  native-born 
Americans  1  And  why  ?  Because  here 
they  found  protection,  equal  rights  for  all, 
and  that  freedom  which  had  been  the  idol 
of  their  hearts,  and  haunted  their  dreams 
by  night ;  because  they  had  been  oppressed 
so  long    they  more   fully  appreciated  the 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


blessings  of  a  free  government  than  those 
who  had  enjoyed  it  from  their  birth.  But 
you  may  call  me  fantastical  for  comparing 
plants  to  liuman  beings,  and  will  say  plants 
have  no  appreciation  of  such  things.     Bro- 


ther Skeptic,  have  you,  or  has  anybody, 
divined  all  the  secrets  of  Nature's  work- 
shop ?  Truly,  we  may  say  that  we  have 
not ;  and  we  meet  with  facts  every  day 
which  are  strancjer  than  fiction. 


NEW    STRAWBERRIES. 


BY    J.  M.  MERRICK,    JR.,    WALFOLE,    MASS. 


The  Editors  of  the  Horticulturist  en- 
courage me  to  give  my  results  with  new 
and  old  varieties  of  the  strawberry,  obtain- 
ed from  my  experience  during  180^  and  the 
present  year,  and  I  therefore  present  this 
brief  paper. 

My  beds  were  planted  one  year  ago  last 
spring,  in  good  garden  soil  which  had  borne 
a  crop  of  corn  the  previous  season  without 
manure.  The  vines  were  set  in  rows,  the 
plants  being  put  from  eight  to  sixteen  inches 
apart  in  the  row,  according  to  the  vigor  of 
their  growth ;  and  except  in  the  case  of  new 
varieties,  where  it  wa3  desirable  to  multiply 
plants,  the  runners  were  trimmed  off  as  fast 
as  they  appeared.  Under  this  treatment. 
Downer's  Prolific,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Bart- 
lett,  and  some  others,  thickened  up  into 
what  may  fairly  be  called  bushes,  with  im- 
mense crowns  full  of  buds.  The  Agriculturist 
plants,  although  every  runner  was  encour- 
aged to  grow,  thickened  up  into  immense 
plants,  and  made  the  finest  looking  row  in  the 
whole  garden.  The  beds  were  dressed  with 
an  abundance  of  guano  and  wood  ashes ; 
but  no  stable  manure  was  applied,  either 
before  planting  or  during  the  growing  sea- 
son. All  the  vines  were  covered  with 
leaves  and  pine  boughs  in  November;  and 
these  were  not  removed  till  the  middle  of 
April,  when  not  one  plant  was  found  thrown 
out  or  injured. 

I  ought  not  to  forget  to  mention  that  the 
guano  and  ashes  were  applied  at  three  or 
four  different  times  through  the  summer, 
and  that  the  plants  were  hoed  around  two 
or  three  times  a  week,  most  of  the  season, 
thus  keeping  the  surface  in  good  order  and 
subduing  all  weeds. 


The  present  season  has  been  unprecedent- 
ly  cold.  March  was  extremely  cold  and 
disagreeable  ;  we  shivered  round  the  stove 
in  April,  and  in  May  we  had  only  two  or 
three  warm  days. 

The  first  half  of  June  was  cold  and  cloudy, 
with  east  winds  and  dull  weathir,  and  the 
second  half  was  not  nearly  as  warm  as  usual 
until  the  last  week,  when  hot  weather  came 
on  and  ripened  strawberries  very  fast. 

As  I  have  nothing  new  to  offer  upon 
methods  of  cultivation,  I  proceed  at  once 
to  a  consideration  of  the  merits  of  different 
varieties,  taking  them  in  alphabetical  order. 

AGRICULTURIST. 

In  size  and  vigor  of  plant,  size  of  berry, 
and  general  excellence,  this  famous  kind 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  list,  and  surpasses 
all  the  other  kinds — some  thirty-two  in 
number — which  I  have  on  trial.  Unless 
some  now  unknown  imperfection  should 
show  itself,  I  do  not  see  why  this  must  not 
become  the  great  market  berry  of  the 
country. 

I  give  no  minute  description  of  this 
variety,  as  almost  everybody  has  it,  but 
simply  add  that  my  rows  of  plants  have 
now,  July  3d,  been  for  a  week  the  wonder 
and  undisguised  admiration  of  my  neigh- 
bors, some  of  whom  arc  well  acquainted 
with  common  strawberries,  but  "  never  saw 
anything  like  this." 


A  new  variety,  A  good  grower,  of  dwarf 
habit,  with  wedge-obovate  leaflets,  on  ra- 
ther hairy  petioles,  and  of  a  dark  green 
color.  Flowers  large  and  conspicuous.  Bcr- 


Neiu  Straivberries. 


235 


ries  roumlisli-conical,  medium  to  large, 
bright  crimson,  sweet,  and  as  good  as  La 
Constante. 

EXPOSITION    A    CHALONS. 

A  now  variety.  Not  a  very  strong  grow- 
er. Leaflets  wedge-obovate,  sometimes  cu- 
riously subdivided,  deeply  serrate,  dull  dirty 
green.  In  blossom  about  May  17th.  Fruit 
large,  conical,  good  flavor,  bright  color  • 
no  better  nor  much  worse  than  the  Tri- 
omphe  de  Gand. 

FROGMORE,    LATE    PINE. 

Plant  a  vigorous  and  handsome  grower; 
leaves  large,  medium  green;  leaflets  round- 
ovate  sharply  serrate,  on  somewhat  hairy 
petioles.  Flowers  very  large  and  conspicu- 
ous ;  the  first  one  open  on  the  15  th  of  May. 

Fruit  immense  in  size,  brilliant  crimson, 
regularly  conical,  parting  easily  from  the 
calj'x  ;  flesh  white,  juicy  and  delicious.  The 
plants  are  quite  productive,  and  by  their 
size  and  vigor,  and  the  size,  brillancj^  and 
beauty  of  the  fruit,  merit  a  place  in  every 
collection. 

HAQUIN. 

Said  by  Mr.  Knox  to  be  the  same  as  Prin- 
cessc  Royale,  while  Ed.  J.  Evans  and  Co. 
inform  me  that  they  consider  this  kind  a 
little  superior  to  Tiiomphe  de  Gand. 

There  must  be  two  or  more  different 
kinds  under  one  name,  for,  of  all  the  kinds 
I  ever  saw  or  heard  of,  the  Ilaquin  is  the 
most  utterly  and  indesciibably  worthless. 

It  is  a  coarse,  rank  grower ;  with  berries 
as  big  as  large  peas,  of  no  particular  flavor 
or  goodness,  and  is  a  thorough  humbug. 

LA    DELICIEUSE. 

Plants  of  dwarf  habit ;  leaflets  very  long, 
narrow  and  slender,  some  very  nearly  spa- 
tulate,  and  dull  green  in  color.  Blossoms 
small,  with  very  minute  stamens,  giving  it 
the  look  of  a  pistillate  kind,  and  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  flowers  of  most  of  the  French 
and  Belgian  varieties. 

Berries  in  clusters,  small  to  medium, 
dark  red,  deeply  pitted,  and  having  mucii 


the  look  of  our  wild  kind,  sweet,  juicy  and 
very  delicious,  but,  of  course,  useless  for  a 
market  berry. 

Some  of  my  friends  give  this  variety  the 
preference  in  point  of  flavor  over  all  others. 

LA    NEGRESSE. 

A  tolerably  good  grower.  Petioles  very 
long,  reddish,  and  hairy;  leaflets  deeply 
serrate,  rough,  and  dull  green.  Berries  very 
few  in  number;  not  very  dark  colored  when 
fully  ripe;  regularly  conical,  very  large, 
sweet  and  good. 

This  variety  has  no  special  excellence, 
and  no  obvious  claim  to  the  name  it  bears. 

LUCIDA    PERFECTA. 

This  very  striking  variety,  said  to  be  a 
cross  between  the  British  Queen  and  the 
California  Strawberry,  makes  so  fine  a  dis- 
play of  leaves  of  a  very  unusual  shade  and 
texture,  as  to  attract  attention  among  many 
kinds. 

The  plant  is  an  extremely  vigorous  and 
stocky  grower,  of  a  compact  and  rather 
dwarf  habit,  having  very  large,  thick,  dark 
green  and  glossy  leaves.  The  leaflets  are 
round-obovate,  slightly  crumpled,  with  not 
very  deep  serratures,  much  lighter  on  the 
under  than  on  the  upper  side.  As  the  plant 
gets  older,  the  upper  side  of  the  leaf  turns 
very  dark  green,  and  shines  as  though  it 
were  varnished.  It  is  an  extremlj'-  late 
varietur,  the  buds  on  plants  a  year  old  and 
well  grown  being  hardly  visible  down  in 
the  centre  of  the  crown  on  the  10th  day 
of  May ;  and  on  the  1st  of  July  there  were 
still  many  blossoms  remaining.  Berries, 
medium  to  large,  bright  crimson,  white 
towards  the  neck,  obtusely  conical  or  slight- 
ly coxcomb  shape ;  flesh  snow-white  and 
full  of  rich  sweet  juice.  Plants  moderately 
productive,  and  curious  in  the  development 
of  the  fruit-stalk,  which  grows  to  two  or 
three  times  the  length  it  had  when  the 
first  blossom  opens. 

For  a  refined  taste,  I  think  perfectly  ripe 
berries  of  this  variety  present  more  attrac- 
tions than  any  other  kind  I  know. 


236 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


LUCAS. 

A  most  sp'endid  strawberry;  a  strong 
vigorous  grower.  Petioles  medium  length; 
leaves  large,  bright  green,  a  shade  lighter 
than  the  parent  plant  La  Constante,  and 
very  handsome.  Fruit  ripe  about  July 
3d.  Berries  very  large,  some  of  them  im- 
mense, conical,  and  very  regular  in  shape; 
rich,  juicy  and  delicious,  with  a  decided 
raspberry  flavor.  This  is  a  berry  that  ought 
to  make  (juite  a  stir  among  amateurs. 

MADAME    COLOGNE, 

I  find  the  name  of  this  variety,  spelled  in 
various  ways,  but  the  above  is  the  title  by 
which  I  bought  my  plants  last  j-ear. 

It  is  a  strong  healthy  grower  of  some- 
what dwarf  habit,  with  large,  crumpled 
medium  green  leaves,  the  leaflets  being 
very  sbarply  and  deeply  serrate,  and  taper- 
ing a  little  at  the  base.  The  berries  are 
obtusely  conical  (with  occasionally  a  long 
neck),  sometimes  irregular,  not  very  bright 
crimson,  white-fleshed,  and  decidedly  sweet 
and  good,  though  not  very  juicy.  Plant  a 
moderate  bearer,  although  I  notice  that 
some  young  vines,  eight  or  nine  months 
old,  sometimes  sacrifice  all  their  other  fruit 
to  produce  one  enormous  berry.  The  roots 
of  this  variety  are  extremely  fine  and 
thread-like,  in  marked  contrast  to  those  of 
many  other  kinds. 


Tolerably  strong  grower,  but  very  ten- 
der, and  if  exposed,  winter-kills  badly. 

Petioles  nearly  smooth,  glossy;  leaves 
dark  gieen. 

Berries  roundish,  large,  light  colored, 
sweet  and  rich,  but  so  very  few  in  number 
as  to  make  the  plant  of  little  value  save  to 
the  curious  amateur. 

QUINQUEFOLIA. 

Mr.  A.  S.  Fuller  wrote  to  me  last  fall 
that  this  variety  was  worthless  and  a  hum- 
bug ;  but  my  experience  this  year  enables 
me  to  say  that  one  of  us  has  not  got  the 
true  Quinquefolia,  for  my  variety  is  one  of 
the  very  choicest. 


Petioles  with  scattered  hairs,  leaflets 
rounded,  crumpled,  not  very  dark  green, 
and  not  very  peculiar  in  arrangement ;  at 
least  I  have  never  found  a  fine  parted  leaf. 

The  plants -are  very  productive;  and  the 
fruit  is  a  regular  cone  of  immense  size,  light 
red,  sweet,  juicy  and  delicious  in  a  very 
high  degree.    A  most  excellent  strawberry. 

Of  the  older  and  better  known  varieties 
I  have  a  good  collection,  and  w^ould  like  to 
say  that  I  consider  La  Constante,  Triomphe 
de  Gand,  Lenning's  White,  Kiver's  Eliza, 
and  French's  Seedling,  indispensable  in  a 
good  family  garden.  Lenning's  AThite,  es- 
pecially, is  an  exquisite  strawberr}';  and  the 
Eliza,  although  soft  and  light  colored,  is  so 
excellent  in  flavor,  and  so  wonderfully  large 
in  size,  that  I  cannot  allow  it  to  be  elbowed 
from  amateur's  collections  without  a  pro- 
test. 

My  Russel's  Prolifics  have  borne  an  im- 
mense crop  of  tolerable  berries,  about  se- 
cond rate  in  point  of  flavor. 

I  have  no  McAvoys'  Superior,  and  there- 
fore can  add  no  word  to  the  Babel  of  talk 
about  these  two  kinds. 

Those  who  prefer  quantity  to  quality  will 
raise  the  Russell's  Prolific. 

It  seems  strange  to  me  that  so  few  gar- 
dens are  embellished  with  strawberry  beds. 

Everybody  loves  the  fruit;  but  to  in- 
dulge in  purchased  berries  in  generous 
quantities  throughout  the  season  has  to  be 
regarded  by  many  as  an  extravagance  they 
cannot  well  afford.  It  is  very  easy,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  those  who  own  gardens,  to 
raise  strawberries  enough  and  more  than 
enough  for  their  own  use.  Any  soil,  not 
absolutely  vile,  will  produce  strawberries ; 
and  last  year  I  saw  a  bed  of  Wilson's  Al- 
bany filled  with  five  years  growth  of  grass, 
yet  still  flourishing  tolerably  and  bearing 
a  moderate  crop. 

Of  course  neglect  is  not  to  be  commended. 
Plant  the  vines  in  hills,  keep  the  runners 
cut  off";  keep  the  start  of  the  weeds  after 
you  once  get  it,  throw  some  leaves  and  pine 
boughs  over  the  vines  in  November,  let  the 


Disease  of  the  Vine  and  its  Uemedy. 


237 


leaves  stay  in  the  spring  for  a  mulch — (all 
this  is  more  formidable  when  written  out 
than  it  proves  in  actual  practice) — and  little 
trouble  will  be  experienced  in  getting  a 
supply  of  berries,  better  fruit  than  which, 
says  Isaac  Walton,  the  Creator  mirjht  have 
made,  but  certainly  did  not. 

T  believe  this  saying,  by  the  way,  is  older 
than  "Walton;  but  it  is  nevertheless  as  true 
as  gospel,  whether  it  be  old  or  new. 


In  brief,  I  may  say  that,  in  my  opinion, 
the  best  berr}^,  taking  all  things  into  ac- 
count, is  the  Agriculturist;  the  sweetest 
and  dryest,  Madame  Cologne  ;  the  hand- 
somest, Lucas  or  Quinquefolia;  the  best 
white,  Lenning's;  that  which — if  it  really  be 
a  foreign  kind— comes  the  nearest  to  our 
wild  berries,  La  Delicieuse ;  the  meanest, 
Ilaquin  ;  and  the  most  delicious,  refreshing 
and  palate-satisfying,  Lucida  Perfecta. 


DISEASE  OF  THE  VINE  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


BY    P.    LAZARIS,    OF    ATHENS. 


Any  substance,  dried  and  pulverized, 
which  does  not  injure  the  foliage  or  fruit 
of  the  vine,  cures  the  disease  of  "  oidium," 
with  which  it  is  affected.  It  is  because  of 
the  same  qualities  that  pulverized  sulphur 
produces  the  same  effect,  and  not  as  a  spe- 
cific, as  is  generally  belie  s^ed.  Those  who 
have  thus  far  applied  themselves  to  re- 
search, to  discover  a  remedy  for  the  disease 
called  "  oidium,"  have  wished  to  find  a 
specific  which  would  as  surely  cause  it  to 
disappear  as  does  quinine  break  the  inter- 
mittent fever.  Consequently,  they  have 
considered  that  sulphur  possessed  such  spe- 
cific properties,  but  no  one  discovered  that 
any  material  reduced  to  very  fine  powder, 
and  which  would  not  injure  the  plant  or  its 
fruit,  would  equally  well  cure  the  disease. 
When  it  is  spread  abundantly  on  the  grape, 
where  it  attaches  itself  easily,  it  acts,  as  I 
believe,  by  its  drying  the  parasitic  fungus, 
absorbing  its  juices,  and  thus  cutting  off  its 
nourishment.  In  some  microscopic  obser- 
vations I  have  made,  I  think  I  have  seen 
this  effect  produced  just  at  the  point  where 
the  peduncle  of  the  parasitic  grains  is  at- 
tached to  the  grape,  and  possibly  on  the 
grains  themselves.  Having  observed  that 
those  grapes  which  lay  upon  the  earth  were 
not  attacked  by  the  disease,  I  concluded 
very   naturally   that    the  most  efficacious 


means  to  cure   it   was   by  powdering  the 
plant  with  earth. 

The  following  experiments  led  me  to  con- 
sider my  discovery  as  an  infallible  remedy. 
I  powdered  my  vines  with  European  sul- 
phur, save  one  corner  of  my  vineyard  apart 
from  the  rest,  which  was  saved  for  experi- 
ment. This  was  divided  into  two  portions; 
one  was  treated  with  sulphurous  earth  of 
Kalamaki,  called  ''  antirusty"  (antigalcuse) 
the  other  simply  with  clay,  leaving,  at  the 
same  time,  a  few  vines  in  their  natural 
state,  to  see  if  the  disease  would  not  cease 
spontaneously.  In  due  time,  the  three  por- 
tions treated  with  European  sulphur,  earth 
of  Kalamaki,  and  with  cla}-,  alike  showed 
the  cure  desired,  while  the  vines  not  treat- 
ed at  all  were  entirely  destroyed  by  the 
disease.  Therefore,  I  concluded  that  pul- 
verized earth  merited  equal  confidence  Avitli 
sulphur.  As  some  persons  suppose  that 
sulphur  exercises  an  influence  at  some  con- 
siderable distance,  I  repeated  the  experi- 
ment the  following  year  in  a  part  of  my 
vineyard  distant  from  where  sulphur  was 
used,  and  not  forgetting  to  leave  some  vines 
without  any  treatment.  Three  months 
later,  the  vines  not  powdered  were  destroy- 
ed, while  those  treated  with  argillaceous 
earth  were  saved,  convincing  me  fully  that 
such  argillaceous  earth  radically  cure   the 


238 


The  Horticulturist. 


disease ;  yet  I  resolved  to  continue  the  ex- 
periments daring  1858,  and  test  tlie  follow- 
ing matters: 

1st.  Tf,  in  order  to  save  expense  and  la- 
bor, tw'o  powderings  vrould  not  suffice  in- 
stead of  three  ? 

2d.  What  is  the  best  time  to  make  the 
applications  ? 

3d.  If,  having  omitted  the  first  applica- 
tion, it  would  be  possible  to  effect  it  by  a 
later  application  ? 

In  order  to  settle  these  three  questions, 
I  performed  the  following  experiments  : 

I  powdered  a  number  of  vines  before 
flowering,  and  twice  later,  at  the  times 
when  sulphur  is  usually  applied.  The  cure 
was  complete.  Fifteen  days  after  I  com- 
menced the  preceding  experiments,  I  com- 
menced another  series  in  the  same  way 

Nine  days  had  not  passed  before  signs  of 
the  disease  appeared,  when  I  immediately 
repeated  the  application  of  pulverized  earth, 
and  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  the  disease 
arrested.  I  repeated  the  experiment  the 
third  and  fourth  time  with  the  same  results. 
Another  series  was  powdered  at  the  time 
of  the  setting  or  formation  of  the  young 
grapes,  but  without  success,  although  the 
earth  was  used  abundantly.  A  fourth  lot 
was  left  untouched  in  the  midst  of  the 
rest,  which  was,  like  the  last,  attacked. 

From  these  experiments  I  have  drawn 
the  following  conclusions  : 

1st.  The  earth  should  be  freed  from  sand 
and  gravel,  dried  in  the  sun  a  few  hours, 
pulverized  very  finely,  and  then  sifted  or 
bolted  like  sulphur. 

2d.  That  as  common  clay  is  easily  pre- 
pared as  above  and  adheres  well  to  the 
vines,  it  is  preferable  to  other  kinds  of 
soil. 

3d.  That  the  instruments  generally  used 
to  apply  the  sulphur  will  serve  for  this  also, 
at  least  for  the  first  and  second  operation ; 
but  the  third  time,  as  the  grapes  have  then 
some  size,  it  is  desirous  to  have  them  more 


abundantly  powdered,  yet  it  is  possible 
here  to  use  the  same  instrument  used  for 
sulphur. 

4th.  The  powdering  succeeds  best  when 
applied  after  sunrise,-  but  while  the  grapes 
are  still  somewhat  moist  with  dew.  The 
following  times  are  the  best  for  the  appli- 
cation :  a.  When  the  young  shoots  have 
scarcely  attained  the  length  of  a  span,  be- 
fore the  grape  is  in  flower,  h.  As  soon  as 
the  flower  has  fallen,  and  the  young  grape 
entirely  set.  c.  When  these  are  of  the 
same  size  as  is  thought  sufficient  in  sul- 
phuration. 

oth.  Independently  of  these,  even  when 
performed  with  care,  it  is  necessary  some- 
times to  make  extra  applications,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, each  time  after  a  heavy  rain,  after 
waiting  a  day. 

6th.  The  removal  of  a  part  of  the  leaves 
as  is  usual  is  advisable,  if  practiced  with 
moderation,  otherwise  the  vines,  deprived 
of  leaves,  the  grapes  may  be  scorched  by 
the  heat  of  the  sun. 

7th.  If  from  any  cause  the  first  regular 
powdering  has  been  omitted  or  neglected, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  supply  it  by  two 
others,  with  an  interval  between  of  eight 
or  ten  days.  But  it  is  indispensably  neces- 
sary that  it  be  done  before  the  time  of  the 
second  regular  application. 

8th.  It  is  necessary  always  to  perform 
the  operation  with  the  greatest  care.  It  is 
well  to  have  the  workman  followed  by 
another,  who  again  carefully  examines  the 
vines,  and  powders  any  that  may  have  es- 
caped. If,  after  this,  disease  reappears,  it  is 
proof  that  the  operation  has  not  been  well 
done,  and  it  is  necessary  to  immediately  re- 
peat it  with  all  the  care  that  is  bestowed 
when  sulphur  is  used. 

[Mr.  Lazaris  is  the  proprietor  of  one  of 
the  best  managed  vineyards  in  Corinth, 
and  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on  the 
management  of  grape-vines. — Ed.J 

{Floral  World.) 


».       Plan  for  Laying-out  Five  Acres  for  a  Suburban  Villa.  239 

PLAN  FOR  LAYING-OUT  FIVE  ACRES  FOR  A  SUBURBAN  VILLA. 

BY    E.    FERRAND,    DETROIT,    MICH. 


}.     ROAD 

Fig.  \02.—Plan. 


EEFEEENCES. 


B.  Coach-House,  Stable,  andjYard. 

C.  Greenhouse  and  Grapery. 

D.  Gardener's  Cottage. 

E.  Principal  Entrance. 


F.  Entrance  to  Barn. 

H.  Group  of  Khododendrons  and  Azaleas. 

K.  Kitchen  Garden. 

L.  Entrance  on  Street. 

N.  Flower-Beds. 


Iq  this  plan,  the  kitchen  garden  occupies  about  1^  acres. 


240 


The  Horticullur\ 


SOUTHWARD,  IIO  !  FRUIT  CULTURE  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

BY    V.    H.    JACQUES. 


I  AM  not  disposed  to  say  a  word  calcu- 
lated to  deter  any  one,  who  has  the  dispo- 
sition and  the  means  to  do  so,  from  engag- 
ing in  the  culture  of  cotton,  rice,  or  sugar- 
cane in  the  South.  These  have  always 
been,  and  doubtless  will  continue  to  be, 
profitable  crops  ;  but  there  are  thousands 
who  desire  to  tr};-  their  fortunes  in  the 
sunny  South  to  whom  these  branches  of 
agricultural  industry  are  practically  closed. 
It  is  to  these,  and  particulaiiy  to  persons 
having  some  knowledge  of  fruit  culture, 
that  I  desire  to  address  myself. 

It  is  not  generally  known,  but  is  none 
the  less  an  indisputable  fact,  demonstrated 
by  actual  experiment,  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  Southern  States  is  admirably  adapt- 
ed to  the  culture  of  fruits,  and  especially  is 
this  true  of  what  is  called  the  "  JNIiddle 
Country,"  embracing  the  undulating  and 
moderately  broken  region  which  lies  be- 
tween the  low  flat  belt  which  borders  the 
coast  and  the  hilly  and  mountainous  "  Up- 
per Country,"  and  running  through  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Alabama. 

Having  lately  visited  this  "  Middle 
Country,"  for  the  special  purpose  of  exam- 
ining it  with  reference  to  fruit  culture,  and 
being  familiar,  from  former  long  residence 
in  the  South,  with  its  soil,  climate,  and 
productions,  a  brief  report  through  the 
widely-circulated  pages  of  the  Horticul- 
turist may  meet  the  ej^es  of  many  to 
whom  it  will  prore  interesting,  and  jjerhaps 
valuable. 

The  region  particularly  referred  to  in  the 
following  description  (though  my  remarks 
will  apply  in  the  main  to  a  large  part  of 
Jliddle  Georgia  and  the  adjoining  States) 
comprises  portions  of  the  counties  of  Rich- 
mond and  Columbia,  Georgia,  and  is  inter- 
sected by  tke  Georgian  Railroad,  connect- 
ing Augusta  with  Atlanta. 


In  contradistinction  from  the  more  ex 
tensive  pine  lands  of  the  "  Low  Country," 
which  are  quite  level,  the  region  under  no- 
tice may  be  called  the  "  Pine  Hills,"  The 
face  of  the  country,  however,  is  undulating, 
the  elevations  reaching  an  altitude  of  oOO 
feet  above  the  Savannah  River.  The  gra- 
dually sloping  hill  sides  are  susceptibl»  of 
easy  cultivation,  and  are  admirably  adapted 
to  vineyards,  while  the  plateaus  which  in- 
variably form  the  summits  of  the^e  hills, 
and  vary  from  ten  to  a  hundred  or  more 
acres  in  extent,  are  well  suited  to  orchards. 
The  valleys  are  well  watered  and  fertile, 
producing  large  crops  of  cotton  or  corn,  and 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  the  small  fruits. 
The  scenery  is  everywhere  pleasant,  and 
in  some  localities  quite  picturesque  and 
beautiful. 

The  soil  is  generally  sandy.  On  the  hills 
it  is  light-colored,  and  only  moderately  fer- 
tile. In  the  valleys  it  is  darker  and  richer; 
and  some  of  the  bottom  lands  bordering 
the  creeks  possess  a  soil  equal  in  fertility  to 
the  river  valleys  of  the  West.  The  sub- 
soil, lying  at  various  depths  below  the  sur- 
face is  mainly  a  red  clay,  below  which,  in 
some  localities,  the  railroad  cuts  and  the 
hillside  gullies  have  revealed  immense  beds 
of  kaolin,  or  porcelain  clay  of  the  finest 
quallt}"-,  and  said  to  be  equal,  if  not  supe- 
rior, to  that  of  which  the  famous  Stafford- 
shire ware  is  made  in  England. 

The  region  is  watered  by  numerous 
creeks,  tributaries  of  the  Savannah,  all  of 
which  furnish  clear  running  water,  and 
abundant  water  power.  The  water  of  the 
numerous  springs  is  remarkably  pure,  ex- 
cept in  the  few  cases,  in  certain  localities, 
in  which  it  is  impregnated  with  iron. 

The  original  forest  growth  on  the  hills  is 
the  magnificent  long-leafed  pine  of  the 
South — the  monarch  of  the  semi-tropical 
forest — known  in  its  manufactured  state  to 


Southward  Ho  !  Fruit  Culture  in  the  Southern  States. 


241 


the  timber  dealer  and  builder  of  the  North 
as  "  Southern  Pine."  It  is  this  tree  which 
everywhere  gives  its  peculiar  character  to 
the  landscape, and  indicates  the  nature  of  the 
soil  and  the  climate.  Where  the  pine  timber 
has  been  partially  cut  off,  there  has  sprung 
up  a  growth  of  oaks  of  various  species,  but 
mainly  of  a  dwarfish  habit,  which  contrasts 
strongly,  both  in  size  and  in  the  color  of 
their  foliage,  with  the  gigantic  pines  which 
here  and  there  overshadow  them. 

In  the  bottom-lands  which  border  the 
creeks,  water  oak,  hickory'-,  sweet  gum, 
blade  gum,  maple,  poplar,  and  other  decidu- 
ous trees,  form  the  principal  growth. 

Chickasaw  plums,  persimmons,  pawpaws, 
or  wild  bananas  (rich,  sugary  and  delicious); 
grapes,  mulberries,  blackberries,  and  whor- 
tleberries, are  among  the  spontaneous  pro- 
ductions of  the  soil.  Figs  and  peaches 
grow  almost  spontaneously,  and  are  found 
on  every  farm  ;  but  in  general  little  atten- 
tion has  been  paid  to  them. 

The  principal  crops  hitherto  cultivated 
here  are  cotton,  corn,  Chinese  sugar-cane, 
sweet  potatoes,  Irish  potatoes,  and  field 
peas,  with  some  wheat  and  rye,  and  the  or- 
dinary garden  vegetables. 

The  cultivation  of  fruits  is  not  an  vmtried 
experiment  in  the  region  of  which  I  am 
writing.  Mr.  L.  E.  Berckmans,  the  distin- 
guished Belgian  pomologist,  after  having 
been  engaged  in  fruit-culture — making  the 
pear,  however,  his  specialty — for  fifty  years, 
first  in  Europe,  and  afterward  in  New  Jer- 
sey, finally  t.  selected  a  place  hero  as  the 
scene  of  his  future  labors ;  and  Mr.  D. 
Redmond,  one  of  the  leading  pomologists 
of  the  South,  and  well  known  for  many 
years  as  the  editor  and  publisher  of  the 
Southern  Cultivator,  is  so  well  convinced  of 
the  superior  advantages  of  this  locality, 
that  he  is  preparing  to  plant  five  or  six 
hundred  acres  Avith  fruit  trees  and  grape- 
vines, and  this  after  an  experience  here  of 
nearly  twenty  years.  I  may  add  that  the 
finest  orchard,  without  exception,  that  I 
have  ever  seen.  North  or  South,  is  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Redmond's 
August,  1866.. 


present  fruit-farm.  It  consists  of  peach, 
apple,  and  pear  trees,  all  in  the  most  per- 
fect condition,  and  in  full  bearing.  It  is  a 
sight  worth  traveling  many  miles  to  see. — 
Its  proprietor  is  a  Northern  man  (Mr.  Stan- 
ton), who  has  brought  his  Yankee  energy, 
industrj^,  and  skill  to  bear  upon  this  gener- 
ous Southern  soil. 

Nearly  all  the  fruits  of  the  temperate 
zone  may  be  advantageously  [,rown  here. — 
The  cherry,  the  gooseberr}'-,  and  the  cur- 
rant are,  perhaps,  partial  exceptions.  The 
grape,  the  peach,  and  the  strawberry  reach 
a  degree  of  sweetness  and  exquisiteness  of 
flavor  utterly  unknown  in  colder  climates. 

Strawberries  maj-,  by  proper  manage- 
ment, be  kept  in  bearing  for  four  or  five 
months  in  succession,  and  sometimes  they 
ripen  in  mid-winter.  If  planted  in  the  fall, 
they  produce  a  good  crop  the  next  spring, 
commencing  to  ripen  from  the  1st  to  the 
10th  of  April,  according  to  the  season. — 
They  sell  readily  in  the  markets  of  Augusta, 
Atlanta,  Savannah,  and  Charleston,  at  from 
25c.  to  $1  per  quart,  and  the  supply  has 
never  yet  equaled  the  demand  ;  and  they 
may,  probablj^,  even  be  sent  to  Nashville 
and  Louisville,  where  they  will  command 
still  higher  prices. 

Peach  trees  in  this  climate  come  into  fall 
bearing  the  third  year  from  the  bud,  and  I 
even  saw  trees  in  the  nursery  rows,  two 
jetirs  from  the  bud,  Avith  peaches  on 
them. 

Peaches,  carefully  packed  iis  crates,  are 
sent  from  the  neighborhood  of  Augusta  to 
New  York,  the  earliest  varieties  reaching 
this  market  from  the  20th  to  the  25th  of 
June,  and  commanding  at  first  as  high  as 
from  §15  to  i[j20  per  bushel.  An  average 
of  at  least  )^5  may  reasonably  be  counted 
upon.  Once  properly  planted,  one  hand 
can  cultivate  from  thirty  to  forty  acres,  ex- 
tra help,  of  course,  being  required  to  gather 
and  pack  the  fruit  for  market. 

Apples  and  pears  will  probably  prove 
even  more  profitable  than  peaches,  they 
never  failing  from  frost,  as  the  latter  some- 
times do  even  here. 

16 


242 


The  Horticulturist. 


Grape  culture  and  wine-making  bave 
proved  immensely  profitable,  the  wine  pro- 
duced being  superior  to  that  made  any- 
where else  in  this  country. 

The  climate  of  Middle  Georgia  is  mild, 
equable,  and  in  the  highest  degree  salubri- 
ous. No  more  healthful  region,  in  fact,  can 
be  found,  either  in  America  or  Europe. — 
The  fall  and  winter  are  absolutely  delight- 
ful, and  may  be  compared  to  a  perpetual 
"  Indian  summer,"  in  which  the  air  is 
"  tempered  into  a  mild  deliciousness."  The 
work  of  the  farmer  is  never  interrupted  by 
deep  snows  and  frozen  ground,  and  his 
heaviest  labors  are  performed  in  winter.  In 
summer,   the   temperature   is  pretty  high 


during  the  day,  but,  on  these  breezy  hills 
not  oppressive,  and  the  nights  are  invaria- 
bly cool. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  land  admirably 
adapted  to  fruit-culture  can  be  bought 
here,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
railroad,  for  from  §10  to  §12  per  acre.  The 
tendency-,  however,  is  upward,  and  these 
lands  will  soon  command  much  higher 
prices. 

Persons  who,  like  the  writer,  are  con- 
templating emigration  to  the  sunny  South, 
will  do  well  to  inform  themselves  in  regard 
to  the  Pine  Hills  of  Georgia. 

389,  Broadway,  Nero  York. 


INSIDE  GRAPE  BORDERS. 


BY    FOX  MEADOW. 


Let  not  the  world  accept  as  an  impossi- 
hilily  the  trial  and  failure  of  an  object 
sought  to  be  effected  by  any  m*an,  or  dozen 
of  men  in  any  part  of  this  known  world. 
For  why  ?  Because  if  such  should  be  al- 
lowed to  become  the  rule,  man  would  then 
acknowledge  man  to  be  infallible — and  this, 
as  far  as  the  great  book  of  horticulture  is 
concerned— never  entered  its  pages,  and 
never  will. 

As  my  friends  in  horticulture,  J.  S. 
Houghton,  M.  D.,  and  "William  Bright,  of 
Philadelphia,  have  had  much  to  say  about 
inside  borders  for  vines, — their  excellent 
qualities  and  properties,  the  power  of  con- 
trolling, root  action,  and  a  host  of  nice  other 
little  things  that  ought  very  much  to  amuse 
the  babies— yes,  said  more  and  written 
more  on  this  one  subject  than  all  the  host 
of  horticulturists  put  together  in  America; 
we  think  the  Doctor  ought  to  havo  come 
forward  to  the  front  ranks  in  horticultural 
literature  and  made  his  statement,  which  we 
see  you,  Mr,  Editor,  have  copied  from 
"  Hovey's  Magazine."  Why  carry  such  news 
as  this  all  the  way  up  to  our  North  back 
door  1     But  "  open  confession  is  good  for 


the  soul,"  so  better  somewhere  than  no- 
where. Time  will  not  permit  me  to  enter 
into  the  details  of  Dr.  Houghton's  failures, 
and  others  around  Philadelphia.  Some  of 
those  borders  he  refers  to,  however,  we  have 
seen,  also  many  around  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  we  must  confess,  that  in  the  whole 
course  of  our  life  we  never  saw  such  a  lot  of 
ridiculous,  absurd,  foolish,  unnatural  con- 
structed things  !  For  instance,  one  house, 
200  feet  long,  vines  planted  two  feet  apart, 
and  the  supply  of  water  brought  in,  in  a 
half  inch  lead-pipe.  This  house  is  dying  for 
water.  Another  large  house  we  could  name, 
is  planted  with  vines  three  feet  apart,  and  a 
second  row,  the  same  distance  apart,  along 
the  middle,  and  the  border  having  an  in- 
clination fvova  front  to  back  !  In  this  house 
the  wiiter  has  to  be  carried  in  by  hand. 
The  water  all  runs  to  the  back  of  the  house^ 
and  common  sense  will  determine  the  con- 
sequence. A  third  house  we  could  name  is 
quite  long,  about  nine  or  ten  feet  loide,  and 
sunk  dovm,  doicn,  down  beneath  the  surface 
of  God's  Earth,  far  away  from  the  position 
where  God  called  forth  light  and  saw  that 
it  was  good  ! 


Inside  Orape  Borders. 


243 


We  may  contend  that  this  and  that,  and 
everything  has  been  done  properly  for  these 
inside  borders,  but  after  all,  when  some 
common  sense  practical  man  comes  to  look 
for  the*true  cause  of  the  failures,  it  is  seen 
in  a  inoment.  What  practical  gardener,  of 
experience  in  grape  culture,  would  attempt 
to  control  the  moisture  from,  or  on,  vine  roots 
in  the  Fall  of  the  year  ?  These  absurd 
notions  have  been  the  cause  of  killing  more 
vines  perhaps  than  all  the  other  ridiculous 
directions  put  together.  When  the  border 
is  wholly  inside  the  house,  it  should  be 
plentifully  supplied  with  water,  and  so  ar- 
I'anged  that  the  labor  of  pumping  be  avoided. 
Inside  borders  should  have  the  direct  rays 
of  the  light  shining  on  them^  and  then  my 
friend  Dr.  Houghton  will  find  that  the 
"  some  magnetic  or  electric  influence  from 
the  body  of  the  earth  "  can  be,  and  is,  of 
some  necessary  importance  as  life  to  the 
vine.  Inside  borders  we  should  always  use 
when  the  fruit  of  the  vine  is  required  very 
earljr,  but  under  no  other  circumstances, 
unless  the  condition  of  things  compelled  it. 
Then,  we  say  can  be  grown  as  fine  grapes 
with  a  border  wholly  inside  the  house  as 
we  can  outside  the  house — only,  it  requires 
a  little  better  judgment  in  the  management 
— a  little  more  care,  and  a  good  deal  more 
of  determined  perseverance.  Keep  all  your 
nostrums  out  of  vine  borders.  Make  the 
border  never  over  three  feet  deep  of  soil. 
Apply  stimulants  to  the  top  of  the  ground 
when  the  vine  is  in  fruit — the  time  it  re- 
quires it — not  when  a  young  plant,  to 
gorge  it  full  of  obnoxious  ammonias,  Tar- 
taric acids  and  a  host  of  quack  medicines  ! 
Suppose  we  study  the  subject  of  light 
a  little  more — its  influence  and  action,  and. 
non-action  ou  the  atmosphere  and  soil  of 
the  inside  grape  border.  If  our  M.D's.  of 
medicine  would  study  this  question  of  light 
and  its  influence  on  the  vine  and  other  plants 
cultivated   under   glass   roofs   one   half  as 


much  as  they  have  given  their  attention  to 
the  action  of  light  on  the  human  organism, 
we  should  find,  and  gladly  too,  that  the 
subject  of  horticulture  was  greatly  indebted 
to  them,  above  that  which  to-day  stands  to 
their  credit.  From  what  Dr.  Houghton 
has  written  in  the  article  in  Hovey's  Mag- 
azine, (and  he  writes  with  much  force),  its 
logic  and  influence  may  produce  a  similar 
effect  on  the  minds  of  its  readers,  as  did  his 
articles  when  writing  of  the  super-excellence 
of  (now  these  dethroned,  and  miserably 
conceived)  aerated,  suspended,  isolated,  de- 
tached, concreted  divided  inside  borders 
of  Mr.  Bright  and  Dr.  Houghton  ! 

Now,  what  we  wish  to  say  is  this— that 
the  inference  deduced  from  the  Doctor's 
letter  is  that  "  inside  borders  "  are  a  total 
failure.  That  the  vines  will  die  and  dwin- 
dle away  so  soon  as  they  begin  to  fruit. 
That  this  is  the  Doctor's  experience  around 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  same  time 
the  impression  is  conveyed  to  the  mind 
that  inside  borders  must  of  necessity  kill 
vines  everywhere  else.  I  conclude  this 
note  by  inviting  the  Doctor  to  Fox  Meadow 
Gardens,  where  I  will  show  him  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-two  feet  in  length  of  simon 
pitre  inside  horder,  which  never  had  a  particle 
of  dung  or  bone  in  it ;  the  vines  have  been  in 
fruit  six  and  seven  years ;  many  of  them  will 
measure  nine  inches  in  circumference,  and 
from  which  we  have  cut  bunches  of  grapes, 
weighing  seven  pounds — will  prove  it  by 
our  books,  and  will  be  able  to  sliow  some 
bunches  of  that  weight  this  present  season. 
Inside  Borders  a  Failure  !  Who  will 
Come  and  See  1 

[Fox  Meadow,  to  prove  his  assertions, 
that  grapes  can  be  well  grown  by  his 
method,  has  sent  us  a  magnificent  bunch 
cut  from  a  vine  growing  on  an  in- 
side border.  With  such  proof  who  can 
disbelieve  1     Eds.] 


244 


The  Horticulturibt. 


NOTES  ON  THE  JUNE  NUMBER. 


Ventilation. — In  the  earlier  volumes  of 
the  Horticulturist,  some  fifteen  or  six- 
teen 3rears since,  its  then  editor,  the  lament- 
ed A.  J.  Downinfj;,  wrote  upon  the  subject 
of  ventilation,  and  from  his  writings  in- 
troductory has  attention  more  and  more 
been  drawn  to  the  actual  necessity  of  pure 
air  for  health.  At  that  time,  not  one  pub- 
lic hall  or  church  in  a  hundred  had  any 
means  of  ventilation,  except  by  the  doors 
and  windows.  At  this  present  time,  few 
who  claim  to  be  architects  omit  the  detail 
of  ventilation  in  making  up  their  specifica- 
tions and  working  drawings,  so  that  most 
of  our  houses  for  public  meetings  are  in  some 
measure  supplied  with  pure  air.  Our  small- 
er houses,  the  residences  of  the  masses  of 
our  people,  are,  however,  as  yet,  without 
any  means  of  ventilation,  except  bj^  the 
doors  and  windows,  and  I  am  glad  to  see 
the  Horticulturist  again  touching  the 
subject. 

Rural  Architecture — Small  Stable. 
— Mr.  Harney  has  my  special  thanks  for 
this  design.  It  is,  to  my  eye,  the  best 
thing  I  have  met  with  ;  and  while  he  esti- 
mates the  cost  at  $1,200,  there  are  many 
sections  of  the  country  in  which  readers  of 
the  Horticulturist  reside,  where  it  may 
be  built  for  one-half  the  money. 

Grape-Vines  from  Seed. — The  writer, 
I  judge,  takes  much  my  own  view  of  the 
probable  advantages  of  scientific  hybridiza- 
tion over  that  of  seeds  selected  from  choice 
kinds,  and  with  a  probable  chance  of  natural 
cross  impregnation.  While  I  would  dis- 
courage no  man's  careful  attempts  at  artifi- 
cial or  scientific  hybridizing,  I  yet  believe 
his  chances  of  success  in  the  production  of 
a  valuable  variety  equally  good  Avhen  tak- 
ing seed  from  a  variety  surrounded  by 
others,  and  all  choice  kinds.  We  have  the 
statement  that  Creveling  is  made  to  set 
its  fruit  more  abundantly  by  having  the 
Concord  contiguous.  The  cause  must, 
therefore,  probably  be,  that  the  impregnat- 


ing characters  of  the  Creveling  are  deficient, 
and  supplied  by  the  Concord;  hence',  plants 
grown  from  seeds  of  Creveling  so  impreg- 
nated would  possibly  produce  a  grape  re- 
sembling the  Concord,  but  ripening  with 
the  Crevelling. 

The  lona  in  its  fruit  partakes  of  Cataw- 
ba and  Delaware,  while  the  growth  is  more 
of  Diana,  which  latter  undoubtedly  came 
from  seed  of  Catawba. 

The  cherries  originated  by  Professor 
Kirtland  were  obtained  from  seeds  of  a  yel- 
low Spanish  tree,  surrounded  with  Black 
Tartarian,  May  Duke,  and  other  choice 
kinds,  and  their  impregnation  was  the  work 
of  Nature  ;  but  when  Nature  had  acted, 
the  watchful  cultivator  seized  the  seeds, 
and  obtained  from  hundreds,  nearly  all 
showing  some  good  qualities,  a  few  very 
superior  sorts.  It  was,  however,  a  work  of 
time,  and  so  must  ever  be  the  production  of 
anything  really  an  improvement  in  po- 
mology. 

Mr.  Caywood's  method  of  sowing  grape- 
seeds  differs  some  from  mine,  but  may  be 
better.  I  take  a  small  frame  ;  set  it  slop- 
ing towards  the  north ;  fit  on  ray  sash ; 
have  one  foot  deep  of  good,  rich,  sharp  sandy 
loam  in  it;  and  when  I  have  a  few  seeds  of 
a  choice  grape  or  poar,  I  plant  them  at 
once  an  inch  deep  in  the  soil,  keeping  my 
sash  on,  occasionally  giving  air,  that  it  may 
not  get  damp  or  mouldy.  In  this  way, 
seeds  of  nearly  everything  can  be  grqwn — 
There  is  no  hastening,  it  comes  in  course. 

House  for  Drying  Fruit. — A  capital 
design,  which,  as  apples  promise  a  full  crop 
this  season,  I  hope  to  see  frequently  built, 
in  order  that  we  may  have  dried  fruit  clean 
and  wholesome,  and  not,  as  is  too  frequently 
found,  overspread  with  the  filth  of  flies. 

Heart's  Pippin. — Will  not  Mr.  Down- 
ing give  us  some  account  of  this  apple,  its 
origin,  &c. 

Protection  of  Peach  Trees  in  Win- 
ter.— Mr.  Jenkins  has  given  us  a  practical 


Notes  on  the  June  Number. 


245 


and  descriptive  account  of  his  mode  of  grow- 
ing peaches  yearly  out  of  doors,  and  in  un- 
favorable climes  and  beasons.  If  our  seasons 
are  to  continue  as  they  have  the  past  few 
years,  we  shall  find  this  practice,  although 
embodying  some  labor  and  trouble,  prove  a 
profitable  part  of  the  fruit  grower's  life. 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  a  Square  Acre 
Lot. — In  the  main,  a  good  plan  ;  but  there 
is  too  much  of  carriage-way  for  the  amount 
of  ground,  and  I  have  always  had  an  aver- 
sion to  circles  in  front  of  the  house,  because 
if  left  open,  that  is,  in  lawn,  there  appears 
no  reason  for  traversing  fifty  feet  to  get 
ten;  if  massed  with  shrubbery  or  trees, 
with  a  view  to  giving  a  reason  for  the  curv- 
ing of  the  road,  then  the  extent  of  grounds 
from  the  house  is  reduced.  In  this  plan, 
keeping  its  main  features,  I  would,  on  en- 
tering from  the  street,  dispense  with  the 
left  hand  road,  throw  in  a  mass  of  trees 
from  the  gateway  on  the  left  hand  side,  and 
open  the  balance  toward  the  house  into  a 
lawn,  forming  my  turn  way  on  the  side  to- 
ward the  stable. 

Wharton's  Early  Pear. — Some  years 
since,  I  ate  of  this  pear  at  Cincinnati,  and 
then  thought  it  one  of  the  best  large-sized 
early  pears  in  cultivation.  Perhaps  Dr.  J. 
A.  Warder,  or  Mr.  R.  Buchanan,  will  tell 
us  something  of  it. 

Margaret  Pear. — It  is  not  every  new 
pear  that  proves  of  great  value,  nor  is  it 
always  the  largest  sized  fruit  that  proves 
most  profitable.  The  market-grower,  as 
well  as  the  amateur,  requires  the  tree  to 
jirow  freely,  prove  healthy,  bear  abundant- 
ly fruit  of  good  size,  and  a  quality  pleasant 
and  agreeable  to  all,  even  if  it  is  not  of  the 
highest  flavor.  These  new  sorts  should  be 
tried  extensively — if  good,  retained ;  if  in- 
ferior, regrafted. 

Horticultural  Matters  at  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands.-  A  pleasant,  readable  let- 
ter, promising  us  a  classified  list  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  Honolulu,  which  we  shall  be  most 
happy  to  read. 

My  Neighbor  and  his  Gun. — There, 
now,  friend  F.,  you  have  fired  your  shot, 
and  if  it  will  only  be  half  as  destructive  in 


checking  such  neighbor's  practices  as  you 
say  his  gun  is  upon  the  sweet  songsters,  we 
may  look  for  a  check  to  this  practice.  The 
suburbs  of  our  cities,  especially  at  the  West, 
have  other  bird  destroyers,  yet  more  inju- 
rious, because  they  roam  at  will  over  your 
grounds,  pulling  down  fences,  and  trampling 
down  plants.  I  refer  to  more  or  less  of 
English  and  German  foreigners  just  over, 
and  who  think  to  handle  a  gun,  and  shoot  a 
robin  or  little  led  squirrel,  one  of  the  great 
items  of  living  in  a/zre  country. 

Pots  Should  be  Drained. — Mr.  Cowan 
has  certainly  theory,  as  well  as  the  result 
of  actual  practice,  to  sustain  him  in  the 
draining  of  pots  or  plants.  Mr.  Henderson 
undoubtedly  is  successful  in  his  way  ;  but 
it  is,  perhaps,  a  query  whether  the  old  prac- 
tice is  not  the  better  one.  As  I  have  be- 
fore written,  all  innovations  are  not  im- 
provements. 

Fowls  Around  a  Country  House. — All 
right.  I  will  only  say  that,  while  colored 
dorkings  may  be  all  here  declared,  a  cross  of 
speckled  dorking  and  Shanghai  make  really 
a  larger  and  better  bird  for  both  table  and 
laying  purposes ;  but  remember  you  must 
always  have  a  pure  dorking  male  bird,  or 
soon  your  flock  is  deteriorated  to  little  bet- 
ter than  common  barnyard  fowls.  Strictly 
for  laying  purposes,  when  chickens  are  not 
to  be  raised,  I  suppose  no  breed  equals  the 
Bolton  Greys,  or  Creoles.  The  Black 
Spanish  come  next  to  them,  and  are  cer- 
tainly— that  is,  the  white  faced  ones — most 
beautiful  birds. 

Glazed  vs.  Unglazed  Flower  Pots. — 
Here  is  a  chance  for  Messrs.  Cowan  and 
Henderson.  I  reckon  if  the  glazed  pot  were 
used,  some  drainage  at  bottom  would  be 
found  essential  to  the  health  of  the  plant; 
and  if  good  drainage  is  given,  I  do  know 
that  very  fine  plants  are  grown  in  glazed 
pots  in  a  house  living-room,  heated  by  a 
stove.  As  Mr.  Reid  says,  the  circumstances 
are  not  always  more  than  half  told,  hence 
the  truth  is  half  a  lie.  The  experimenter 
cannot  be  too  minute  in  recording  the  po- 
sition and  circumstances  under  which  he 
has  success  or  failure.  Reuben. 


246 


Tlie   Horticulturist 


E.  W.  BULL  ON  GRAPE  CULTURE.— IL 


BY.    J.    M.    MERRICK,    JR.,  WALPOLE,    MASS. 


The  first  season  after  planting,  all  that 
is  necessary  to  be  done,  according  to  Mr. 
Bull,  is  to  keep  the  ground  well  stirred,  by 
means  of  the  cultivator,  so  that  the  roots 
may  easily  penetrate  the  soil. 

The  vines  should  be  allowed  to  lie  upon 
the  ground  the  first  summer,  the  ends  of 
the  growing  shoots  being  occasionally 
pinched,  to  set  back  the  sap  and  consolidate 
the  wood,  which,  if  properly  treated,  is  to 
last  for  centuries. 

If  the  vines  grow  so  long  that  the  wind 
rolls  them  over  on  the  ground,  put  a  stone 
on  them  to  keep  the  leaves  right  side  up, 
remembering  that  it  is  better  for  the  vine 
to  be  blown  about  by  breezes  than  to  be 
tied  stiffly  to  a  stake  the  first  year. 

"  I  do  not  stop  here,"  says  Mr.  Bull,  "  to 
offer  abounding  proofs  of  the  fact  that  it  is 
better  for  a  vine  to  be  blown  about  the  first 
season,  but  will  only  say  that  I  have  found 
by  actual  experiment  that  the  vine  tied  up 
closely  will  not  grow  nearly  so  much  in  a 
given  time  as  the  vine  left  free  to  move  as 
the  wind  moves  it. 

A  grape  vine  should  never  be  pruned  at 
the  time  of  planting,  not  even  to  give  it 
shape,  so  important  is  it  to  get  a  well  estab- 
lished vine  with  alnuidant  roots  before  it  be- 
gins to  bear  fruit." 

In  his  fourth  and  fifth  papers,  Mr.  Bull 
reviews  some  of  the  leading  methods  of 
training  now  in  use,  including  the  renewal, 
or  long-arm  system,  involving  the  use  of 
two  poles  to  each  vine,  and  which  he  pro- 
nounces the  best  where  the  vines  need  win- 
ter protection ;  the  short-spur  S3^stem,  which 
he  afBrms  gives  the  best  grapes  ;  and  de- 
cides, finally,  that  the  espalier  mode  of 
training  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best. 

It  costs  more  at  first  than  other  systems, 
but  is  economical  in  the  end. 

For  this  method,  posts  are  needed  from 
four  to  six  inches  in  diameter,  and  eight  feet 
■  long ;  and  scantlings  two  inches  square  and 


twelve  feet  in  length.  The  posts  should  be 
set  two  feet  deep  and  twelve  feet  apart. — 
This  distance  brings  the  posts  between  the 
vines,  which  are  six  feet  apart;  and  the 
scantlings  will  reach  from  one  post  to  the 
third  beyond. 

The  strips  of  wood  should  be  firmly  fas- 
tened to  the  posts,  the  lower  one  eighteen 
inches,  and  the  upper  one  six  feet  from  the 
ground.  Wires  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter, should  next  be  nailed  on  the  bars 
perpendicularly,  and  at  a  distance  of  three 
inches  from  each  other. 

This  arrangemer;t  of  the  wires  is  prefer- 
able, for  the  reason  that  the  tendrils  fasten 
upon  the  perpendicular  supports  readil}',  and 
no  tying  up  is  necessary,  as  in  the  case 
where  horizontal  wires  are  used. 

When  the  vine  has  reached  the  lower  bar, 
the  shoots  from  the  two  upper  eyes  are  to 
be  laid  in  diagonally,  and  tied  so  as  to  give 
the  vine  the  form  at  the  end  of  the  season 
of  the  letter  Y.  It  is  to  be  pruned  back  to 
the  well  ripened  wood,  wherever  that 
may  be. 

The  next  year  the  buds  left  on  the  diag- 
onal arms  will  grow,  and  bear  fruit — a  light 
crop  should  be  taken.  Superfluous  shoots 
should  be  rubbed  out,  and  the  two  terminal 
shoots  laid  in  diagonallj^,  as  before. 

When  the  trellises  are  filled  with  bearing 
wood,  six  or  seven  tons  of  grapes  may  be 
had  from  an  acre. 

Such  is  a  tolerably  fair  resume  of  Mr.  Bull's 
very  practical  papers  on  viticulture.  The 
main  points  he  insists  on,  it  will  be  observ- 
ed, are— the  thorough  ploughing  of  the  soil ; 
no  shortening  of  I'oots  in  planting  ;  no  trim- 
ming the  vine  the  first  year ;  the  use  of 
mineral  manures  only,  and  those  in  small 
quantity ;  continually  pruning  back  to  tho- 
roughly ripe  wood,  and  the  adoption  of  the 
espalier  for  training  the  vine,  giving  each 
vine  two  diagonal  arms. 

He  does  not  claim,  we  presume,  that  he 


E.  W.  Bull  on  Grape  Gulture. 


247 


advances  any  ver3'  original  advice;  but  we 
have  the  satisfaction,  in  reading  Lis  papers, 
of  knowing  tliat  he  recommends  only  what 
has  proved  nseful  and  profitable  in  his  own 
hands. 

"We  call  especial  attention  to  his  advice 
not  to  shorten  the  roots  at  planting,  and  to 
the  small  quantity  of  manure  he  uses.  In 
regard  to  this  latter  point,  the  correctness 
of  his  view  will  become  apparent  when  we 
consider  how  very  small  a  portion  of  the 
constituents  of  its  fruit  the  vine  takes  from 
the  soil,  and  how  large  a  part  from  water 
and  the  air. 

The  grower  of  out-door  grapes  in  the 
New  England  States  must  be  prepared  to 
meet  with  occasional  trials  and  vexations. 

Late  spring  frosts  are  much  to  be  dreaded. 

This  year,  there  fell  a  frost  on  the  night 
of  the  14th  of  May  that  really  discouraged 
some  of  us. 

My  pet  vines— Allen's,  Rogers'  Hybrids, 
of  various  numbers,  lonas,  Tsraellas,  and 
others — which  were  trained  last  year  as 
symmetrical  as  the  "pictures"  in  the 
grape  books,  and  had  made  a  growth  of  from 
two  to  six  inches  this  season,  were  very 
many  of  them  utterly  ruined. 

The  hints  I  had  thrown  out  to  my  ac- 
quaintances, to  the  effect  that  they  might 
call  on  me  in  the  foil  if  they  wished  to  see 
some  of  the  newer  kinds  in  fruit,  have  lost 
much  of  their  significance,  as  I  have  now, 
with  my  best  vines,  two  years'  work  to  do 
over  again. 

I  think  the  late  spring  frosts  are  much 
more  disastrous  than  those  which  sometimes 
assail  the  vines  in  late  September. 

Of  making  books  there  is  no  end,  certainl}'- 
no  end  of  making  books  upon  grape  culture. 

Two  works,  very  different  in  character 
and  value  have  just  been  published,  and 
seem  to  demand  a  passing  notice. 

The  better  and  less  pretentious  of  the 
two  is  "My  Vineyard  at  Lakeview,"  a 
charming  little  book  that  professes  to  give 
the  actual  experience  of  a  western  grape 
grower,  detailing  not  only  his  successes,  but 
his  blunders  and  failures.  It  is  written  in 
a  pleasant  style,  without  any  attempt  at 


display,  and  contains  much  advice  that  wil. 
prove  very  useful  to  a  beginner — the  more 
useful,  because  derived  from  the  experience 
of  a  man  who  has  had  no  leisure  for  fancifu^ 
experiments,  but  has  been  obliged  to  make 
his  vineyard  support  himself  and  his 
family. 

Of  a  different  class  is  Strong's  new  book 
on  grape  culture.  We  must  confess  that 
this  book  disappointed  us. 

It  was  introduced  with  so  loud  a  flourish 
of  trumpets,  and  is  so  magnificent  in  ex- 
ternal appearance,  that  it  was  only  fair  to 
suppose  that  its  contents  would  prove  val- 
uable, and  furnish  growers  with  some  new 
ideas. 

Very  few  new  and  original  suggestions, 
however,  are  given  by  the  author,  whose 
whole  work,  where  it  is  not  a  mere  compi- 
lation, seems  too  much  inclined  to  be  theo- 
retical, and  to  recommend  methods  of  grow- 
ing and  training  the  vine  that  have  not 
stood  the  test  of  actual  trial. 

Every  amateur,  of  course,  on  receiving 
the  book,  turned  at  once  to  the  chapter  on 
Newer  Varieties,  expecting  from  a  grower 
of  Mr.  Strong's  experience,  a  full  and  crit- 
ical examination  of  the  many  newer  kinds 
of  grapes,  which  are  to  most  of  his  readers 
names,  and  nothing  more;  but  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  many  readers  have  felt  as  much 
vexed  with  this  chapter  as  with  any  other 
in  the  book. 

We  do  iMt  regard  the  book  as  any  im- 
provement on  our  old  friend.  Fuller's  Man- 
ual; and  while  there  is  room  enough  for  a 
new  book  of  new  ideas  on  grape  culture,  we 
see  no  place  for  mere  compilations,  and  re- 
lietitions  of  familiar  notions. 

I  am  obliged  to  Mr.  Caywood  for  his  en- 
couraging remarki  in  the  June  number,  and 
beg  leave  to  say  to  him  that  the  greatest 
vexation  I  experience  in  planting  grape 
seeds  arises  from  the  fact  that  not  one  in 
twenty  of  -some  kinds  ever  germinates. — 
Some  come  up  as  even  as  a  row  of  peas,  but 
most  kinds  are  exceedingly  capricious. 

What  seems  a  desideratum  in  such  exper- 
iments is  uniformity  of  germination.  How 
can  this  be  attained? 


248 


The  Horticulturist. 


LETTER  TO  COUSIN  SELINA— 11. 


My  Dear  Cousin  I  can  fancy  that  on 
this  mid-August  day,  in  the  old  Home- 
stead, you  are  all  faint,  oppressed,  and 
wear}^,  with  excessive  heat.  I  seem  to  see 
Uncle  Simon  reclining  listlessly  in  his  ample 
chair  on  the  piazza,  smoking  his  comforta- 
ble pipe,  and  alternatively  dozing  and  read- 
ing the  country  paper,  while  cousin  Wash- 
ington, his  face  bronzed  with  the  long 
summer's  exposure  to  the  sun,  and  glisten- 
ing with  the  dews  of  perspiration,  starts 
afield,  after  his  accustomed  nooning,  with 
oxen  and  cart.  How  hushed  and  calm  all 
nature  is.  The  hot  sun  pouring  down  a 
flood  of  raj'S  ;  the  quivering  air  which  comes 
and  goes  in  burning  waves,  like  the  even 
breath  of  a  sleeping  infant ;  the  green  leaves, 
turning  up  their  discs  towards  the  sun,  or 
sensitively  shivering  in  his  gleam  ;  the  sharp 
ringing  sounds  of  the  insect  tribes  that  love 
the  sun  and  poise  themselves  in  his  burn- 
ing rays  ;  the  calm  unruffled  surface  of  the 
little  lake  that  lies  in  the  hollow  of  the 
hills  and  gives  back  the  images  of  banks  and 
rocks,  and  trees  and  clouds  : 

"  The  summer  like  a  victor 
Ou  a  car  of  glory  borne, 
With,  a  thiinder-roll  at  even, 
And  a  clarion  blast  at  morn. 
And  a  wild  illumination, 
l/ighting  up  the  living  air. 
Till  our  temples  ihrob  with  fever. 
And  we  faint  beneath  its  glare." 

All  this  I  can  fancy  up  here  among  the 
New  Hampshire  mountain*,  where  the 
temperature  is  now  so  low  down  in  Fahren- 
heit IS  to  render  the  stove  in  the  hotel 
parlor  an  object  of  considerable  favor  and 
affection. 

On  my  way  to  the  "VYhite  Mountains,  I 
took  in,  as  I  purposed,  a  few  days'  sojourn 
at  Nahant.  T  should  like  to  tell  you  about 
the  sea,  but  one  or  two  persons  have  men- 
tioned the  subject  before,  and  I  modestljr 
doubt  my  ability  to  say  anything  new.  At 
Lynn  it  was  my  habit  to  go  in  the  morning 
and  seat  myself  upon  a  great  rock,  around 
whose  base  the  waves,  calmed  into  gentle 


ripples,  lisped  and  murmured  some  liquid 
syllables  that  I  could  not  translate  into  the 
language  of  men.  There,  in  a  little  hollow, 
I  rested  in  the  sun,  watching  how  the  silver- 
white  flowers  were  born  and  vanished  on  the 
undulating  swells  of  that  faithless  blue 
meadow,  and  wondering  if  the  sea-serpent 
were  pasturing  there ;  and  if  he  should 
chance  to  come  along  and  snap  me  up, 
like  a  dandelion  top,  what  a  paragraph  it 
would  make  for  the  newspapers  ! 

At  low  tide  the  tops  of  numberless  rocks 
are  visible,  covered  with  thick  palls  of  sea- 
weed, like  half-drowned  giants,  or  submerg- 
ed Medusas,  black  and  shaky.  Few  ever 
visit  that  cave,  and  there  is  no  sign  of  life 
there,  except  the  liviag,  thrilling  unrest  of 
the  sea,  and  the  "  immeasurable  laugh  "  of 
its  waves.  The  other  day,  I  went  out  to 
the  long  beach  in  the  storm,  to  see  the 
breakers,  and  it  "  paid"  well,  although  I  was 
almost  frozen  with  the  cold,  altogether  buf- 
feted with  the  wind,  and  stunned  with  the 
roar,  yet  I  could  not  resist  following  the 
retreating  waves  down  the  sands ;  but 
quick  of  foot  was  I  when  back  there  came 
a  mighty  green  billow,  crested  with  curling 
foam,  and  projecting  its  spray  a  long 
distance  beyond  me.  I  did  not  attempt 
racing  with  the  breakers  again  ;  but  when 
the  under-tow  sweeps  so  gracefully  back, 
one  feels  an  absolute  desire  to  be  borne 
along  Avith  it. 

From  Nahant  to  the  "White  Mountains,  I 
had  left  behind  me  the  sea,  but  on  the 
morning  after  my  arrival,  I  looked  down 
from  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington 
upon  another  sea— and  what  a  sea  !  Waves 
of  water  at  their  highest  are,  I  believe,  not 
much  higher  than  the  fore-top  of  a  man-of- 
war.  Waves  of  vapor  and  mist,  they  alone 
are  sky-seeking  mountains,  dashing  high, 
but  with  no  ocean's  roar ;  and  in  their  silent 
ascension,  all  held  together  by  the  same 
spirit,  but  perpetually  changing  their  beau- 
tiful array.  Here  were  mountains  in  a  sea. 
Far  up,  above  and  amidst  that  wondrous 


Editor's  Table. 


249 


region  [of  mist,  tbrougli  >-bicli  you  hear 
voices  of  waterfalls,  deepening  the  silence, 
you  behold  an  array  of  mountain  tops,  blue, 
purple,  and  violet,  for  the  sun  is  shining 
straight  on  some,  and  aslant  on  others,  and 
on  others  not  at  all. 

Have  you  not  seen  sunsets  in  which  the 
mountains  were  embedded  in  masses  of 
clouds,  all  burning  and  blazing ;  actually 
blazing  with  magical  mixtures  of  all  the 
colors  that  ever  were  born  of  light,  inten- 
sifying into  a  glory  that  became  insupporta- 
ble to  the  soul — as  insufferable  to  the 
eyes,  and  that  left  the  eyes  for  hours  after 
you  had  retreated  from  the  scene,  even 
when  closed,  all  filled  with  floating  films  of 
cross-lights,  separating  the  imagery  into 
gorgeous  fragments  1  Such  was  last  night's 
sunset  at  the  Glen  House.  Behind  us  were 
"  the  thin,  high  ridges"  of  Mount  Carter  and 
its  spurs,  .''),000  feet  in  height,  and  green 
with  unbroken  forests  to  their  crests.  On 
the  south-west,  one  sees  the  steep,  bony 
braoes  of  Mount  "Washington,  running  off, 
one  behind  the  other,  into  the  Pinkham 
forests.  Directly  in  front  are  the  out- 
works and  husre  shoulder  of  Mt.  Washing- 


ton itself,  and  behind  this  heavy  shoulder 
on  a  retreating  ridge,  the  pinnacle  where 
the  Summit  House  stands.  Associated  di- 
rectly with  Mt.  WashingtoH,  and  bending 
around  to  the  north-west  and  north,  are 
Mt.  Clay,  rising  over  the  huge  '  Gulf  of 
Mexico ' ;  the  stout,  square-shouldered  -Jef- 
ferson ;  and  the  symmetrical,  sharp,  and 
splendid  pyramid  of  Adams,  with  its  peak 
so  pointed  that  it  looks  unscalable.  This 
mountain  is  by  far  the  grandest  of  all  in 
shape  and  impressiveness.  And  next  to 
this,  with  lines  running  eastward,  is  Mt. 
Madison,  which  completes  the  "staff  of 
Washington,"  and  forms  that  wonderful 
and  magnificent  panorama  which  the  gor- 
geous sunset  revealed  and  glorified. 

My  sojourn  among  the  mountains  was 
short  from  necessity.  If  I  can  persuade 
myself  to  a  summer's  vacation  next  year. 
I  shall  assuredly  be  off  among  the  White 
Hills  of  New  Hampshire. . 

With  accustomed  remembrances  to  all 
the  inmates  of  the  Homestead, 

I  remain,  your  loving  cousin, 

Reuben. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  CoNTRTBUTOus  AND  Others. — Addrcss  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Position  of  House. — In  building,  the 
first  thing  always  to  be  considered  is  the 
place  whereon  the  house  shall  stand.  Now 
we  might  write  a  long  article  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  shall  confine  ourself  to  a  few  plain 
and  practical  truths. 

First.  It  is  conceded  that  to  look  well, 
a  house,  if  by  itself  not  part  or  parcel  of  a 
block,  must  have  a  broad  and  clear  base  of 
say  at  least  ten  to  twenty  feet  to  stand 
upon.  If  the  ground  right  about  the  house 
is  at  once  sloped  or  graded  from  it,  then 
the  house  presents  the  appearance  of  being 


on  a  point,  and  liable  to  topple  over  at  any 
time. 

Second.  There  is  no  loss  of  ground  in 
placing  the  house  in  one  position  more  than 
another.  Each  and  every  portion  occupy 
just  the  same  amount  of  ground. 

TJiird.  There  is  more  enjoyment  usually 
obtained  from  the  front  than  the  rear  of 
the  house,  because  it  is  expected  all  the 
living  rooms  of  winter  will  look  out  toward 
the  front ;  and  in  summer's  beat  there  is 
the  place  where  of  an  evening  we  all  do  sit. 

Now,  with  these  conceded  features,  we 


250 


The  Horticulturist. 


will  assume  one  more,  viz.,  that  the  more 
ground  before  a  building  the  more  is  its 
dignity  and  character.  Enhance  and  then 
urge  upon  those  who  are  about  to  build, 
the  advantages  of  placing  their  house  well 
to  the  rear  of  the  lot.  If  a  suburban  lot 
near  a  city,  your  time  mostly  occupied  away 
from  home,  your  garden  is  only  an  expen- 
sive luxury — every  bean  or  radish  costing 
you  three  times  what  it  can  be  bought  for 
in  the  market;  but  fruits  of  every  sort  can 
be  managed  by  yourself;  and  they  are  al- 
ways better  from  the  bush  or  trees.  You  can 
just  as  well  occupy  a  part  of  the  ground  in 
front  of  the  house  with  them  as  with  shade 
trees  ;  and  thus  in  placing  your  house  well 
back,  you  have  lost  no  ground.  Of  an 
evening  sitting,  to  be  well  back  from  the 
dust  and  sidewalk  gives  that  retiracy  and 
homeness  which  we  all  seek,  and  which  we 
cannot  have  when  our  house  is  very  near 
the  street. 

If  in  the  country,  on  tracts  of  five  to  fifty 
or  more  acres,  the  placing  of  the  house  well 
back  from  the  road  is  even  of  greater  mo- 
ment, as  it  gives  not  only  increased  charac- 
ter to  the  place,  by  adding  appearance  of 
extent,  but  its  advantages  are  in  enabling 
its  owner  to  look  over  hi§  place  from  its 
residence,  and  perfect  freedom  from  dust, 
straggling  beggars  and  thieves. 

As  before  said,  we  might  write  a  long 
article  on  this  subject,  but  think  what  we 
have  said  should  be  sufficient  to  induce  any 
builder  to  place  his  house  well  back  from 
the  road. 

The  Fruit  CtvOp. — This  year,  we  believe, 
will  prove  less  than  an  average.  Cherries 
have  been  in  many  sections  a  total  failure ; 
in  others  only  a  moderate  crop.  Straw- 
berries, at  the  West,  were  very  much  in- 
jured by  the  winter  ;  and  the  currant  and 
raspberry  crop  is  almost  a  failure.  Pears 
were  much  injured  while  in  bloom,  and, 
together  with  apples,  are  largelj^  dropping 
before  mature.  Grapes,  through  the  West, 
in  old  vineyards  especially,  are  less  than  a 
half-crop,  while  many  vines  are  entirely 
destroyed. 


Mildew  on  the  Grape. — Our  readere 
should  remember  the  mildew  and  apply 
such  suggestive  remedies  or  preventives  as 
appear  plausible.  We  have  advised  trial 
of  weak  salt  water,  weak  copperas  water, 
flower  of  sulphur,  sprinkling  with  weak 
sulphur  water,  &c.,  all  of  which  we  hope  to 
hear  trial  made  of,  and  will  thank  our 
friends  for  notes  of  the  results. 


Grapes  from  Genoa. — In  1845,  Mr.  Les- 
ter, then  consul  at  Genoa,  brought  to  the 
States,  vines  from  Piedmont  and  Savoy. 
They  were  advertised  to  be  sold  on  the  4th 
July,  1845.  What  has  ever  become  of  any 
of  them  ?     Who  can  tell  1 


Tomatoes. — The  first  record  we  have  (in 
our  library)  of  the  use  of  the  tomato  as 
food  was  in  1803,  although,  we  believe,' 
they  were  used  as  early  as  1792,  and  per- 
haps earlier.  Who  can  enlighten  us  ?  Of 
varieties  cultivated  this  year,  we  shall  bo 
obliged  to  our  friends  for  notes.  We  liave 
a  seedling  with  a  very  broad  leaf,  that,  dur- 
ing the  past  two  years,  has  matured  earlier 
than  any  variety  we  have  purchased.  We 
are  watching  it  carefully  again  this  season, 
side  by  side  with  Tilden.  As  we  write,  it 
has  fruit  as  large  as  English  walnuts,  while 
the  Tilden  is  only  in  blossom.  Perhaps  the 
latter  will  catch  up.     We  shall  Avatch  it ! 


Blight  on  fruit  trees. — Recently  we 
have  had  accounts  from  Northern  Ohio  and 
other  sections  speaking  of  a  blight  affect- 
ing the  ends  of  all  young  twigs  in  pear, 
apple  and  quince  trees.  In  some  cases  not 
only  is  this  year's  growth  affected,  but 
more  or  less  of  the  last  j^ears'  growth,  until 
the  trees  look  as  if  a  big  fire  had  been  made 
near  and  scorched  them.  Can  our  entomol- 
ogists tell  us  if  this  be  not  (as  we  suspect) 
the  attack  of  the  Scolytus  pijri,  and  is  not 
because  of  the  crude  sappy  condition  of  the 
tree? 

Shade  Trees. — This  is  the  month  when 
we  most  appreciate  shade.  And  now,  good 
readers,  we  want  you,  in  the  country,  to, 


Editor's  Table. 


251 


for  just  one  moment,  while  enjojing  the 
cool  shade  of  elm  or  maple,  think  of  the 
little  children  sitting  in  the  one  story 
school  house  on  hard  benches — no  backs — 
the  sun  in  open  exposure  at  105,  and  not  a 
tree  or  other  obstacle  to  intercept  its  effect 
on  the  roof.  Imagine  yourself  confined 
there  one  half  hour,  then  you  will  without 
a  doubt  resolve  to  plant  shade  trees  around 
that  school  house  wherein  your  and  other 
children  have  to  while  away  long  and  te- 
dious hours  in  the  heats  of  summer.  Our 
word  too,  you  are  less  than  man  if  you 
don't  keep  and  put  in  practice  your  resolu- 
tion. 


It  is  desirable  that  the  laborer,  as  well  as 
the  head-gardener,  shouH  take  an  interest 
in,  and  see,  the  higher  operations  of  the 
art ;  he  will  perform  the  lower  ones  all  the 
better  for  the  apprenticeship.  Though  he 
be  likely  never  to  have  a  vinerj^  or  a  pinery 
of  his  own  to  attend  to,  an  initiation  into 
their  mysteries  will  help  him  to  treat  his 
children  to  a  plateful  of  early  radishes,  and 
his  wife  to  a  dish  of  out-door  grapes,  when 
he  has  a  cottage,  wife  and  children,  of  his 
own.  We  have  observed  in  the  gardens  of 
those  laborers  whose  opportunities  are  above 
the  average  of  their  class,  most  pleasing 
evidence  of  knowledge  they  have  thus  ac- 
quired. Just  as  a  course  of  mathematics  at 
college  would  make  a  man  all  the  more 
valuable  as  an  accountant. 

The  extreme  geographical  limit  at  which 
horticultural  practices  have  been  carried 
on,  is  probably  marked  by  Sir  Edward 
Parry's  cultivation  of  mustard  and  cress, 
"  Sallets  good  for  the  scorbute,"  while  ex- 
ploring that  most  fearful  of  cul-de-sacs^  the 
North-West  passage.  This  was  certainly 
venturing  a  high,  if  not  a  great  latitude 
in  gardening,  and  deserves  to  be  remember- 
ed as  one  of  a  thousand  instances  of  the 
benevolent  wisdom  habitually  exercised  by 
men  devoted  to  scientific  explorations  in 
inhospitable  climes.  Parry's  ship  was  the 
Ultima  Thule  of  kitchen,  as  well  as  winter 
gardens. 


There  are  between  forty  and  fifty 
known  varieties  of  the  Ivy,  some  of  them 
arborescent.  Many  of  these  varieties  are 
adapted  to  surface  covering,  and  others  are 
much  esteemed  for  forming  belts  or  margins 
to  flower  beds,  and  for  training  over  wicker 
work  around  beds.  In  this  .latitude,  the 
ivy  grows  better  on  a  north  wall  than  on  a 
southern  exposure.  The  intense  heat  of 
our  summer  suns,  at  certain  stages  of  its 
growth,  seems  to  be  fatal  to  the  life  of  the 
"  ivy  green." 


The  Spots  which  we  observe  on  fruit, 
such  as  apples  and  pears,  are  generally  pro- 
duced by  a  minute,  brown,  parasitic  fungus, 
growing  beneath  the  cuticle  of  the  fruit. 
This  fungus,  instead  of  penetrating  the 
fruit,  comes  out  upon  the  surface,  and  de- 
stroys the  vitality  of  the  surrounding  tissue, 
and  thus  "  makes  its  mark."  In  some  fruits 
this  growth  is  so  vigorous  as  to  cause  the 
surface  to  crack,  and  in  this  way,  almost 
destroy  the  crop.  As  the  growth  originates 
beneath  the  skin,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
apply  a  remedy. 


ViRGILIA    LUTEA — YeLLOW-FlOWERING 

ViRGiLiA. — A  short  time  since,  we  saw  a 
tree  of  the  Virgilia  in  flower  in  a  gentle- 
man's gardeii,  and,  although  it  is  described 
as  having  yelloio  flowers,  there  were  icliite 
racemes,  about  eight  inches  long,  like  a 
bunch  of  grapes,  only  more  pendulous;  the 
foliage  is  dark  and  rich.  Can  it  be  an  error 
of  color  of  flower  has  been  made  by  botan- 
ists, or  was  this  a  freak  or  sport  of  a  single 
plant  ? 


Thin  Out  the  Fruit. — If  fruit  is  set 
too  abundant  on  your  trees,  set  about  thin- 
ing  it  out  at  once.  It  may  now  seem  sacri- 
lege and  a  loss;  but  if  you  do  not  believe 
one  say  so.  that  the  one  half  remaining 
will,  at  maturity,  be  fully  as  much  in  bulk, 
and  more  beautiful  and  superior  in  quality, 
to  what  it  would  had  all  been  left  on  ;  then 
try  the  experiment  on  one  tree,  and  give 
us  a  record  of  results  at  a  future  time. 


252 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


Fruit  at  the  South. — The  late  devas- 
tation of  war  lias  undoubtedly  destroyed  a 
great  portion  of  orchards  at  the  South  that 
soon  will  have  to  be  replanted.  The  North- 
ern States  are  quite  unreliable  for  peaches  j 
but,  as  a  crop,  it  was,  in  former  years,  re- 
garded one  of  the  most  profitable  at  the 
South.  We  have  been  looking  over  old  re- 
cords, and  find  the  testimony  of  nearly  all 
the  best  growers  is,  that  the  best  sorts  at 
the  North  were  also  the  best  sorts  at  the 
South. 

In  our  earlier  days,  traveling  South,  we 
found  the  Columbia  and  the  Heath  both  re- 
produced and  grown  as  seedlings  in  hun- 
dreds of  cases. 


Fruit  Ladders,  for  gathering  apples  or 
other  fruit  on  tall  trees,  should  always  be 
on  hand.  The  time  saved  in  gathering  even 
the  fruit  of  one  tree,  will  often  pay  the 
cost  of  the  ladder,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
saving  of  injury  done  to  the  tree,  and  the 
fact  that  all  fruit  carefully  hand-picked 
brings  extra  price  in  the  market. 


Cheap  Paints. — Some  years  since,  upon 
a  recommendation  in  the  Albany  Cultivator^ 
we  tried  the  following  mixtures  for  paints, 
and  found  them  quite  successful : 

1.  Water  lime  cement,  and  raw  oil, 
using  any  dryer  common  to  white  lead  oil 
paint.  2.  Cement  and  coal  tar,  shading  the 
color  with  ochre — Spanish  brown,  &c.,  to 
suit.  Both  modes  give  good  results  ;  and, 
for  coarse  buildings,  we  think  the  latter 
even  better  than  oil  paints  of  white  lead, 
&c. 


The  Tilden  Tomato  has  already  acquired 
reputation  among  those  who  cultivated  it. 
As  far  as  experiments  have  gone,  it  would 
seem  that  its  good  qualities  consist  in  its  size 
and  shape,  the  solidity  and  firmness  of  its 
flesh,  its  excellent  and  refined  flavor,  and 
its  quality  of  remaining  long  on  the  vine 
after  it  is  ripe,  Avithout  decaying.  If  these 
merits  shall  be  satisfactorily  established, 
after  fuller  experiments  in  its  cultivation 
the  present  season,  it  will  prove  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  the  kitchen  garden. 


Save  the  Leaves. — As  the  leaves  com- 
mence dropping  in  the  fall,  they  should  be 
carefully  gathered,  and  housed  under  a 
shed,  for  use  as  stable  bedding,  or  for  mulch 
protection  to  tender  plants,  or  for  the  for- 
mation of  hotbeds  in  spring. 


The  Mahaleb,  or  perfumed  cherry,  so 
generally  used  by  the  nurseryman  for 
dwarfing  the  cherry  upon,  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  second-class  size  for  orna- 
mental planting,  and  especially  advisable  in 
grounds  of  small  extent.  It  adapts  itself 
to,  and  grows  freely  in  all  soils  ;  is  elegant 
in  its  foliage  and  spray ;  fragrant  in  its 
flowers  and  foliage;  clear  of  all  insects  j  and 
retains  its  foliage  quite  late  in  the  autumn. 


Green  Houses  should  be  carefully  re- 
paired and  cleaned  before  placing  plants 
again  in  them  for  the  winter.  This  month 
will  be  found  of  much  leisure  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  the  work  should  not  be  postponed. 


Apples  as  Food. — Somewhere — we  do 
not  recollect  just  where — we  have  read  an 
analysis  of  the  apple,  in  which  sugar  and 
dextrine,  two  valuable  agents  in  the  sup- 
port of  life,  were  recorded  as  largely  m  its 
construction.  Health,  all  physicians,  as 
well  as  common  sense  observe,  is  aided  by 
the  free  use  of  ripe  fruit,  and  of  the  apple 
in  particular. 


Belle  Magnifique  Cherry. — We  have 
watched  this  cherry  many  years,  with  con- 
flicting views  as  to  its  value.  The  tree  is 
hardy ;  a  good  bearer ;  and  when  most  of 
other  varieties  are  rotting,  or  perhaps  so 
abundant  as  to  be  no  rarity,  the  fruit  of 
this  is  quite  green.  After ^^ard,  it  ripens 
up,  and  gives  us  fruit  from  the  last  of  July 
to  middle  or  last  of  August.  It  has,  Low- 
ever,  one  objection,  to  the  make  haste  of 
Americans,  in  that  the  tree  requires  size  to 
produce  a  quantity  of  ripe  fruit  at  one  time. 
While  the  trees  are  young,  only  a  few 
specimens  may  be  gathered  at  a  time. 


Editor's  'Table. 


253 


Messrs.  Editors  : 

A  very  dry  season  here,  but,  apart  from 
ills  of  transplanting  in  droutli,  reasonably 
to  farm  and  garden.  Fruit  crops  an  aver- 
age ;  cherry  above  an  average  ;  peaches, 
possibly  one  to  the  square  mile  hereabouts 
— in  Egypt,  southern  Illinois,  full  crop  of 
seedlings  ;  light  crop  of  budded.  Speaking 
of  cherries,  the  practical  sum  total  of  the 
catalogues  for  this  section  is : — 1.  May 
Duke  ;  indispensable,  though  least  reliable 
bearer  of  the  set.  2.  Early  Richmond  ; 
the  great  staple.  3.  Late  Kentish  com- 
mon red.  or  pie  cherry ;  very  like  Early 
Richmond,  but  ten  or  twelve  days  later. — 
4.  Belle  Magnifique  ;  truly  magnificent  and 
worthy  ;  late ;  in  season  now,  and  for  a 
week  or  more  to  come.  5.  English  Mo- 
rello;  the  earliest,  surest,  and  best  bearer 
of  all  ;  a  perfect  marvel  of  productiveness. 
The  fruit  is  not  as  good  to  eat  as  our  all- 
prevailing  common  Black  Morello,  which, 
were  it  as  uniformly  productive  as  the 
others,  I  should  certainly  include  in  this 
list ;  as  it  is,  it  would  be  with  me  the  sixth 
for  the  West.  The  Kirtland,  Governor 
Shannon,  and  Plumstone  Morellos,  after 
fruiting  five  years,  prove  too  shy.  The  fruit 
is  large,  the  season  now,  with  Nos.  4  and  5 
of  the  above  list. 

Of  strawberries,  Wilson  is  worth  all  the 
rest  twice  over.  Russell,  even  with  best 
opportunities  to  fertilize,  is  shy.  I  notice 
that  the  Buffalo  and  McAvoy's  Superior  are 
called  the  same,  which  I  most  gravely  doubt. 
I  have  Buffalo  from  a  good  source,  and  have 
seen  it  two  removes  only  from  original 
grower  (so  said),  and  can  safely  and  utterly, 
in  those  two  cases,  deny  identity  with  Mc- 
Avoy's Superior,  which  I  have  known  well 
for  ten  years,  which  is  irregularly  shaped, 
darker  and  rougher  surfaced  in  fruit,  also 
later  than  Buffalo. 

McAvoy's  Superior  is  one  of  the  very 
latest  old  sorts,  and  a  great  bearer  usually, 
though  pistillate.  The  foliage,  also,  is  thin- 
ner, greener,  and  less  crumpled  than  Buffalo, 
which,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  is  very  shy 
"West;  the  fruit  more  polished  ;  like  Hook- 
er's in  general  appearance. 


For  a  very  late  berry,  nothing  here  can 
compare  with  Georgia  Mammoth,  Though 
a  light  bearer,  yet  it  is  so  hardy,  and  the 
fruit  so  firm,  sweet,  and  late,  1  would  not 
dispense  with  it.  Especially  is  it  valuable 
from  its  utter  distinctiveness,  and  its  pos- 
sibilities as  a  parent  of  new  sorts.  We  still 
have  the  fruit,  though  the  black  raspberry 
season  is  over,  and  fully  six  weeks  from  our 
first  ripe  strawberries. 

And  now  of  grapes.  Again,  and  for  the 
hundredth  time,  the  writer  begs  to  ask  why 
not  every  true  friend  of  the  cause  take  pains 
to  find  out  the  very  hardiest,  best  Northern 
natives,  and  introduce  them,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rearing  new  iron-sided  varieties  for 
our  mighty  vineyard  interest.  Who  but 
feels  that,  could  we  but  get  up  the  right 
varieties,  the  victory  were  two-thirds  won. 

And  now,  with  such  perfectly  hardy  na- 
tives in  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Canada, 
northern  New  York,  New  England,  why 
work  so  persistently  with  comparatively 
half  hardy  sorts,  as  Catawba,  Diana,  Isa- 
bella. Is  it  not  too  much  like  child's  play  ? 
To-day,  there  is  rota  known  acknowledged 
staple  variety,  that  fills  the  bill  on  the  all- 
important  question  of  hardihood  in  foliage 
over  summer,  and  wood  over  winter,  leav- 
ing all  other  characteristics  out  of  the 
question.  The  Concord  is  nearest  perfect 
in  these  particulars,  and  probably  in  foliage 
all  that  reasonably  can  be  hoped  for ;  but, 
in  vine,  it  might  be  much  more  hard}^  over 
winter,  besides  other  needed  qualifications. 
The  thing  is  here :  the  great  need  of  the 
country  when  this  grape  fever  first  came  up 
has  been  largely  overlooked.  Think  of  the 
thousands  of  cultivated  varieties  in  Europe 
and  of  the  ten  thousand  native  American 
varieties,  and  then  tell  me  if  the  present 
meagre  list  of  our  cultivated  sorts  here  is 
not  discreditable  ? 

There  should  have  been  a  thousand  fierce 
growers  of,  and  experimenters  with  new 
seedlings  and  combinations.  Why  not  ? 
And  then,  in  the  crowd,  we  should  have 
found  scores  of  choice,  or  at  least  promising 
varieties.     Why  not  begin  this  year  ? 

Bloomington^  III.  F.  K,  Phoenix. 


254 


The  Horticulturist. 


Messrs.  Editors: 

Your  sensible  and  good-natured  critic, 
Reuben,  in  the  May  and  July  numbers  of 
the  HoRTicuLURisT,  takes  the  position  that 
gothic  or  gable  houses  are  out  of  place,  ex- 
cept in  hilly  regions,  like  the  highlands 
along  the  Hudson  River,  and  similar  locali- 
ties. I  know  that  he  is  by  no  means  alone 
in  this  opinion.  Now,  without  any  pretence 
on  my  part  to  architectural  knowledge,  ex- 
cept an  amateur's  taste,  I  would  like  to  ask, 
is  this  so  ?  Can  we  have  on  our  dead  level 
plains,  where  Nature  has  but  little  to  imi- 
tate, no  variety,  but  monotonous,  square, 
low-roofed  houses,  making  everything  a 
duller,  deadlier  level  still.  Or  perhaps  on 
level  land,  to  imitate  Nature  would  be  obliged 
to  make  the  roof  concave,  like  the  concave 
heavens  above  us.  Some  one  in  Brooklyn, 
E.D.,  did  carry  out  this  idea,  only  a  little 
more  so ;  and  I  should  like  Reuben  to  take 
a  stroll  there  some  day,  and  see  the  effect 
of  this  concave,  architectural.  Nature-imi- 
tated building.  It  would,  I  think,  create  a 
doubt  in  any  one's  mind  of  taking  universal 
Nature  as  a  guide  in  every  specialty,  for 
Nature,  physically  as  well  as  morally,  has 
some  awful  gaps. 

But  if  the  principle  alluded  to  above  is 
true,  that  gable  houses  on  level  lands  are 
not  in  keeping  with  correct  principles  of 
taste,  how  is  it  that  the  Romanesque  and 
Gothic  rural  cottages  of  England  are  so 
much  praised  by  travelers,  and  recommend- 
ed hj  leading  architects,  such  as  Downing  ? 
And  how  is  it  that  cathedrals  in  the  old 
world,  and  their  imitations  in  this,  with 
their  extreme  style  of  arches,  peaks,  and 
gables,  though,  in  most  instances,  built  on 
the  dead  level  of  streets — how  is  it  that 
they  are  so  much  praised,  without  the 
least  objection  to  the  fact  that  they  are  not 
surrounded  by  abrupt  hills,  or  projecting 
cliffs  ?  Is  this  taste,  though  always  so 
much  lauded,  still  a  false  taste  ? 

My  object,  Messrs.  Editors,  is  not  to  crit- 
icise your  good  critic,,  hut  as  a  learner  seek- 
ing information. 

P.  D.  0. 


Horticultural  Notes  from  Maine. — 
Messrs.  Editors, — Having  room  in  this  en- 
velope to  send  an  additional  note,  I  will  jot 
a  few  items  of  horticultural  matters  in  this 
extreme  of  Uncle  Sam's  dominions. — 
Though  this  is  not  what  is  considered  a 
fruit-growing  region,  yet  we  manage  to 
grow  some  varieties  in  sufficient  quantities 
for  home  use,  and  quite  a  surplus  for  expor- 
tation. This  is  the  case  with  the  apple? 
which  is  the  leading,  and  perhaps  I  may 
say,  the  principal  fruit  grown  here.  The 
Baldwin  is  the  leading  variety  grown,  and 
we  can  annually  produce  specimens  that 
will  equal  any  grown  in  other  portions  of 
the  States.  They  have  been  selling  this 
spring  at  ^2.50  per  bushel.  The  prospects 
for  a  fruit  crop  this  year  are  quite  good, 
the  apple  orchards  being  just  in  blossom. — 
We  have  two  insect  enemies  of  the  apple, 
which  threaten  to  destroy  our  orchards, 
and  put  a  stop  to  apple-growing.  They  are 
the  borer  [Sajierda  hivittata),  and  the  tent 
caterpillar  (Clisiocampa  americana).  The 
latter  has  been  very  destructive  the  past 
three  years,  and  their  numbers  seem  to  be 
increasing,  in  spite  of\the  war  waged  against 
them  on  every  side. 

Cherry  and  plum  raising  has  been  to  a 
great  extent  abandoned,  because  of  the 
black-knot,  which  has  overrun  and  killed 
our  trees.  Grape-growing  is  as  yet  in  its 
infancy  here,  but  has  already  been  quite  a 
success.  The  varieties  which  seem  the 
best  adapted  to  our  soil  and  climate  are  the 
Delaware,  Concord,  and  Hartford  Prolific, 
bearing  well,  ripening  perfectly,  hardy  and 
free  from  disease.  Most  of  the  small  fruits 
can  be  grown  to  perfection.  Currants  are 
a  sure  and  heavy  crop  j  and  the  southern 
part  of  the  State  is  peculiarly  adapted  to 
gooseberry-growing.  Houghton's  Seedling 
is  free  from  mildew.  Strawberries,  rasp- 
berries, and  blackberries  plenty  in  the  nat- 
ural state,  and  grow  finely  under  cultiva- 
tion. Considerable  attention  has  been  paid 
towards  growing  cranberries  the  past  few 
years,  with  a  good  degree  of  success. 

If  you  find  any  items  of  interest  in  these 


Editor's  Table. 


255 


hurried  lines,  you  are  at  liberty  to  "  cut, 
and  come  again." 

Your's  truly, 

Geo,  E.  Brackett. 
Belfast,  Maine,  June  10,  1866. 


Horticultural  Papers  &  Magazines 
IN  Germany. — There  are  published  in  Ger- 
many about  one  dozen  horticultural  papers- 
One  of  them  is  published  quarterly,  the 
others  are  weeklies  and  monthlies.  The 
subscription  price  is  from  one  to  five  and  oue« 
third  thalers.  Four  or  five  of  them  are  illus- 
trated. Advertisements  pay  from  one  to  two 
groschens  a  line.  Besides  these  advertise- 
ments, the  publishers  charge  for  enclosing 
catalogues,  &c.,  from  one  and  a-half  to  four 
thalers.  Of  one  of  the  papers  are  printed 
only  300  copies  ;  of  another  400.  The  most 
read  weekly  has  3,500  subscribers,  and  the 
most  read  monthly  4,500. 

This  last-named  seems  to  be  the  most 
favored.  It  is  published  in  Stuttgart  for 
two  thalers  (.^2.20  in  gold  in  New  York). 
It  is  illustrated,  having  two  fine  plates 
every  month,  one  of  them  colored.  The 
colored  plates  represent  the  latest  varieties 
of  flowers,  e.  g.,  new  double  fuschias,  a  new 
variety  of  ten-week  stocks  (blood  red),  &c. 
Gardeners  and  florists  generally  send  the 
original  pictures  of  their  new  varieties, 
painted  in  oil  by  artists,  to  the  publisher, 
who  gets  them  cut  and  printed  without 
cost  to  the  florists.  Besides,  every  sub- 
scriber receives  a  splendid  colored  plate  of 
flowers  as  premium. 

Horticultural  advertisements  are  pub- 
lished gratis  in  this  magazine,  only  publish- 
ers of  books  must  pay  for  advertisements 
which  are  printed  on  the  cover.  Its  size  is 
about  that  of  the  Horticulturist,  thirty- 
two  pages,  advertisements  included. 

Agellulus. 


Waynesville,  Ohio,  June  18,  1866. 
Messrs.  Editors  : 

You  enquire  in  June  number  of  the  Hor- 
ticulturist about  Wharton's  Early  Pear. 
I  took  a  stroll  a  few  days  since  to  take  a 
look  at  the  original  tree.     It   stands  in,  a 


stiff"  sod,  and  is  on  the  decline,  but  might 
be  restored  with  the  proper  course;  it  is 
about  fifteen  feet  high.  You  will  find  de- 
scriptions of  the  fruit  and  tree  in  Elliott's 
fourth  edition,  with  the  exception  that  he 
does  not  mention  that  the  fruit-spurs  are 
thorny  v/hile  young.  I  have  lived  adjoin- 
ing the  Wharton  estate  twenty-five  years, 
and  have  not  seen  the  pear  spoken  of  to  my 
knowledge. 

There  are  several  other  seedling  pear 
trees  standing  in  the  Wharton  nurseries- 
sacred  monuments  to  his  memory,  some  of 
which  are  quite  promising,  especially  one, 
which  resembles  F.  Beauty  for  size,  is  a 
little  astringent  until  fully  ripe,  then  be- 
comes very  good ;  is  a  heavy  bearer  every 
other  year  ;  ripe  in  October. 

While  talking  of  pears,  I  will  give  you 
the  size  of  a  pear  tree  I  am  in  possession 
of.  Its  trunk  measures,  six  feet  from  the 
ground,  six  feet  four  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence ;  its  branches  extend  sixty  feet  in  di- 
ameter. It  was  planted  fifty  years  ago  by 
Thomas  Thomas,  an  old  pioneer.  A  market 
man  informed  me  he  had  one  season  picked 
124  bushels  of  pears  from  it.  The  fruit  I 
have  not  seen  described  in  the  books,  and 
will  give  it : 

Ovate,  pyriform.  Color,  light  yellow  at 
maturity,  with  numerous  russet  dots.  Stem, 
long,  curved,  set  in  avery  slight  depression. 

Calyx,  small,  open.     Basin,  rather  deep. 

Seeds,    long,    ovate,   black.     Flesh,  white 
melting,  juicy,  sweet  aromatic.  September. 
Very  respectful  Ij^, 

C.  L.  Janney. 


Near  Dover,  Del.,  June  C,  1866. 
Editors    Horticulturist: — 

Strawberries  are  nearly  a  failure  in  this 
State;  those  that  depended  on  small  beds 
in  their  gardens,  are  without  their  usual 
supply.  I  am  picking  to-day,  and  may 
get  four  or  five  hundred  quarts.  With  a 
full  crop  it  ought  to  be  three  thousand  ; 
this,  I  think,  will  be  my  big  day.  The  first 
blossoms  that  made  their  appearance  were 
blind.  I  thought  these  had  got  a  start 
from  the  few  days  of  very  warm  weather  in 


256 


The-  Horticulturist. 


tbe  fore  part  of  March.  The  next  blossoms 
were  right,  and  I  had  hopes  of  a  pretty 
good  crop ;  but  they  grew  beautifully  less 
every  day.  I  noticed  a  few  rods  square  of 
Wdson's,  that  I  thought  were  the  likeliest 
I  had  ever  seen,  with  berries  as  large  as  the 
end  of  your  finger ;  the  next  time  I  went 
to  look,  they  were  gone.  Thinking  that  I 
had  missed  the  place,  I  went  again  in  two 
or  three  days,  but  they  were  not  to  be 
found.  This  was  new  land,  and  as  nice  as 
could  be  found  anjMvhere.  It  was  in  good 
order,  and  when  done  setting,  it  cost  me  a 
hundred  dollars  per  acre.  When  I  found 
out  that  I  had  failed  in  a  crop,  I  laid  the 
blame  on  the  land,  and  felt  like  the  old  fel- 
low in  Shakspeare,  who  had  lost  his  rum 
bottle.  "  I  care  more  about  the  disgrace 
and  dishonor,  than  the  loss." 

The  last  of  February  I  trimmed  my  grapes, 
and  found  them  at  that  time  to  all  appear- 
ance injured.,  and  about  that  time  I  cut  off 
and  grafted  thirteen  worthless  vines,  with 
the  lona.  All  of  the  grafts  have  put  out 
and  look  as  if  they  would  do  well.  These 
were  well  covered  up  with  stable  manure. 
The  vines  that  these  grafts  were  taken  from 
nearly  died  after  that  time.  One,  a  two 
year  Allen's,  was  killed  to  the  ground. 
Three  or  four  Concords  on  the  west  side 
of  the  house  are  the  only  prospect  I  have 
for  grapes.  Tiie  Russell  and  Buflalo  straw- 
berries are  not  worth  going  over. 
Yours,  respectfull}^, 

P.  IIamm. 

Wilson's  Early  Blackberry.  —  We 
have  again  received  fruit  of  this  new  black- 
berry (noticed  August,  18G5,)  from  Charles 
&  J.  S.  Collins,  Morristown,  N.  J. 

The  berries  are  ripe,  and  in  fine  condi- 
tion, July  16.  It  is  very  prolific,  and  of 
good  size  aad  flavor  ;  but  its  chief  merit 
consists  in  its  time  of  ripening,  which  is 
about  a  week  or  ten  days  in  advance  of  the 
New  Rochelle,  thus  prolonging  the  black- 
berr}'  season.  We  understand  that  it  is 
being  extensiroly  planted  for  market  pur- 
poses. 


American  Pomological  Society. — Our 
readers  will  remember  that  the  Eleventh 
Annual  Session  of  this  Society  will  be  held 
at  Mercantile  Library  Hall,  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
commencing  on  Tuesda}^,  September  4, 
1866,  at  11  A.  M.,  and  continuing  for  sev- 
eral days. 

Packages  of  fruit,  with  the  name  of  the 
contributor,  may  be  addressed  as  follows : 
"  American  Pomological  Society,  care  of 
C.  M.  Saxton,  corner  of  Fifth  and  Walnut 
Streets,  St.  Louis,  Mo." 

BOOKS  RECEIVED. 

My  Vineyard  at  Lake  View This  is 

a  new  work,  lately  issued  from  the  press  of 
Messrs.  0.  Judd  &  Co.,  New  York.  It  is 
written  in  a  pleasant,  attractive  style,  and 
purports  to  give  the  author's  experience  in 
grape  culture  in  northern  Ohio.  The  au- 
thor has  not  seen  fit  to  give  his  name  to 
the  public,  which  fact  will  raise  doubts  in 
the  minds  of  his  readers  as  to  the  real'.ty 
of  Lake  View,  and  of  his  practice  and  ex- 
periments there  carried  on. 

While  we  find  nothing  new  upon  the  cul- 
ture of  the  grape,  the  dry  details  of  other 
works  are  here  presented  in  such  a  readable 
form,  as  to  create  a  lasting  impression  upon 
the  mind  of  the  reader.     Price,  1^1  25. 


Practical  &  Scientific  Fruit-Cul- 
ture, by  Charles  R.  Baker.  Lee  &  Shep- 
herd, Boston,  Mass.     Price,  1^4. 

This  work  is  chiefly  a  compilation  from 
the  agricultural  and  horticultural  publica- 
tions of  the  day.  The  author  has  drawn 
largely  from  foreign  as  well  as  American 
works,  and  has  given  us  but  little  that  is 
new  or  original. 


We  have  a  few  volumes  of  the  Horti- 
culturist for  1803  and  1804,  handsomely 
bound,  which  we  will  mail,  post  paid,  for 
Three  Dollars  each.  These  volumes  are 
now  rare  and  nearly  out  of  print.  Back 
volumes  of  the  Horticulturist  are  always 
acceptable  in  payment  for  new  subscrip- 
tions. 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXT 


.SEPTEMBER,   1866 NO.  COXLTII. 


LAWS  OP  ASSOCIATION  IN  ORNAMENTAL  GARDENING. 


BY   A.    D.    G. 


Our  country  abounds  with  persons  in- 
tent upon  learning  and  practicing  the  va- 
rious arts  of  rural  embellishment.  They 
have  read  of  velvet  lawns,  leafy  groves  and 
thickets,  groups  and  masses,  vases  and 
statues,  and  fountains ;  but  they  have  no 
definite  conception  of  what  they  wish  to 
accomplish ;  much  less  do  they  know  how 
to  construct  the  scenes  dimly  floating  in 
their  imaginations.  They  do  not  know 
when  to  cut  down  a  tree,  or  where  to 
plant  one ;  where  to  clear  up  shrubberies, 
or  where  to  plant  them ;  where,  or  when, 
or  how  to  plant  evergreens  or  deciduous 
trees,  singly  or  in  groups. 

It  is  noticeable,  too,  with  most  writers 
on  this  subject,  that  it  is  made  the  highest 
end  of  art  to  produce  a  scene  which  shall 
be  simply  beautiful,  or  picturesque,  or 
grand  and  imposing.  The  appeal  is  to  the 
eye  rather  than  to  the  mind.  But  may  we 
not  proceed  a  step  further  1  May  we  not 
so  plan  and  plant  our  grounds  as  both  to 
awaken  and  to  express  some  of  the  highest 
and  best  sentiments  of  the  soul?      Each 


scene  will  of  course  demand  its  own  expres- 
sion. It  may  be  dignity,  or  grandeur,  grace, 
cheerfulness,  tranquility,  security.  The 
Creator,  it  is  believed,  has  given  to  each 
vegetable  structure  its  own  expression,  and 
these,  variously  combined,  may  be  used  to 
typify  some  of  the  noblest  ideas  and  purest 
emotions.  And  the  artist  who  knows  how 
to  interpret  nature  can  set  about  the  crea- 
tion of  new  scenes,  confident  of  success  in 
his  work.  He  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
simply  adorning  his  gi'ounds  with  arbors, 
statues,  grottos,  and  other  works  of  art,  or 
with  planting  trees,  shrubs  and  gay  flowers  ; 
he  will  desire  to  go  beyond  the  senses,  and 
to  address  the  memory  and  imagination, 
the  poetical  and  moral  sentiments.  If  one 
tree  is  really  beautiful,  he  will  plant  it  for 
the  sake  of  its  beauty.  If  another,  though 
lacking  in  beauty,  yet  appeals  in  some  way 
to  man's  higher  nature,  he  will  plant  it  for 
that  reason,  A  quasi  amateur  once  said  he 
would  not  plant  a  certain  tree  in  his 
grounds  "  because  it  was  not  fashionable.''^ 
The  thoughtful  gardener  will  not  inquire 


Entbrbd  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866, 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 


by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Wc  odward,  in  the  Clerk'i 
for  the  Southern  Distriet    ef  New  York. 

17 


258 


The  Horticulturist. 


■vrhat  is  fashionable,  but  wliat  is  truly  fit 
and  beautiful,  and  what  is  interesting  from 
its  expression  and  for  the  associations  con- 
nected with  it. 

This  principle  of  association  in  its  rela- 
tion to  ornamental  gardening  deserves  more 
thought  than  it  is  wont  to  receive ;  and  we 
wish  now  to  dwell  a  short  time  upon  it. 
No  small  share  of  the  interest  we  feel  in 
all  objects,  times  and  places,  arises  from  the 
operation  of  this  principle.  The  rusty  coins 
which  the  antiquarian  treasures  up,  because 
they  bear  the  image  and  superscription  of 
ancient  kings,  and  commemorate  important 
events  in  history,  would  not  be  received  at 
the  bank.  The  relics  of  old  Egypt  and  As- 
syria, obtained  at  great  expense  and  stored 
up  in  museums  with  pious  care,  what  are 
they  Worth  more  than  the  lumber  of  a 
thousand  garrets  1  Are  the  waters  of «the 
Jordan  and  the  Tiber  better  than  those  of 
the  Chippewa  River  or  the  Great  Pedee? 
Of  what  value  is  a  fragment  of  Plymouth 
Rock  above  any  other  piece  of  granite — or 
a  branch  from  the  Charter  Oak,  or  from  the 
trees  overhanging  Washington's  tomb  ?  The 
chief  interest  of  our  national  holidays,  of 
our  annual  State  festival,  and  our  various 
domestic  anniversaries,  does  it  not  lie  in  the 
memories  they  revive  ?  And  the  home  of 
our  childhood — what  makes  it  the  home  it 
is,  separating  it  from  all  other  places  on 
earth,  hallowing  its  soil  and  endearing  its 
very  walls,  unless  if  be  this  principle  of  as- 
sociation ? 

Many  trees  and  plants  are  interesting  for 
a  similar  reason.  They  may  or  may  not 
possess  the  element  of  beauty  ;  yet,  if  they 
have  become  linked  with  historical  facts,  or 
if  they  symbolize  poetical  and  moral  senti- 
ments, or  in  any  way  deeply  aifect  the 
mind  and  heart,  they  are  worthy  of  special 
regard.  To  illustrate  our  meaning,  let  us 
■  allude  first  to  the  Cedai\  This  was  pecu- 
liarly the  tree  of  Palestine,  bristling  along 
the  ridges  of  Lebanon,  and  crowning  the 
hills  around  the  Holy  City.  The  temple 
and  the  palace  were  built  of  this  wood : 
"All  was  cedar  ;  there  was  no  stone  seen." 


It  was  believed  that  "  God  loved  it  more 
than  any  other  tree."  The  Palm-tree  has 
both  a  sacred  and  classical  importance,  hav- 
ing been  used  from  the  earliest  times  as  an 
emblem  of  integrity,  constancy,  fruitfulness, 
patience  and  victory.  So  of  the  Olive-tree : 
it  is  associated  with  the  subsidence  of  the 
flood,  and  with  important  events  in  the  life 
of  the  Saviour.  It  has  always  been  a  token 
of  peace. 

Unlike  those  we  have  just  named,  the 
Oak  is  a  tree  of  all  climes.  Under  this, 
Abraham  spread  his  tent  at  Mamre.  Under 
an  oak,  Joshua  set  up  the  tabernacle  of 
Jehovah  for  divine  worship.  Throughout 
all  the  East,  no  spot  was  more  desired  for 
a  burial-place  than  the  shade  of  an  oak.  lu 
Greece,  it  was 

"Jove's  own  tree, 
That  held  the  woods  in  awful  sovereignty." 
In  England,  it  has  been  from  the  first  a 
national  tree,  flourishing  around  her  cathe- 
drals and  baronial  halls,  and  imparting 
grandeur  to  her  parks  and  hunting-grounds. 
Her  navy  proudly  sails  in  "  oaken  walls"; 
her  army  fights  with  "  hearts  of  oak."  The 
Elm  is  not  without  classical  associations. 
The  graceful  white  elm  of  this  country  sur- 
passes all  other  species  in  beauty,  and  has 
been  so  universally  planted  as  to  have  be- 
come, with  the  maple,  almost  a  national 
tree.  It  is  associated  especially  with  the 
older  towns  of  New  England,  with  their 
training  fields,  their  village  streets  and 
ancient  farm-houses. 

Perhaps  no  plant  is  more  suggestive  than 
the  Vine.  Originating  in  Persia,  it  found 
its  way  very  early  into  India,  Greece,  Si- 
cily, and  all  the  temperate  regions  of  the 
Old  World.  One  has  observed  that  "  the 
classics  seem  to  have  been  written  under 
its  shade ;  their  pages  exhale  the  sweet 
odor  of  its  fruit."  It  is  mentioned  fre- 
quently in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
as  furnishing  a  pleasing  shade,  a  healthful 
fruit,  and  an  invigorating  and  wholesome 
beverage.  It  is  often  used  as  a  symbol  of 
peace  and  plenty.  Our  Saviour  has  for  ever 
hallowed  it  by  styling  himself '"The  Vine," 


Laws  of  Association  in  Ornamental  Gardening. 


259 


and  by  constituting  the  juice  of  its  clusters 
a  perpetual  emblem  of  his  love. 

But  we  need  not  speak  at  length  of 
other  trees  and  plants  in  their  mythological 
or  historical  relations.  Some  trees  have  a 
marked  expression  which  renders  them  sug- 
gestive, and  others  have  poetical  and  moral 
associations  which  are  worthy  of  notice. 
Evergreens,  as  a  class,  suggest  ideas  of  pro- 
lection,  seclusion,  shelter,  of  smiles  amid 
surrounding  gloom,  of  constancy  amid  chang- 
es, of  life  amid  desolation  and  death.  De- 
ciduous trees  are  more  varied  in  expression. 
The  maples  are  comfortable  and  well-to-do ; 
tlje  white  ash  is  neat  and  trim,  and  in  the 
autumn  robes  itself  in  royal  purple ;  the 
elm  is  gracefully  dignified ;  the  Lombardy 
poplar  is  all  aspiration;  the  aspen  is  timid- 
ity, trembling  at  every  breeze  ;  the  oak  is 
strength  and  sturdy  endurance  ;  the  wil- 
low is  affection,  bending  over  the  dust  of 
the  departed. 

Nor  are  flowering  plants  without  expres- 
sion. Where  is  there  gayety  and  vanity, 
if  not  in  the  tulip  and  poppy  ?  or  purity 
and  modesty,  if  not  in  the  lily  and  prim- 
rose 1  or  foppery  and  ostentation,  if  not  in 
the  cockscomb  and  peony  ?  Every  eye  sees 
deceit  in  the  monkshood,  immortality  in 
the  amaranth,  hope  even  in  misery  in  the 
bachelor's  button,  industry  in  broom-corn. 
The  snow-drop  and  crocus  are  friends  in 
the  storms  of  adversity;  unconscious  beauty 
is  in  the  daisy,  ambition  in  the  hollyhock, 
woman's  affection  and  fidelity  in  the  cling- 
ing ivy  and  honey-suckle,  delicacy  in  the 
lily  of  the  valley,  unchanging  love  in  the 
myrtle,  remembrance  in  rosemary,  domestic 
virtues  in  sage,  and  substantial  worth  in 
thyme. 

Flowers  are  the  poetry  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  They  address  our  most  delicate 
sentiments,  and  awaken  our  tenderest  emo- 
tions. They  charm  us  by  their  richness  of 
form,  color  and  fragrance.  Their  very  fra- 
gility attracts  us  ;  it  touches  our  sympathy 
and  makes  us  love  them  with  almost  human 
affection.  If  proof  were  needed  of  the  firm 
hold  which  they  have  gained  upon  the  uni- 


versal heart,  we  might  instance  the  fact 
that  they  are  used,  in  one  way  or  another, 
to  adorn  all  our  daily  life.  They  are  woven 
into  our  carpets,  garments,  window-hang- 
ings, and  nearly  all  domestic  fabrics.  Flowers 
are  sculptured  in  marble,  carved  in  wood 
and  ivory,  embossed  in  gold  and  silver,  cast 
on  our  stove-patterns,  stamped  on  our  wall- 
papers, engraved  in  our  books,  and  painted 
everywhere.  Children  love  them  almost 
instinctively  ;  maidenly  beauty  delights  to 
twine  them  in  her  hair;  they  adorn  the 
bride  for  her  husband ;  they  cheer  the 
chamber  of  sickness ;  they  grace  the  ban- 
quet-table, and  are  fitly  strewn  upon  the 
grave. 

In  respect  to  their  moral  associa- 
tions, it  may  suffice  to  mention  that 
the  pages  of  Holy  Writ  abound  in  floral 
imagery,  symbolizing  man's  frailty  and  his 
resurrection,  representing  human  virtues 
and  God's  providential  care.  They 
"  typify  the  benign  intent  of  the  universe." 
Springing  up,  as  they  do,  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  they  speak  of  the  boundlessness 
of  God's  love :  they  show  that  He  is  not 
satisfied  with  making  man's  abode  simply 
endurable,  but  would  have  it  a  paradise  of 
delight. 

Trees  and  plants  have  domestic  associa- 
tions also.  Not  to  speak  now  of  fruit-bear- 
ing trees  and  vines,  the  locust,  maple,  elm 
and  balsam-fir,  the  lilac,  rose  and  honey- 
suckle have  been  so  long  planted  about 
every  country-house  as  to  form  almost  an 
essential  part  of  a  rural  homestead.  Some 
of  the  pleasantest  recollections  of  childhood 
cluster  around  these  familiar  objects.  But, 
aside  from  long  established  associations, 
there  are  others  which  grow  up  in  one's 
individual  experience,  and  to  which  every 
passing  year  gives  new  sacredness  and  pow- 
ei".  When  a  man  sets  out  to  establish  a 
permanent  home,  the  land,  timber,  bricks 
and  stones  are  only  a  certain  number  of 
acres  and  a  certain  amount  of  building  ma- 
terials, costing  so  many  dollars.  But  as 
soon  as  he  enters  upon  the  construction  of 
his   house,    and   the    arrangement   of  his 


•260 


The  Horticulturist. 


grounds,  tlie  land  and  lumber  begin  to  in- 
crease in  value.  The  apartments,  which  he 
plans  with  care,  seeking  to  make  them  at- 
tractive to  his  family  and  guests,  the  fur- 
niture which  he  selects  for  their  comfort 
and  pleasure,  are  all  worth  more  than  the 
materials  of  which  they  were  made.  And 
every  year,  as  it  adds  its  varied  experience 
to  the  history  of  the  household,  only  height- 
ens their  value.  So  too,  in  arranging  his 
garden  and  grounds,  if  he  does  it  with  zeal, 
embodying  his  own  individuality  in  it,  he 
finds  that  the  object  of  his  labor  is  the  ob- 
ject of  his  increasing  love.  Let  him  but 
plant  a  tree  with  his  own  hands,  he  at  once 
becomes  attached  to  it.  Let  him  brace  it 
against  the  riotous  winds,  water  its  thirsty 
roots,  cleanse  it  of  insects,  and  give  it  all 
the  care  it  requires,  and  no  sooner  will  its 
roots  shoot  out  and  grasp  the  soil,  than  his 
affections  will  fasten  upon  it  and  upon  the 
very  earth  in  which  it  grows.  He  will  watch 
its  expanding  leaves  with  increasing  love. 


and  every  year  he  will  take  new  delight  in 
its  spreading  boughs  and  thickening  shade. 
Other  trees  added  to  his  collection,  from 
time  to  time,  will  add  new  objects  of  in- 
terest. In  planting  this,  a  darling  child 
held  it  upright,  or  with  his  little  spade 
tried  to  help,  but  hindered  the  work,  and, 
when  all  was  finished,  named  it  his  tree. 
That  was  the  wife's  choice,  and  in  its  early 
growth  was  nurtured  by  her  tender  care. 
This  came  from  the  old  homestead,  the  gift 
of  a  venerated  father.  Yonder  shrub  was 
presented  by  a  friend,  and  this  flowering 
plant  was  the  gift  of  a  beloved  sister  now 
walking  amid  the  celestial  gardens.  How 
can  one  live  and  move  among  such  trees 
and  plants,  and  not  feel  that  they  possess 
a  value  beyond  price  ?  Each  has  a  history 
of  its  own,  and  is  bound  up  with  his  history. 
Nay,  each  has  a  life  and  soul,  to  which  his 
own  heart  is  linked  by  the  strongest  ties. 

[Concluded  in  our  next.\ 


DESIGNS  IN  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE— A  COUNTRY  SCHOOL-HOUSE.— No.  17. 


BY    G.    E.    HARNEY,    COLD    SPRING,    N.    Y. 


"We  present  at  this  time  a  sketch  of  a 
country  schoolhouse,  of  suitable  size  and 
accommodation  for  about  fifty  pupils,  of 
both  sexes. 

Enough  has  been  already  said  of  the 
great  importance  of  making  such  structures 
comfortable  and  attractive  ;  of  selecting  for 
them  the  very  best  situations  the  district 
affords ;  of  giving  them  ample  grounds,  and 
carefully  beautifying  them  with  trees,  and 
shrubbery,  and  flowers ;  and  of  supplying 
every  improvement  for  the  convenience  and 
benefit  of  instructor  and  pupil ;  and  the 
good  effects  of  such  hints  may  be  seen 
plainly  all  about  us;  but  there  is  great 
room  for  improvement  yet,  particularly  in 
districts  remote  from  the  larger  towns  and 
villages,  where  the  people  are  mostly,  or 
all,  hard-working  farmers,  who  have  little 
time  or  inclination  to  study  matters   of 


architectural  improvement,  and  where 
architecture,  as  a  profession,  has  hardly,  as 
yet,  exerted  any  special  influence.  Horti- 
cultural and  agricultural  publications  have* 
done  a  great  deal,  however,  to  improve 
the  popular  taste ;  in  fact,  the  whole  credit 
is  theirs,  for  it  is  to  them  solely,  and  to 
this  very  magazine — The  Horticulturist 
— principally,  that  we  owe  the  first  awaken- 
ing ;  and  it  will  be  to  their  efforts  in  the 
future  that  we  shall  look  for  a  continuation 
of  these  improvements,  having  a  more  gen- 
eral circulation,  and  a  more  intimate  rela- 
tion with  the  rural  population  than  other 
publications. 

It  is  to  meet  the  requirements  of  such 
localities  that  we  present  this  design ;  and 
we  think  it  will  recommend  itself  by  its 
simplicity  and  convenience. 

It  is  a  plain  building  of  wood,  comprising 


Designs  in  Rural  Architecture 


261 


a  central  portion  and  two  wings,  one  on 
each  side,  and  lower  by  three  feet.  The 
main  building  measures  twenty-one  feet 
by  forty-two,  and  the  wings  twelve  by 
seventeen  each.  The  principal  schoolroom 
measures  twenty  feet  by  thirty,  and  is 
twelve  feet  high  to  the  spring  of  the  ceil- 
ing, and  seventeen  feet  high  in  the  centre 
of  the  room,  the  ceiling  for  a  portion 
of  the  way  following  the  slant  of  the 
rafters,  and  the  principal  rafters  and 
braces  projecting  out  so  as  to  show  from 
below.  The  walls  of  this  room  are  wam- 
scotted  up  to  the  level  of  the  window-sills 
— four  feet  from  the  floor — with  narrow 
ceiling    boards,   and  above   that,  together 


with  the  ceiling,  are  finished  off  with  a 
rough  sand  stucco  finish. 

The  wood-work  should  all  be  stained, 
and  the  walls  tinted  some  soft  neutral  tint 
— gray,  or  cream,  or  pearl  color. 

The  windows  are  all  sash  windows,  dou- 
ble hung  for  purposes  of  ventilation ;  aud, 
in  addition,  there  are  two  ventilating  shafts 
rising  from  the  floor  through  the  attic,  and 
terminating  in  the  ventilator  on  the  ridge 
of  the  main  roof.  These  shafts  have  open- 
ings near  the  floor  and  ceiling,  with  ar- 
rangements for  opening  and  shutting  at 
will.  They  arc  made  of  smoothly-planed, 
well-jointed  pine  boards,  and  measure  each 
sixteen  inches  square  inside. 


Fig.  103. — Perspective. 


In  order  to  keep  up  the  circulation,  and 
to  supply  cool  air  from  outside,  a  shaft  is 
introduced  running  along  under  the  floor, 
and  terminating  at  the  platform  on  which, 
in  winter,  the  stove,  or  heating-apparatus, 
will  stand,  and  from  this  distributed  into 
the  room  by  numerous  small  holes  in  the 
riser  of  the  platform. 

We  consider  the  simplest  methods  of 
ventilation  the  best,  and  the  above  will  be 
found  both  simple  and  eflFective.  The  great 
desideratum  is  to  provide  means  for  the 
discharge  of  a  certain  quantity  of  vitiated 


air,  and  to  supply  its  place  by  the  same 
quantity  of  pure  air,  properly  warmed  in 
winter.  To  make  the  discharge  more  effec- 
tive, the  stove-pipe  may  be  carried  up  in 
connection  with  one  of  the  shafts,  rarifying 
the  air,  and  making  the  upward  current 
stronger,  but  in  ordinary  cases  this  will  be 
hardly  necessary. 

There  are  two  entrances  to  this  house, 
one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  Both  entries 
are  ten  feet  square,  and  are  in  the  main 
building,  opening  directly  into  the  school- 
room. 


262 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


The  wing  on  tlie  right  is  a  class-room, 
and  that  on  the  left  is  designed  fur  wood 
and  coal,  and  for  a  wash-room,  if  such  be 
considered  desirable. 

The  entries,  instead  of  having  hooks  for 


Ground  Flan. 


clothing,  have  each  a  sufficient  number  of 
boxes,  or  shelves  divided  up  into  compart- 
ments of  about  two  cubic  feet  each,  ranged 
along  the  sides,  and  carried  up  in  three  or 
four  tiers.     These  boxes  are  ail  numbered, 


and  each  scholar  has  one  for  his  exclusive 
use ;  being  provided  with  a  duplicate  num- 
ber as  a  voucher,  there  is  no  opportunity 
for  contention  as  to  ownership,  no  losing  or 
abusing  of  hats  and  shawls,  and  dinner- 
pail.  The  method  has  been  tried,  and 
found  much  preferable  to  the  old  arrange- 
ments of  hooks,  particularly  for  the  smaller 
scholars,  and  those  coming  from  a  distance 
who  bring  their  dinners. 

The  two  porticos  measure  eight  feet  by 
ten  ;  the  windows  have  all  broad  hoods  and 
brackets ;  the  gables  have  heavy  finials,  and 
the  ridge  is  surmounted  by  a  larg-e  ventila- 
tor. The  roofs  are  covered  with  slates,  and 
the  walls  are  painted  two  or  three  coats  of 
oil  paint. 

The  cost,  at  present  prices  of  labor  and 
materials,  would  be  about  S2,500. 


GRAPES     AT     AVON     POINT. 


BY  M.  H.  LEWIS,  SANDUSKY,  OHIO. 


The  map  of  Ohio  indicates  some  irregu- 
larity in  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  along 
the  northern  part  of  Lorain  County.  Here, 
twelve  miles  north  of  Elyria  and  iifteen 
west  of  Cleveland,  a  wide  reach  of  land, 
known  as  Avon  Point,  because  of  its  under- 
lying shale  formation,  has  most  successfully 
resisted  "•  the  wear  and  tear  of  wind  and 
tide." 

In  shape  it  resembles  a  trapezoid.  The 
shorter  of  its  parallel  bases,  three  miles  in 
length  and  distant  about  three  miles  from 
the  main  land,  is  the  head-shore  line. 

Having  just  returned  from  a  delightful 
visit  at  the  Point  with  E.  Boyd,  Esq.,  whose 
summer  residence  is  immediately  upon  the 
shore  at  the  farthest  point  lakeward  in  all 
the  region,  I  propose  a  simple  statement  of 
what  has  been  done  there  in  behalf  of  the 
"blessed  grapes." 

Three  years  or  more  since,  Mr.  Boyd  had 
his  attention  directed  to  grape  culture,  and 
to  this  locality  as  especially  adapted  to  such 


an  enterprise.  Most  of  the  land  along  Avon 
Point,  as  it  abuts  upon  the  water,  forms  an 
embankment  of  ten  and  oftentimes  twenty 
feet  in  height.  The  soil  is  a  heavy  clay 
resting  upon  a  shale  formation  five  or  six 
feet  below.  In  the  shale,  the  salts  sulphu- 
ret  of  iron  and  sulphate  of  alumina  seem  to 
abound.  The  presence  of  iron  is  sometimes 
manifest  by  the  red  tinges  in  the  clay, 
though  generally  the  latter  is  of  a  light 
color.  The  surface  is  slightly  rolling,  and 
at  frequent  intervals  furrowed  out  by  brook- 
lets from  the  interior,  making  their  way  on 
the  shale  with  most  of  the  surface  water 
down  to  the  lake.  The  aspect  of  the  country 
seems  to  be  south  and  south-east.  Having 
satisfied  himself  that  the  lacustine  influen- 
ces, soil  and  lay  of  the  land  were  just  such 
as  to  please  even  the  coy  and  fastidious 
Catawba,  he  bought  largely  of  the  farmers, 
who  were  all  unsuspecting  of  the  wealth  of 
unassimilated  wine  pabulum,  ground  up 
and  pushed  thither  in  the  long  ago  of  the 


Grapes  at  Avon  Point. 


263 


glacial  period  and  everywliere  contemned 
as  "  white-bean  "  soil.  Think  of  it,  vine- 
yardists  of  Sandusky  and  the  Islands,  hun- 
dreds of  acres  of  the  best  Catawba  land 
purchased  within  a  few  years  at  ^40  per 
acre! 

He  interested  other  parties  at  Detroit, 
Columbus,  and  especially  A.  W.  Kellogg, 
Esq.,  of  the  well-known  firm  of  Kiggins 
and  Kellogg,  New  York  city,  and  they  have 
now  secured  in  all  many  hundred  acres  in 
excellent  locations.  Ten  acres  of  Catawbas 
planted  three  years  ago  are  just  coming  into 
bearing.  The  wood  is  stocky  and  short- 
jointed,  and  the  foliage  is  particularly  re- 
markable for  its  deep  green  color  —  the 
leaves  looking  firm  and  healthful  almost  as 
Concord. 

The  vines  seem  to  have  been  faithful  in 
setting  fruit  plentifully,  but  here  as  in  most 
places  on  the  south  shore,  to  the  west  of 
Avon  at  least,  the  clusters  are  imperfect 
from  a  heavy  fall  of  rain  just  at  blooming 
times,  which  prevented  complete  fertiliza- 
tion. His  vineyard  is  trellised  with  posts  and 
wires.  Bj  the  way,  Mr.  Boyd  has  adopted 
a  novel  mode  of  setting  posts.  He  has  a 
pile-driver  which  four  or  five  men  can  easily 
manage.  With  this  he  is  enabled  to  drive 
posts  into  the  earth  many  times  as  fast  and 
much  more  firmly  than  the  same  working 
force  could  put  them  in  by  the  ordinary 
method. 

Mr.  Boyd  is  eminently  a  practical  man, 
not  a  horticulturist  by  profession,  not  much 
given  to  book-farming,  though  he  does  not 
by  any  means  ignore  the  vast  amount  of 
valuable  information  in  the  horticultural 
literature  of  the  day,  but  has  traveled 
much,  has  visited  repeatedly  all  the  great 
centres  of  grape  growing  East  and  West, 
and  always  with  his  "  eyes  and  ears  wide 
open."  Hence  he  has  so  far  been  quite 
successful.  Early  in  the  fall  of  1865,  he 
secured  over  50,000  selected  Catawba  cut- 
ting roots  and  had  them  stored  in  sand  in 
a  dry  cellar  until  spring  planting.  He 
bought  at  $25  per  thousand,  and  thereby 
made  a  clear  gain,  as  it  proved,  of  more 


than  $1,200;  for  in  Marcli  following  the 
same  class  of  roots  were  very  scarce  at  $50 
per  thousand.  Early,  too,  in  the  fall,  he 
subsoiled  his  ground,  using  a  subsoil  stirer, 
to  a  depth  of  sixteen  inches,  and  as  he  could 
not  get  it  underdrained,  he  networked  it 
with  surface  ditches.  In  the  spring  of  18C6 , 
after  the  thorough  work  of  that  most  silent 
and  indefatigable  of  pulverizers,  Jack  Frost 
he  cross-ploughed  and  subsoiled  again.  He 
had  the  foresight  also  to  engage  a  superior 
vigneron  to  superintend  the  whole  grape 
interest — an  americanized  German  of  many 
years'  experience  on  Kelly's  Island,  and  he 
was  every  way  wisely  and  fully  ready  for 
the  stupendous  task  of  planting  at  one  time 
over  60  acres  of  vineyard. 

The  advancing  summer  proves  the  under- 
taking a  complete  success.  Not  one  vine 
in  200  on  an  average  is  lost.  The  growth 
is  healthful  and  vigorous.  The  cultivation 
has  been  admirable,  scarcely  a  weed  to  be 
seen,  and  the  soil,  which  usually  bakes  to 
stony  hardness  and  cracks  in  great  chinks, 
everywhere  about  the  young  vines  seems  to 
be  mellow  to  a  good  depth.  The  rows  are 
eight  feet  apart,  straight  as  human  hand 
can  make  them,  and  the  vines  seven  feet 
apart  in  the  row.  This  first  year  he  can 
cultivate  both  ways.  The  posts  and  wires 
will  run  north  and  south.  This  autumn 
twenty  or  thirty  more  acres  will  be  pre- 
pared in  like  manner — a  portion  to  be  set 
with  roots  at  once,  and  the  remainder  the 
succeeding  sprmg.  Four  or  five  Englishmen, 
adepts  in  their  calling,  are  hard  at  work 
putting  in  three  feet  underdrains  at  twenty 
and  twenty-five  feet  distances  through  the 
young  vineyards  of  this  last  spring.  Two 
inch  circular  tile  are  used  and  first  covered 
with  hay  or  straw  before  the  drains  are 
filled  up.  In  fine,  Mr.  Boyd  and  his  friends 
have  made  a  great  venture,  but  their  well  - 
founded  confidence  in  their  locality  and  soil, 
their  grande  confidence,  as  the  Frenchman 
termed  it,  in  American  grape  culture,  their 
liberal  use  of  capital,  and  intelligent  em- 
ployment of  all  the  means  to  ensure  success 
which  recent  experience  has  anywhere  es- 


2(54 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


tablislied,  make  them  sanguine  of  the  final 
result  and  certainly  entitle  them  to  the 
sj^mpathy  and  even  the  gratitude  of  all  their 
co-TTorkers  in  this  broad  field  of  industry. 

I  might  add  that  they  command  fine  sites 
for  wine-cellars,  one  of  which  is  already  pro- 
i  ected,  and  that  they  contemplate  also  build- 
ing a  tug  to  facilitate  a  heavy  prospective 
trade  with  Cleveland. 


Mr.  Boyd's  agricultural  neighbors  have 
some  time  since  rubbed  their  eyes  wide 
open  and  are  more  than  slightly  affected 
with  the  grape  fever;  for  there  are  frequent 
young  vineyards  of  five  or  ten  acres,  and 
the  price  of  land  has  steadily  advanced  from 
!$40  per  acre  to  $200  and  even  $225,  has 
been  paid  for  unincumbered  clay.    . 


AMONG  THE  RASPBERRIES. 


BY    F.    R.     ELLIOTT,    CLEVELAND,    OHIO. 


We  spent  a  day  or  two  during  the  rasp-     yet  good  canes  were  then  bearing  fine  fruit 


berry  season  with  a  friend  of  ours,  who  has 
a  choice  collection  of  sorts,  mostly  in  bear- 
ing. We  found  him,  however,  pretty  much 
decided  upon  liking  two  or  three  sorts,  and 
disposed  to  throw  all  others  aside.  Never- 
theless, we  went  quietly  to  work,  tasting, 
and  examining,  and  comparing ;  visited  a 
dozen  or  more  places,  and  got  their  opinions. 
Of  the  white  or  yellow  sorts,  we  found 
nothing  equal  to  Brinckle's  Orange,  the  fruit 


— not  equal,  of  course,  to  those  under  a 
higher  state  of  cultivation,  but  yet  such  as 
to  show  that  the  variety  could  bear  grief. 
The  next  best  of  the  whites  that  we  met 
with  was  Coloni>l  Wilder ;  not  as  high  fla- 


FiG.  105. — BrinckWs  Oranye. 


of  which  was  abundant  upon  the  canes,  of 
large  size,  rather  long,  a  rich  golden  yellow 
when  fully  ripe,  and  of  the  richest  flavor. 
The  canes  of  this  in  our  friend's  grounds 
are  regularly  laid  down,  and  covered  on  ap- 
proach of  winter.  His  soil  is  of  a  deep, 
rich,  sandy  loam,  and  thoroughly  worked. 
We  examined  this  sort  on  clay  grounds, 
where  we  found  it  doing  well ;  and  here,  as 
well  as  in  a  garden  of  light  sandy  soil,  it 
had  received  no  protection  the  past  winter, 
and  but  poor  cultivation  this  Spring ;  and 


^^. 


Fig.  106.— Co/!.  Wilder. 

vored  as  Orange,  a  lighter  color,  but  if  any- 
thing the  canes  a  little  more  hardy.  One 
cultivator  of  it  declared  that  he  could  get 
a  good  crop  of  it  yearly,  without  any  cov- 
ering or  winter  protection.     We  doubt  it. 

Among  the  red  sorts,  of  old  kinds,  we 
found  the  Hornet,  literally  loaded  with 
fruit ;  of  a  dark,  rich  red  ;  large  size  ;  fine 
flavor ;  pretty  firm  ;  more  so  than  most  of 
the  red ;  trusses  with  fifty  to  seventy-five 
berries ;  a  little  later  in  maturing  than  some 
other  sorts,    but   universally  regarded  as 


Among  the  Easpherries, 


265 


among  the,  or  one  of  the  best.  Most  of  its 
growers,  we  also  found,  had  been  in  the 
practice  of  leaving  it  exposed  to  the  winter; 


Fig.  li)l .—Hornet. 

but  where  they  had  given  it  a  little  protec- 
tion, we  think  the  time  and  labor  were  more 
than  twice  repaid  in  the  crop. 

Fastolff  we  did  not  find  as  favorably 
spoken  of  as  of  olden  time.  One  cultivator, 
however,  regarded  it  yet  among  his  best. 
Canes  strong  and  stocky;  partially  hardy. 
Fruit  large,  abundant,  tolerably  firm ;  not 
sufficiently  so  for  long  carriage,  however. 

Franconia,  like  the  last  named,  we  found 
with  only  a  few  friends,  and  they  among 
the  amateurs,  where  large  and  fine  fruit, 
without  much  to  regard  to  cost,  was  a  point 
to  gain. 

KiRTLAND,  for  so  wc  must  name  the  sort 
now  grown  under  this  name,  although  the 
gentleman   whose  name   it   bears   lays  no 


Fig.  108.— Kirtland. 

claim  to  having  grown  it.     The 
perfectly  hardy  ;  a  light  yellow  ; 


bright  red  ;  pretty  firm  ;  large  grains ;  fruit 
sets  abundantly,  and  matures  well;  it  is 
not  of  the  highest  flavor  nor  the  largest 
size,  but,  with  many  who  have  grown  it  in 
quantity,  proves  very  profitable. 

"We  learn,  also,  that  the  little  original 
patch,  from  which  Doctor  Kirtland  once 
gave  away  plants,  now  propagated  under 
his  name,  yet  continues  in  fruitful  bearing, 
and  has  never  had  a  hoe  or  manure  applied 
to  it. 

The  Allen,  or  what  is  known  by  the  mar- 
ket gardeners  about  Cleveland,  Ohio,  as  the 
Red  Antwerp,  we  found  in  many  hands; 
and  everywhere  that  they  had  eradicated 
the  barren  plants,  it  proved  a  profitable 
sort.  One  grower  from  a  little  piece  of 
three  rows,  four  rods  long  each,  gathered 
and  sold  this  year  to  the  amount  of  over 
forty-five  dollars.  Where  the  Hornet  or 
Kirtland  can  be  got,  however,  we  think 
the  Allen  will  lose  cast. 

Red  Antwerp. — This  old  sort,  where  it 
had  been  protected  last  winter,  we  found 
giving  fine  crops  of  a  delicious  flavored 
fruit.     It  is  a  capital  berry;  but  if  those  of 


canes  are 
free  from 


Fig.  109.— Red  Antwerp. 

hardier  canes  can  be  had,  our  people  will  not 
take  the  trouble  to  lay  down  any  particular 
sort. 

Knevitt's  Giant. — In  only  one  place 
did  we  find  this  sort,  but  here  the  owner 
thought  very  highly  of  it.  The  canes  are 
more  hardy  than  any  other  foreign  sort,  ex- 


spines.     The  fruit  nearly  or  quite  round;    cept  Hornet,  while  the  fruit  is  firm,  and  of 


266 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


excellent  flavor.     We  tliink  growers  should 
pay  more  attention  to  this  variety. 

Of  Vice-Prksident  French,  Gushing, 
and  others  of  the  Brinckle  origin,  we  found 
the  two  we  have  first  named  and  figured, 
to  have  so  much  surpassed  the  others  in 
good  qualities,  that  they  were  only  grown 
by  a  few  amateurs. 

Of  new  sorts,  the  Duhring  and  Clark,  we 
have  not  seen  in  fruit.  Both  are  repre- 
sented as  extra  fine;  another  year,  we  hope 
to  see  their  fruit. 

Philadelphia  is  very  much  like  Kirtland, 
and  our  description  would  answer  for  both. 

Naomi  we  saw  in  fruit  in  two  or  three 
places,  bearing  abundantly :  a  large,  fine, 
well-flavored  fruit,  and  the  canes,  thus  far, 


Fig.  110. — Naomi. 

having  proved  perfectly  hardy.  Should  it 
again  prove  hardy,  as  heretofore,  it  will 
take  a  first  rank  among  raspberries  for  gen- 
eral cultivation. 


Mrs.  Wood  is  another  new  sort  that  we 
saw.  It  is  not  yet  offered  for  sale,  nor  has 
it  been  fully  described.  Its  habit  of  growth 
is  between  that  of  the  Antwerp  class  and 
the  Black  Cap,  and  is  apparently  a  hybrid. 
The  wood  is  of  a  dark  bluish  shade  ;  canes 
very  strong,  with  many  lateral  branches, 
on  which  the  fruit  sets  abundantly. 

The  fruit  is  of  a  dark  purplish  red  ;  nearly 
globular;  double  the  size  of  Black  Cap; 
firm,  and  with  a  fine  high  flavor.  We  hope 
to  have  a  full  description  and  illustration 
of  it  for  a  future  number. 

Catawissa — This  old  double-bearing  sort 
we  have  found  to  have  stood  last  winter 
more  than  usually  well.  In  some  places  it 
was  the  only  sort  this  spring  that  retained 
perfect  live  canes.  In  good  grounds  it  gives 
an  early  crop,  and  afterward  a  second  crop  ; 
but  to  be  most  profitable,  we  are  told,  the 
canes  should  all  be  mowed  ofi"  in  the  spring, 
and  thus  make  it  an  autumn-bearing  varie- 
ty, rather  than  twice  bearing. 

The  old  Black  Cap,  as  a  general  thing, 
has  been  superseded  by  the  Doolittle  Black 
Cap;  and  this,  where  the  soil  was  deep  and 
rich,  gave  enormous  and  profitable  crops. — 
For  many  sections,  and  for  deep,  loamy, 
rich  soils,  this  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
best  hardy  kinds  in  cultivation. 

Of  other  old  sorts,  such  as  Rivers'  Month- 
ly, Ohio  Everbearing,  &c.,  &c.,  we  learned 
nothing  new,  most  growers  confining  them- 
selves to  well-known  kinds ;  while  at  the 
same  time  they  are  testing  on  a  small  scale 
the  new  varieties. 


PLAN  FOR  LAYING  OUT  A  TEN-ACRE  LOT  FOR  SUBURBAN  OCCUPATION. 


BT  E.   FERRAND,   DETROIT. 


This  place  has  tw6  main  entrances  with 
well-shaded  drives.  The  lodges  for  the 
gardeners  command  the  gates.  There  is 
an  immediate  access  from  one  of  those  cot- 
tages to  the  hot  beds  and  garden  which  is 


exposed  to  the  full  sun.  The  sight  of  this 
vegetable  garden  is  entirely  hidden  by  a 
belt  of  ornamental  planting.  Around  the 
green-house  and  graperies  are  flower  beds 
and    stumps,   with    a   nice   walk   around. 


Plan  for  Laying-out  a  Ten  Acre  Lot. 


267 


Rhododendrons  and  Kalmias  can  be  plant- 
ed on  the  northern  and  other  shaded  sides 
of  the  dwelling.  The  access  is  very  easy 
to  the  stables  and  other  out-buildings,  with 
two  yards  and  a  direct  access  to  the  street. 
The  river  and  lake  occupy  about  ^  acre. 
There  are  two  islands,  one  of  which  is  con- 
nected to  the  garden  by  a  small  bridge. 


The  space  0  can  be  cultivated  into  fruits 
of  any  kind  or  put  in  grass. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  make  this  a  hand- 
some place  wdth  but  few  roads.  In  fact, 
a  simple  glance  at  the  drawing  will  tell 
more  about  the  disposition  of  this  place 
than  any  explanation. 


Fig.  Wl—Plan. 


REFERENCES. 


A — Dwelling. 

B— GrocnlLOuses  and  grape  ies. 

C — Stable,  barn  and  interior  yard. 

D— Yard. 

E  and  P — Gardeners'  houses. 

H— Principal  entrances. 


J— Entrances. 

K — Vegetable  garden. 

L— Hot  beds. 

M— River,  lake  and  islands. 

N-Me.idow. 

O— Fields,  witb  two  rows  of  apple-trees. 


268 


The  Horticulturist, 


THE  DELPHINIUMS. 

BY    F.    PARKMAN,    JAMAICA    PLAINS,    MASS. 


It  is  now  a  number  of  years  since  general 
attention  was  drawn  to  this  fine  family  of 
hardy  perennials,  by  the  introduction  of 
Delphinium  Fonnosum.  Other  beautiful 
species  and  varieties  had  already  been 
known,  but  D.  Formosum  was  at  once  so 
easy  of  culture,  so  large,  and  so  vivid  in 
color,  that  it  made  an  impression  never  be- 
fore equalled  by  any  of  its  kindred.  A  va- 
riety closely  related  to  it,  D.  Hendersoni^ 
had  been  introduced  before  it;  but,  unlike 
Formositm,  it  does  not  bear  seed,  and  must 
be  increased  by  the  tedious  process  of  di- 
viding the  root.  For  this  reason,  though 
more  delicate  in  color,  and  fully  equal  in 
every  point  of  beauty,  it  did  not  become 
generally  known. 

J).  Formosum  not  only  bears  seed  freely, 
but  the  seed  "  comes  true,"  the  offspring 
closely  i-esembling  the  parent.  Now  and 
then  one  observes  some  diversity.  Thus : 
in  some  cases  the  eye  is  deeply  shaded,  and 
in  others  it  is  pure  white.  An  English 
nurseryman,  by  carefully  selecting  and  iso- 
lating his  seedlings  through  a  succession  of 
seasons,  has  succeeded  in  "  fixing "  the 
white-eyed  variety,  so  that  seed  from  it 
will  commonly  produce  the  same  again.  He 
has  given  his  new  variety,  which  is  merely 
an  improved  formosuvi^  the  name  of  Del- 
phinium  hicolor  Grandiflorum.  We  have  not 
yet  tested  it  sufficiently  to  satisfy  ourselves 
that  it  deserves  this  formidable  christening. 
The  original  D.  formosum  is  an  improved 
variety  of  a  Siberian  species,  D.  cheilcmthum, 
which  is  also  the  ancestor  of  D.  Hendersoni 
and  D.  micans,  which  very  much  resemble 
each  other. 

Within  a  year  or  two,  another  variety 
has  been  introduced,  very  distinct,  and, 
without  doubt,  an  acquisition.  It  has  been 
named  Delphinium  formosum  ccelestinum,  and 
is,  in  fact,  formosum  with  a  different  shade 
of  color.  While  the  original  variety  is  of 
a  deep  metallic  blue,  the  one  in  question  is 
of  a  delicate  sky  blue,  and  it  rarely  fails  to 


come  true  from  seed.  The  flowers  of  both 
are  very  large.  When  grown  in  a  rich 
loam,  mixed  with  peat,  of  which  they  are 
very  fond,  we  have  seen  them  nearly  two 
inches  in  width.  These  were  flowers  of 
young  seedlings;  those  of  the  old  plants 
are  never  so  large. 

Delphinium  formosum  has  one  serious  de- 
fect. This  is  a  kind  of  blight  which  attacks 
the  flowers,  begins  by  blotching  them  with 
blackish  purple,  and  often  ends  by  crump- 
ling the  whole  flower-spike  into  an  unsight- 
ly knot. 

Delphinium  sinense  (the  Chinese  larkspur) 
and  its  varieties  form  another  group  quite 
distinct  from  the  above.  Its  growth  is 
more  slender,  its  leaves  finely  cut,  approach- 
ing the  annual  larkspurs;  and  the  whole 
plant,  though  less  robust,  is  more  delicate 
and  graceful.  It  grows  two  feet  or  more  in 
height,  but  there  are  dwarf  varieties  which 
sometimes  do  not  exceed  a  foot.  In  color, 
it  varies  from  an  intense  metallic  blue  to 
white.  There  are  bright  sky-blue  varieties 
whose  tints  are  almost  unrivalled  in  this 
way.  There  are  also  varieties  of  a  purplish 
slate  color.  Some  are  double  and  semi- 
double.  The  bloom  is  very  profuse,  and 
lasts  a  long  time.  Where  masses  of  blue 
are  wanted  in  the  garden,  nothing  can  bet- 
ter answer  the  purpose.  It  will  bloom  the 
first  year  from  seed,  as  will  also  D.  formosum^ 
and  it  is  entirely  free  from  the  defect  to 
which  the  latter  is  subject.  After  two  or 
three  years  it  commonly  dies  out,  unless 
the  root  is  divided ;  but  it  is  perfectly 
hardy,  and  \\k.Q  formosum,  defies  the  severest 
winter.  The  ancestors  of  both  were  na- 
tives of  Siberia,  Tartary,  and  Northern 
China.  D.  Grandiflorum  is  a  kindred  spe- 
cies, also  a  native  of  Siberia,  and  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  sinense. 

We  come  now  to  a  third  section  of  the 
genus  Delphinium — that  of  the  erect  robust 
species,  of  which  the  old  Bee  Larkspur  may 
be  taken  as  the  type.     This  section  includes 


The  Delphiniums. 


269 


many  species  more  or  less  distinct,  and  ya- 
rieties  past  numbering.  As  most  of  the 
species  hybridize  very  readily,  and  as  many 
that  are  called  species  are  not  to  be  distin- 
guished the  one  from  the  other,  any  at- 
tempt at  defining  them  all  would  be  a  fail- 
ure, but  the  general  characteristics  of  the 
entire  section  are  very  distinct.  To  our 
thinking,  the  position  of  the  Delphinium 
family  in  the  world  of  floriculture  must 
mainly  depend  on  this  portion  of  it.  In 
hardiness,  in  permanency,  and  in  freedom 
from  disease,  this  section  is  unequalled.  Its 
tall,  erect  spikes  of  bloom  are  often  of  the 
most  perfect  symmetry,  and  the  flowers 
may  be  developed  into  the  greatest  beauty, 
both  of  form  and  color.  The  choice  varie- 
ties of  it  are  admirable  for  massing  on  the 
lawn,  or  planting  in  the  middle  and  back  of 
the  border. 

Its  varieties  of  color  are  very  great. — 
The  old  Bee  Larkspur  is  of  a  deep  blue, 
with  a  black  eye,  covered  with  short  hairs, 
and  looking  like  a  bee  nestled  in  the  centre 
of  the  flower.  It  is  a  tall,  rank-growing 
plant,  of  little  value  in  itself,  but  capable 
of  great  improvement  by  hybridization  and 
selection  of  seedlings.  Next,  we  have  a 
deep  blue  variety,  with  the  eye  pure  white; 
then  a  light  blue,  with  an  eye  of  vivid 
black ;  then  a  light  blue  with  a  white  eye, 
and  a  light  blue  with  a  grey  eye.  We  have 
seen  these  last  quite  as  large  as  D.  formosum, 
and  far  surpassing  it  in  the  symmetry  of 
their  flower-spikes.  Among  double  varie- 
ties, there  are  some  of  a  deep  metallic  blue, 
others  of  a  pure  sky-blue,  and  others  of  a 
sky-blue,  tinged  with  pearl  and  lilac.  Oc- 
casionally, the  central  petals  are  striped 
with  red  and  white,  and  they  are  frequently 
edged  with  a  black  line,  which,  to  our 
thinking,  is  not  an  improvement.  Many 
of  the  double  varieties  are  good  seed- 
bearers. 

As  we  have  raised  many  thousands  of 
seedling  Delphiniums  within  the  last  few 
years,  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to  note 
here  some  of  the  "  sports"  to  which  they 
are  liable.     We  have  frequently  known  a 


Delphinium,  with  an  eye  white  and  per- 
fectly smooth,  to  produce  a  seedling  with 
the  eye  black  and  hairy,  like  the  old  Bee 
Larkspur;  and  the  offspring  of  this  again 
sometimes  sport  back  to  the  original  white. 
Often  a  deep  blue  flower  produces  a  light 
blue  offspring,  and  -vice  versa,  though  the 
majority  of  seedlings  approach  the  color  of 
the  parent.  Some  double  flowers  produce 
a  considerable  proportion  of  double  off- 
spring ;  while  others,  equally  double,  result 
almost  exclusively  in  single  flowers.  We 
have  frequently  known  the  offspring  of  one 
plant  to  differ  more  from  each  other  than 
some  of  those  which  are  described  by  bot- 
anists as  distinct  species.  We  have  now  in 
bloom  a  curious  example  of  a  sport.  It 
was  raised  from  the  seed  of  a  double  light- 
blue  variety.  The  flowers  are  double, 
smaller  than  in  the  parent,  and  nearly  pure 
white — the  only  instance  we  have  ever 
seen  of  that  color  in  this  section  of  the 
Delphiniums.  The  variety  bears  seed, 
though  not  very  freely,  and  we  hope,  ulti- 
mately, to  develope  something  of  value 
from  it. 

Now  as  to  hybridizing.  The  varieties  of 
the  Bee  Larkspur  section  hybridize  freely 
with  the  section  of  formosum,  producing 
flowers  combining  the  characteristics  of  the 
parents,  more  upright  and  robust  in  growth 
than /on;?.osTO»;  nearly  as  large;  often  quite 
as  vivid  in  color ;  and,  as  far  as  we  have 
observed,  quite  free  from  blight.  We  have 
never  yet  succeeded  in  hybridizing  the  Bee 
Larkspur  with  sinense ;  but  where  art  has 
failed  Nature  seems  to  have  done  the  work, 
for  we  have  several  times  observed  in  beds 
of  seedlings  plants  which,  in  their  habit 
and  bloom,  show  strong  indications  of  being 
hybrids  of  these  species.  We  have  several 
of  them  now  in  bloom.  In  habit  of  growth, 
they  approach  the  Bee  Larkspurs,  but  the 
flower  closely  resembles  the  Chinese  (sin- 
ense). They  never  bear  seed,  which  affords 
another  presumption  that  thej^  are  hybrids. 

In  this  connection,   we  will  mention  a 

disaster  which  befell  us  two  winters  ago 

From  a  great  number  of  seedlings,  we  had 


270 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


selected  about  thirty  wliich  seemed  worthy 
of  names;  and  as  the  ground  where  they 
stood  was  to  be  dug  up  in  the  autumn,  we 
placed  them  all  in  a  frame  for  the  winter. 
The  precaution  proved  their  ruin,  for  the 
mice  got  in,  and  devoured  all  but  six.     We 


have  many  hundreds  of  seedlings  which 
will  soon  be  in  flower.  The  family  of  the 
Delphiniums  seems  capable  of  a  develop- 
ment greater  than  it  has  yet  received,  and 
we  look  with  confidence  for  good  results. 
We  have  not  yet  done  with  this  subject, 


are  now  at  work  to  repair  the  mischief,  and     and  shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter. 


GRAPE  MILDEW    VERSUS  THE  ESSENTIAL   OILS. 


BY    VITICOLA. 


In  the  Horticulturist  for  June  1864, 
"Horticola"  publishes  several  extracts  from 
a  letter  of  M.  Neubert,  a  celebrated  vine 
grower  of  Saxonj^,  whom  Horticola  endor- 
ses as  a  "scientific  chemist."  Neubert 
advises  the  use  of  a  solution  or  emulsion 
of  essential  oils  (lavender  and  rosemary) 
in  water  impregnated  with  salt  and  salt- 
petre, as  a  remedy,  or  rather  as  a  prophyl- 
actic for  mildew  on  the  grape  vine. 
Neubert  being  a  practical  man,  and  his 
directions  being  founded,  on  his  own  ex- 
perience, his  recommendations  are  worthy 
of  a  trial,  and  should  not  be  lightly  treated 
unless  the  objections  to  them  are  obvious 
and  well  founded. 

In  a  recent  work  upon  Grape  Culture,  by 
W.  0.  Strong,  these  directions  of  M. 
Neubert  are  quoted  with  the  following 
remarks :  "  He  gives  no  reason  for  his 
solution,  and  we  are  at  a  loss  to  comprehend 
the  benefits  of  rosemary  and  lavender.  The 
salt  and  saltpetre  are  in  such  homeopathic 
quantities,  that  we  cannot  understand  how 
so  practical  and  skilful  a  cultivator  as  M. 
Neubert  can  attach  so  much  value  to  it. 
The  early  and  frequent  dustings  with 
sulphur  must  be  the  secret  of  his  success. 

We  account  for  the  efficiency  of  sulphur 
from  the  known  efiects  of  sulphurous  acid 
gas  upon  vegetable  and  animal  life.  When 
diluted  with  a  large  proportion  of  atmos- 
pheric air,  it  is  still  so  acrid  as  to  produce 
a  sense  of  suffocation  and  violent  coughing. 
Every  one  has  experienced  the  suffocating 
odor  of  friction  matches.     Flour  of  sulphur 


is  insoluble  in  water,  and  decomposes  slowly 
by  combining  with  oxygen,  forming  sul- 
phurous acid  In  the  proportion  of  one  part 
sulphur  and  two  parts  oxygen." 

Upon  reading  the  passage  the  question 
promptly  occurred  to  me  :  Are  these  ob- 
jections to  M.  Neubert's  recipe  well 
grounded?  If  so,  there  is  no  use  in  going 
to  the  expense  and  trouble  of  trying  it. 
What  light  does  chemistry  and  vegetable 
physiology  throw  upon  the  subject  1 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remind  every  reader 
of  horticultural  literature  of  the  widely 
different  circumstances  under  which  dif- 
ferent classes  of  plants  flourish.  Seaweeds 
grow  in  brine  of  such  a  strength  as  would 
prove  instantly  fatal  to  land  plants;  and 
even  in  strong  solutions  of  the  most  acrid 
chemical  salts  (sulphate  of  copper)  certain 
species  have  been  known  to  thrive. 

Now  it  has  long  been  known  that  amidst 
these  peculiarities  of  vegetable  growth  one 
of  the  most  marked  is  the  fatal  effect  of 
essential  oils  upon  most  plants  of  a  fungoid 
character.  Hence  the  ink  manufacturer 
puts  a  few  cloves  in  his  ink  to  keep  off 
mould  while  aromatic  seeds  of  all  kinds  are 
not  subject  to  mould  and  their  vicinity 
prevents  moulding  in  others  with  which 
they  are  packed. 

In  an  elaborate  article  on  this  subject  in 
the  Edinburg  Philosophical  Journal,  vol.  8, 
page  34,  Dr.  MacCullogh  remarks  : — "  It  is 
a  remarkable  confirmation  of  this  circum- 
stance, that  Russian  leather,  which  is 
perfumed  with  the  tar  of   the  birch  tree, 


Early  Fall  Transplanting. 


271 


is  not  subject  to  mouldiness,  as  must  be 
known  to  all  who  possess  books  thus  bound. 
They  even  prevent  it  from  taking  place  in 
those  books  bound  in  calf  near  which  they 
happen  to  lie. 

This  fact  is  particularly  well  known  to 
Russian  merchants,  as  they  suffer  bales  of 
this  article  to  lie  in  the  London  docks  in 
the  most  careless  manner,  for  a  great  length 
of  time,  knowing  well  that  they  can  sustain 
no  injury  of  this  nature  from  dampness, 
whereas  common  curried  leather  requires 
to  be  opened  cleaned  and  ventilated.  Col- 
lectors of  books  will  not  be  sorry  to  learn, 
that  a  few  drops  of  any  perfumed  oil  will 
ensure  their  libraries  from  this  pest." 

These  facts  are  well  known  and  they 
seem  to  me  to  offer  a  full  explanation  of 
the  beneficial  effects  of  essential  oils  in 
warding  off  attacks  of  mildew. 

Salt  and  saltpetre  are  equally  well 
known  as  powerful  antiseptics.  At  first 
sight  I  should  feel  inclined  to  use  stronger 
solutions    1   oz,   of  salt  in  400  of    water, 


but  I  would  first  try  the  proportions 
recommended  by  M.  Neubert.  His  di- 
rections are  probably  founded  on  experi- 
ment. 

While  upon  this  subject  allow  me  to  say 
a  few  words  in  regard  to  the  explanation 
given  above  of  the  action  of  sulphur  upon 
mildew.  Sulphur  when  exposed  to  the  air 
at  ordinary  temperatures  does  not  combine 
with  oxygen  and  form  sulphurous  acid  gas. 
This  is  a  fact  known  to  all  chemists.  Tt  is 
universally  regarded  by  chemists  as  an 
element  and  we  have  no  evidence  that  it 
ever  "  decomposes."  But  it  volatilizes  slow- 
ly at  ordinary  temperatures  and  the  higher 
the  temperature  the  faster  does  it  sublime. 
It  is  also  soluble  to  some  extent  in  oils  and 
wax,  and  may  possibly  form  a  combination 
with  some  portions  of  the  leaf.  It  probably 
acts  as  a  specific  poison  to  the  fungus,  and 
its  properties,  as  noted  above,  lead  us  to 
appreciate  the  directions — apply  it  only  on 
dry  HOT  days. 


EARLY  FALL  TRANSPLANTING. 


It  has  long  been  a  commonly  received 
opinion  that  all  deciduous  trees  should  have 
one  good  hard  frost  exposure,  before  being 
dug  and  transplanted  in  the  fall.  That  such 
frost  assists  in  hastening  maturity  of  the 
tree,  wc  acknowledge;  but  that  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  await  frost  and  the  falling  of  the 
foliage  therefrom,  before  transplanting,  we 
do  not  believe.  The  leaves  have  their  part 
to  perform,  grow  their  growth,  perform 
their  appointed  duty,  and  gradually  fall  to 
the  ground.  This  falling  of  the  leaves 
takes  place  much  earlier  in  the  season  with 
some  varieties  of  trees  than  with  others. 
The  cultivated  sweet  cherry  commonciug 
to  drop  more  or  less  of  its  leaves  in  July, 
and  mature  nearly  all  of  them  early  in 
September,  while  the  Mahaleb  does  not 
mature  much  of  its  foliage  until  in  August, 
and  rarely  drops  any  of  it  until  the  middle 


of  September.  The  gooseberry  and  currant 
drop  nearly  all  the  foliage  on  old  wood  in 
August,  and  much  of  that  on  new  wood 
early  in  September.  The  pear  and  apple 
rarely  make  any  additional  extent  of 
growth  after  the  middle  of  August,  and 
most  of  their  foliage  is  mature  and  ready 
to  drop  by  the  twentieth  of  September. 
The  ash,  birch,  and  many  other  forest  trees 
have  their  main  leaves  all  mature  by  the 
above  time. 

Looking  at  this  we  some  fifteen  years 
ago  commenced  planting  out  one  or  more 
of  a  sort  of  tree  and  plant  early  in  the 
season,  and  continued  our  experiments  un- 
til within  the  past  two  years,  we  have 
planted  our  cherries,  pears  and  apples,  as 
early  as  the  10th  of  September,  and  our 
currants  and  gooseberries  the  first  week  of 
that  month,  and  have  rarely  lost  a  tree  or 


272 


The  Horticulturist. 


plant.  We  dig  and  plant  in  the  usual 
manner,  with  or  without  water,  as  may  be, 
but  we  make  our  shortening  in  pruning, 
either  before  the  plant  is  dug,  or  as  soon  as  it 
is  oilt  of  the  ground.  The  pruning,  of  course, 
takes  off  all  the  young  and  immature  wood, 
and  the  ground  being  warm,  the  roots  form 
anew  without  delay.  One  tree  we  exam- 
ined last  fall  had  made  new  roots  over  an 
inch  long  in  two  weeks  from  the  time  of 
planting.  Lindley's  Theory  of  Horticulture, 
together  with  general  practice,  make  it  much 


safest  to  transplant  after  the  leaves  have 
fallen  in  the  ordinary  maturity  and  extent 
of  season,  and  undoubtedly  such  is  the  cor- 
rect theory  and  practice,  when  trees  have 
to  be  taken  from  a  nursery,  packed  and 
shipped  a  distance ;  but  where  they  can  be 
removed  from  a  part  of  one's  own  grounds 
or  obtained  from  a  nursery  within  a  few 
miles,  we  believe  the  early  transplanting 
to  give  the  most  vigorous  growth  the  fol- 
lowing year. 


NOTES  ON  RASPBERRIES  AND  CURRANTS. 


BY   CHAS.    DOWNING,  NEWBURGH. 


Messrs.  Editors  : — In  the  June  number 
of  the  Horticulturist,  you  requested 
notes  on  raspberries,  &c.  On  examining 
my  collection  numbering  over  forty  varie- 
ties, I  find  among  the  new  ones  that 
Clarke,  Hornet,  Philadelphia,  Northum- 
berland, Fillbasket  and  Belle  de  Palluau 
are  good  and  promising  sorts,  and  the 
latter,  I  think,  will  prove  a  good  market 
variety,  the  fruit  being  large,  firm  and  of 
excellent  flavor,  and  the  plant  vigorous  and 
productive.  The  Clarke  is  a  juicy,  sweet 
berry ;  plant  vigorous,  very  productive  and 
one  of  the  best  for  family  use,  but,  I  fear, 
too  soft  for  market  purposes.  The  Phila- 
delphia is  an  American  variety  originated 
near  that  city,  and  celebrated  in  that  lo- 
cality for  its  hardiness  and  productiveness, 
and  seems  to  be  well  suited  to  the  light 
soils  of  New  Jersey,  where  the  finer  Euro- 
pean kinds  generally  fail — on  Wm.  Parry's 
grounds  at  CiRnaminson,  and  Edmund 
Morris'  at  Burlington,  which  I  visited  in 
picking  season;  it  proved  all  that  had  been 
claimed  for  it  as  a  profitable  market  sort. 
The  berry  is  not  as  large  nor  as  high-fla- 
vored as  the  European  varieties.  How  it 
will  succeed  in  other  localities  has  yet  to 
be  tested.  Among  the  best  for  family  use 
are  Brinckle's  ^Orange,  Franconia,  Clarke, 


Belle  de  Palluau,  Vice-President  French 
and  Hudson  River  Antwerp.  For  market 
purposes  in  this  locality  and  some  miles 
north  and  south  of  here  the  Hudson  River 
Antwerp  is  the  favorite  sort,  although  I 
think  Franconia,  and  perhaps  Belle  de 
Palluau,  will  prove  on  further  trial  equally 
as  good. 

There  have  been  several  new  ones  intro- 
duced of  the  Black  Cap  family,  but  they 
are  so  similar  to  the  common  and  Doo- 
little,  as  not  to  be  worth  a  separate  notice. 
There  is  one  received  from  Samuel  Miller, 
of  Avon,  Pa.,  which  he  calls  Surprise,  which 
is  a  little  larger,  more  juicy,  more  conic  in 
form,  and  has  more  bloom  on  it.  This, 
however,  is  from  one  year's  experience, 
and  may  not  be  correct.  There  is  also  a 
new  variety  received  fi'om  Joseph  Sinton, 
of  Angola,  Erie  county,  New  York,  which 
is  like  the  others  in  many  respects  except 
that  it  is  entirely  thornless.  This  promises 
to  be  an  acquisition.  It  is  claimed  to  be 
earlier  and  more  productive;  but  having 
only  fruited  it  the  present  season  and  from 
a  plant  received  the  past  spring,  I  am  not 
able  to  decide  correctly.  Of  the  Everbear- 
ing varieties,  the  Ohio  Everbearing  and 
Belle  de  Fontenay  have  proved  the  best 
with  me. 


Notes  on  the  July  Number. 


273 


CURRANTS. 

I  find  this  class  of  fruits  in  miicli  con- 
fusion and  incorrect.  For  several  years  I 
liave  obtained  from  Europe  and  this  coun- 
try and  from  various  persons  all  the  good 
kinds  of  any  reputation  ;  have  made  a 
pretty  thorough  examination  of  them  the 
two  past  seasons,  and  find  but  few  distinct 
enough  to  retain  as  really  good. 

Among  the  white  ones,  White  Dutch  and 
WhiteGrape  are  the  best.  Transparent  white 
is  said  to  be  a  seedling,  and  no  doubt  is, 
but  is  so  similar  to  White  Grape  in  growth, 
quality  and  productiveness,  that  it  is  not 
worth  while  to   make  a  new  sort  of  it. 

White  Provence  is  distinct,  many  of  the 
leaves  being  edged  with  white,  it  is  the 
most  vigorous  of  the  white  sorts.  Fruit 
large,  but  not  as  productive  as  the  two 
above-named  ones.  Attractoi'  is  distinct  in 
foliage,  being  deeply  cut  or  toothed,  but 
the  fruit  is  not  equal  in  quality  to  White 
Grape.  White  Clinton  is  White  Dutch. 
Imperial  Yellow  and  Imperial  White  are 
White  Grape. 

Red  Grape  and  Wilmot's  Red  Grape,  if 
distinct  from  May's  Victoria,  I  am  not  able 
to  distinguish  them.  Fertile  d' Anger's, 
Macrocarpa  and  Imperial  Red  are  the  same 
as  Versaillaise  or  Cherry,  and  these  two 
last  are  so  much  alike  that  it  is  often  diffi- 
cult  to   distinguish   one   from   the   other. 


The  Versaillaise  is  said  to  be  a  seedling  of 
the  Cherry,  and  often  has  longer  bunches, 
sometimes  not.  We  sometimes  think  it 
less  acid,  but  the  difference  is  slight.  Both 
are  large  and  attractive  kinds,  and  com- 
mand double  the  price  in  market  of  other 
sorts ;  but  are  more  acid  and  watery,  and 
not  near  as  rich  as  Red  Dutch  and  many 
other  red  varieties.  Red  Provence  and 
Gondoin  Red,  as  I  received  them,  are  alike. 
They  are  the  most  vigorous  of  all  the  cur- 
rants, with  pale,  reddish  young  branches. 
The  fruit  is  small,  acid,  and  worthless. 

Red  Dutch,  May's  Victoria,  La  Hative, 
Knights  Large  Red  and  Versaillaise  are 
among  the  best  of  the  red  ones.  Knights 
Early  Red,  Knights  Sweet  Red,  Long- 
Bunched  Red  and  Short- Bunched  Red, 
are  of  the  Red  Dutch  family,  but  no  better. 
La  Fertile  is  a  vigorous  grower,  productive, 
large  size,  but  not  equal  to  some  others  in 
flavor. 

Of  the  black  varieties,  Black  English  and 
Black  Naples  are  the  best. 

In  making  the  above  statements,  1  wish 
to  say  that  I  have  no  private  interests  to 
serve,  and  have  no  plants  for  sale,  but  give 
it  as  my  experience  of  the  kinds  as  received 
from  various  sources  and  at  several  different 
times  from  the  same  persons ;  and  if  in- 
correct, I  hope  others  of  more  extended  ex- 
perience will  correct  me. 


NOTES  ON  THE  JULY  NUMBER. 


Tr<:jes  in  Assemblages. — An  admirably 
conceived  and  well  written  article.  The 
writer,  however,  has  overlooked  one  or  two 
items.  First:  he  says,  "  Columbus,  when 
he  landed,  found  no  lawns  or  parks."  True, 
he  did  not ;  and  yet,  at  that  time,  in  our 
western  territories,  now  Wisconsin,  &c., 
were,  and  yet  are,  hundreds  of  native 
lawns,  dotted  with  their  island  groves  of 
trees ;  and  again,  extensive  parks,  with 
here  and  there  grand  old  oaks,  amid  which 
the  timid  deer  is  occasionally  to  be  seen. — 
Again,  it  is  not  alvvaj's  grouping  of  trees 
September,  1866. 


that  bring  out  the  best  results.  Nature 
does  her  work  most  admirably,  it  is  ac- 
knowledged, but  she  also  does  it  with  her 
tree  planting  according  to  the  surrounding  of 
her  earth  formations.  Thus,  her  masses  of 
scrawny,  yet  bold  and  picturesque  trees,  on 
her  hill  sides  and  rocky  dells,  are  not  found 
on  her  level,  sandy,  or  prairie  plains  ;  and 
he  who  studies  Nature  to  copy  or  improve, 
by  giving  her  a  hint,  has  a  wide  field  for 
learning,  and  may  study  to  good  advantage. 
In  this  improving  on  Nature  by  hints,  few 
are  successful.  The  grouping  of  trees  like 
18 


274 


The  Horticulturist. 


the  Norway  Larch,  Lombardy  Poplar,  &c., 
of  a  pointed  or  spiral  character,  would  not 
be  Nature  on  a  sandy  level,  where  the 
scenery  for  miles  was  one  continuation  of 
the  same  character  j  and  more  and  more 
would  it  be  incongruous  if  the  style  of  the 
buildings  were  of  the  Tuscan  or  Italian  or- 
ders ;  but,  as  I  said,  this  article  is  well 
written,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  the 
writer  in  print  again. 

Designs  in  Rural  Architecture. — I 
like  this  design  for  the  section  of  country 
in  which  it  is  constructed,  but  he  who 
copies  may  doubt  its  adaptation  to  all  sec- 
tions. The  bold  scenery  of  the  Hudson 
suits  well  with  points  and  gables. 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  a  Three-Acre 
Lot. — Decidedly  a  good  plan.  The  walks 
are  gently  curved,  not  crooked  ;  and  the 
whole  plan,  if  cari'ied  out  and  cared  for, 
would  give  satisfaction  to  the  owner. 

Hebe  Pear. — Will  Mr.  Sumner  tell  us 
where  this  pear  originated,  and  what  is  the 
habit  of  the  tree  ? 

The  Canker  Worm. — Colonel  Dewey 
shall  have  a  credit  mark  for  this  expose  of 
our  ignorance  of  the  habits  and  destructive 
agents  of  the  canker  worm.  As  he  says, 
the  worm,  while  in  the  chrysalid  state,  is 
readily  devoured  by  poultry ;  to  which  I 
will  also  add,  poultry  will  destroy  it  when 
in  the  form  of  Fig.  89. 

Years  ago,  I  knew  an  orchard  in  New 
Haven  Countj^  kept  perfectly  clear  of  can- 
ker worm  by  means  of  poultry ;  while,  in 
the  same  season,  the  grand  old  elms  of  New 
Haven  were  almost  leafless  from  its  ravages. 
Hints  on  Transplanting  Evergreens. 
— "  Never  let  the  roots  see  the  sun  or  feel 
the  wind  "  is  truly  the  maxim  of  govern- 
ment to  the  planter  of  evergreens.  I  can 
not,  however,  after  nearly  thirty  years  of 
practice,  and  with  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  plants,  concede  the  recommendation  to 
"  plant  from  May  to  August."  My  expe- 
rience is,  that,  with  cdl  evergreens,  the  very 
best  time  is  just  as  they  are  pushing  their 
buds  in  Spring.  With  Norway,  Scotch, 
and  Austrian  Pines,  September  is  better 


than  July  or  August.  In  other  words,  if 
they  have  well  ripened  the  season's  growth 
they  may  be  safely  removed  American 
Arbor  Vitse  and  Red  Cedar  do  not  do  well, 
removed  at  any  other  season  than  Spring. 

E.  W.  Bull  on  Grape-Culture. — Well, 
I  am  disposed  to  swallow  almost  anything 
ill  the  way  of  a  large  story  about  the  pro- 
fits of  grapes,  but  I  must  confess  I  give  in- 
terested parties  a  little  latitude  when  they 
talk  of  their  own  originating  or  procedure. 
This  producing  seven  tons  of  grapes  to  the 
acre  should  first  be  shown  by  the  acre,  not 
by  computing  the  product  of  one  vine  in  a 
garden,  and  calculating  the  number  to  the 
acre.  The  experience  of  the  last  winter  on 
the  vineyards  in  Northern  Ohio,  I  think,  is 
a  hint  to  growers  that  Nature  must  not  be 
overtasked,  many  of  the  vineyards  there, 
that  last  year  produced  very  heavy  crops, 
being  this  year  almost  dead,  many  vines 
entirely  killed  ;  while,  as  a  rule,  the  vines 
that  last  year  bore  no  fruit  are  this  year 
growing  a  good  crop.  Is  not  Mr.  Merrick 
too  fast  when  he  says  the  lona  "  needs  the 
highest  possible  cultivation  ?"  Mr.  Bull's 
item  of  compost  is  not  regarded  as  a  useful 
item  at  the  West ;  or,  if  used,  it  would  be 
considered  as  a  "  potting  process,"  not  in  the 
line  of  "  grape-growing  made  easy."  With- 
out desiring  to  detract  from  the  vigor,  &c., 
of  the  Concord,  too  well  known  to  doubt, 
I  only  say  that  I  have  seen  the  lona  plant  ■ 
ed  this  year  in  strong,  stilt' clay,  and  at  this 
time  (July)  show  a  growth  fully  equal  to 
the  Concord  in  similar  positions.  Do  not 
understand  by  this  that  I  claim  the  lona 
as  vigorous  as  Concord,  but  that  I  speak  of 
it  to  show  Mr.  Merrick  that  I  think  him 
too  fast  in  placing  it  as  a  variety  needing  to 
be  petted.  Mr.  Bull's  method  of  planting 
is  too  expensive  for  the  western  vineyardist, 
however  well  it  may  answer  for  New  Eng- 
land ;  and  his  advice  to  save  all  the  roots, 
and  not  to  shorten  them  in,  does  not  cor- 
respond with  success  in  physiological  prac- 
tice. 

The    Original    Red    Beech    Tree. — 
Thanks,  thanks,  Horticola,  for  this  account. 


My  Experience  ivith  Gooseherries. 


275 


From  the  history  of  its  seed  producing  red 
beeches  when  taken  from  inside  branches, 
and  green  beeches  when  gathered  from  the 
outside,  may  not  our  seedling  fruit-tree 
growers  learn  a  lesson,  and  where  it  is  de- 
sirable to  perpetuate  the  leading  characters 
of  a  kind,  select  their  fruits  accordingly. 

Sir  Thomas  Browne's  Garden  of  Cy- 
rus.—  Occasionally,  I  like  to  read  Sir 
Thomas,  but,  as  a  rule,  two  or  three  pages 
suffice.  Perhaps,  few  authors  have  written 
better;  but,  then,  we  more  require  when 
reading  the  want  of  that  "  light  that  makes 
some  things  seen." 

The  Campanula. — Who  does  not  know 
the  Campanula,  or,  as  the  writer  says,  the 
Canterbury  Bell  ?  It  is  found  in  every 
flower-garden  from  Maine  to  California. — 
But  the  beautj^  of  the  Campanulas,  to  my 


mind,  is  in  the  perennials.  I  well  remem- 
ber a  plant  of  Campanula  Pyraviidalis, 
some  years  since,  at  a  State  exhibition.  It 
was  about  five  feet  high,  in  full  bloom,  and 
constantly  attracted  a  crowd  of  wondrous 
gazers,  whose  knowledge  of  the  Campanula 
had,  up  to  that  time,  been  merged  in  the 
old  single  blue  biennial. 

Inside  Grape  Borders. — If  inside  bor- 
ders will  not  answer  on  a  concrete  bottom, 
why  use  the  concrete  ?  Take  the  soil,  good 
of  course  ;  give  drainage  as  for  out  of  doors, 
and  see  the  result. 

Materials  for  Green-Houses. — This 
author  is  right  in  advocating  wood. 

Forcing  Strawberries. — A  practical 
detail,  to  be  read  by  all  gardeners. 

Reuben. 


-<.♦».>- 


MY  EXPERIENCE  WITH  GOOSEBERRIES. 


I  have  been  paying  some  little  atten- 
tion to  the  cultivation  of  the  gooseberry, 
and  from  the  results^  I  am  a  little  surprised 
that  their  cultivation,  as  a  market  crop,  is 
not  more  extensive. 

The  English  or  imported  varieties,  we 
know,  do  not  succeed  well,  on  account  of 
liability  to  mildew ;  but  our  American 
sorts,  such  as  Houghton,  Cluster,  &c.,  I 
have  found  to  grow  and  bear  most  satisfac- 
torily. 

My  soil  is  a  poor  clay,  some  of  it  quite 
on  the  brick-bat  order,  and  unavailable  for 
growing  corn  or  potatoes ;  and  yet  the 
gooseberry  grows  vigorously  on  it,  and  per- 
fects crops  of  good-sized  berries. 

A  friend  of  mine  has  tried  growing  them 
on  a  good  sandy  loam,  but  quite  unsuccess- 
fully ;  and  yet  I  find  single  bushes  in  al- 
most every  garden,  evidencing  their  almost 
universal  adaptability  to  all  soils. 

I  plant  my  bushes  early  in  the  fall,  hav- 
ing first  plowed  my  ground  as  deep  as  pos- 
sible with  a  heavy  team  and  plow.     I  open 


out  furrows  four  feet  apart,  and  cross  fur- 
rows at  same  distance  ;  then  plant,,  so  that 
my  bushes  are  four  by  four  feet  each  way  ; 
leave  the  ground  level  until  near  the  close 
of  the  season,  or  just  before  freezing  up  of 
winter,  when  I  turn  a  furrow  up  toward 
each  side  of  the  plants,  leaving  them  well 
protected  from  heaving  of  frost,  and  pro- 
viding for  whatever  surface-water  there 
may  be  at  a  distance  from  the  plant. 

I  have  gathered  this  year  four  quarts 
from  a  bush,  and  have  sold  at  four  and  five 
dollars  a  bushel. 

The  varieties  I  am  mostly  growing  are 
Houghton's  Seedling,  Cluster,  Mountain 
Seedling,  and  Downing,  and  I  appreciate 
their  value  in  the  order  in  which  I  have 
named  them,  and  for  the  following  reasons, 
which  I  make  part  of  text  descriptive : 

Houghton's  Seedling. — Bush  grows 
vigorously,  a  little  too  slender  to  be  just 
right,  because  when  loaded  with  fruit  it  lies 
partly  on  the  ground  until  the  bushes  get 
age.     Sets  its  fruit  profusely,  and  holds  it 


276 


Tlie  Ho7^ticulturist. 


all  until  ripe.  The  fruit  is  oval;  rather 
small ;  smooth  skin,  of  pale,  dull  reddish 
brown,  with  faint  green  lines ;  tender  and 
juicy,  but  not  very  high  flavored  ;  shows  not 
a  sign  of  mildew  either  when  grown  in  the 
shade,  in  the  sun,  in  wet  or  dry  ground. 

Cluster. — This  is  a  little  larger  than 
Houghton,  but  does  not  set  quite  as  abun- 
dantly. The  bush  is  of  a  rather  more 
stocky  habit  in  growth,  and  more  upright ; 
a  little  richer  and  better  flavored  fruit,  and 
may  yet  prove  with  me  more  desirable  than 
Houghton. 

Mountain  Seedling.— The  plant  is  a  very 
strong  grower,  rather  straggling  and  slender 
in  its  wood  ;  too  much  so,  for  as  yet  it  has 
had  to  have  support  to  keep  the  fruit  off 
the  ground.  The  fruit  is  nearly  one-half, 
say  fully  one-third,  larger  than  Houghton  ; 
long  oval ;  dark  brownish  red,  with  long 
peduncle,  attaching  the  fruit  to  the  wood 
at  such  distance  as  to  make  picking  an  easy 


matter ;  skin  smooth ;  flesh  much  richer 
than  either  the  above-named.  My  bushes 
of  this  sort  are  yet  young.  Should  they 
grow  strong  enough  to  head  back  well,  and 
set  their  fruit  abundantly,  it  will  prove  a 
valuable  sort  because  of  its  size. 

Downing. — The  bush  is  a  more  compact 
and  upright  stiff"  grower  than  either  of  the 
others.  The  fruit  sets  pretty  well ;  is  near- 
ly round  ;  pale  whitish  green,  with  the  rib 
veins  distinct.  Skin  smooth,  thick.  Flesh 
juicy ;  better  than  the  first  two ;  not  as 
good  as  the  last ;  and,  unfortunately,  with 
me  it  burns  badly  in  the  sun,  so  that  one- 
half  or  more  of  the  berries  are  valueless. — 
As  a  variety  for  early  gathering  it  may  be 
the  most  valuable,  but  for  late  marketing 
not  as  good  as  the  others. 

At  another  time,  if  you  wish,  I  will  write 
my  experience  with  currants  for  marketing 
purposes. 


STRAWBERRY   AND  RASPBERRY  NOTES. 


BY    ISAAC    HICKS. 


The  crops  of  strawberries  on  Long 
Island,  where  they  were  suitably  protected 
last  winter,  have  been  good.  Mulching, 
we  believe,  pays. 

One  grower,  who  has  three  acres  mostly 
"Wilson,  on  the  southern  slope  of  a  hill,  has 
marketed  over  10,000  quarts.  They  were 
well  tilled,  and  kept  in  hills,  and  mulched, 
rows  about  two  feet  apart.  AnotheT  grower 
had  about  six  acres  in  bearing,  mostly 
Russell's  Prolific,  every  tenth  row  French, 
and  allowed  to  run  together  ;  product  near 
8,000  quarts.  We  think  that  the  French 
is  too  soft  for  market.  The  Garibaldi  is 
larger,  more  productive,  and  carries  better 
— a  very  important  consideration  to  the 
grower.  The  Agriculturist,  so  far  as  we 
have  heard,  have  all  been  allowed  to  in- 
crease as  much  as  possible  to  obtain  plants, 
and  we  think  it  has  not  had  a  fair  trial.  It 
should  be  grown  in  hills,  under  high  culti- 


vation, to  bring  out  its  good  qualities.  We 
find  it  valuable  as  a  late  berry;  keeps  a  long 
time  after  it  is  picked;  of  high  flavor;  and 
in  hills  very  productive. 

Brooklyn  Scarlet  is  beautiful ;  high  fla- 
vor ;  an  excellent  amateur  berry. 

General  Scott  is  very  productive  ;  large  ; 
not  best  flavor ;  too  soft  for  market. 

Russell  is  very  prolific,  and  a  good  profit- 
able berry. 

Cutter  is  very  productive;  too  soft  for 
market,  but  excelleut  for  home  use. 

Lenning's  White,  very  poor  bearer. 

Lady  Finger,  or  Scott's,  good,  but  poor 
bearer. 

Austin,  too  poor  flavor  for  cultivation. 

Wilson,  probably  the  best  yet  for  market. 

Bartlett,  or  Boston  Pine,  fine,  but  poor 
bearer  ;  the  Brooklyn  Scarlet  resembles  it 
in  flavor,  and  is  much  better  in  every  re- 
spect. ^ 


Gleanings. 


277 


Triomphe  de  Gand,  fine  flavor,  but  gene- 
rally few  in  number ;  if  kept  in  Mils,  much 
better. 

Of  raspberries,  we  have  tried  a  dozen  or 
more  kinds,  and  have  abandoned  all  but  the 
Brinckle's  Orange,  Doolittle  Black  Cap, 
and  Philadelphia. 

Brinckle's  Orange,  and  all  others  of  that 
class,  require  too  much  care  in  covering, 
and  are  not  near  as  productive  as  the  other 
two. 

Doolittle  is  early,  large,  and  productive 
but  a  rampant  grower,  and  is  quite  thorny. 


The  Philadelphia  raspberry  has  borne 
twice,  and,  for  our  soil,  it  is  the  best  we 
have  yet  met  with.  It  is  very  productive, 
much  more  so  than  Antwerp,  Orange,  Fran- 
conia,  Fastolf,  &c.,  with  us.  It  resembles 
the  Purple  Cane  in  its  taste,  and  is  double 
the  size,  just  as  hard}?-,  and  throws  up  suck- 
ers from  its  roots  like  the  Antwerps. 

We  have  been  in  search  of  a  good,  hardy, 
productive  raspberry,  suitable  for  our  light 
soil,  and  we  have  found  it  in  the  Phila- 
delphia. 

North  Hempstead^  L.  I. 


GLEANINGS.— Cojii-irawed 


VI. 

It  is  a  strange  thing  how  little,  in  gen- 
eral, people  know  about  the  sky.  It  is  the 
part  of  the  creation  for  which  nature  has 
done  more  for  the  sake  of  pleasing  man, 
more  for  the  sole  and  evident  purpose  of 
talking  to  him  and  teaching  him,  than  in 
any  other  of  her  works,  and  it  is  just  the 
part  in  which  we  least  attend  to  her.  There 
are  not  many  of  her  dim  works  in  which 
some  more  material  or  essential  purpose 
than  the  mere  pleasing  of  man  is  not  an- 
swered by  every  part  of  their  organization ; 
instead  of  this,  there  is  not  a  moment  of 
any  day  of  our  lives  when  Nature  is  not 
producing  scene  after  scene,  picture  after 
picture,  glory  after  glory ;  and  working  still 
upon  such  exquisite  and  constant  princi- 
ples of  the  most  perfect  beauty,  that  it  is 
quite  certain  it  is  all  done  for  us,  and  in- 
tended for  our  profit,  not  pleasure.  And 
every  man,  wherever  placed,  however  far 
from  other  sources  of  ioterest  or  beauty, 
ha^  this  doing  for  him  constantly.  The 
noblest  scenes  of  the  earth  can  be  seen  and 
known  but  by  few ;  it  is  not  intended  that 
man  should  live  always  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;  he  injures  them  by  his  presence  ;  he 
ceases  to  feel  them  if  he  be  always  with 
them ;  but  the  sky  is  for  all ;  bright  as  it 
is,  it  is  not 

"  Too  bright  nor  good 

For  human  nature's  daily  food. ' 


It  is  fitted  in  all  its  functions  for  the  per- 
petual comfort  and  exalting  of  the  heart — 
for  soothing  it  and  purifying  it  of  its  dross 
and  dust.  Sometimes  gentle,  sometimes 
capricious,  sometimes  awful,  never  the  same 
for  two  moments  together,  almost  human 
in  its  passions,  almost  spiritual  in  its  ten- 
derness, almost  divine  in  its  affinity;  its 
appeal  to  what  is  immortal  in  us  is  as  dis- 
tinct as  its  ministry  of  chastisement  or  of 
blessing  to  what  is  moral  is  essential.  And 
yet  we  never  attend  to  it,  we  never  make 
it  a  subject  of  thought,  but  as  it  has  to  do 
with  our  animal  sensations ;  we  look  upon 
all  which  bears  witness  to  the  intention  of 
the  Supreme,  that  we  are  to  receive  more 
from  the  covering  vault  than  the  light  and 
the  dew  which  we  share  with  the  weed  and 
the  worm,  only  as  the  succession  of  mean- 
ingless and  motionless  accidents,  too  com- 
mon and  too  vain  to  be  worthy  of  a  moment 
of  watchfulness,  or  a  glance  of  admiration. 
If  in  our  moments  of  utter  idleness  and 
insipidity  we  turn  to  the  sky  as  a  last  re- 
source, which  of  its  phenomena  do  we  speak 
of?  One  says  it  has  been  wet ;  and  another 
it  has  been  windy ;  and  another  it  has  been 
warm.  Who,  among  the  whole  chattering 
crowd,  can  tell  me  of  the  forms  and  the 
precipices  of  the  chain  of  tall  white  moun- 
tains that  girded  the  horizon  at  noon  yes- 
terday? Who  saw  the  narrow  sunbeam 
that  came  out  of  the  south,  and  smote  upon 


278 


The  Horticulturist. 


tlieir  summits  until  they  melted  and  moul- 
dered away  in  a  mist  of  blue  rain  ?  Or 
the  dance  of  the  dead  clouds  when  the  sun- 
light left  them  last  nig-ht,  and  the  west  wind 
blew  them  before  it  like  withered  leaves  ? 
All  has  passed  unregretted,  as  unseen ;  or 
if  the  apathy  be  ever  shaken  off,  even  for 
an  instant,  it  is  only  by  what  is  gross,  or 
what  is  extraordinary ;  and  yet  it  is  not  in 
the  broad  and  fierce  manifestations  of  the 
elemental  energies,  not  in  the  crash  of  the 
^  hail,  nor  the  drift  of  the  whirlwind,  that 
the  highest  characters  of  the  sublime  are 
developed.  God  is  not  in  the  earthquake, 
nor  in  the  fire,  but  in  the  still  small  voice. 
•  They  are  but  the  blunt  and  the  low  facul- 
ties of  his  nature,  which  can  only  be  ad- 
dressed through  lampblack  and  lightning. 
It  is  in  quiet  and  subdued  passages  of  un- 
obtrusive majesty,  the  deep,  and  the  calm, 
and  the  perpetual ;  that  which  must  be 
sought  ere  it  can  be  seen,  and  loved  ere  it 
is  understood ;  things  which  the  angels 
work  out  for  us  daily,  and  yet  vary  eter- 
nally, which  are  never  wanting,  and  never 
repeated ;  which  are  to  be  found  always 
yet  each  found  but  once  ;  it  is  through  these 
that  her  lessons  of  devotion  are  chiefly 
taught,  and  the  blessings  of  beauty  given. 
VII. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  Holland  the  tu- 
lip became,  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  object  of  a  trade  un- 
pai'allelled  in  the  history  of  commercial 
speculation.  From  1634  to  1637,  all  classes 
in  all  the  great  cities  of  Holland,  became 
infected  with  the  tulipomania.  A  single 
root  of  a  particular  species,  called  the  Vice- 
roy, was  exchanged,  in  the  true  Dutch  taste, 
for  the  following  articles : — Two  lasts  of 
wheat,  four  of  rye,  four  fat  oxen,  three  fat 
swine,  twelve  fat  sheep,  two  hogsheads  of 
wine,  four  tuns  of  beer,  two  tuns  of  butter, 
one  thousand  pounds  weight  of  cheese,  a 
complete  bed,  a  suit  of  clothes,  and  a  silver 
beaker,  the  whole  being  worth  2,500  florins. 

These  tulips  were  afterwards  sold  accord- 
ing to  the  weight  of  the  roots.  Four  hun- 
dred perits,  something  less  than  a  grain,  of 


the  bulb  called  Admiral  Leif  ken,  cost  4,400 
florins ;  446  perits  of  Admiral  Vender  Eyk, 
l,r.20  florins;  106  perits  of  Schilder,  1,G15 
florins  ;  ?00  perits  of  Semper  Augustus, 
5,500  florins ;  410  perits  of  the  Viceroy, 
3,000  florins,  &c.  A  bulb  of  the  species 
called  Semper  Augustus,  has  been  often 
sold  for  2,000  florins  ;  and  it  once  happened 
that  there  were  only  two  bulbs  in  exist- 
ence, the  one  at  Amsterdam,  the  other  at 
Haarlem.  One  of  these  sold  for  4,600  flor- 
ins, together  with  a  new  carriage,  two  grey 
horses,  and  complete  harness.  On  another 
occasion,  a  bulb  was  sold  for  twelve  acres 
of  land.  So  great  was  the  rage  for  favorite 
bulbs,  that  they  who  had  not  ready  money 
exchanged  for  them  their  goods — houses  and 
lands,  cattle  and  clothes.  The  trade  was 
followed  not  alone  by  mercantile  people, 
but  also  by  the  first  noblemen,  citizens  of 
every  description,  mechanics,  seamen,  farm- 
ers, turf-diggers,  chimney-sweeps,  footmen 
maid-seivants,  old  clothes  dealers,  &c. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  rage,  every- 
body won,  and  no  one  lost.  Some  of  the 
poorest  people  gained,  in  a  few  months, 
houses,  coaches,  and  horses,  and  figured 
away  like  the  first  characters  in  the  land. 
In  every  town  some  tavern  was  selected 
which  served  as  an  exchange,  where  high 
and  low  traded  in  flowers,  and  confirmed 
their  bargains  with  the  most  sumptuous  en- 
tertainments. They  formed  laws  for  them- 
selves, and  had  their  notaries  and  clerks. 

These  dealers  in  flowers  were  by  no 
means  desirous  to  get  possession  of  them  ; 
no  one  thought  of  sending,  much  less  of  go- 
ing himself,  to  Constantinople,  to  procure 
scarce  roots,  as  many  Europeans  travel  to 
Golconda  and  Visipour  to  obtain  rare  and 
precious  stones.  Tulips  of  all  prices  were 
in  the  market,  and  their  roots  were  divided 
into  small  portions,  known  by  the  name  of 
perits,  in  order  that  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich  might  be  admitted  into  the  specula- 
tion ;  the  tulip  root  itself  was  out  of  the 
question — it  was  a  nonentity,  but  is  fur- 
nished, like  modern  stocks  and  funds,  the 
subject  of  a  bargain  for  a  time. 


Editor's  Table. 


279 


Duringtlie  tulipomania,  a  speculator  often 
oflfered  and  paid  large  sums  for  a  root  which 
he  never  received,  and  never  wished  to  re- 
ceive. Another  sold  roots  which  he  never 
possessed  or  delivered.  Often  did  a  noble- 
man purchase  from  a  chimney-sweep  tulips 
to  the  amount  of  2,000  florins,  and  sell  them 
at  the  same  time  to  a  farmer,  and  neither 
the  nobleman,  chimney-sweep,  nor  farmer 
had  roots  in  their  possession,  or  wished  to 
possess  them.  Before  the  tulip  season  was 
over,  more  roots  were  sold  and  purchased, 
bespoke  and  promised  to  be  delivered,  than, 
in  all  probability,  could  be  found  in  all  the 
gardens  of  Holland  ;  and  when  the  Semper 
Augustus  was  not  to  be  had,  which  happened 
twice,  no  species  was  perhaps  ofteuer  pur- 
chased and  sold.  In  the  space  of  three  years, 
it  is  said,  more  than  ten  millions  were  ex- 
pended in  this  trade  in  one  single  town  of 
Holland. 

The  evil  rose  to  such  a  pitch,  that  the 
States  of  Holland  were  under  the  necessity 
of  interfering ;  the  buyers  took  the  alarm  ; 
the  bubble,  like  the  South  Sea  scheme,  sud- 
denly burst ;  and  as  in  the  outset  all  were 
winners,  in  the  winding-up  very  few  escaped 
without  loss. 

VIII. 
Observers  who,  in  short  periods  of  time, 
have  passed  over  vast  tracts  of  land,  and 
ascended  lofty  mountains,  in  which  climates 
were  ranged,  as  it  were,  in  strata,  one  above 
another,  must  have  been  early  impressed 
by  the  regularity  with  which  vegetable 


forms  are  distributed.  The  results  yielded 
by  their  observations  furnished  the  rough 
materials  for  a  science  to  which  no  name 
has  yet  been  given.  The  same  zones,  or  re- 
gions of  vegetation,  which,  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Cardinal  Bembo,  when  a  youth, 
described  on  the  declivity  of  Etna,  were 
observed  on  Mount  Ararat  by  Tournefort- 
He  ingeniously  compared  the  Alpine  flora 
with  the  flora  of  plains  situated  in  different 
latitudes,  and  was  the  first  to  observe  the 
influence  exercised  in  mountainous  regions, 
on  the  distribution  of  plants,  by  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  ground  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  by  the  distance  from  the  poles  in 
flat  countries.  Menzel,in  an  unedited  work 
on  the  flora  of  Japan,  accidentally  made 
use  of  the  term  "geographj'- of  plants;"  and 
the  same  expression  occurs  in  the  fanciful 
but  graceful  work  of  Bernadin  de  St.  Pierre, 
Studies  of  Nature.  A  scientific  treatment  of 
the  subject  began,  however,  only  when  the 
geography  of  plants  was  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  study  of  the  distribution 
of  heat  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and 
when  the  arrangement  of  vegetable  forms 
in  natural  families  admitted  of  a  numerical 
estimate  being  made  of  the  different  forms 
which  increase  or  decrease  as  we  recede 
from  the  equator  towards  the  poles,  and  of 
the  relations  in  which,  in  different  parts  of 
the  earth,  each  family  stood  with  reference 
to  the  whole  mass  of  phanerogamic  indigen- 
ous plants  of  the  same  region. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Woodward's  Annual  of  Architect- 
ure, Landscape  Gardening,  and  Rural 
Art,  for  1867,  is  now  ready.  120  pages ; 
160  engravings  ;  12mo.  Paper,  75c.  5  cloth, 
^1.     Post  paid  by  mail. 


We  have  just  published  at  this  office  the 
first  annual  number  of  the  above  work.  It 
contains  170  original  and  practical  designs 
for  low-priced  cottages,  barns,  and  the  dif- 
ferent  outbuildings   required    on   country 


280 


TJie  Horticulturist . 


places,  together  with  numerous  plans  for 
laying-out  small  tracts  of  land.  The  de- 
signs and  engravings  have  been  prepared 
expressly  for  the  work,  are  executed  in  the 
best  manner,  and  printed  on  fine  calendered 
paper. 

We  confidently  recommend  this  Annual 
to  all  our  readers,  as  supplying  in  part  the 
great  demand  for  "homes for  the  million;" 
and  the  elegant  manner  in  which  it  hfis 
been  prepared,  together  with  the  low  price 
at  which  it  is  offered,  warrants  us  in  pre- 
dicting for  it  a  very  large  sale.  The  uni- 
versal circulation  of  such  a  work  would  do 
much  to  improve  public  taste.  There  is 
scarcely  a  family  in  the  land  but  are  in  need 
of  the  many  hints  it  contains. 

Raspberry  Notes. — "We  have  noticed  a 
tendency  during  the  past  few  years  to  run 
upon  the  blackberry,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
raspberry,  so  far  as  raising  fruit  for  market 
was  concerned.  The  result  is,  raspberries 
are  yearly  growing  scarcer  and  selling 
higher,  while  "plenty  as  blackberries"  is 
literally  true  with  that  fruit,  and  growers 
complain  of  light  returns  in  money,  not 
berries.  It  is  now  time  to  change  the  cur_ 
rent  and  revive  the  neglected  raspberry. 

For  family  use  BrinkWs  Orange  ranks  No- 
1,  and  when  better  known  will  sell  where  it 
does  not  have  to  be  carried  far.  Flavor  ex- 
cellent, size  large,  abundant  bearer,  and 
ripens  its  fruit  over  a  long  period,  thus 
extending  the  ra-^pberry  season.  It  is  only 
half-hardy,  and  should  be  laid  down  and 
covered  with  earth,  or  otherwise  protected 
during  the  winter.  The  canes  are  strong 
and  branching,  and  have  the  merit  of  not 
suckering  freely. 

Doolittle's  Black  Cap  is  a  valuable  variety, 
to  say  nothing  about  its  improvement  over 
the  ordinary  Black  Cap.  Our  own  opinion 
is  that  high  culture  of  transplanted  Wild 
Black  Caps  would  make  the  "  improved  " 
in  a  very  few  years,  but  as  the  Doolittle  is 
^abundantly  propagated  by  nurserymen — it 
can  be  increased  very  rapidly  with  no  skill 
on  the  part  of  the  grower — and  is  now  sold 


at  a  reasonable  price,  it  is  better  to  buy 
enough  to  start  with,  which  need  not  be 
over  two  dozen  for  a  large  family.  When 
well  established,  each  root  or  stool  should 
yield  four  to  six  quarts  of  fruit  in  a  season, 
so  prolific  are  they.  They  are  perfectly 
hardy,  even  as  far  north  as  Maine.  The 
objection  raised  against  them  are,  color, 
ripening  nearlj'-  together,  and  thorny  canes. 
By  training  upon  a  high  trellis,  keeping 
sheared  or  tied  in,  they  can  be  conveniently 
managed.  They  incline  to  a  lengthy  growth, 
and  after  reaching  the  top  of  a  six-foot  trel- 
lis, may  be  allowed  to  bend  over  and  return 
to  the  ground,  affording  a  bearing  cane  both 
up  and  down.  Even  with  this  length,  on 
rich  soil,  the  extremity  will  often  reach  the 
soil  and  take  root,  thus  furnishing  a  new 
plant,  this  being  the  way  it  propagates  itself- 
The  old  root  will  live  many  years  and  throw 
up  new  shoots  close  to  the  bearing  canes. 
They  may  be  trained  upon  buildings  or 
high  fences.  Growing  in  clusters,  the  berries 
can  be  picked  rapidly,  and,  to  our  taste,  are 
not  bad  either  in  pies,  puddings,  dumplings, 
as  a  sauce,  or  served  up  raw  with  sugar.  It 
bears  carriage  to  market  well,  and  is  growing 
in  favor  both  with  dealers  and  consumers. 

Franconia.  Fastolf,  and  Hudson  River  Ant- 
werp, are  all  good,  and  each  has  its  favorite 
among  growers.  The  latter,  being  firmer, 
is  the  great  market  berry,  but  for  family 
use  we  prefer  either  of  the  other  two  in 
point  of  flavor.  They  are  all  good  bearers, 
of  large  size,  and  each  should  be  protected 
during  winter.  This  protection  is  a  bug- 
bear to  some ;  but  take  them  after  a  rain, 
when  the  canes  are  soft,  and  they  may  be 
bent  down  along  the  line  of  the  row,  begin- 
ning at  one  end  and  bending  each  cane  to- 
ward the  other  end,  securing  it  with  a  little 
earth,  until  all  are  down,  then  go  along  each 
side  and  bank  up  over  them  just  enough  to 
keep  them  covered  during  the  washings  of 
winter.  To  afford  room  for  this,  the  rows 
should  be  four  feet  apart.  A  person  will 
soon  learn  to  cover  them  rapidly.  In  field 
culture  a  horse  and  plough  will  do  most  of 
the  labor. 


Editor's  Table. 


281 


Lindlejfs  Fasfolfh  reputed  to  be  a  seed- 
ling of  the  Fastolff,  but  carries  more  of  the 
appearance  of  having  sprung  from  a  wildling. 
It  is  sufficiently  hardy,  as  claimed,  but  with 
us  does  not  yield  fruit  in  quantity,  size  and 
quality  to  suit.  We  prefer  the  labor  of 
covering  a  more  prolific,  larger  and  better 
sort.  There  are  other  varieties  of  merit, 
but  the  above  are  sufficient  for  all  practical 
purposes. — New  York  Tribune, 


Temperature  of  Plant  and  Fp.uit 
Houses. — One  of  the  greatest  errors  com- 
mitted by  inexperienced  gardeners,  and 
those  in  charge  of  small  plant  or  fruit 
houses,  is  in  the  keeping  of  a  relative  tem- 
perature day  and  night.  As  a  rule,  the 
temperature  at  night  is  always  too  high. 
Plants  require  rest  at  night,  and  can  only 
have  it  by  a  reduced  course  of  vital  excite- 
ment. The  heat  at  night  should  alwaj^s  be 
below  the  minimum  of  that  during  the  day, 
and  again,  the  heat  during  a  cloudy  day 
should  not  be  brought  up  to  the  maximum 
of  that  on  a  a  clear,  bright,  sunny  day. 

Hedge  Plant — For  a  compact  and 
beautiful  hedge-plant,  there*  is  none  that 
has  stood  the  test  of  all  positions  so  well 
as  the  Buckthorn  (RJiamnus  Catharticus). 
It  does  not  sucker ;  it  bears  the  shears  per- 
fectly ;  it  vegetates  early  in  the  spring,  and 
holds  its  leaves  late  in  fall,  and,  when  well 
formed,  and  four  to  five  feet  high,  not  a 
thing  can  pass  through  it.  The  seed  should 
be  gathered  and  sown  in  the  fall,  in  light 
mellow  land.  The  following  spring  it  will 
nearly  all  vegetate,  and  form  plants  of  suffi- 
cient size  for  transplanting  to  the  hedge- 
row the  succeeding  year. 


The  Hybridization  of  ferns  has  long 
been  a  disputed  problem.  But  it  is  now 
claimed  that  it  has  been  accomplished.  The 
conditions,  however,  under  which  the  result 
can  be  attained,  are  so  difficult  and  delicate, 
that  hybrids  of  ferns  must  be  exceedingly 
rare,  if  ever  found  at  all. 


Woodward's  Country  Homes. — Eighth 
edition  ;  eighth  thousand  ;  revised  and  en- 
larged; 12mo. ;  192  pages  ;  150  designs  and 
plans  for  country  houses  and  outbuildings 
of  moderate  cost,  with  illustrated  descrip- 
tion of  balloon  frame.  Extra  binding, 
cloth,  $1.50,  post  paid. 


There  is  a  singular  want  of  appreciation 
for  our  own  horticultural  products  among 
our  leading  cultivators.  An  imported  flower 
or  fruit  stands  a  better  chance  of  becoming 
popular,  and  being  sought  after  by  a  multi- 
tude of  people,  than  our  home  productions, 
even  though  they  may  be  superior  in  every 
way.  We  do  not  mean,  of  course,  to  dis- 
courage the  importation  of  new  varieties. 
On  the  contrary,  we  would  have  our  horti- 
culturists avail  themselves  of  every  favora- 
ble opportunity  to  introduce  superior,  well- 
established,  and  new  varieties  of  foreign 
productions.  But  at  the  same  time,  en- 
couragement should  be  liberally  given  to 
our  own  cultivators  who  are  laboring  to  im- 
prove our  native  fruits  and  flowers.  We 
have  capabilities  of  soil  and  climate,  and 
patient  culture  to  secure  varieties  superior 
to  anything  that  can  come  from  abroad. 


Weeping  Larch. — This  most  graceful  as 
well  as  curious  of  weeping  deciduous  trees, 
originated  by  chance  in  a  seed  bed  grown 
by  W.  Godsall,  Hereford  Nursery,  England, 
about  1834. 


Grape  Yield. — In  1837,  the  Cincinnati 
Gazette  recorded  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  gallons  of  pure  wine  as  the  product  of 
eighteen  thousand  square  feet,  less  than 
half  an  acre  of  ground.  The  grower  was 
Jacob  Kesor,  and  the  varieties  Catawba  and 
Cape. 

In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Herbemont,  of 
Columbia,  S.  C,  reported  five  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  gallons  from  one-sixth  of  an 
acre.  These  records  we  give  to  show  some 
of  our  new  beginners,  who  are  at  times  a 
little  disposed  to  boast,  that  large  yields 
have  been  before  their  time. 


282 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


Grapes  and  Wine. — Every  man  who 
lias  a  grapevine  should  get  a  copy  of  Hus- 
mann's  new  work  on  the  cultivation  of  the 
native  grape,  and  manufacture  of  American 
wines.  A  practical  book,  by  a  practical 
and  enthusiastic  writer  full  of  his  subject, 
and  able  to  impart  sound  and  thorough  in- 
struction. Fully  illustrated;  i2mo.;  192 
pages.  Cloth,  extra,  $1.50,  post  paid.— 
Published  at  this  oflSce. 


Bee  Defender. — Charlatan  bee  men  oc- 
casionally astonish  the  wondering  multi- 
tude by  forming  the  bees  in  a  swarm  all 
over  their  heads,  &c.,  and  again  removing 
them  to  the  hive,  without  any  injury  from 
their  stings. 

It  is  related  in  Addisoii's  Indian  Reminis- 
cences, an  English  work,  tha'  the  use  of 
ocgonim  (sweet  basil),  bruised  and  rubbed 
over  the  person,  prevents  the  bees  stinging, 
and  renders  their  being  handled  in  any  way 
without  injury. 


Western  Timber  Lands. — ''A  long  and 
exhaustive  report  upon  the  timber  question 
of  the  West  was  on  the  2d  transmitted  to 
the  House  Committee  on  Public  Lands  by 
Judge  Edmonds,  Commissioner  of  the  Gen- 
eral Land  OfBce,  in  reply  to  a  call  for  infor- 
mation, under  the  resolution  of  Represent- 
ative Donnelly,  as  to  the  expediency  of  aid- 
ing experiments  in  promoting  the  growth 
of  forests  on  the  Western  Plains.  Judge 
Edmonds  states  that  the  vast  Western 
Plains  and  plateau  can  only  be  rendered 
habitable  by  planting  forests,  which  will 
fertilize  and  moisten  the  soil,  soften  and 
modify  the  climate,  and  protect  men,  ani- 
mals, and  crops,  from  the  desolating  winds 
of  those  regions.  The  supply  of  timber  in 
the  Western  two-thirds  of  the  Union  is 
shown  to  be  very  meager,  while  the  prairie 
region  is  vast  in  extent,  until  our  people 
have  risen  from  3,000,000  to  33,000.000.  We 
have  gone  through  and  surrounded  the  pri- 
meval forests,  and  now  enter  upon  the  mar- 
gin of  the  great  treeless  waste  with  our 
original  store  three-fourths  consumed,  the 


demand  accelerated,  and  the  consumers  to 
increase  from  33,000,000  to  50,000,000  dur- 
ing this  century.  Extend  the  time  fifty 
j^ears  into  the  next  century,  and  unless  we 
commence  to  grow  forests,  we  may  be  driv- 
en to  the  use  of  boards  three  inches  wide, 
as  in  China  at  the  present  time.  Ts  it  not 
apparent  that  we  should  at  once  cease  to 
needlessly  destroy,  and  commence  to  pro- 
duce timber.  The  Commissioner  thinks 
the  object  cannot  be  accomplished  by  grant- 
ing alternate  sections  of  land,  as  the  Home- 
stead Act  already  gives  land  upon  the  con- 
dition of  settlement.  For  the  cost  of  plant- 
ing and  caring  for  infant  forests,  alternate 
sections  of  grants  would  be  an  inadequate 
consideration.  He  is  not  prepared  to  re- 
commend any  general  system  to  encourage 
the  growth  of  forests,  but  thinks  one  may 
be  matured  after  free  discussion,  and  when 
information  is  compiled  as  to  the  extent  of 
natural  forests,  &c.,  which  is  now  being  pre- 
pared by  the  agents  of  this  office.  He  closes 
with  three  suggestions :  1st.  That  the 
Homestead  Act  may  be  so  amended  as  to 
oblige  the  planting  of  trees  by  the  settlers. 
2d.  That  Government  surveyors  be  required 
to  plant  the  seeds  of  trees  adapted  to  the 
climate  around  each  established  corner. — 
3d.  That  grants  may  with  propriety  be  made 
for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  the  pos- 
sibility and  feasibility  of  growing  forests 
upon  the  great  Western  plains.  Such  an 
experiment  would  stimulate  individual  en- 
terprize  in  that  direction,  which,  after  all, 
is  the  only  trustworthy  and  eflBcient  power 
for  so  great  a  work,  and  it  would  furnish 
facts  which  might  aid  in  the  development 
of  some  general  system." 


Budded  Roses  should  be  carefully  exam- 
ined, and  where  any  appearance  of  swelling, 
the  ties  should  be  loosened.  Do  not  free 
the  tie  entirely,  because,  if  so  done,  often 
the  bud  will  break  loose.  Loosen  the  tie 
and  tie  again.  In  strong  growing  stocks  or 
shoots  it  is  not  yet  too  late  to  bud,  but  the 
ties  of  the  late  buds  will  generally  prove 
best  to  be  left  on  until  spring. 


Editor's  Table. 


283 


Get  all  our  New  Books. — "We  have 
published  at  this  office  a  series  of  nine 
books,  on  architecture,  agriculture,  horti- 
culture, &c. ;  just  what  everyone  should 
have  in  their  library  ;  all  handsomely  illus- 
trated, printed  on  fine  paper,  and  bound  in 
uniform  extra  bindings.  In  addition,  we 
furnish  from  this  office  all  other  publica- 
tions on  the  same  subjects,  and  execute  or- 
ders for  purchasing  and  forwarding  all  mis- 
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We  send  books  by  mail,  post  paid,  care- 
fully packed ;  and  the  distant  buyer  can 
thus  be  supplied  as  low  and  receive  his  books 
in  as  good  order,  as  by  a  personal  applica- 
tion. Look  over  our  priced  Catalogue,  send 
us  your  order,  and  it  will  be  promptly  ex- 
ecuted. 


A  scattering  of  coarse  straw  manure,  not 
rotten,  over  the  whole,  will  serve  to  pro- 
tect from  change  of  temperature  in  winter, 
but  it  must  be  raked  oflf  carefully  early  in 
April  next. 


New  Lawns The  month  of  September 

is  again  the  time  for  forming  lawns.  We 
have  prepared  the  ground,  and  seeded  it 
in  September,  and  obtained  a  good  coat  of 
grass  strong  and  vigorous  before  the  frosts 
of  winter  sat  in.  The  ground  should  be 
thoroughly  trenched  two  spades  deep,  for 
without  depth  of  soil  the  roots  of  the 
grass  die  out  under  the  burning  heat  of  our 
summer  suns.  Make  the  soil  at  time  of 
trenching  rich  by  working  in  it  liberal 
quantities  of  old  well  rotted  manure,  or  if 
the  ground  is  sandy  draw  upon  it  freely 
of  clay  loam,  rake  down  as  fast  as  you  dig, 
burying  all  lumps  that  do  not  easily  break, 
leaving  the  top  perfectly  fine,  light  and 
smooth  to  receive  the  seed. 

Obtain  at  the  rate  of  four  bushels  of 
lawn  grass  seed  to  the  acre — select  a  per- 
fectly still  time  for  sowing,  and  then  scat- 
ter one-half  your  seed,  rake  this  in  finely 
and  yet  lightly — go  over  again  cross  ways 
and  sow  the  balance  of  the  seed,  then  roll 
all  down.,  by  passing  the  roller  both  ways 
over  the  piece. 

If  the  weather  should  prove  dry,  directly 
after  seeding  it  will  not  matter,  the  fall 
rains  as  a  general  result  will  in  all  seasons 
bring  up  the  seed,  and  cause  it  to  make  roots 
capable  of  enduring  the  changes  of  winter. 


The  Peach  Worm. — Should  be  destroyed 
this  (September,)  month.  Dig  away  the 
earth  from  around  the  crown  of  the  tree, 
laying  bare  the  stem  two  or  three  inches 
above  and  below,  observe  if  any  gum  oozes 
from  any  point,  if  so,  scratch  away  with  a 
sharp  knife  cutting  all  dead  bark  that  ma)^ 
be  around  and  under  the  gum  following  the 
dead  line  until  y6u  meet  "  the  enemy  "  in 
form  of  a  little  white  grub  one  quarter  to 
three  quarters  of  an  inch  long  as  he  may  be 
old  or  young,  kill  without  fear  of  future 
trial  by  civil  or  military  Courts,  wash  the 
wound  with  a  plaster  of  common  soft  soap, 
replace  the  earth  raising  a  little  mound 
around  the  tree  of  a  foot  or  so  high.  Trees 
carefully  cleaned  at  this  time  will  be  found 
free  from  grub  in  April  next  when  they 
should  again  be  examined.  If  the  trees 
are  now  neglected  many  of  them  will  be 
past  saving  in  the  spring  as  the  grub  will 
be  found  to  have  girdled  more  or  less  of 
the  trunk. 


Grape- Vines  in  the  house  will  now  be 
ripening  wood,  and  care  should  be  taken  to 
give  freely  of  air.  Prune  away  all  i;seless 
wood,  that  is  small  and  lateral  shoots. 

Vines  in  the  open  ground  now  require 
only  to  have  some  of  the  laterals  stopped  ; 
but  do  not  prune  back  severely,  under  the 
impression  that  sunlight  is  wanted  to  ripen 
the  fruit.  It  is  the  foliage  that  makes  per- 
fect fruit ;  and  if  severely  pruned  away  at 
this  time,  a  check  is  given  to  the  vine,  often 
resulting  in  unripe  fruit  and  a  weakness  of 
the  vine  for  another  year. 


Pears  should  be  gathered  as  soon  as  the 
stem  will  separate  freely  from  the  tree  by 
gently  raising  the  fruit.  Nearly  all  pears 
are  better  for  being  ripened  in  the  house. 


284 


The   Horticulturist. 


Native  Wines. — Soma  weeks  since,  we 
received,  from  George  Husmann,  Esq.,  of 
Hermann,  Missouri,  a  box  of  samples  of 
wines  of  his  manufucture.  We  had  con- 
cluded, after  testing  samples  of  American 
wines  that  have  been  sent  us  for  several 
years  past,  from  different  sources,  that  good 
wine  would  not  be  made  in  our  country.^ — 
The  climate,  the  particular  grape,  or  the 
requisite  skill  in  the  manufacture  seemed 
wanting  to  produce  a  palatable  article  ;  but 
we  are  happily  disappointed  in  the  product 
of  Mr.  Husmann's  vineyards,  some  of  which 
will  bear  most  favorable  comparison  with 
the  best  wines  of  the  Rhine,  and  must  meet 
with  favor  among  those  who  are  good  judges 
of  the  article. 

Among  the  kinds  particularly  worthy  of 
notice,  are  Norton's  Virginia,  Herbemont, 
Delaware  and  Catawba. 


sion  of  members  of  the  Bar  at  the  West. — 
Let  us,  too,  pray  you  have  no  more  second- 
rate  productions,  or  untried  fruits,  offered 
or  sale  &S,  first  premium  to  gull  the  public. 


Do  NOT  permit  any  fruit  to  go  to  waste. 
Imperfect,  wormy  apples  or  pears,  if  not  in 
quantity  for  cider,  may  be  mashed  in  a  tub, 
the  juice  pressed,  and  added  to  the  vinegar 
barrel. 


Horticultural  Exhibitions. — The  sea- 
son for  holding  exhibitions,  of  fruits,  flow- 
ers, &c.,  is  now  again  with  us,  and  of  course 
new  varieties  of  fruits,  &c.,  will  come  for- 
ward for  premiums.  We  beg  respectfully 
to  call  the  attention  of  committees  and  offl- 
cer.i  of  societies  to  the  fact,  that  most  of 
our  societies,  devoted  to  the  agricultural 
and  horticultural  interests,  have  adopted 
pomological  rules  respecting  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  fruits  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  public,  and  at  the  same  time  to  remind 
them  that,  in  some  strange  unaccountable 
manner,  we  have  almost  yearly  a  list  of  new 
first  premm7n  sorts  issued,  and  never  after- 
ward heard  of.  This  season,  we  hope  no 
new  fruit  or  flower  will  receive  special  favor 
unless  it  fully  meets  all  the  requirements 
of  pomological  rules.  Our  lists  are  already 
overburdened,  and  any  new  candidate  to 
public  favor  should  have  a  more  thorough 
examination  even  than  is  given  to  admis- 


The  Science  of  Government  in  con- 
nection with  Government  Institutions. 
—By  Joseph  Alden,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.,  late 
President  of  Jefferson  College,  Author  of 
Elements  of  Intellectual  Philosophy,  &c. 
New  York,  Sheldon  &  Co.,  pp.  250,  12mo. 

The  author  says  the  object  of  his  "book 
is  to  aid  the  young  in  acquiring  the  knowl- 
edge necessary  for  the  discharge  of  their 
duties  as  citizens  of  the  United  States." 
It  contains  knowledge  which  ought  to  be 
possessed  by  every  citizen,  and  it  is  so 
clearly  expressed  as  to  be  perfectly  intelli- 
gible even  to  those  who  have  not  read  on 
the  subjects  of  which  it  treats.  It  gives 
first  the  general  principles  of  government, 
then  an  account  of  the  origin,  formation 
and  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
Next  comes  the  Constitution  itself,  by  sec- 
tions, each  accompanied  by  brief,  clear,  and 
satisfactory  comments  ;  next  the  relation 
of  the  State  Government  to  the  National 
Government  and  the  general  provision  of 
the  State  Constitutions  ;  then  the  relation 
of  city  and  corporate  governments  to  the 
State  Government ;  and  lastly,  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  nations,  or  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  International  Law. 

It  is  rare  that  we  find  so  much  know- 
ledge condensed  within  so  small  a  space, 
without  obscurity  or  dullness.  The  book 
is  designed  primarially  as  a  text  book,  but 
will  be  found  interesting  and  profitable  to 
every  citizen.  Its  wide  introduction  as  a 
text  book  in  our  academies  and  schools 
would  do  much  to  prepare  the  rising  gene- 
ration to  manage  successfully  our  political 
institutions.  If  there  is  any  that  our 
youth  should  study,  it  is  the  nature  of  the 
government  and  its  institutions  whose  con- 
trol will  soon  pass  into  their  hands.  It 
would  seem  follr  to  study  the  institutions 
of  Greece  and  Rome  to  the  neglect  of  those 
of  the  United  States. 


Editor's  Table. 


285 


We  have  now  ready,  a  practical  work  on 
the  propagation,  cultivation,  and  manage- 
ment of  forest  trees,  by  Andrew  S.  Fuller, 
the  popular  author  of  the  "Grape  Culturist" 
and  the  "Strawberry  Culturist."  This  work 
is  handsomely  illustrated,  and  conveys 
just  the  information  desired  by  practical 
men  who  propose  to  plant  for  timber  and 
fuel. 

The  book  contains  about  200  pages,  in 
extra  cloth  binding,  and  miiform  with  the 
books  already  published  by  us,  and  sent 
free  by  mail  to  any  address,  on  receipt  of 
^1.50.  We  predict  for  it  the  same  wide 
circulation,  and  extraordinary  success,  that 
has  attended  the  publication  of  "  Wood- 
WARii's  Country  Homes,"  the  8th  edition 
of  which,  revised  and  enlarged,  is  now 
ready. 


■  Transplanting  I^vergreens. — We  have 
found  the  middle  to  last  of  this  month, 
September,  a  good  time  to  remove  ever- 
greens. They  have  now  completed  their 
growth ;  the  wood  is  fii-m,  and  if  removed 
with  care  and  the  roots  kept  from  getting 
dry,  the  warmth  of  the  soil  at  this  season 
causes  them  at  once  to  form  new  rootlets 
and  prepare  for  winter. 

Unless  our  trees  are  small  and  removed 
with  balls,  we  practice  heading  back  of  all 
the  limbs  and  even  the  leader  fully  one- 
half  to  two-thirds  of  the  growth.  It  mat- 
ters not  what  the  variety,  all  the  evergreen 
family  appear  to  bear  this  heading  back 
without  injury.  In  fact,  in  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  the  following  year's  growth  more 
than  compensates.  It  also  helps  to  thicken 
up  the  tree. 


Rose  Cuttings  made  this  month  and 
planted  in  a  cold  frame  will  form  roots  and 
come  out  fine  plants  next  spring.  The  bed 
should  have  gt)od,  fine,  rich  soil  at  the  bot- 
tom with  fine,  clean  sand  at  top,  then  the 
buds  of  the  cutting  will  not  rot,  and  the 
roots  as  soon  as  formed,  will  have  food  in 
the  good  soil. 


Clean  the  Ground. — All  the  grass  or 
weeds  around  the  trees  in  young  orchards 
should  be  carefully  cleaned  away  in  the  fall 
but  avoid  digging  or  plowing  deep  around 
them  at  this  time.  Stir  and  loosen  the 
ground  two  inches  deep,  then  cover  four 
inches  deep  with  some  material  for  a  mulch 
but  at  no  time  permitting  the  mulch  nearer 
than  four  inches  of  the  body,  or  the  mice 
may  chance  to  girdle  the  trees  before  spring. 

Mulching  Strawberry  Beds.  —  In 
mulching  strawberry  beds  do  not  go  on 
the  principle  that  if  a  little  is  good,  more 
would  be  better,  for  it  is  not  so  with  prac- 
tice in  this  particular.  The  mulch  should 
be  only,  say  one  and  half  or  two  inches 
thick,  simply  to  prevent  the  roots  being 
injured  by  frosts  during  winter.  A  too 
deep  mulch,  say  of  six  or  more  inches,  we 
have  kiiown  to  entirely  destroy  the  vines. 


Selection  or  Shrubs One  of  our  lady 

subscribers  asks  for  a  list  of  some  of  the 
best  hardy  flowering  shrubs  for  a  small 
garden.  In  selecting  shrubs  for  small 
grounds,  the  beauty  of  the  blossom  should 
not  alone  be  sought,  but  good  foliage  and 
fine  habit  of  growth  are  desiable  in  con- 
tinuing the  beauty  and  show  of  the  grounds 
during  the  whole  season. 

Of  the  many  sorts  now  grown  best  desir- 
able to  have,  we  name :  Spirea  hUlardii  and 
prunifoUa  flore  jihno ;  Deutzia  gracilis; 
Weigela  alha  and  groonewegii ;  Ribes  gor- 
doniana;  Clethea  paniculata;  Magnolia  pur- 
purea ;  Td^xt&Ti&n  bush  Honeysuckle;  Vene- 
tian sumac  or  fringe  tree ;  Spirea  tomentosa 
and  Reevesii  Jlore  pleuo  ;  French  red  and 
white  lilacs,  and  the  white  and  scarlet 
Japan  quince. 


Cuttings  of  the  gooseberry,  currant,  and 
nearly,  if  not  quite  all  the  flowering  shrubs 
made  and  planted  out  this  month  in  lio-ht 
deep,  well  drained  soil,  will  callus  and 
often  make  considerable  root  and  grow 
vigorously  next  spring. 

Propagate  Pansies. 


286 


The  Horticulturist. 


Planting  Bulbs. — In  our  practice  with 
bulbs  of  all  sorts,  we  have  found  the  follow- 
ing to  give  us  the  best  satisfaction.  First? 
make  our  ground  rich  with  well  rotted 
manure,  dig  it  two  spades  deep,  take  off 
the  surface  to  the  level  of  planting  our 
bulb,  place  on  the  bed  one  inch  of  clean 
sand,  in  that  place  our  bulbs  covering  them 
entirely  with  the  sand  ;  then  add  our  rich 
soil  to  the  requisite  depth  of  three  inches, 
and  then  spread  over  the  whole  bed  some 
refuse  mulch,  such  as  pea  or  bean,  haulm, 
etc.,  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four  inches. 
Bulbs  should  be  planted  at  various  times, 
as  those  planted  early  in  October  will  bloom 
much  earlier  next  spring  than  those  plant, 
ed  in  November.  We  generally  make  three 
plantings,  one  early  in  October,  one  in  the 
middle  of  the  month,  and  a  last  early  in 
Noveihber. 


The  practice  of  placing  Crocus,  Narcissus, 
etc.,  around  and  beneath  the  shade  of  large 
evergreens,  or  on  the  border  of  a  shrub- 
bery, etc.,  is  very  effective,  provided  the 
lawn  is  kept  closely  shaven  and  all  the 
ground  in  fine  order;  but  for  small  grounds, 
pattern  beds,  cut  out  of  the  turf,  filled 
with  the  bulbs  and  afterwards  with  summer 
flowering  plants,  give  to  our  eye  the  best 
effects  and  are  the  least  trouble  and  ex- 
pense. 


Do  not  be  in  too  great  haste  to  gather 
grapes;  remember  that  they  are  not  ripe 
as  soon  as  colored,  and  that  the  longer  the 
fruit  hangs  upon  the  vine  the  richer  and 
sweeter  it  becomes.  Grapes,  unlike  most 
other  fruits,  do  not  ripen  any  after  being 
gathered. 


Young  plants  of  verbenas  should  now 
be  taken  up,  potted  and  placed  for  a  few 
days  in  the  shade  to  get  established.  Lay- 
ers for  winter  plants,  made  directly  into 
the  pot  by  sinking  the  latter  in  the  ground 
alongside  of  the  main  plant,  and  afterwards 
separated,  are  by  many  regarded  the  best. 


Planters  of  trees  in  the  medium  South- 
ern States  will  do  well  to  remember  the 
English  walnut.  These  perfectly  hardy 
and  well-grown  trees  have  been  known  to 
produce  twenty  or  more  bushels,  making  it 
a  profitable  fruit  to  grow. 


Tie  up  and  prune  Dahlias  that  have  grown 
too  straggling,  the  last  of  this  and  first  of 
next  month  will  give  the  best  bloom. 

Chrysanthemums,  if  not  in  pots,  may 
yet  be  potted  and  trained  for  early  winter 
bloom  in  the  family  room. 

Those  already  in  pots  may  require  shift- 
ing into  larger  size  pots.  They  should  be 
well  watered,  and  occasionally  with  manure 
water. 


Camellias  should  be  carefully  washed, 
top  dressed  and  got  in  condition  for  ready 
removal  to  the  house  as  soon  as  the  nights 
become  frosty. 


Green  House  Plants  of  all  sorts  should 
early  this  month  be  got  ready  for  removal 
to  the  house. 


Heartt's  Pippin. — In  the  August  num- 
ber of  the  Horticulturist,  Keuben  in- 
quires if  I  can  give  some  account  of  Heartt's 
Pippin.  Many  years  since,  I  saw  a  line 
large  apple  in  Mr.  Heartt's  (I  have  forgot- 
ten his  christian  name)  orchard  at  Troy 
N.  Y.,  which  he  did  not  at  the  time  know 
the  name  of,  but  was  called  by  the  neigh- 
bors Heartt's  Pippin.  I  took  buds  for 
trial,  which  failed  to  grow,  and  sent  for 
grafts  the  following  spring,  which,  by  some 
mistake,  proved  to  be  the  apple  described 
by  F.  R.  Elliott  in  the  June  number  of  the 
Horticulturist,  which  was  not  correct, 
and  only  a  small  fruity  of  second-rate  qual- 
ty  ;  while  the  apple  seen  at  Mr.  Heartt's, 
was  large,  ripening  in  September,  and  which 
afterward  proved  to  be  the  old  English 
Codlin,  so  that  there  is  really  no  distinct 
Heartt's  Pippin. 

Charles  Downing. 


Editor's  Tahle. 


287 


Circular  of  the  American  Pomolo- 
GiCAL  Society. —  Whereas,  the  American 
Pomological  Society  was  ordered  to  be  con- 
vened at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  on  the  fourth  day 
of  September  nest,  for  the  purpose  of  hold- 
ing its  eleventh  session ;  and  whereas,  the 
existence  of  cholera  in  several  of  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  has  become  manifest, 
thereby  creating  more  than  usual  precau- 
tion in  regard  to  visiting  places  distant  from 
hjme;  therefore,  in  consideration  of  this 
fact,  and  also  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
small  crop  of  fruit  in  many  parts  of  our 
country,  the  undersigned,  by  and  with  the 
advice  of  the  Executive  Committee  and 
other  leading  pomologists,  does  hereby 
postpone  and  defer  the  meeting  of  said  So- 
ciety to  the  year  A.  D.  1867,  when  due  no- 
tice will  be  given  of  its  assembling  in  the 
aforesaid  city  of  St.  Louis. 

Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Pres. 
James  Vice,  Sec. 


Messrs.  Editors  : 

I  promised  to  give  the  Horticulturist 
my  method  of  planting,  in  the  open  ground, 
vines  started  from  single  or  double  eyes,  in 
hot-bed  or  propagating-house,  as  soon  as  I 
could  be  certain,  from  another  year's  expe- 
rience, that  in  any  weather — hot  or  cold, 
wet  or  dry — there  will  be  no  chance  of  fail- 
ure. Last  year,  I  transplanted  between 
two  and  three  thousand  Delaware  and  lona 
vines  from  a  hot-bed  to  the  open  ground? 
and  did  not  lose  one  per  cent.  By  Fall, 
they  all  made  large  fine  vines,  and  were? 
this  spring,  again  planted  in  the  nursery  (I 
plant  in  my  vineyard,  and  offer  for  sale, 
only  two-year-old  vines),  and  at  this  age, 
they  are  nearly  all  of  them  three  feet 
high. 

For  two  months  past,  I  have  been  trans- 
planting from  my  hot-beds  plants  of  the 
Delaware,  lona,  Diana,  and  Concord — sev- 
eral thousand  of  each.  They  have  been 
planted  in  all  sorts  of  weather.  Three 
weeks  ago,  [  planted  two  thousand  Dela- 
ware and  two  hundred  lona.  The  ground 
was  very  dry  at  the  time,  and  for  ten  days 


not  a  drop  of  rain  fell,  and  there  was  no 
dew  at  night ;  everything  in  the  fields  was 
parched,  burning  up  from  want  of  rain,  yet 
with  the  exception  of  three  small  plants, 
that  I  did  not  expect  to  live  when  I  plant- 
ed them,  the  vines  are  to-day  all  growing 
finely. 

Yesterday  morning,  I  transplanted  four 
hundred  Delaware  that  had  been  left  too 
long  in  the  bed,  many  of  them  one  foot 
high.  The  thermometer  showed  intense 
heat,  98°  in  the  shade  ;  the  plants  drooped 
a  little,  but  to-day  look  as  fresh  as  ever, 
though  the  heat  is  the  same  as  yesterday's, 
and  the  sun  shines  equally  as  bright.  None 
of  these  plants  have  been  shaded  or  pro- 
tected in  any  manner. 

My  method  of  planting  or  transplanting 
is  this  : 

1st.  I  throw  up  the  ground  into  beds 
four  feet  wide,  pulverizing  the  soil  thor- 
oughly. I  plant  three  rows  in  a  bed,  one 
foot  apart  in  the  row.  The  plants  taken 
from  the  sand  of  the  propagating-bed  are 
carried  in  anything  that  will  hold  water 
enough  to  cover  the  roots.  The  planter, 
taking  a  plant  in  one  hand,  with  the  other 
makes  a  hole  in  the  bed  deep  enough  to 
take  in  all  of  the  old  wood,  and  large  enough 

so  that  the  roots  will  not  want  for  room 

Then,  setting  the  plant  in  place,  a  boy  pours 
in  water,  filling  the  hole  nearly  full.  The 
planter,  holding  the  vine  in  place  with  one 
hand,  draws  the  fine  soil  quickly  around  it 
with  the  other.  The  water,  when  first 
turned  in,  floats  all  the  little  roots  out  to 
their  full  length ;  then  taking  up  the  fine 
soil,  deposits  it  around  them  in  the  most 
perfect  manner,  and  the  vine  is  planted. — 
Care  must  be  taken  not  to  press  down  the 
earth  around  the  plant,  and  also  that  not  a 
drop  of  water  comes  to  the  surface,  either 
of  which  will  cause  the  soil  around  the 
plant  to  become  hard,  and  the  vine  will  die 
of  course. 

Vines  planted  in  this  manner  need  no 
protection,  except  from  high  winds ;  and,  if 
the  work  is  carefully  done,  and  the  plants 
not  too  large,  the}"- will  not  even  stop  grow- 


288 


The  Horticulturist. 


ing.  They  should  be  carefully  tied  to 
stakes.  I  have,  as  I  said  before,  planted 
several  thousand  within  the  last  two 
months ;  none  have  been  shaded  or  protect- 
ed, and  I  have  not  lost  a  single  vine  that 
had  foir  roots  when  taken  from  the  hot- 
bed. 

I  not  only  plant  vines  in  this  way,  but 
everything,  from  cabbage  and  tomato 
plants  up  to  evergreens  six  feet  high.  I 
don't  wait  for  wet  weather,  or  for  evening, 
to  set  out  tomato,  cabbage,  or  the  most 
delicate  flowering  plants.  I  set  them  at 
mid-day,  and  in  the  dryest  hot  weather.  I 
do  not  shade  or  protect  in  any  way,  and  yet 
they  never  fail  to  grow. 

I  ordered  from  Rochester  this  spring 
about  thirty  large  evergreens,  together  with 
a  lot  of  fruit  trees.  They  were  over  two 
weeks  on  the  way,  and  on  opening  the 
boxes,  I  thought  they  were  past  saving. — 
They  were  all  splendid  trees,  the  evergreens 
being  four  and  five  feet  high,  but  the  roots 
of  all  seemed  to  be  perfectly  dry.  I  plant- 
ed them  all  in  this  way,  using  a  bucket  of 
water  to  each  tree,  and  to-day  every  one  of 
them  are  growing  finely. 

I  think  this  is  the  only  way  of  thorough- 
ly planting  evergreens  grown  in  nursery ; 
in  no  other  way  can  the  soil  be  settled 
around  each  little  fibre  of  the  fibrous  mass. 

If  the  ladies  will  try  this  way  of  trans- 
planting their  flowering  plants,  they  will 
never  fail  in  making  them  live,  and  it  is 
much  the  easiest  way  of  planting.  Always 
graduate  the  quantity  of  water  by  the  size 
of  the  plaut.  Take  care  t£iat  the  surface 
around  the  plant  is  covered  with  fine  dry 
soil,  and  never  press  the  soil  down.  Let 
the  water  settle  it,  and  it  will  be  right- — 
Never  water  after  jAanting  ;  at  least,  not  un- 
til the  plant  is  thoroughly  established. 

This  is  the  way,  and  the  only  safe  way, 
of  setting  sweet  potatoes.  Never  at  plant- 
ing omit  water,  in  hot  or  dry  weather. 

Any  of  the  readers  of  the  Horticultur- 


ist who  may  try  this  method  of  transplant- 
ing or  planting,  will  oblige  me  by  letting 
me  know  of  their  success  or  failure. 

Charles  J.  May. 

Herhemont  Vineyard^  Warsaio,  Illinois. 

July  10,  1866. 


A  New  Agricultural  Theory. — The 
Texas  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  writing  from  Castorville,  tells 
the  following  singular  story  about  plant- 
ing watermelons  :  "  When  we  had  stopped 
to  feed  ourselves  and  water  our  horses, 
about  noon  on  the  first,  and  about  five 
miles  from  Austin,  a  superanuated  negro 
man  old  enough  to  be  mossy,  came  down 
to  the  fence,  and  after  regarding  us  over 
the  top  rail  for  a  minute,  inquired  if  we 
would  buy  some  millions  (watermelons). 
Several  of  us  went  with  him  to  his  '  patch,' 
which  was  about  half  an  acre  in  extent. 
His  melons  were  the  largest  T  had  ever 
seen,  but  there  was  one  monster  that 
loomed  up  above  its  fellows  like  an  ele- 
phant among  oxen.  Some  one  asked  him 
the  price  of  it.  '  All  I  want  is  the  price 
of  the  chicken,  sah  1 "  Seeing  no  chickins 
about,  an  explanation  was  asked.  '  Why, 
you  see,  sah,  early  in  de  spring,  before 
plantin'  time  comes  I  takes  a  young  chicken, 
as  soon  as  his  throat  gets  big  enough,  and 
feeds  that  chicken  with  seven  dry  water- 
melon seeds — ^just  seven — and  just  as  soon 
as  he  got  dem  seven  seeds  down  his  throat 
I  kills  him,  and  sah,  I  plants  dat  dar 
chicken  in  de  middle  ob  de  patch.' 
'What,'  asked  one  of  the  party,  'do  you 
mean  to  say  that  this  is  the  way  you  raise 
melons  7 '  '  Dat  is  de  way  I  raised  dat  one, 
sah,'  replied  the  old  man,  'and  Fse  done 
dat  same  thing  dis  forty  year,  and  long 
afore  I  was  into  Texas."  We  satisfied 
ourselves  with  some  twenty  smaller  ones, 
whose  parent  vines  had  originated  in  a  less 
objectionable  place."  Who  says  negroes 
have  no  ideas  of  their  own  ? 


THE 


HORTICULTURIST 


VOL.  XXI. 


.OCTOBER,    1866 NO.  CCXLIV. 


LAWS  OF  ASSOCIATION  IN  ORNAMENTAL  GARDENING.— Conclubed. 


BY    A.    V.    G. 


The  reference  made  in  a  former  article  to 
some  of  tlie  associations  of  trees  and  flow- 
ers, will  sufiice  to  show  that  the  work  of 
planting  and  training  them  may  be  made 
an  interesting  and  elevated  employment. 
Some  persons  have  no  love  for  gar- 
dens. A  splendid  equipage,  costly  furni- 
tm^e,  sumptuous  entertainments,  and  a  sur- 
plus at  the  bank,  are  with  them  the  chief 
good.  With  others,  gardens  are  places  of 
mere  amusement  or  sensuous  gratification. 
What  more  comfortable  than  to  lie  out- 
stretched upon  a  velvet  lawn,  beneath  a 
spreading  shade-tree,  regaled  with  the 
sight  of  brilliant  flowers,  and  half  intoxi- 
cated with  their  perfume  ?  And  then,  gar- 
dens are  fashionable ;  no  gentleman's  place 
is  complete  without  one.  Others  have  no 
higher  conception  of  gardening  than  as  the 
mere  mechanical  operation  of  laying-out 
surfaces  in  artistic  shapes,  planting  them  by 
rule  in  some  conventional  method,  and  em- 
bellishing the  whole  with  works  of  art. — 
But,  rightly  viewed,  it  is  something  more 
than  this.     It  is  dealing  with  associations 


at  once  sublime,  tender,  and  beautiful.  It 
surrounds  us  with  the  past  as  with  a  con- 
tinual presence.  The  great  and  good  of 
every  clime  and  age  are  here  again,  and  re- 
peat before  us  the  words  and  actions  of 
their  daily  lives.  A  thousand  fancies  flut- 
ter amid  the  branches  over  our  heads,  and 
nestle  in  the  flower-cups  at  our  feet.  We 
hear  "  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking 
in  the  garden,"  reminding  us  of  his  con- 
tinual presence  and  fatherly  care.  We  find 
a  new  charm  added  to  domestic  life,  which 
grows  stronger  with  every  passing  year, 
and  makes  home  the  full  realization  of  its 
sacred  name. 

The  necessary  inference  from  what  we 
have  said  is,  that  the  principal  of  associa- 
tion should  be  regarded  in  all  attempts  at 
ornamental  gardening.  It  is  not  enough 
for  us  to  set  out  a  few  of  the  most  com- 
mon trees  and  plants  which  are  of  rapid 
growth  and  easy  culture.  The  ailanthus, 
maple,  horse  chestnut,  and  silver  abele  are 
excellent  trees  ;  the  cabbage  rose,  lilac,  and 
syringa  are  pleasing  shrubs,  and  should  be 


Entered  according  to  /Vet  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


290 


The  HorticuUurist. 


universally  planted  ;  but  these  alone  will 
not  constitute  grounds  well  furnished. — 
Something  more  is  wanted  than  trees 
enough  to  occupy  a  given  space,  and  aflFord 
a  given  amount  of  shade.  We  want  those 
which  are  truly  fit  and  beautiful,  and  those 
likewise  which  are  interesting  from  their 
suggestiveness.  The  balsam  fir,  for  exam- 
ple, is  a  good  and  serviceable  tree ;  but, 
where  the  climate  will  permit  its  culture, 
we  should  prize  the  Lebanon  cedar  more 
highly.  For  the  same  reason,  we  would 
plant  the  oak  in  preference  to  the  button- 
ball  or  bass-wood.  The  syringa  and  lilac 
are  handsome,  but  we  would  not  fail  of  the 
hawthorn,  the  holly,  and  the  yew.  The 
verbena  and  petunia  are  gay  and  desirable 
flowers,  but  we  would  not  neglect  the 
violet,  the  myrtle,  and  the  bee-haunted 
thyme. 

Why  should  not  one's  grounds  contain 
as  great  a  variety  of  trees  and  plants  from 
different  countries  and  different  climates  as 
the  space  will  permit — at  least  so  far  as 
this  can  be  done  without  sacrifice  of  essen- 
tial fitness  and  propriety  ?  A  daily  walk 
in  such  grounds  would  be  a  daily  delight. 
It  would  bring  before  us  many  of  the  rare 
and  beautiful  products  of  other  lands,  with- 
out the  exposure  of  fatigue  and  travel.  It 
would  give  us  some  little  idea  of  the  richness 
and  variety  of  the  productions  of  the  vegeta- 
ble world ;  and  it  would  furnish  a  pleasing 
study  to  note  well  their  peculiarities  of 
form,  structure,  and  growth,  as  compared 
with  those  of  our  own  neighborhood. — 
That  some  of  these  trees  and  plants  would 
require  more  pains  to  cultivate  them  than 
the  common  growths  of  the  wayside,  would 
be  no  objection.  This  very  care  would  at- 
tach us  to  them  by  an  additional  tie.  Nor 
would  we  object  to  this  mode  of  planting 
grounds  because  it  requires  more  studj^  and 
reflection ;  for  here  the  pursuit  of  informa- 
tion would  bring  its  own  reward.  A  gar- 
den scene  so  constructed  would  be  some- 
thing above  the  tangled  mass  of  a  wild 
forest;  something  better  than  the  formal 
and  monotonous  rows  of  trees  and  bushes 


so  common  in  our  door-yards  ;  it  would  be 
a  scene  in  which  the  scholar,  the  poet,  the 
man  of  sensibility,  the  christian,  would 
each  find  something  to  quicken  his 
thoughts,  and  yield  him  a  perpetual  de- 
light. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  thoughts,  we 
will  venture  a  criticism  upon  a  certain  canon 
of  writers  on  landscape  gardening.  It  is 
commonly  recommended  that,  in  choosing 
a  site  for  a  country  residence,  one  should 
be  selected,  if  possible,  that  is  already  cov- 
ered with  native  trees.  This  would  an- 
swer very  well  if  trees  were  wanted  only 
to  furnish  an  abundance  of  shade ;  but  this 
is  a  small  part  of  their  use.  They  are 
wanted  for  their  individual  as  well  as  com- 
bined beauty ;  for  their  fitness,  and  for  the 
associations  connected  with  them. 

When  forest  trees  have  grown  in  open 
situations,  detached  from  one  another,  they 
are  sometimes  all  that  can  be  desired  on 
the  score  of  beauty  ;  but  when  such  cannot 
be  found,  it  is  much  better  to  choose  a 
naked  site,  cultivate  the  soil  thoroughly, 
draw  up  a  well-considered  plan  according 
to  which  the  grounds  shall  be  planted,  se- 
lect trees  and  shrubs  suited  to  the  place 
they  are  to  occupy,  and  then  rear  them 
with  all  possible  care.  In  a  few  years  they 
will  present  to  the  discriminating  eje  a 
finer  scene  than  could  be  produced  by  any 
number  of  tall,  naked  denizens  of  the 
woods. 

But,  however  this  may  be  on  the  score 
of  simple  beauty  and  fitness,  we  maintain 
that  the  aboriginal  growth  of  the  soil  till 
now  uncultivated  is  deficient  in  one  impor- 
tant respect — the  charm  of  association. — 
The  wild  forest  trees  of  Massachusetts  have 
not  the  interest  which  attaches  to  the  an- 
cient trees  of  Cambridge  and  the  Boston 
Common.  The  venerable  elms  overshadow- 
ing the  New  Haven  Green  are  more  vener- 
able than  elms  of  the  same  size  and  age  in 
the  woods  of  Connecticut.  The  trees 
around  our  oldest  family  mansions  derive 
their  chief  interest  from  the  domestic  his- 
tory which  has  transpired  beneath  them. — 


Laws  of  Association  in  Ornamental  Gardening. 


291 


"We  maintain,  accordingly,  that,  in  cboosing 
a  site  for  a  countr}^  dwelling,  it  is  not  im- 
portant to  select  one  already  covered  with 
forest  trees.  Such  trees  have  no  history. 
Their  associations,  so  far  as  they  have  aoy, 
are  those  of  savage  life,  or  of  a  wild,  un- 
peopled solitude ;  and,  were  a  new  homo 
established  among  them,  there  would 
be  no  proper  connection  between  them 
and  the  life  experience  of  that  home. — 
Pleasant,  indeed,  it  certainly  would  be, 
on  many  accounts,  to  have  trees  already 
grown  about  one's  doorway — it  would  save 
a  vast  deal  of  tmie,  and  labor,  and  care ; 
but  a  thoughtful  man  would  always  feel 
that  there  was  something  out  of  keeping 
between  the  new  home  and  the  old  trees ; 
that  it  would  take  many  years  to  civilize 
them  ;  and  that  at  best  their  early  history 
would  be  barren,  utterljr  void  of  any  hu- 
man interest.  lie  would  rather  plant  Jiis 
trees  when  he  plants  his  house,  and  let 
both  grow  together,  and  have  a  common 
history. 

And  here  follows  another  criticism.  It  is 
deemed  important  by  manj^,  in  preparing 
yiew  grounds,  to  remove  into  them  veiy 
large  trees,  for  the  sake  of  producing  an 
immediate  effect ;  or,  in  other  words,  of 
p;iving  to  a  new  estate,  the  appearance  of 
an  older  one.  This  work  is  often  accom- 
plished by  taking  up  the  trees  in  winter 
with  huge  balls  of  frozen  earth  attached  to 
the  roots,  raising  them  by  means  of  ma- 
chines constructed  for  the  purpose,  and 
hauling  them  to  the  desired  place  by  pow- 
erful teams  of  horses  or  oxen.  Operations 
of  this  kind  have  been  performed  in  Eng- 
land and  in  this  country  with  a  good  de- 
gree of  success.  Undoubtedly,  there  are 
some  advantages  in  this  plan,  yet  it  is  open 
to  objections.  To  say  nothing  of  the  mu- 
tilation of  trees  thus  removed,  from  which 
they  seldom  fully  recover,  trees  thus  plant- 
ed lack  the  associations  which  should  be- 
long to  them  ;  nay,  they  acquire  some  un- 
pleasant associations.  There  is  a  species  of 
felt  deception  about  groves  thus  made  to 
order  by  machinery.     They  do  not  belong 


there  ;  they  did  not  grow  there;  they  are 
interlopers;  they  were  brought  thither 
while  men  slept,  by  some  kind  of  trick- 
ery, or  at  least  by  some  artificial  process, 
and  set  up  full-grown  to  impose  on  all  be- 
holders. 

In  speaking  of  ornament  in  architecture 
Ruskin  says  that  its  agreeableness  arises 
not  only  from  its  abstract  beauty,  but  also 
from  "  the  sense  of  human  labor  and  care 
spent  upon  it ;"  from  the  fact  that  "  the 
record  of  thoughts  and  intents,  and  trials 
and  heartbreakings,  of  recoveries  and  joy- 
fulnesses  of  success"  has  been  associated 
with  it.  "As  a  woman  of  feeling  would 
not  wear  false  jewels,  so  would  a  builder  of 
honor  disdain  false  ornaments."  He  should 
use  ornaments  "  wrought  by  the  human 
hand,  not  those  cast  in  moulds  or  cut  by 
machinery  to  imitate  the  work  of  the  hand. 
lie  should  abhor  all  short,  cheap,  and  easy 
ways  of  doing  that  whose  difficulty  is  its 
honor."  So  say  we  in  reference  to  land- 
scape gardening.  Pleasant  as  it  might  be 
to  have  our  trees  and  shrubs  brought  and 
planted  for  us  full  grown,  as  by  magic,  we 
should  hesitate  to  accept  the  gift.  They 
would  be  false,  machine-made  ornaments, 
entirely  wanting  in  any  flavor  of  liuman 
thought,  and  labor,  and  care. 

If  a  few  old  trees  happened  to  occupy 
our  chosen  building-site,  we  would  not  cut 
them  down  ;  rather  would  be  thankful  for 
their  refreshing  shade  while  trees  of  our  own 
planting  were  growing;  but  we. would  not 
transplant  old  trees  into  our  grounds.  "We 
would  select  young  trees  and  shrubs  ;  some 
for  their  native  beauty  of  form,  branches, 
leaves,  and  flowers  ,  others  for  their  associa- 
tions, whether  historical,  poetical,  domestic, 
or  otherwise.  These  we  would  group  to- 
gether into  one  harmonious  scene.  "We 
would  do  this  work,  so  far  as  possible,  with 
our  own  hands — at  least,  it  should  be  done 
under  our  personal  supervision.  Our  own 
life  should  be  mixed  up  with  the  life  of 
each  tree  and  plant.  The  hearts  and  hands 
of  those  we  love  should  be  intrusted  and 
occupied  in  their  cultivation.     Day  by  day, 


292 


The  Horticulturist. 


and  year  by  year  we  would  watch  their 
progress,  nursing  their  feebleness,  rejoicing 
in  their  healthy  growth,  until  at  length  we 
might  sit  beneath  their  expanding  boughs, 
or  pluck  their  abundant  flowers  and  fruit. 
Such  a  garden  would  be  worthy  of  the 
name.  Its  very  ground  would  be  hallowed. 
On  the  branches  of  every  tree  would  hang 


gentle  thoughts  and  pleasant  memories.  Its 
shrubs  and  plants  would  suggest  ideas  as 
varied  as  the  forms  of  their  leaves,  and  fan- 
cies as  airy  as  the  fragrance  of  their  flow- 
ers. Such  a  garden  would  be  a  charmed 
spot,  because  linked  with  so  much  that  is 
deeply  and  permanently  interesting  to  the 
mind  and  heart  of  man. 


A  CHAT  ABOUT  EARLY  SUMMER  APPLES. 

BY    FRANK    AMON. 


As  I  sat  in  my  library  a  few  mornings 
since  reading  the  Horticulturist,  my 
friend  Bradford  came  in,  with  the  pockets 
of  his  coat  well  stuffed  out  with  apples.— 
He  looked  like  an  old  picture  I  have  seen 
of  the  jolly  farmer,  laden  with  good  fruits 
from  his  orchard  for  his  neighbor's  children. 
That  picture,  by-the-by,  I  have  often 
thought  was  got  up  "  on  purpose,"  as  they 
say,  because  its  indication  is  certainly  one 


that  shows  the  wishes  of  the  man  to  so  im- 
bue his  neighbor's  children  with  the  love 
of  fruits  obtained  honestly  that  they  would 
urge  their  parents  toward  planting  of  trees, 
or  in  any  event  to  plant  for  themselves,  if 
ever  they  grew  to  be  men ;  but  as  such 
farmers  are  not  the  ones  we  have  now-a- 

days,  why 

But  this  is  nothing  to  what  my  friend 
Bradford  wanted,  which  came  in  this  wise  : 


Fig. 

"  I  am  about  to  plant  some  early  apple  trees 
this  fall,  and  I  have  been  looking  overbooks 
and  catalogues  until  I  am  all  mixed  up.  I 
can't,  or  don't  want  to  plant  but  a  few 
trees,  say  one  of  a  sort,  but  I  want  those 
the  best.  I  have  been  collecting  samples, 
and  here  I  am  to  discuss  them  with  you." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  I,  "just  what  I  want 
too  ;  for,  although  I  have  been  looking  over 


112. — The  White  Juneating. 

fruits,  and  growing  and  eating  them  many 
years,  there  is  nothing  I  relish  so  much  as 
a  good  sensible  revision  and  taste  of  the 
subject." 

"  Here,  then,  is  one  I  have  found  among 
the  very  earliest  to  ripen,  and,  to  my  taste, 
a  fine  little  eating  apple — the  White  June- 
ating." 


A  Chat  about  Early  Summer  Apples. 


293 


"  Yes ;  an  old  apple,  too  mucli  neglected, 
mainly  because  the  trees,  when  young,  are 
slow  of  growth  ;  but  when  they  are  once 
in  the  orchard  they  seem  to  grow  well — 
not,  it  is  true,  as  rapidly  as  Tetofsky  or 
Red  Astra chan,  but  as  well  as  Earlj^  Har- 
vest ;  while  the  fruit,  although  small,  is 
generally  fair,  and,  from  its  earliness,  com- 
mands a  high  price  in  market.     It  is  not 


as  tender  as  Early  Harvest,  and  bears 
shipping  better." 

"  Here  is  Tart  Bough,  or  one  I  obtained 
under  that  name." 

"  Right ;  the  tree  is  a  good  grower  and 
bearer  ;  but  as  it  does  not  ripen  until  after 
Early  Harvest,  that  variety,  which  we  can 
now  see  by  comparison,  is  better,  and  has 
superseded  it.     The  Early  Harvest,  how- 


FiG.  113. — Early  Harvest. 


ever,  requires  good  and  abundant  food  in 
the  soil,  in  order  to  grow  good  fruit ;  but 
in  good  strong  soils,  we  have  no  more  deli- 
cate early  apple  for  table  or  cooking.  As  a 
market  apple  for  shipping  purposes,  how- 
ever, it  does  not  answer,  as  it  is  too  deli- 
cate ;  and  as  the  tree  does  not  suit  all  soils, 
it  will  not  do  for  extensive  planting.  One 
tree  or  more  on  every  man's  place  can  be 
manured  and  made  good ;  but  we  have  so 
many  sorts  now,  that  in  ordinary  cultiva- 
tion, will  pay  better  even  than  this  under 
high  culture,  as  to  make  it  only  an  ama- 
teur's fruit.  You  must  plant  of  it,  how- 
ever." 

"  "Well,  next  I  have  one  called  Irish 
Peach." 

"  Aye ;  showy,  but  watery  ;  tree  a  fine 
grower  ;  not  worth  our  planting." 

"  Next,  I  have  two  old  sorts,  the  Hagloe 


and   Summer    Rambo ;    and — yes,  here  is 
also  Early  Red  Margaret." 

"  True,  old  sorts;  and  it  is  to  be  regret- 
ted that  the  Hagloe  has  been  so  neglected. 
If  you  can  get  a  tree  of  it,  plant  it ;  for  it 
is  a  fine  showy  fruit,  of  more  than  good 
quality;  and  a  good  bearer.  The  Summer 
Rambo,  ^or  Rambo  Franc,  becomes  often- 
times, as  you  see  this  is,  quite  mealy  and 
dry.  The  Early  Red  Margaret  is  a  right 
good  apple,  but  not  rich  enough  in  its  flesh 
for  an  amateur  apple :  and  for  marketing, 
the  Tetofsky  which  you  have  there  will 
retui'n  more  money.  This,  in  fact,  for  mar- 
keting, deserves  a  first  place.  It  is  grown 
around  Columbus,  in  Ohio,  as  the  Fourth 
of  July  apple.  It  is  a  Russian  apple;  the 
tree  a  strong  vigorous  grower,  seemingly 
adapting  itself  to  all  soils;  bearing  very 
young  and  abundantly  a  very  handsome, 


294 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


rather  acid,  but  pretty  good  fruit;  very 
valuable  at  that  season  for  sauce.  If  you 
have  ground  to  spare,  you  will  find  this  a 
valuable  sort  for  earl}^  use  in  the  kitchen  ; 


profit,  this  and  Red  Astrakhan  would  give 
you  more  return  than  any  other  two  early 
sorts.  The  specimen  here  is  not  a  full-sized 
fruit ;  it  is  certainly  one-quarter  larger,  and 


and  if  you  were  going  to  plant  for  market    generally  very  regular,  fair,  and  handsome." 

ri 


Fig.  114 

"  Next,  I  have  summer  Queen." 
"  True  ;  and  a  right  good  old  apple,  and 
in  many  sections  yet  regarded  among  the 
best  and  most  profitable.  Were  you  plant- 
ing in  a  part  of  the  country  where  this  va- 
riety was  proved  universally  successful,  I 


.—Tetofskj/. 

should  say  plant  it  in  preference  to  Wil- 
liams' Favorite,  Early  Pennock,  Red  Quar- 
renden,  or  Monarch,  all  of  which  are  good, 
and  only  good,  in  their  special  localities. — 
The  Queen,  Pennock,  and  Monarch,  you 
see,    are  of   a   similar  character  of  flesh; 


Fig.  115. — Totonsend. 

while   the   Williams   and   Quarrenden  are         "  Well,  here  is  another  that,  to  me,  is  no 
quite  different,  but  no  better."  better  than  the  Queen— the  Townsend." 


A  Chat  about  Earlij  Summer  Apples. 


295 


"Yes;  not  yet  quite  ripe.     I  have  not     quality  has  been  no  more  tlian  second-rate; 
often  n.et  with  it;  but  when  I  have,  its     and  coming,  as  it  does,  where  there  are  so 


Fig.  IIG. — Red  Astrachan. 

many    extra    quality   apples,    I  have   not     is  firm ;  but  I  remember  it  fruiting  well 
valued  it  highly.     The  sample  we  now  have     with  me  one  year,  and  proving  quite  dry 


Fig.  117.- 

and  meal}^  It  is  a  large  showy  fruit,  yel- 
low and  red,  and  in  its  native  habitat  may 
be  valuable." 


Early  Straicberry. 

"  Well,  here  are  two  that  I  suppose  you 
think  should  be  planted- 
Red  Astrachan." 


-the  Benoni  and 


296 


The  Horticulturist. 


"  Yes,  they  are  botli  among  tlie  best. — 
Your  samples  of  them,  however,  like  your 
Tetofeky,  are  too  small,  for  I  have  seen 
bushels  of  the  Astrachan  fully  one-quarter 
larger.  This  fruit  (the  Astrachan),  how- 
ever, is  not  truly  a  table  apple,  but  so  val- 
uable for  cooking,  and  passable  for  eating, 
that  you  must  have  it.  Benoni  is  one  of 
the  table  apples,  and  for  private  or  for  mar- 
ket garden  quite  desirable." 

"Next,  I  have  early  Strawberry,  or,  as 
the  man  who  gave  me  the  specimen  called 
it,  Red  Juneating." 

"  Good,  good  !  a  capital  apple  to  plant  for 
your  own  table.  The  trees  are  handsome 
growers,  great  bearers,  maturing  the  fruit 


by  degrees,  so  that  it  is  one  of  the  longest 
varieties  in  eating  that  I  know  ;  not,  per- 
haps, a  first-class  quality,  but  I  find  chil- 
dren, who  are  said  to  know  good  fruit, 
never  fail  to  eat  the  Early  Strawberry." 

"  "Well,  here  is  Bevan  and  Kerry 
Pippin." 

"  Yes  ;  the  former  tough  as  leather ;  and 
the  latter  as  pretty,  almost,  as  the  Straw- 
berry, but  not  half  as  good.  Let's  cut  and 
outline  the  Pippin,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
membrance, for  it  is  not  often  that  I  now 
meet  with  the  old  fruit  once  familiar  to  me. 
The  Kerry  Pippin  is  certainly  more  than 
good  in  quality.  It  is  a  good  bearer,  and 
to  one  desiring  to  plant  a  fruit  to  transport 


Fig.  118 Kerry  Plpjj'm. 


long  distances,  and  preserve  its  character, 
we  have  nothing  its  superior.  It,  however, 
is  not  sufficiently  acid  for  cooking,  and  it 
is  too  firm  and  crisp  to  please  our  American 
tastes,  and  therefore  will  probably  never 
more  be  grown." 

"  Here  are  four  sweet  apples." 

Aye,  Sweet  Bough.  Indispensable, 
large  ;  a  regular,  not  great,  bearer  ;  tender 
and  delicate;  sweet  for' eating  or  baking; 
must  plant  one  tree,  at  least.  Then  you 
have   High   Top   Sweet,  of  the   books ;  or 


Sweet  Summer,  of  Southern  Ohio ;  and 
Sweet  June,  on  "West.  Many  regard  it  as 
indispensable  ;  but  I  think  this  one,  Golden 
Sweet,  preferable.  It  is  larger;  the  tree  is 
a  great  bearer ;  the  fruit  is  a  rich  sweet, 
perhaps  a  little  too  dry  for  the  table,  but 
fine  for  baking.  If  you  were  growing 
stock,  this  variety  would  pay  well  to  plant 
by  the  acre ;  but  for  family  use,  one  tree  is 
all  j^ou  want.  Ihe  last  you  have  is  one 
called  Early  Sweet ;  and,  so  far  as  I  know, 
originated  with  W.  C.  Hampton,  in  Ohio, 


A  Chat  about  Early  Summer  A]jples.  297 

and  lias  never  been  figured.  It  is  deliciously         "  Wliat  more  have  you,  for  I  see  your 

sweet,  juicy,  and  tender.     If  you  can  get  a     pockets  are  yet  comparatively  full." 

tree  of  it,  plant  it.  "  Ob;  quite  a  number  of  sorts.     Here  are 


Fig.  11'^.— Siceet  Bough. 

two — the  Red  June  and  the  Penn,  or  Wil-         "  Of  the  first  I  know  a  little.     It  is  the 
liam  Penn."  popular  apple  south-west,  in  Illinois,  Mis- 


Fict.  120.— Golden  Sweet. 


298 


The  Horticulturist. 


souri,  &c. ;  but  east  or  north  it  lias  made         "  The  Penn,  or  "William  Penn,  is  another 

little  or  no  headway  in  favor.     In  quality,  local  apple,  probably,  to  be  kept  in  its  own 

it  is  about  equal  with  Williams' Red,  and,  section  of  origin,  for  it  has  been  now  twelve 

like  that  sort,  to  be  kept  in  its  own  lo-  or  fifteen  years  before  the  public,  and  makes 

cality,  no  progress  in  favor.     What  next?" 


Fig.  121. — Early  Sweet. 


"  Three  with  an  early  attached — BufSng- 
ton's  Early,  Parson's  Early,  and  Garretson's 
Early." 


"  The  first  is  a  tip-top  little  apple  as  you 
may  taste,  but  the  tree  is  not  a  good  bearer. 
The  second  is  too  acid ;  not  yet,  as  you  see, 


Early  Joe. 


quite  ripe;  of  course  there  is  now  no  com- 
parison, for.  the  first  is  fully  ripe,  and  this 
is  not  so.  The  third  is  a  quite  good  apple; 
comes  after  Early  Harvest,  and  is  not  as 


good,  but   the   tree,  I  think,  is   a   better 
grower.     What  more  ?" 

"An  old  sort  highly  praised,  but  I  don't 
find  any  good  fruit." 


A  Chat  about  Barly  Summer  Apjoles, 


299 


"  Ha !  the  Drap  d'Or  !  An  old  sort,  truly; 
and,  so  far  as  I  kno-sv,  never  yet  a  good  one- 
The  fruit,  like  tliis  sample  is  ripened  mostly 
by  an  insect  in  the  early  season  ;  and  dur- 
ing the  last  of  September,  when  it  should 
be  among  the  best,  it  is  nothing  as  a  table 
apple  compared  with  the  Garden  Royal;  or 
as  a  cooking  or  eating  as  compared  with 
Gravenstein  or  Myers'  Nonpareil.  It  is  time 
it  was  laid  on  one  side." 

"  My  next  is  a  little  fellow — Early  Joe." 

"  And  a  nice  little  one  it  is,  too  ;  rich  as 

a  pear;    delicate  and  crisp,   yet    tender; 

juicy  and  handsome  as  a  peach;  the  tree  a 

great  bearer.     It  has  two  rivals — one  the 


Summer  Rose,  earlier;  and  the  Garden 
Royal,  later.  Here  you  have  them  all  be- 
fore you  ;  and  while  one  is  in  a  good  state 
for  eating,  there  is  enough  in  each  of  the 
others  to  tell  you  that  your  amateur  plot 
of  apples  cannot  do  without  them.  We 
will  outline  the  Early  Joe  and  the  Summer 
Rose,  and  leave  Garden  Royal  for  another 
time  when  we  look  over  early  fall  apples. 
Have  you  any  more?" 

"  Yes,  here  is  Trenton  Early." 

"  Pooh !  old  English  Codlin ;  good  for 
cooking  only." 

"  Next,  Summer  Golden  Pippin." 

"  Pooh  !  again,  I  say ;  good  for  nothing." 


Fig.  123. — Smnmer  Rose. 


"  Sops  of  Wine." 

"Samples  not  quite  ripe,  but  a  capital 
little  dessert  fruit.  Some  good  judges  think 
this  should  be  in  all  collections,  no  matter 
how  small.  I  confess  that,  while  I  like  the 
little  fruit,  I  had  rather  have  Early  Joe ; 
but  if  I  had  room  for  two  trees  to  ripen 
about  this  time,  1  would  prefer  one  of  each 
to  both  of  Early  Joe." 

"  Only  one  more,  and  my  pockets  are 
empty." 

"  The  Sine  Qua  Non,  although  the 
last  of  your  lot,  is  nevertheless  one  of  the 
good  fruits  in  quality — in  pomological  lan- 
guage, probably,  it  would  rank  best-^but 
unfortunately  the  tree  is  a  poor  grower, 
and  not  a  good  bearer ;  therefore,  however 


good  the  flesh  of  the  apple,  we  must  pass 
it,  because  it  gives  no  satisfaction  to  the 
owner,  either  in  looking  at  its  growth,  or 
in  its  number  of  fruits." 

Having  now,  Messrs.  Editors,  looked  over 
my  friend's  list  of  apples,  I  want  to  ask 
who  there  is,  among  our  horticultural 
friends,  that  is  making  the  apple,  and  the 
producing  of  new  and  valuable  sorts,  a  spe- 
cial study  ? 

Everybody  eats  the  apple,  and  everybody 
who  owns  land  enough  for  a  tree  to  stand 
upon  plants  the  apple,  have  done  so,  and 
will  continue  to  do  so. 

As  a  crop,  the  apple  pays  not  quite  as 
soon  as  the  grape,  but,  when  once  in  bear- 
ing, with  far  less  labor. 


300 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


Now,  wliy  should  not  some  one  fall  in 
love  with  the  originating  anew  early  apple, 
"We  want  a  very  early  one  ;  good  size,  bearer, 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  I  suggest  to 
some   one   the  impregnating   Early  June- 


ating  with  Tetofsky,  or  vice  versa,  and  test 
the  result.  Who  will  try  their  hand  1  An 
early,  very  early  sort,  would  be  a  fortune 
to  the  grower. 


LOW    PRICED    COUNTRY    HOMES. 


FROM    woodward's    ANNUAL    OF    ARCHITECTURE,    LANDSCAPE    GARDENING    AND   RURAL    ART, 

FOR    1867. 


We  give  our  readers  some  specimen 
pages  from  this  new  publication.  This 
work  has  been  specially  prepared  to  meet 
a  strong  demand  for  low  priced  Cottages, 
Out-buildings,  and  plans  for  laying  out 
small  plats  of  ground.     The  book  contains 


176  designs  and  plans  in  all  departments 
of  rural  art,  and  its  universal  circulation 
would  be  of  vast  benefit  to  the  country. 
We  have  spared  no  time  or  expense  in 
preparing  and  procuring  practical  plans ; 
have  had  them  engraved  with  great  care, 


Fig.  124.— 


and  the  work  has  been  printed  in  the  best 
manner  on  fine  calendered  paper.  Every 
reader  of  the  Horticulturist  should  have 
a  copy.  It  will  be  published  annually  from 
this  office,  and  will  be  a  thorough  and 
practical  work  in  all  respects. 


We  extract   the  following   approximate 
method  of  computing  the  cost  of  buildings  : 


COMPUTING    COST. 


A  simple  and  rapid  plan  for  estimating 
the  cost  of  any  building  is  by  comparison. 


Lolo  Priced  Country  Homes, 


301 


If  carefully  done,  it  will  give  figures  that 
may  be  relied  on.  We  have  said  before 
that  it  would  be  productive  of  much  mis- 
chief to  name  prices  in  a  book  like  this. 
The  only  prices  we  could  give  would  be 
local  ones,  and  these  are  changing  here  every 
day.  We  were  of  this  opinion  when  we 
prepared  "Woodward's  Country  Homes," 
a  book  that  has  met  with  extraordinary 
success,  and  has  been  ordered  from  every 


quarter  of  the  globe ;  and  experience  thus 
far  confirms  us  in  the  belief  that  the 
opinion  then  formed  was  correct. 

The  best  substitute  for  prices,  on  which 
confidence  may  be  placed,  is  the  following, 
a  plan  much  used  by  builders  to  test  the 
accuracy  of  their  detail  estimates : 

We  wiJl  suppose  that  a  party  desires  to 
erect  a  building  in  the  vicinity  of  Madison, 
Wis.,  where  prices  of  materials  and  labor 


Fig.  125.  —Farm  Cottage. 


differ  largely  from  New  York  prices.  Let 
him  select  such  a  house  already  built  in 
that  vicinity  as  shall  represent,  in  style  of 
architecture  and  character  of  finish,  about 
what  he  desires  to  construct,  and  of  which 
the  cost  of  building  is  known  ;  then  com- 
pute the  area  or  number  of  square  feet 
covered  by  the  building;  divide  the  number 
of  dollars  of  t-mt  by  the  number  of  square 


feet  thus  found,  and  the  price  per  square 
foot  is  ascertained. 

Thus  a  house  40  feet  by  40  feet  covers 
an  area  of  1,600  square  feet ;  it  costs 
^8,000;  and  dividing  $8,000  by  1,600, 
shows  ^5  per  square  foot.  Now  what  will 
be  the  cost  of  a  similiar  house  covering 
1,400  square  feet  ? 

1,400  X  ,'^5  =  .'^7,000. 


302 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


This  plan  will  do  very  well  to  approx-  Thus,  a  house  40  feet  by  40  feet,  and  an 
iinate  roughly  to  cost.  A  better  and  closer  average  height  of  30  feet — 40  x  40  x  30  ^ 
one  is  to  ascertain  the  cost  per  cubic  foot.     48,000  cubic  feet,    cost   ^7,200,  or  fifteen 


Pig.  12G. —  Farmlioiise. 


cents  per  cubic  foot.     Then  a  house  con-    would  cost  §8,550.     Where  all  conditions 
taining  57,000  cubic  feet,  at  fifteen  cents,     of    comparison    are   equal,   such   as    equal 


Fig.  127.— ^a/'«. 


facilities   for  buying,  equal    advantages  in     certain  about  the  cost  of  such  a  buildin^ 
capital,  credit,  good  management,  etc.,  one     he  proposes  to  erect. 
can  very  closely,  by  this  last  method,  as- 


Low  Priced  Country  Homes. 


303 


Fig.  128.—- Birr;  House. 


Fig.  129.— Seoi. 


Fio.  \Z^— Entrance  Gate. 


304 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


NOTES  ON  MAGNOLIAS. 


In  my  practice  of  landscape  gardening 
during  tlie  past  twelve  years,  I  have  plant- 
ed out  many  dozens  of  magnolias.  They 
have  made  the  first  season's  growth  appa- 
rently healthy.  Some  have  continued  a 
second  summer,  and  a  few  of  my  planting 
ten  years  since  yet  remain;  but  the  major- 
ity of  them  have  died  and  their  places  sup- 
plied with  some  other  variety  of  tree.  I 
have  queried  why  this  should  be  so,  be- 
cause most  of  the  varieties  so  planted  were 
perfectly  hardy,  the  trees  perfectly  healthy, 
and,  as  a  rule,  made  the  first  season  a  healthy 
and  abundant  growth. 

Now,  in  the  practice  of  my  profession,  in 
making  designs  for  planting  grounds,  v/itli 
a  knowledge  of  the  beauty  of  flower  and 
foliage  possessed  by  the  Magnolia  family, 
I  desire  to  introduce  more  or  less  of  the 
varieties  ;  but  a  second  thought  occurs, 
relative  to  their  durability,  and  I  fre- 
quently substitute  some  other  tree,  when 
[  would  have  preferred  a  Magnolia. 

Loudon  advises  planting  only  of  pot 
plants,  because  of  the  delicate  nature  of 
the  roots ;  but  when  a  plant  has  taken 
well  in  the  soil  and  made  a  healthy  growth 
of  one,  two,  or  even  three  seasons  before 
dying,  I  cannot  see  any  special  reason  for 
preferring  a  pot-plant.  As  I  have  said,  I 
have  queried  why,  after  a  season  or  more  of 
healthy  growth,  they  should  die,  and  have 
looked  about  me  for  the  cause.  We  are 
taught  that  the  Magnolia  will  only  do  well 
in  sandy  loam,  or  a  light,  well-drained  soil, 
and  with  this  view  I  have,  when  1  could, 
arranged  my  planting  of  the  Magnolia  in 
such  portions  of  the  grounds  as  were  of 
light,  dry,  sandy  or  gravelly  nature.  Now, 
when  looking  about  among  the  best  trees 
of  Magnolia  in  gardens,  I  find  one  of  Soul- 
angea  in  a  light,  sandy  loam  that  is  twelve 
or  more  years  old ;  blooms  abundantly 
every  year;  is  healthy  and  vigorous,  but 


while  it  is  only  in  apparent  light,  sandy 
soil,  a  close  inspection  reveals  that  water 
percolates  from  springs  through  the  soil 
underneath  at  about,  say  three  feet  depth. 

Again,  in  grounds  once  possessed  by  my- 
self, there  are  growing  some  very  healthy 
specimens  of  conspicua,  tripetela,  etc.,  and 
the  soil  a  poor,  gravelly-clay  loam,  that, 
before  being  cleaned  and  opened  to  the  sun, 
was  termed  wet.  There  is  no  underdrain- 
age,  and  yet  the  trees  do  well. 

Again,  trees  of  Glauca  and  Macrophylla, 
planted  ten  years  since,  in  a  barren,  poor 
gravel,  but  resting  on  a  bed  once  a  swamp 
(for  it  is  made  ground  by  grading  and  filling 
with  the  gravel),  and  where  water  stands 
nearly  the  entire  year  round  within  eighteen 
inches  of  the  surface,  are  growing  healthy 
and  vigorous.  These  observations,  with 
some  others  of  similar  nature,  together 
with  the  appearance  of  trees  grown  by 
Prof.  J.  P.  Kirtland,  by  budding  on  the 
Magnolia  acuminata,  lead  me  to  conclude 
that  while  the  Magnolia  may  start  and 
grow  most  readily  in  a  light  soil,  yet,  un- 
less there  is  moisture  reached  by  its  roots 
during  midsummer,  its  vitality  is  much  im- 
paired, and  it  is  liable  to  die  on  approach 
of  any  extreme  change  of  t.mperature. 

The  budding  or  grafting  of  Soukmgea 
conspicua,  glaroca,  &c.,  on  the  acuminata, 
our  native  wood  tree,  here  commonly 
called  oucumber  tree,  has  been  practised 
by  Professor  '  Kit-tland,  with  complete 
success.  In  his  grounds  now  stand,  prob- 
ably, the  largest  Magnolia  glauca  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  grafted  on  the  acu- 
minata, and  at  a  rough  guess,  is  thirty  feet 
high  and  about  the  same  in  diameter;  it 
is  yearly  covered  with  bloom  and  ripens  i;s 
seeds  perfectly.  Several  of  the  conspicua, 
soukmgea,  longljlora,  purjmrea,  &c.,  which 
budded  on  the  acuminata,  have  made 
growths  already  double  those  of  the  same 


The  Birds  of  Brightside. 


305 


varieties  on  their  own  roots.  Tliese  items, 
connected  with  the  facts  that  the  acuminata 
is  often  found  growing  in  our  clay  lands, 
even  where  before  being  cleared  up,  the 
appearance  is  as  of  a  wet  section  of  land, 
lead  me  to  suggest  to  our  growers  ot  the 


magnolia  for  sale — the  working  of  them  in 
the  acuminata  stock.  It  is  well  to  say  to 
buyers  of  the  magnolias  that  they  had 
better  pay  high  prices  for  a  plant  budded 
as  acuminata  than  to  have  a  seedling  as  a 
gift. 


THE  BIRDS  OF  BRIGHTSIDE. 


BY    W.    WAYBRIDGE,    ESQ. 


When  I  came  to  live  at  Brightside,  one 
thing  struck  me  as  peculiar  :  there  was  no 
bird  songs,  no  music.  The  ten-acre  lot,  on 
the  western  side  of  which  the  buildings 
stand,  was  almost  nude  of  trees,  and  the 
forests  swept  around  at  a  respectable  dis- 
tance. The  house  had  not  been  occupied, 
the  land  had  not  been  tilled,  smce  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war. 

I  had  been  living  in  a  village  famous  for 
its  shade  trees  and  its  birds,  and  on  coming 
to  Brightside  in  the  spring  of  1865,  ray 
heart  sank  within  me  when  I  found  there 
were  no  birds ;  no  morning  songs  to  wel- 
come the  new  day ;  no  woodland  vespers 
to  soften  and  to  sweeten  its  decline.  I  re- 
gretted having  signed  the  deed  which  made 
the  little  kingdom  mine.  There  was  no 
music ! 

It  is  true  that  now  and  then  the  scream  of 
a  blue  jay,  or  the  croaking  of  a  crow,  would 
greet  the  ear  from  the  distant  woodlands  ; 
a  robin  would,  once  in  a  while,  come  and  sit 
upon  a  twig  of  a  wild  cherry  tree,  and  sing 
a  cheerful  song  to  me  ;  and  a  phcebe,  soli- 
tary and  alone,  did  return  to  her  nest  in 
the  barn  cellar,  and,  by  her  peculiar  note, 
make  deeper  still  the  feeling  of  loneliness 
and  of  isolation  which  came  over  me.  Save 
here  and  there  a  slender  or  discordant  song, 
there  was  no  music. 

But  I  read  again  "  Ten  Acres  Enough  ;" 
took  heart ;  put  in  the  plough,  the  spade, 
the  hoe,  the  crop — peas,  beans,  melons, 
corn,  hops,  cabbages,  cauliflowers,  grapes, 
and  strawberries.  I  set  out  trees  around 
my  house  and  barn,  and  along  the  road  side 


for  some  sixty  rods  or  more.  I  filled  my 
front  yard  with  clambering  vines  and  flow- 
ers. I  spent  the  season — myself  and  son — 
in  improving  and  beautifying  the  place.  I 
put  six  of  the  ten  acres  into  tilth ;  and 
thanks  to  my  peat  meadow,  and  to  Him 
who  made  the  benefaction,  was  enabled  to 
send  some  things  to  market,  and  to  keep 
the  buckets  in  the  buttery  (excuse  this  last 
old-fashioned  word,  the  alliteration  would 
not  come  without  it)  full  at  home.  And 
what  do  you  think,  Mr.  Reader  ?  Why, 
when  the  present  spring  opened,  along  with 
it  came,  as  welcome  visitors,  I  assure  you, 
the  merry,  heart-inspiring  birds.  It  would 
now  do  your  heart  good  to  hear  them  salute 
the  morning  by  their  gleeful  songs  ;  to  hear 
them  trolling  out  their  melodies  still,  until 
the  veil  of  evening  is  completely  shut.  A 
robin  has  built  her  nest  in  an  old  elm  be- 
side the  road,  and  sings  as  if  her  breast 
were  made  of  music ;  the  bob-o-link  sets 
up  its  frolicsome  rigmarole  in  the  meadow 
below ;  an  oriole  sings  daily  near  my  win- 
dow ;  a  bluebird  has  built  its  nest  just  be- 
neath the  handle  of  an  old  pump  opposite, 
and  now  sits  chirping  on  the  top  of  it ;  a 
sparrow,  indeed,  has  chosen  a  vine  directly 
beside  the  most  frequented  door,  for  safety 
during  incubation — we  do  not  keep  a  cat — 
and  what  with  the  sweet  song  of  the  mea- 
dow lark,  the  notes  of  golden  robin,  cherry- 
bird,  yellow-bird,  woodpecker,  flycatcher, 
king-bird,  yellowhammer,  and  blue-jay,  in- 
terblending  with,  now  and  then,  in  damp 
and  quiet  weather,  a  pleasant  call  of  "  more 
wet,"  from  Bob  White — Perdex  Virginiana 


306 


The  Horticulturist. 


— we  have  music  enough,  and  better  than 
from  lute  orsackbut,  for  the  morning;  and 
when  the  "  evening  shadows  prevail,"  the 
brown  thv\xsh-:-turdit,s  nifus — most  voluptu- 
ous of  American  vocalists,  takes  up  its 
"  amorous  descant  "  from  the  topmost  twig 
of  yon  tall  birch  tree ;  while  the  wood- 
thrush — turdifi  mustelinus — from  the  bosom 
of  that  clump  of  alders,  charms  me  with 
its  silvery  cadencss  ;  and  the  whippoorwill 
winds  up  the  day,  and  startles  the  dull 
ear  of  night  by  its  weird-like  and  myste- 
rious song. 

Now,  what  has  brought  these  birds  to 
Brightside  1  Ploughing  up  the  ground  ? 
But  there  was  food  enough  for  them  before. 
What  has  called  them  around  us  1  Our 
own  music?  We  have  been  too  busy  to 
make  music.  What,  then,  has  gathered 
them  ?  The  love  of  man  ?  Yes,  I  believe 
it.  Birds  are  social.  They  do  not  frequent 
the  deep  and  silent  forest.  They  love  the 
habitations  of  men.  They  love  the  garden 
— its  seeds,  undoubtedly;  but  they  also 
love  the  men  that  work  in  it.  They  have  a 
kind  of  human  as  well  as  humanizing  na- 
ture, and  they  sympathize  with  human  na- 
ture. They  build  just  as  near  to  us  as 
they  dare  to  build ;  they  follow  us  in  our 


journeys ;  they  settle  where  we  settle ; 
they  toil  for  us;  they  destroy  myriads  of 
insects  that  else  would  injure  the  produc- 
tions of  the  garden  ;  they  sing  sweet  songs 
to  us;  they  make  Brightside  still  brighter, 
Paradise  still  nearer,  and  the  steps  to  it 
still  lighter. 

Sitting  underneath  an  old  apple  tree  in 
his  garden,  late  one  summer  evening,  Mr. 
Webster  entertained  a  group  of  eager  list- 
eners with  his  views  of  coming  national 
events,  when  suddenly  a  robin  broke  forth 
into  a  song  above  the  stateman's  head.  He 
stopped  and  listened  to  its  note,  and  then, 
as  if  it  were  an  angel  sent  from  God,  he, 
rising,  said,  "  Gentlemen,  that  robin  always 
comes  to  me  at  night,  and  sings  to  me  of  my 
poor  son  !    Let  us  retire." 

From  out  another  sphere,  these  birds 
bring  messages  of  love  to  the  attentive 
soul.  From  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides 
they  come  to  soften  toil,  to  waken  praise  ; 
to  lure  us  by  their  music,  stealing  through 
the  flowers  of  such  fair  paradises  as  we,  by 
the  aid  of  your  good  Horticulturist,  man- 
age to  make  below,  to  the  music  of  the 
flowers  of  the  resplendent  Paradise  above. 

Brightside,  near  Billerica,  Mass. 


PULVERIZED  CLAY  AS  A  REMEDY  FOR  MILDEW  ON  THE  GRAPE  VINE. 


BY   VITICOLA. 


In  the  Horticulturist  for  August  there 
is  an  article  by  P.  Lazaris  of  Athens  (copied 
from  the  Floral  IVorld),  in  which  dry  clay  or 
xiny  pulverized  substance  is  recommended 
as  a  remedy  for  mildew. 

Have  we  any  experience  beyond  that  of 
Mr.  Lazaris  ?  His  experiments  are  certainly 
very  fair ;  but  then  we  must  remember  that 
a  few  cases  of  cure  will  not  establish  the 
character  of  any  medicine. 

The  proposition  so  confidently  set  forth 
is,  that  "  any  substance,  dried  and  pulver- 
ized, which  does  not  injure  the  foliage  or 
the  fruit  of  the  vine,  cures  the  disease  ot 


'oidium,'  with  which  it  is  affected.  It  is 
because  of  the  same  qualities  that  pulverized 
sulphur  produces  the  same  effect,  and  not 
as  a  specific,  as  is  generally  believed." 

Now  we  have  in  our  mind  a  vine  which 
was  every  year  afflicted  with  mildew.  It 
grew  within  six  feet  of  a  public  road  in  a 
large  city,  and  in  dry  weather  it  was  al- 
ways well  powdered  with  pulverized  road 
dust.  But  this  dusting  did  not  prevent 
the  mildew.  And  we  are  aware  of  one  or 
two  instances  in  which  vines  were  dusted 
with  finely  powdered  gypsum  or  plaster 
without  warding  off  the  evil. 


Grapevine  Mildew. 


307 


It  is  curious  to  observe  tlie  very  opposite 
opinions  wbicli  prevail  in  regard  to  certain 
subjects.  While  one  man  announces,  as  a 
new  discovery,  the  use  of  powdered  earth 
as  a  remedy  for  mildew,  some  of  our  older 
authors  caution  us  against  stirring  the  soil 
of  the  vineyards  during  dry  weather,  while 
the  grapes  are  maturing,  for  fear  of  inducing 
disease  by  the  dust  which  unavoidably  set- 
tles on  the  vines. 

We  have  now  in  progress  a  series  of  in- 
vestigations concerning  the  action  of  sul- 
phur on  mildew.  The  subject  is  a  difficult 
one,  but  the  results  promise  to  be  interest- 
ing and  important.  Meantime,  we  would 
offer  the  following  note  quoted  from  Allen's 
"  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Culture  of  the 
Grape,"  which  goes  to  prove  that  sulphur 
acts  as  a  specific  poison  to  fungi  aside  from 
its  mechanical  action  as  a  powder.  In  this 
case,  as  the  reader  will  observe,  the  sul- 


phur was  not  applied  directly  to  the 
vine. 

"  Nathaniel  Silsbee,  Jr.  Esq.,  informs  me 
that  in  his  grapery,  whicll  is  a  cold  house, 
he  covers  the  floor  twice  every  summer, 
with  sulphur,  and  recommends  its  applica- 
tion in  the  middle  of  the  day ;  as,  at  that 
time  part  of  it  will  rise  and  settle  on  the 
vine,  but  in  such  small  particles,  as  to  do 
no  injury.  He  has  found  this  efficient  in 
preventing  mildew." 

In  conclusion,  we  would  suggest  to  the 
readers  of  the  Horticulturist  that  they 
give  their  experience  on  this  subject. 

Who  has  tried  plaster  or  similar  powders, 
and  with  what  result  ? 

Have  vines  growing  near  roads  been 
found  less  liable  to  mildew  than  others  1 

An  extensive  series 'of  replies  to  these 
questions  might  throw  some  light  on  the 
subject. 


GRAPEVINE  MILDEW. 


BY    HORTICOLA. 


In  the  August  number  of  the  Horti- 
culturist, there  is  an  article  on  the  cure 
of  the  Oidium,  by  P.  Lazaris,  of  Athens,  in 
which  he  advises  to  dust  the  vines  with 
dry  clay  instead  of  sulphur.  He  says  he 
was  led  to  the  use  of  that  substance  by 
the  fact  his  own  observation  had  established, 
that  vines  lying  on  the  ground  were  never  mil- 
deioecl.  Although  it  might  be  difficult  to 
comprehend  the  similarity  of  the  condi- 
tion of  a  vine  lying  on  the  ground,  and  of  a 
vine  dusted  all  over  with  powdered  clay, 
yet  this  question  is  insignificant  in  the  face 
of  the  fact,  that  grapevines  lying  on  the  ground 
are,  at  least  in  this  country,  much  more  liable 
to  le  affected  than  those  which  are  tied  to  poles 
or  trellises. 

It  is  my  custom  never  to  tie  up  cuttings, 
from  single  or  more  eyes,  during  the  first 
summer,  being  convinced  that,  by  checking 
the  upward  tendency  of  the  young  vines, 
the  root  acquires  much  more  strength.     I 


continue  this  treatment  also  during  the 
second  year,  after  old  vines  have  been 
planted  in  their  several  places  and  pruned. 
There  is  no  trace  of  mildew  on  any  of  my 
vines  trained  to  stakes  or  trellises,  for  I  ap- 
ply sulphur  so  freely  and  frequently  that 
all  spores  of  it  are  destroyed  as  soon  as 
they  are  formed.  Not  quite  a  week  ago 
however,  I  was  walking  through  my 
grounds  with  two  friends,  when  we  simul- 
taneously noticed  those  light-colored  spots 
produced  by  mildew  on  the  leaves  of  a 
number  of  young  Crevelings  and  other  na- 
tive varieties.  They  had  proceeded  from 
several  young  Yeddos.  There  is  no  variety 
more  subject  to  mildew  than  the  Yeddo.  Now 
all  the  vines  so  afected  are  lying  on  the  ground. 
One  of  the  two  gentlemen  mentioned  ob- 
served that  it  had  been  his  belief  that  vines 
lying  on  the  ground  were  exempt  from  mil- 
dew. He  was  as  glad  as  he  was  sorry  that 
his  belief  had  been  exploded.     Many  of  the 


308 


Tlie   Horticulturist. 


readers  of  the  Horticulturist  will,  no 
doubt,  have  had  the  same  experience  ;  but, 
should  it  be  desirable,  I  am  ready  to  give 
the  names  of  bo^h  of  the  gentlemen. 

This  shows  that  the  premises  of  Mr.  P. 
Lazaris  are  not  founded  on  fact.  As  to  his 
inferences,  it  may  be  interesting  to  make 
some  remarks  by  stating  what  has  been 
done  by  others  in  regard  to  road  dust  or 
powdered  clay. 

The  readers  of  the  Horticulturist  will 
permit  me  to  premise  the  follow'ing  state- 
ment: 

Requested  by  the  Hon.  Isaac  Newton, 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  to  write  a 
treatise  on  the  sulphuration  of  the  grape- 
vine and  its  results,  both  in  this  country 
and  Europe,  I  addressed  a  large  number  of 
letters  to  the  most  celebrated  vine-growers 
in  France  and  Germany,  in  order  to  obtain 
full  information  covering  the  whole  subject. 
T  am  already  in  possession  of  material  so 
ample  and  extensive,  that  I  could  easily  till 
many  pages  with  it,  though  it  is  not  com- 
plete yet,  as  several  gentlemeu  addressed 
by  me  cannot  make  replies  satisfactory  to 
themselves  before  the  next  autumn.  I  will, 
therefore,  not  touch  it  at  present,  but  re- 
serve it  for  the  treatise,  to  be  printed  in 
the  agricultural  part  of  the  Patent  Office 
Report.  What  I  give  here  is  extracted  from 
various  literary  sources,  easily  accessible  to 
all.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  accumulate 
facts. 

According  to  a  communication  of  the 
Prussian  Correspondent  of  the  year  1857, 
dust  from  the  turnpikes  is  as  efficacious  as 
sulphur  in  destroying  mildew.     Mr.  Cres- 


tien  recommended,  on  the  28th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1857,  in  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in 
Paris,  the  same  very  highly.  He  says  sul- 
phur covers  and  envelopes  the  oidium  plants 
so  entirely,  that  the  air  is  excluded,  and 
destroj^s  in  this  way  the  oidium.  As  road 
dust  performs  that  work  better  and  more 
thoroughly  than  sulphur,  it  is  much  more 
preferable. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  experienced 
vine-growers  assert  that  sulphur  acts  spe- 
cifically upon  the  oidium  by  dissolving  and 
destroying  it.  At  all  events,  nothing  is 
used  in  Europe  but  sulphur  at  present,  so 
that  even  the  French  Government  reduced, 
several  years  ago,  the  duties  on  it,  so  as  to 
bring  it  within  the  reach  even  of  the  poor- 
est vigneron.  Road  dust  has  had  a  chance 
in  France  and  Germanj'-,  since  1857,  to  su- 
persede sulphur,  but  it  has  not  been  able  to 
accomplish  it. 

I  am  very  far  from  impugning  the  vera- 
city of  Mr.  P.  Lazaris  as  to  doubt  the  re- 
sults of  his  experiments  ;  but  what  applies 
to  the  dry  air  and  serene  sky  of  Corinth, 
may  not  apply  to  our  excessive  climates. — 
Oftentimes  nearly  absolute  dryness  of  the 
air  is  suddenly  followed  by  extreme  hu- 
midity, intolerable  heat  by  chilling  winds. 

As  all  my  vines  have  repeatedly  been 
sulphurated,  I  cannot  make  comparative 
experiments.  Such  of  the  readers  of  the 
Horticulturist  as  may  have  the  opportu- 
nity to  try  clay,  will  have  a  claim  on  the 
thanks  of  the  vine  growing  community  if 
they  will  communicate  the  results  of  their 
operations. 


NOTES  ON  THE  AUGUST  NUMBER. 


Varieties  of  Strawberries. — A  plain 
practical  article,  descriptive  of  some  of  our 
leading  and  most  popular  sorts.  The  wri- 
ter has  evidently  examined  his  fruits,  and 
doubtless  recorded  correctly  as  they  ap- 
peared to  him  ;  but,  to  make  his  record  of 
more  value,  he  should  have  giveu  the  soil 


in  which  the  several  sorts  succeeded  best. 
It  is  now,  I  believe,  pretty  generally  con- 
ceded that  a  variety  will  succeed  finely  in 
one  character  of  soil,  while  if  placed  in  a 
different  one,  although  within  a  short  dis- 
tance, it  will  prove  almost  worthless.  Cli- 
mate, also,  is  said  to  afi'ect  the  strawberry 


Notes  on  the  August  Number. 


309 


making  some  varieties  a  local  rather  than  a 
general  sort.  However  true  this  may  be,  I 
cannot  of  my  own  knowledge  affirm  ;  but  I 
well  remember,  some  years  since,  a  long 
pro  and  con  about  the  Black  Prince — a  va- 
riety that  in  some  localities  was  proved  of 
the  highest  excellence,  while  in  others  it 
was  unworthy  growing. 

Buist's  Prize  is  another,  and  I  think  not 
unlikely  Jenny  Lind  another,  as  some  grow- 
ers praise  it  highly,  while  witlf  others  it  is 
unproductive.  Our  Southern  friends  will 
find  the  strawberry  question  a  mixed  one 
with  them,  their  climate  being  so  unlike 
that  of  the  North  and  Middle  States. 

In  connection,  I  notice  in  the  report  of 
the  Wallingford  (Conn.)  Community  they 
still  hold  to  the  Wilson  as  their  most  pro- 
fitable sort  for  market. 

Rural  Architecture,  No.  16. — I  like 
this  very  much.  It  gives  one  an  idea  of 
home  comfort  with  its  porch  and  veranda  ; 
while  in  its  architectural  elevation  there  is 
an  air  of  refinement  and  taste,  without  dis- 
play of  tinsel  ornamentation. 

Norton's  Virginia  Grape. — Mr.  Hus- 
mann  does  not  say  too  much  in  praise  of  this 
grape  where  it  can  be  successfully  ripened. 
It  makes  a  wine  heavier  than  the  best  cla- 
rets, and  more  nearly  to  port  than  any 
other  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  As 
Mr.  H.  says,  however,  it  seems  to  do  better 
in  Missouri  than  in  Ohio,  although  I  have 
seen  it  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
growing  and  ripening  its  fruit  equally  as 
well  as  at  Hermann.  To  those  about  to 
engage  in  vine-growing  in  our  Southern 
States,  especially  in  Tennessee,  it  will  prove 
of  the  greatest  value. 

New  Strawberries. — This,  like  the  first 
article,  shows  the  practical  observer,  and 
gives  us  a  truthful  statement  of  the  varie- 
ties under  the  writer's  treatment.  While 
conceding  that  the  care  given  was  no  more 
than,  perhaps,  should  have  been,  we  must, 
however  be  inclined  to  think  it  is  more  than 
strawberry  growers  for  profit  can  aiford  ; 
and,  while  the  varieties  may  be  desirable  to 
the  amateur,  I  venture  to  predict  that  not 
one  among  those  carefully  described  will  be 


found  five  years  hence  in  a  dozen  gardens 
in  the  United  States. 

Disease  of  the  Vine,  and  its  Remedy. 
— The  writer  seems  to  have  found  what,  to 
himself,  appears  a  certain  cure  for  the  dis- 
eases of  the  grape-vine.  I  hope  it  may  be 
true;  for,  although  in  vineyard  culture  such 
powdering  three  or  more  times  is  attended 
with  considerable  expense,  it  is  yet  better 
than  to  lose  the  whole  crop.  I  confess, 
however,  to  be  a  little  of  an  unbeliever,  and 
to  think  that  the  experiments  require  re- 
peating. If  oidium  is  a  disease  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  affecting  the  vine  without 
regard  to  soil  or  vigor  of  the  vine,  then  a 
change  in  the  atmosphere  might  have 
checked  the  progress  of  the  disease  rather 
than  the  use  of  the  powdered  claj^  If> 
again,  we  grant  oidium  to  be  a  disease  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  attacking  only  vines  in 
a  peculiar  condition  of  vigor,  or  rather  want 
of  vigor,  as  the  ague  does  mankind,  then 
have  we  not  to  go  farther  back  to  get  our 
remedy. 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  Five  Acres  for 
A  Suburban  Villa. — On  the  whole,  a  good 
plan.  I  should,  however,  object  to  so  much 
roadway  in  front,  and  should  endeavor  to 
mass  my  trees  nearer  the  approach-gate, 
■R-ith  the  same  view  apparent  here,  viz.,  to 
shut  it  from  the  house,  and  arrange  for  but 
one  roadway,  thus  giving  me  more  of  appa- 
rent extent  inside,  and  liberty  to  present  a 
more  park-like  character. 

Southward,  Ho  !  Fruit  Culture  in 
the  United  States. — The  writer  truly 
says,  "  a  large  portion  of  the  Southern 
States  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  culture 
of  fruits  ;"  and,  where  perfect  quiet  and 
order,  with  less  of  bowie-knife  rule,  pre 
vails,  our  Northern  men  will  doubtless  seek 
and  improve  the  portions  of  the  Southern 
States  best  suited  to  the  products  that  may 
be  found  profitable.  We  Northerners  are 
a  go-ahead  people.  We  are  ambitious  to 
gain  money  as  well  as  reputation,  but  we 
love  the  comforts  of  a  quiet  home,  and  a 
feeling  that  we  can  visit  from  neighbor  to 
neighbor  without  having  to  carry  a  revolver 
for  bodily  protection. 


310 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


Tliat  sections  of  the  Southern  States  are 
admirably  adapted  to  fruit  culture,  as  be- 
fore said,  is  true,  but  let  no  man  think  that 
fruit-growing  is  there  free  from  care,  or 
that  its  returns  pecuniarily  are  any  more 
ready  or  certain  than  in  our  Northern 
States.  Extremes  are  even  greater  in  the 
Southern  than  in  the  Northern  States. — 
Drought  often  prevails,  as  is  the  case  this 
year,  just  at  the  very  point  vrhen  rain  is 
most  needed  to  swell  and  perfect  the  fruit* 
Long-continued  rains  are  more  prevalent 
than  at  the  North,  and  no  man  accustomed 
to  the  North  can  labor  at  the  South  with 
anything  like  the  same  spirit  and  ease  of 
the  physical  frame. 

Inside  Grape  Borders. — "  Fox  Meadow," 
as  usual,  writes  with  a  racy  pen,  and  I  have 
read  this  article  with  so  much  satisfaction 
as  to  wish  I  could  step  in  and  see  his  in- 
side borders.  Like  him,  1  have  faith  in  in- 
side borders,  but  only  for  those  who  know 
how  to  treat  the  vine,  and  so  knowing,  per- 
form the  labor. 

E.  W.  Bull  on  Grape  Culture — No. 
2. — In  this,  there  are  some,  to  me,  crude 
notions,  one  of  which  is  the  advice  never  to 
prune  a  vine  at  time  of  planting;  another 
is  the  sj'-stem  of  training.  It  may  do  for 
]Mr.  Bui),  but  would  never  do  for  me. — 
There  is,  in  the  advice  not  to  shorten-in  the 
grape,  a  clashing  of  physiology  with  the 
practice ;  and,  in  the  mode  of  pruning,  an 
extra  amount  of  labor,  not  compensated 
with  fruit  as  compared  with  the  simple 
renewal  practice  advised  by  Husmann. 

I  will  say  to  Mr.  Merrick  that  it  is  my 
impression  his  vines  will  be  less  subject  to 
injury  fi-om  late  spring  frosts^  if  he  will 
leave  them  to  lay  upon  the  ground,  even 
until  after  the  fruit  has  set.  I  am  sur- 
prised at  the  comments  on  "  My  Vineyard 
at  Lake  View."  As  Mr,  Merrick  says,  the 
author  |jro/esses  to  give  actual  experience, 
but  how  do  we  know  it  is  anything  but  fic- 
tion. Trot  out  the  author,  then  we  will  go 
and  see  his  place,  and,  seeing,  believe  or 
otherwise  in  the  truth  of  his  book. 

Correspondence. — With  your  permis- 
sion, Mr.  Editor,  I  step  over  among  your 


correspondents,  to  ask  of  Mr.  Phoenix  an 
account  of  the  Georgia  Mammoth  Straw- 
berry. 

P.  D.  0. — My  good  critic,  on  a  criticism, 
I  have  little  doubt  but  that  our  views  of  the 
style  of  architecture,  as  adapted  to  natural 
surroundings,  would  harmonize.  At  any 
rate,  I  am  glad  to  have  drawn  you  out  in 
the  remarks  you  have  made.  My  object  in 
criticising  the  steep  roofs  and  gables  was 
more  to  check  their  undue  sway  and  posi- 
tion everywhere,  rather  than  a  thought  of 
discountenancing  the  style.  You  ask  if  the 
praise  by  Downing,  and  other  leading  arch- 
itects, of  the  gothic  rural  cottage  of  Eng- 
land— their  appreciation  of  the  old  cathe- 
drals with  their  peaks  and  arches — was  a 
fiilse  taste  ?  I  reply  certainly  not.  There 
is  a  grandeur  and  beauty  in  gothic  archi- 
tecture possessed  by  no  other  style ;  and 
when  the  style  is  fully  carried  out  with 
depth  and  finish,  and  the  character  of  the 
trees  surrounding  such  a  building,  if  a  pri- 
vate residence,  adapted  in  their  character 
of  growth  and  foliage  to  harmonize  with  itj 
tlie  section  may  be  a  level  or  not,  and  the 
building  in  good  taste. 

I  cannot,  however,  believe  Mr.  Downing, 
were  he  once  again  with  us,  would  assent 
to  the  tinsel  style  of  gothic  architecture  in 
inch  pine,  painted  white,  and  built  on  lots 
twenty-five  feet  by  one  hundred  feet. 

It  is  this  reducing  of  a  lofty  order  to 
pigmy  ideas  that  I  would  particularly  com- 
plain of. 

Again,  as  our  cheap  houses — those  cost- 
ing ^1,500  to  §2,000— are  mostly  con- 
structed with  a  view  to  obtain  rooms,  &c., 
at  a  small  expense,  why  should  not  our 
architects  occasionally  introduce  more  of 
the  Italian  or  the  Tuscan  styles  1  They 
furnish  room,  shade,  balconies  and  veran- 
das, to  suit  the  wants  to  shield  from  storm 
and  sun;  and  their  cost  of  construction, 
compared  with  room  obtained,  is  less  in 
proportion. 

But  enough  ;  my  object,  I  think,  has 
sufficiently  been  stated,  and  I  leave  the 
subject  for,  perhaps,  some  future  time. 

Keueen. 


Box  or  Basket  Layers.  311' 

BOX  OR  BASKET  LAYERS.— THEIR  TRUE  VALUE  AND  PROPER  USE. 


BY    VITICOLA. 


"We  Lave  observed  some  recent  notes  in 
tbc  Horticulturist  strongly  condemning 
basket  layers  as  unmitigated  humbugs. 
Anything  may  be  a  humbug  when  pushed 
to  extremes,  and  vre  freely  admit  that  the 
impossible  hopes  that  have  been  held  out 
to  the  public  as  baits,  to  induce  them  to 
purchase  freely  of  basket  laj'ers,  do  invest 
the  subject  with  some  of  the  characteristics 
of  a  genuine  humbug.  For  it  is  possible 
that  while  all  the  promises  made  about 
basket  layers  may  be  "  kept  to  our  ears ;  it 
is  tolerably  certain  that  many  of  them  will 
be  broken  to  our  hope."  It  may  be  true 
that  such  layers  will  "fruit  next  season." 
Ought  they  to  be  fruited  next  season  ?  and 
if  fruited,  will  they  bear  better  than  good 
strong  plants  transplanted  in  the  ordinary 
way. 

At  the  State  fair  in  Elmira  a  dozen  years 
ago  a  grape  grower  exhibited  a  plant  grow- 
ing in  a  tub  or  pail  and  bearing  several 
bunches  of  very  fine  fruit.  If  we  remember 
right  the  variety  was  Isabella.  Now  this 
was  a  layer,  and  a  layer  fruited  the  same 
season  it  was  made.  As  an  experiment  it 
was  very  pretty.  As  an  illustration  of 
grape-growing  it  was  worthless.  Plants 
have  been  grown  in  pots,  and  if  this  was 
described  as  "  grapes  grown  in  a  tub,"  it 
was  a  verbal  truth  and  an  actual  lie.  So 
that  it  was  either  a  very  pretty  experi- 
ment, or  an  actual  falsehood,  according  to 
circumstances. 

Lest,  however,  the  animal  versions  which 
have  been  so  freely  lavished  upon  them  and 
their  producers  should  be  applied  to  basket 
layers  under  all  circumstances,  we  take  the 
liberty  of  saying  a  word  or  two  in  their 
favor. 

In  his  account  of  the  Thomery  system 
Du  Breuil  says  of  basket  layers  :  "  This  is 
undoubtedly  the  best  mode  of  propagation, 
and  is  that  which  is  preferred  at  Thomery. 
Unhappily,  on  account  of  the  expense  at- 


tending the  transportation  of  basket  layers, 
the  cultivator  is  often  compelled  to  use  the 
unprotected  layers,  or  chevelees." 

But  we  do  not  base  our  conclusions 
wholly  upon  either  theory  or  the  "au- 
thors." We  ourselves  have  had  some  ex- 
perience both  with  basket  layers  and  com- 
mon layers,  although  we  never  bought  one 
of  the  former.  Before  giving  the  results, 
however,  let  us  consider  what  we  have  a 
right  to  expect  from  basket  layers.  Com- 
mon sense  will  teach  us  that  there  is  a 
limit  to  the  advantages  to  be  desired  from 
this  mode  of  propagation  ;  a  little  consi- 
deration will  show  us  just  where  this  limit 
must  in  the  nature  of  things  lie ;  and  if  any 
vine  seller  claims  that  basket  layers  will 
do  more,  then  we  will  do  well  to  doubt  his 
assertions,  or  at  least  doubt  ou7-  ability  to 
equal  Jiis  extraordinary  results. 

Did  you  ever  lay  a  stout  branch  of  a 
vine,  laying  it  down  for  some  length  deeply 
(that  is  to  say  ten  to  twelve  inches)  below 
the  surface,  keeping  it  moist  during  sum- 
mer, and  cutting  it  free  from  the  parent 
plant  in  the  fall  ?  If  you  have  made  such 
a  layer  and  taken  care  of  it  next  year,  you 
are  doubtless  aware  that  a  plant  so  pro- 
duced is  capable  of  bearing  a  crop  of  fruit 
next  season,  provided  it  is  not  moved  from 
the  place  where  it  layered.  It  cannot  ripen 
a  very  large  crop,  because  the  roots  which 
are  produced  by  layers  during  the  first 
season  never  ripen  as  well  as  those  upon 
plants  which  have  been  growing  since 
spring.  But  it  will  have  a  fair  proportion 
of  roots,  and  if  not  fruited  at  all,  it  is 
capable  of  making  an  exceedmgly  vigorous 
plant  during  the  next  season.  If  then  you 
have  ever  tried  this,  you  have  a  standard 
which  it  is  in  vain  for  you  ever  to  hope  to 
surpass  by  any  such  contrivances  as  box 
or  basket  layers.  This  is  too  obvious  to 
require  remark.  No  one  would  venture  to 
assert  that  merely  removing  such  a  vine, 


312 


The  Horticulturist. 


no  matter  liow  it  was  done,  would  add  to 
its  vigor  or  hasten  its  progress.  Now  even 
the  most  inexperienced  will  have  some  idea 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  roots  of  such  a 
layer  as  we  have  described  will  extend. 
Are  you  prepared,  "  regardless  of  expense," 
to  remove  all  the  earth  within  that  space  ? 
If  so,  it  is  probable  that  the  vine  in  its  new 
location  will  bear  nearly  as  well  as  if  it  had 
not  been  moved.  But  if  you  live  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  original  vine,  you  will  find 
that  the  freight  will  cost  more  than  the 
vine  is  worth.  We  have  under  ordinary 
favorable  circumstances  layered  a  branch 
from  a  bearing  vine,  and  had  it  make  a 
strong  plant  next  season — a  plant  which, 
during  the  following  year,  bore  a  full  crop. 
To  avoid  mistake,  let  us  say  that  if  in  this 
year  of  our  Lord  1866  you  make  such  a 
layer,  it  will,  during  1867,  make  wood 
enough  to  cover  a  trellis  eight  feet  long 
and  three  feet  high,  and  during  1868  it  will 
bear  a  full  crop  over  that  extent,  provided 
it  is  allowed  to  remain  where  it  is  layered. 
We  base  this  statement  upon  our  own 
average  experience  under  ordinary  garden 
culture.  No  basket  layer  under  the  same 
circumstances  could  have  done  mare. 

But  the  removal  of  such  a  layer  would 
be  a  formidable  undertaking.  Take  such 
basket  layers  as  are  figured  by  Du  Breuil — 
they  are  about  equal  to  those  generally 
offered  for  sale — where  but  a  few  joints  are 
laid  down  and  the  amount  of  earth  does  not 
exceed  from  one-half  to  one  bushel,  and  the 
idea  of  either  fruiting  them,  or  building  up 
the  superstructure  of  the  future  plant  upon 
any  such  basis,  during  the  first  season, 
would  be  preposterous.  You  may  fruit 
such  a  vine,  but  every  bunch  will  cost  you 
ten  times  its  value,  if  the  vine  is  worth 
anything  at  all. 

But,  when  properly  managed,  basket 
layers  may  be  made  to  do  much  better 
than  common  layers,  or  "  naked  layers," 
as  they  are  called,  of  the  same  size.  A 
good  shoot  from  an  Isabella  vine,  layered 
by  the  end  of  May  in  an  old  half-bushel 
basket,  separated  from  the  parent  plant  by 


the  middle  of  August,  and  removed  on  the 
5th  of  September  to  its  permanent  loca- 
tion, ripened  its  wood  so  perfectly  that  two 
arms  of  four  feet  each  (which  had  been 
grown  while  the  layer  was  attached  to  the 
parent  vine)  were  laid  in  at  the  winter 
pruning.  Next  year  these  arms  threw  up 
twelve  vigorous  shoots,  all  of  which  would 
have  borne  fruit  if  allowed  to  do  so.  But 
the  fruit  blossoms  were  all  removed  as 
soon  as  they  showed  themselves,  and  the 
second  season  each  alternate  shoot  boie  a 
full  crop  of  grapes  without  injury  to  the 
vine. 

We  have  never  been  able  to  attain  the 
same  success  with  naked  layers,  and  we 
therefore  regard  the  use  of  baskets  as 
capable  of  saving  fully  one  year. 

But  in  all  our  experiments  we  have 
found  that  the  great  advantage  to  be  do- 
rived  from  the  use  of  baskets  is  the  facility 
which  it  gives  us  of  transplanting  the  young 
vines  before  they  have  done  growing.  A 
plant  layered  by  the  end  of  May  will  begin 
to  throw  out  roots  early  in  June ;  by  the 
first  of  August  these  roots  will  have  filled 
a  large  basket  ;  if  now,  by  the  middle  of 
August,  the  layer  be  placed  upon  its  own 
resources,  the  roots  and  wood  will  ripen 
thoroughly.  Remove  the  plant  by  the 
first  of  September  to  its  final  resting  place, 
and  the  roots  will  not  only  heal  up  all 
their  injuries,  but  will  send  out  multitudes 
of  new  fibres,  as  we  have  proved  by  careful 
observation,  and  your  vine  at  the  close  of 
the  season  is  equal  to  a  good,  healthy  plant 
that  had  been  set  out  in  the  previous  spring 
and  had  grown  without  check  the  whole 
season.  And  it  is  not  a  whit  better.  Would 
you  dare  to  fruit  a  common  plant  the  second 
season  after  setting  out  ? 

But  if  the  plant  should  be  transported  to 
a  distance  and  the  roots  next  outside  of  the 
box  or  basket,  should  get  dry,  the  plant  is 
worse  than  a  well-transplanted  common 
vine  oft]>e.foUoioing  spring. 

So,  too,  if  the  transplanting  be  delayed 
until  late  in  the  fall,  or  till  the  following 
spring,  we  cannot  see  how  basket  layers 


Gleanings. 


313 


would  prove  better  than  Tvell-transplanted 
vines  removed  in  the  ordinary  manner.  In- 
deed, we  would  prefer  the  latter,  even  aside 
from  convenience  and  cheapness.  It  is  well 
known  to  every  plant  grower  that  in  setting 
out  vines  that  have  been  grown  in  pots  and 
boxes,  it  is  better  to  shake  off  all  the  soil 
from  the  roots  and  spread  them  out  in  their 
new  location,  than  merely  to  transfer  the 
ball  to  the  border,  unless  the  operation  has 
to  be  performed  during  the  growing  season. 
It  is  true  that  in  baskets  or  boxes  made  of 
slats,  the  roots  are  not  so  much  confined 
as  they  are  in  pots  or  tight  boxes.  Still 
this  would  not  alter  our  preference. 

To  us  it  seems  that  the  great  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  basket  layers  lies  in  the 
fact  that  they  can  be  transplanted  so  early 
in  the  fall  as  to  secure  what  is  virtually 
equivalent  to  an  extra  year's  growth.  This, 
and  this  alone,  confers  upon  them  their 
superiority  to  common  layers  or  cuttings. 
That  the  use  of  the  basket  doe.^  enable  us 
to  secure  this  great  advantage,  we  know,  for 
we  liave  tried  it.  "Would  it  not  be  well,  then, 
for  those  who  desire  to  extend  their  vine- 


yards to  give  some  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject? 

Instead  of  setting  out  plants  in  the  spring, 
make  a  number  of  basket  layers  in  May  or 
early  in  June.  During  the  summer  the 
land  to  be  occupied  by  the  proposed  exten- 
sion may  be  used  for  any  valuable  crop  that 
can  be  removed  by  the  first  of  September. 
At  that  time  the  ground  can  be  cultivated 
and  brought  into  the  very  best  condition, 
so  that  the  plants  might  be  placed  in  soil 
mellow  and  friable  to  the  last  degree. 

If  after  being  planted  they  were  tho- 
roughly mulched,  they  would  go  on  and 
ripen  both  wood  and  roots,  and  become  so 
firmly  established  that,  next  spring,  they 
could  not  fail  to  make  a  vigorous  growth. 
And  we  are  perfectly  satisfied  that  the 
grape  grower  who  adopts  this  plan  in  his 
vineyard  will  form  an  opinion  of  basket 
layers  very  different  from  that  of  the  ama- 
teur who,  in  November,  receives  by  express 
from  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  or  more 
a  box  or  a  basket  layer  at  ija  cost  of  five  or 
ten  dollars. 


GLEANINGS— Continued, 


[IX, 

In  speaking  of  the  greatest  depths 
within  the  earth  reached  by  human  labor, 
we  must  recollect  that  there  is  a  difference 
between  the  absolute  depth  (that  is  to  say, 
the  depth  below  the  earth's  surface  at  that 
point),  and  the  relative  depth  (or  that  be- 
neath the  level  of  the  sea).  The  greatest 
relative  depth  that  man  has  hitherto  reach- 
ed is  probably  the  bore  of  the  salt  works  at 
Minden,  in  Prussia :  in  June  1844,  it  was 
1,993  feet,  the  absolute  depth  being  2,231 
feet.  The  temperature  of  the  water  at  the 
bottom  was  91°  Fahrenheit,  which  assum- 
ing the  mean  temperature  of  the  air  at 
49°  3',  gives  an  increase  of  temperature  of 
1°  for  every  54  feet.  The  absolute  depth 
of  the  artesian  well  of  Grenelle,  near  Paris, 


is  only  1,795  feet.  It  is  said  that  the  "  fire- 
springs"  of  the  Chinese,  which  are  sunk  to 
obtain  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  for  salt 
boiling,  far  exceed  our  artesian  wells  in 
depth,  some  of  them  are  more  than  2,000 
feet  in  depth,  and  one  is  mentioned  by 
Humboldt  which  had  a  depth  of  3,197  feet. 
The  relative  depth  reached  at  Mount 
Abassi,  in  Tuscany,  amounts  to  only  1,253 
feet.  The  boring  at  the  salt  works  near 
Minden,  is  probably  of  about  the  same  re- 
lative depth  as  the  coal-mine  at  Apenda'e, 
in  Staffordshire,  where  men  work  725  yards 
be'ow  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  rela- 
tive depth  cf  the  Monk-wearmouth  mine, 
near  Newcastle,  England  is  only  1,496 
feet.  The  works  of  greatest  absolute  depth 
that  have  ever  been  formed,   are  for  the 


314 


The  Horticulturist. 


most  part  situated  in  such  elevated  plains 
or  valleys,  that  they  either  do  not  descend 
so  low  as  the  level  of  the  sea,  or  at  most 
reach  very  little  below  it.  Thus  the  Esel- 
schacht,  in  Bohemia,  a  mine  which  cannot 
now  be  worked,  had  the  enormous  absolute 
depth  of  3,778  feet. 


X. 


According  to  tolerably  accordant  experi- 
ments in  artesian  wells,  mines,  &c.,  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  heat  increases  on  an 
average  about  1°  for  every  54^  feet.  The 
two  points  on  the  earth  lying  at  a  small 
vertical  distance  from  each  other,  whose 
annual  mean  temperatures  are  most  accu- 
rately^ known,  are  probably  at  the  spot  on 
which  the  Paris  Observatory  stands,  and 
the  Catacombs  beneath  it.  The  mean  tem- 
perature of  the  former  is  51°  5',  and  of  the 
latter  53°  3',  the  diflerence  being  1°  8'  for 
92  feet,  or  1°  for  51.77  feet. 

If  this  increase  of  temperature  can  be 
reduced  to  arithmetical  relations,  it  will 
follow  that  a  stratum  of  granite  would  be 
in  a  state  of  fusion  at  a  depth  of  about  21 
geographical  miles,  or  between  four  or  five 
times  the  elevation  of  the  highest  summit 
of  the  Himalaya. 

XL 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  inor- 
ganic crust  of  the  earth  contains  within  it 
the  same  elements  that  enter  into  the 
structure  of  animal  and  vegetable  organs. 
The  physical  cosmography  would  therefore 
be  incomplete  if  it  were  to  omit  a  consid- 
eration of  these  forces,  and  of  the  sub- 
stances which  enter  into  solid  and  fluid 
combinations  in  organic  tissues,  under  con- 
ditions which  from  our  ignorance  of  their 
actual  nature,  we  designate  by  the  vague 
term  of  vital  forces^  and  group  into  various 
systems,  in  accordance  with  more  or  less 
perfectly  conceived  analogies.  The  natural 
tendency  of  the  human  mind  involuntarily 
prompts  us  to  follow  the  physical  phenom- 


ena of  the  earth,  through  all  their  varied 
series,  unil  we  reach  the  final  stage  of  the 
evolution  of  vegetable  forms,  and  the  self- 
determining  powers  of  motion  in  animal 
organisms. 

XII. 

During  the  winter  season  plants  are  pro- 
vided by  nature  with  a  sort  of  winter 
quarters,  which  secure  them  from  the 
effects  of  cold.  Those  called  herbaceous, 
which  die  down  to  the  root  every  autumn, 
are  now  safely  concealed  under  ground, 
preparing  their  new  shoots  to  burst  forth 
when  the  earth  is  softened  in  spring. 
Shrubs  and  trees,  which  are  exposed  to 
the  open  air,  have  all  their  soft  and  tender 
parts  closely  wrapt  up  in  buds,  which  by 
their  firmness  resist  all  the  power  of  frost; 
the  larger  kinds  of  buds,  and  those  which 
are  almost  ready  to  expand,  are  further 
guarded  by  a  covering  of  resin  or  gum, 
such  as  the  horse-chestnut,  the  sycamore, 
and  the  balm  of  Gilead.  The  external 
covering,  however,  and  the  closeness  of 
their  internal  texture,  are  of  themselves  by 
no  means  adequate  to  resist  the  intense 
cold  of  a  winter's  night;  a  bud,  detached 
from  its  stem,  enclosed  in  glass,  and  thus 
protected  from  all  access  of  external  air,  if 
suspended  from  a  tree  during  a  sharp  frost, 
will  be  entirely  penetrated,  and  its  parts 
deranged  by  the  cold,  while  the  buds  on 
the  same  tree  will  not  have  sustained  the 
slightest  injury.  We  must  therefore  attri- 
bute to  the  living  principle  in  vegetables, 
as  well  as  in  animals,  the  power  of  resist- 
ing cold  to  a  very  considerable  degree.  In 
animals  we  know  this  power  is  generated 
from  the  decomposition  of  air  by  means  of 
the  lungs  and  disengagement  of  heat.  How 
vegetables  acquire  this  property  remains 
for  future  observation  to  discover.  If  one 
of  these  buds  be  carefully  opened,  it  is 
found  to  consist  of  young  leaves  rolled  to- 
gether, within  which  are  even  all  the  blos- 
soms in  miniature  that  are  afterwards  to 
adorn  the  spring. 


Editor's  Table. 

EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


315 


To  Contributors  and  Others Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 

publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


We  have  received  from  Mr.  George  Hus- 
mann,  of  Hermann,  Missouri,  the  prospec- 
tus of  the  Bluflfton  Wine  Company  of  Cen- 
tral Missouri. 

The  objects  of  the  Company  are : 

First— The  purchase  of  2,000  to  3,000 
acres  of  the  most  desirable  grape  land  sur- 
rounding BlufFton  Landing.  A  portion  of 
this  land  may  in  time,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  Company,  be  sold  to  suitable  persons 
who  may  wish  to  locate  upon  it  for  grape- 
growing  or  other  purpose.  The  principal 
part,  however,  is  designed  to  be  lensed  for 
a  term  of  ten  years,  in  tracts  of  about 
twenty  acres,  to  persons  who,  without  hav- 
ing the  means  to  purchase,  have  the  dispo- 
sition, necessary  intelligence  and  industry 
for  engaging  in  grape-growing.  The  leases 
to  be  made  on  terms  similar  to  those  al- 
ready established  by  Mr.  Husmann.  This, 
the  grape-growing  proper,  to  be  under  the 
supervision  of  a  competent  manager,  who 
is  able  to  assist  the  tenants  with  advice 
and  instruction  when  they  need  it.  The 
terms  of  Mr.  Ilusmann's  leases  are  briefly 
as  follows  : — To  furnish  the  tenant  a  small 
house  to  live  in,  the  vines  for  planting,  the 
wire  for  trellis  if  used,  about  ^150  for  his 
support  the  first  j'ear,  and  give  him  one- 
half  of  the  produce.  This  plan  has  been 
tried  for  several  years  by  Mr.  Husmann, 
and  found  to  be  very  profitable  and  satis- 
factory to  both  parties. 

Second — Under  a  competent  manager,  to 
propagate  grapes  largely  upon  the  deep, 
rich,  sandy  loam  soils  to  be  found  on  some 
of  the  creek  bottoms  belonging  to  the  Com- 
pany. It  is  well  known  by  trial  that  a  very 
superior  quality  of  plants  can  be  produced 
with  great  facility  upon  these  soils.  In 
this  way  the  surplus  grape  wood  produced 
can  be  used  to  good  advantage.     An  im- 


mense amount  of  plants  may  be  thus  grown, 
and  the  public  fui-nished  with  vines  at  a 
lower  rate,  and  of  better  quality  than  can 
be  obtained  elsewhere. 

Third — Build  a  cellar  or  cellars  of  suffi- 
cient capacity  to  hold  the  wine  which  can 
be  made  from  all  the  grapes  grown  in 
the  vicinity,  purchasing  the  shares  of  the 
lessees  at  a  fair  value,  and  also  the  products 
of  other  vineyards  in  the  vicinity.  The 
advantage  of  making  wine  on  a  large  scale, 
and  in  large  and  suitable  cellars  is  well 
known.  Add  to  this  the  peculiar  advan- 
tage of  the  soil  and  location,  and  it  is  con- 
fidently believed  that  wine  will  be  made  at 
Bluft'ton  infinitely  superior  in  quality  to 
any  heretofore  made  in  this  country  East 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  department 
also  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  a  com- 
petent person,  who  understands  the  man- 
agement of  still  and  sparkling  wines,  dis- 
tilling the  husks  and  lees  into  brandy,  &c. 

Fourth — To  establish  a  depot  for  sales 
in  St.  Louis. 

OFFICERS   OF    THE   COMPANY. 

George  Husmann,  President. 
Dr.  Philip  Weigel,   Vice-President. 
Dr.  L.  D.  Morse,  Secretary. 
Hon.  IsiDOR  Bush,  Treasurer. 

We  are  glad  to  see  an  enterprize  of  this 
sort  put  in  motion,  and  by  parties  of  such 
well-known  standing.  Mr.  Husmann  has 
already  demonstrated  that  its  success  is 
certain. 

Seedling  Grape- Vines,  magnolias,  or- 
namental shrubs,  &c.,  should  be  protected 
the  first  winter.  Many  a  plant  is  destroy- 
ed the  first  winter  that,  had  it  been  then 
protected,  would  have  afterwards  proved 
hardy. 


316 


The  Horticulturist. 


Lilies — Hybridization.  —  The  Japan 
lilies,  speciostcm  and  varieties,  have  now- 
been  for  years  among  the  gems  of  our 
flower-gardens.  More  recently  the  auratum 
was  introduced,  and,  with  its  immense  size 
of  flower,  and  beautiful  gold  band  or  stripe 
in  the  centre  of  the  petals,  has  caused  some 
amount  of  excitement,  and  ready  sale  for 
the  bulbs  at  high  prices.  But  the  end  is 
yet  to  come  ;  and,  from  what  has  been  told 
us,  and  from  what  we  have  read,  the 
Messrs.  Hovey,  of  Boston,  have,  by  hy- 
bridizing the  variety  of  Japan  lily  called 
melpomene  with  the  auratum^  produced  and 
flowered  a  variety  surpassing  the  auratum 
in  splendor,  and  having  the  form  of  flower 
and  habit  of  foliage  of  speciosum.  This,  of 
course,  inaugurates  the  practice  now  soon, 
we  doubt  not,  to  be  followed  by  amateur 
florists,  until  a  few  years,  we  trust,  will  see 
our  gardens  blooming  with  varieties  of 
thes3  lilies,  as  much  surpassing  in  beauty 
the  present  as  the  present  does  that  of  the 
old  tiger  lily.  By  the  by,  we  suggest  to 
operators  the  tiger  lily  as  a  parent  to  work 
upon,  to  retain  hardihood,  and  bring  out 
colors. 

Bulbs  that  are  yearly  moved  and  flower- 
ed m  the  open  ground  rarely  seed ;  but,  if 
left  in  the  same  place  three  or  more  years, 
without  having  been  taken  up,  the  main  or 
centre  flower  stalk  will  generally  produce 
seed.  Plants,  however,  that  are  grown  in 
pots  in  the  house  nearly  always  produce 
seed,  hence  such  plants  are  advised  for  op- 
erating on. 


Gathering  Fruit. — Pears  and  apples, 
usually  termed  fall  varieties,  should  be 
gathered  a  week  or  ten  days  before  they 
would  naturally  drop.  Pick  them  by  hand  ; 
lay  them  in  barrels  or  boxes,  enclosing  them 
tight ;  and  place  in  a  cool  but  dry  room  or 
cellar.  So  cared  for,  they  will  often  keep 
till  near  or  quite  mid-winter. 

Winter  varieties,  especially  long-keeping 
sorts,  should  be  left  on  the  trees  as  long  as 
the  weather  will  permit.  Some  claim  that, 
as  the  ripening  process  changes  the  starch 
into  sugar,  therefore,  in  order  to  keep  well, 
the  fruit  should  be  gathered  before  any 
such  change  has  taken  place ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  fruit  should  be  gathered  two  or 
three  weeks  before  it  is  commonly  termed 
ripe. 

We  may  err  in  our  judgment ;  but  many 
years  of  observation  convinces  us  that  our 
best  fruits  in  winter  and  spring  have  been 
those  that  we  permitted  to  hang  longest  on 
the  tree. 


Dwarf  Evergreens,  planted  in  tubs  or 
boxes  where,  during  the  past  summer,  ver- 
benas, geraniums,  &c.,  have  freely  bloomed^ 
help  to  make  a  cheerful  and  pleasing  char- 
acter to  a  portion  of  the  garden  or  lawn 
that  otherwise  would  present  a  barren  and 
rather  unsightly  feature.  The  evergreens, 
if  not  wanted  in  spring  to  plant  out  else- 
where, maybe  kept  in  the  tubs  in  the  back 
yard,  or  massed  in  around  and  among  groups 
of  stately  trees. 


The  Kittatinny  Blackberry. — This 
blackberry,  it  seems,  called  the  members  of 
the  American  Institute  Farmers'  Club  to 
an  examination  of  its  merits  in  August  last. 
Their  report  places  it  as  promising  to  be 
more  desirable,  both  for  market  and  family 
use,  than  any  other  variety.  It  is  stated 
to  be  as  large  as  Lawton ;  to  ripen  earlier, 
and  continue  longer,  and  to  bear  equally  as 
well,  if  not  better;  the  canes  perfectly 
hardy,  and  the  fruit  sweet  and  high-flavored. 
It  originated  in  the  woods  near  the  Kitta- 
tinny Mountains,  in  Warren  County,  N.J. 

the 


Hyacinths,  for  early  blooming 
house,  should  be  potted  this  month. 


Strawberry  Beds  should  be  carefully 
looked  over,  and  the  weeds  thoroughlj"-  era- 
dicated. If  not  alread}'-  mulched,  do  not 
delay  attending  to  it.  Our  southern  grow- 
ers will  find  this  a  good  month  to  form  new 
beds. 

As  SOON  as  the  leaves  drop,  prune  out- 
door grape-vines. 


Editor's  Table. 


317 


Clethra. — Among  our  shrubs  there  are, 
to  our  vein,  none  more  -worthy  attention 
than  the  clethra.  Commcn  as  it  is  in  parts 
of  New  England,  and  so  on  toward  the  Con- 
tinent, it  is  rarely  found  in  our  gardens  ; 
and  yet,  during  the  month  of  August,  there 
is  no  shrub  whose  spikes  of  flowers  are 
more  beautiful  or  more  fragrant.  It  is  per- 
fectly hardy,  and  should  be  in  all  grounds. 


near  Philadelphia,  do  not  think  we  should 
choose  it  as  a  stock ;  but  the  combined 
knowledge  of  the  growers  in  various  sec- 
tions, as  reported,  shows  the  pear  to  be, 
when  grown  on  quince,  very  valuable  in 
certain  localities  and  soils — of  the  latter, 
clajr  seems  to  have  preference. 


This  and  That. — Our  friendly  contem- 
porary, the  Gardener's  Montlibj,  in  its  August 
number,  takes  us  to  task  for  crediting  it 
with  the  transactions  of  the  Fruit  Growers' 
Society  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania;  and,  at 
same  time,  rather  intimates  that  we  had 
intention  to  attack  its  uttered  remarks  rel- 
ative to  the  duration  of  the  pear  on  quince 
stocks. 

Now,  we  had  no  intention  to  credit  in- 
correctly ;  nor  do  we  see  that  crediting  to 
the  Monthly  or  otherwise  in  this  matter  is 
of  an}^  import  relative  to  the  subject  in 
hand. 

Again,  we  wrote  our  item  without 
being  "  put  up  to  it,"  but  simply  making 
a  record  of  what  appeared  as  the  sayings 
of  a  fruit-grower.  We  had  no  intention 
either  to  do  injustice  to  Mr.  Crucknell, 
but  gave  the  record  as  we  understood  the 
reading  to  mean.  The  report  in  the  Monthly^ 
it  seems,  reads  that  Mr.  Crucknell  "was 
opposed  to  quince  stocks,  from  their  mak- 
ing the  tree  so  short-lived,  not  lasting 
longer  than  twelve  years."  This  we  quali- 
fied by  saying  "  dboiLt  twelve  years."  Now, 
Mr.  C.  says  that  his  remark  was,  that  "  the 
pear  or  quince,  as  a  general  rule,  could  not 
be  relied  upon  to  bear  and  ripen  a  profitable 
crop  of  fruit  after  attaining  the  age  of  about 
twelve  years."  To  this  we  have  now  only 
to  say  that,  in  our  knowledge,  the  best  of 
crops  have  been  produced  on  dwarf  pear 
trees  much  more  than  twelve  years  old. — 
Our  own  most  productive  and  healthy 
dwarfs  are,  this  year,  from  sixteen  to 
twenty  years  of  age. 

We  have  no  special  interest  to  advocate 
in  the  pear  or  quince  ;  and,  were  we  living 


Introduction  of  the  English  Spar 
ROW  West. — On  Staten  Island,  and  about 
Lewellyn  Park,  in  New  Jersey,  the  Eng- 
lish spdrrow  has  been  introduced.  The  re- 
sult of  this  introduction  has  been  that  an- 
ticipated, viz. — a  destruction  of  great  num 
bers  of  insects  injurious  to  our  shade  and 
fruit  trees.  As  it  will  take  years  for  these 
birds  to  reach  our  Western  States,  where 
fruit-growing  is  a  feature  of  business,  and 
where  shade  trees,  as  here,  are  part  and 
parcel  of  every  gentleman's  home,  we  sug- 
gest to  such  gentlemen  readers  of  our  mag- 
azine the  expenditure  by  them  of  a  small 
sum  in  importing  and  introducing  the  spar- 
row. Gentlemen  with  incomes  varying 
from  ^30,000  to  $180,000  a-year,  can  cer- 
tainly aflord  the  paltry  sum  of  twenty-five 
or  fifty  dollars  toward  the  introduction  of 
a  bird,  whose  labors  will  keep  our  shade 
trees  from  defoliation,  and  our  fruits  less 
injured  by  insects. 

Let  any  gentlemen,  of  city  or  town — 
club,  if  they  will,  or  individually — do  this 
act  of  introducing  the  sparrow,  and  their 
names  will  be  held  in  reverence  for  years, 
as  men  who  sought  not  their  own  onl^-^,  but 
the  public  good. 


Grape  Cuttings,  made  as  soon  as  the 
foliage  of  the  vine  drops,  and  planted  out 
in  well-prepared  land,  will  start  early  in 
the  spring,  and  make  a  stronger  and  better 
growth  than  when  made  during  winter  and 
planted  out  in  the  spring. 


Mount  Lebanon  Grape. — Two  years 
since,  Mr.  Bacon,  of  Richmond,  Mass.,  made 
notice  in  this  journal  of  a  grape,  under  the 
above  name,  that  ripened  its  fruit  in  August, 
and  promised  to  be  valuable.  Will  Mr. 
Bacon  please  tell  us  more  about  it  ? 


318 


The  HorticuUurut. 


Brill's  Early  Cork. — Of  the  various 
sorts  of  sweet  corn,  we  have  to  give  credit 
to  Brill's  Earl 3^,  as  fully  sustaining  its  repu- 
tation. We  bad  our  seed  of  Messrs.  Hen- 
derson &  Fleming,  and  planted  of  it  same 
day  and  in  same  soil  with  other  varieties 
of  sweet  corn,  and  with  Early  Jefferson. 
We  gathered  of  Brill's  at  same  time  as  of 
Jefferson,  and  a  week  earlier  than  any  other 
of  the  sweet  varieties. 


The  Chihuahua  Tomato,  in  our  grounds 
this  year,  has  proved  one  of  the  largest  in 
size ;  but,  as  it  is  very  uneven  and  late  in 
ripening,  we  do  not  esteem  it. 


Roses  and  other  plants,  taken  up  and  le- 
planted  this  month,  should,  at  the  time, 
be  placed  in  a  frame  or  the  house,  and 
shaded  from  the  sun  until  fully  established, 
say  two  weeks  or  more. 


Budded  Trees  should  be  carefully  look- 
ed over  this  month,  and  examined  that  no 
strings  be  left  to  cut  and  destroy  them. 

If  young  peach  stocks  have  grown  too 
strong,  and  there  is  fear  of  them  breaking 
off,  take  the  hedge  shears  and  go  through 
them,  cutting  freely  the  side  limbs,  and 
shortening  back  the  green  part  of  the  top 
wood. 

Celery. — ^If  your  beds  of  celery  have 
not  been  regularly  earthed  up,  then  get 
some  common  round  draining  tile,  and  draw 
each  stem  of  celery  through  the  tile,  leav- 
ing to  stand  on  end.  It  will  bleach  finel}' 
in  this  manner,  and  continue  to  grow  more 
freely  than  when  bleached  by  drawing  the 
earth  up  around  it. 


Plants  that  are  to  be  Heeled  in 
should  have  a  dry  place,  where  the  rains 
will  run  off  freely,  and,  if  possible,  where 
they  may  be  shaded  from  sun  after  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock  of  the  day. 


Purchasing  Trees  in  the  Fall. — A 
correspondent  enquires  for  our  opinion  rela- 
tive to  the  purchasing  of  his  trees  in  the 
fall.  He  says  his  ground  will  not  be 
ready  for  planting  until  spring,  and  that  he 
is  a  long  distance  from  any  nursery.  We 
advise  all  tree  planters  whether  near  or  far 
from  a  nursery,  to  purchase  their  fruit  and 
ornamental  trees,  except  evergreen,  in  the 
fall.  If  the  ground  is  not  ready  for  plant- 
ing before  first  of  winter  sets  in,  then  se- 
lect a  dry  place,  if  possible,  shaded  from 
the  sun,  and  heel  them  in  carefully.  There 
are  often  times  in  winter  when  planting  out 
may  be  done  to  great  advantage ;  and,  by 
having  the  trees  on  hand,  the  work  can  be 
performed  leisurely  and  carefully. 


Cause  Grape  Rot. — The  Lake  Shore 
Grape-Growers'  Association  made  an  ex- 
cursion trip  to  Kelley's  and  other  Lake 
Erie  Islands,  in  August,  and  at  same  time 
held  meetings  for  discussion  relative  to  rot 
and  mildew.  We  find,  from  published  re- 
ports of  their  sayings,  that  the  caiise  of 
disease  in  the  grape,  rot,  &c.,  is  ascribed  in 
great  measure  to  permitting  the  vines  to 
overbear,  and  thus  reduce  their  vitality  and 
ability  to  endure  extreme  changes  of  tem- 
perature. To  this,  and  severe  summer 
pruning,  if  we  recollect  aright,  Mr.  F.  R- 
Elliott,  of  Cleveland,  ascribed  the  cause,  in 
a  communication  to  the  Ohio  Farmer  last 
year.  Summer  pruning,  as  a  rule,  we  learn, 
is  now  pretty  generally  abandoned  on  the 
islands.  May  not  this  be  an  error  1  We 
incline  to  the  practice  of  summer  pruning, 
but  with  a  knowledge  of  the  object,  and 
not  the  heretofore  blind  practice  of  follow- 
ing old  dogmas. 


Large  Grape  Leaf. — A  friend,  visiting 
Professor  J.  P.  Kirtland  the  past  summer, 
measured  a  leaf  of  the  Coleman's  white 
grapevine,  the  dimensions  of  which  were 
eighteen  by  fourteen  inches.  This  grape, 
by  the  by,  is  entirely  distinct  from  Cuya- 
hoga, but  perhaps  not  as  good. 


Editor's  Table. 


319 


Messrs.  Editors  : 

I  should  like  to  say  a  word  in  reply  to 
"  Reuben's  "  pleasant  and  suggestive  criti- 
cism in  the  August  number.  He  seems 
disposed  to  doubt  the  profits  reported  from 
the  Concord,  and  says  we  should  not  reckon 
from  one  vine,  &c.  This  is  very  true  ;  and 
T,  therefore  remind  him  that  Mr.  Bull's  re- 
sults are  obtained  from  a  vineyard  of  20,000 
vines  ;  that  one  of  the  other  gentlemen 
whom  I  consulted  has  six  acres  in  vine- 
yard ;  and  that,  in  Middlesex  County, 
Mass.,  alone,  there  are  fifty-three  acres  ot 
cultivated  grapes,  not  counting  small  lots. 
So  the  matter  has  been  tried  on  a  fair 
scale. 

Mr.  Bull's  trifle  of  compost  is  necessary 
to  bring  about  a  connection  the  first  year 
between  the  vines  and  the  wretched  soil 
in  which,  when  once  established,  they 
flourish,  and  is  a  mere  nothing  in  point  of 
expense  compared  to  the  trenching  and 
manuring  still  so  obstinate!}^  insisted  on  by 
the  books. 

In  regard  to  the  lona,  all  I  can  say  is, 
that  I  am  willing  to  wait  a  little,  and  to  re- 
fer my  want  of  success  with  it,  and  the 
failure  of  my  friends,  to  the  contemptibly 
wretched  vines  thus  far  sent  out  from  head- 
quarters and  elsewhere,  at  most  exorbitant 
prices. 

As  wo  get  vines  that  do  not  require  four 
or  five  years  coaxing  to  get  one  poor  bunch, 
our  opinion  may  be  modified. 

At  Salem,  Mass.,  this  year,  I  saw  the 
Adirondac,  purple,  sweet,  and  three-quar- 
ters ripe,  on  the  17th  of  August,  in  a  not 
very  favorable  location. 

J.  M.  Merrick,  Jr. 


The  Essential  Oils  versus  Mildew. — 
The  article  in  the  September  number  of 
the  Horticulturist  by  Viticola  is  both 
interesting  and  suggestive,  and  should  en- 
courage a  careful  series  of  experiments, 
based  upon  M.  Hubert's  recipe  against  mil- 
dew. Certainly,  it  would  be  unwise  to  re- 
ject the  deliberate  recommendation  of  this 
careful  and  skillful  cultivator  (who  is  also 


reputed  to  be  a  scientific  chemist)  without 
mature  consideration  or  practical  testing. 
The  statements  of  Viticola,  in  respect  to 
the  fatal  effects  of  essential  oils  upon  most 
plants  of  a  fungoid  character,  are  also  to  be 
accepted  with  confidence. 

And  yet,  considering  the  proportions  of 
the  recipe,  and  the  manner  of  its  use,  I 
must  still  own  to  a  good  deal  of  incredulity 
as  to  its  complete  power  to  control  mildew. 

Consider  first  the  proportions  which  are 
thus  given  : — Salt,  8^  ounces ;  saltpetre,  4 
ounces  ;  water,  36  ounces  ;  oil  of  lavender, 
10  drops  ;  oil  of  rosemary,  10  drops.  "  Take 
one  part  of  the  solution,  and  from  one  hun- 
dred to  one  hundred  and  twenty  parts  of 
water."  There  is  an  ambiguity  in  the  use 
of  the  word  part ;  but,  however  its  use  may 
be  decided  the  overwhelming  preponder- 
ance of  water  is  manifest. 

"  Now,  I  believe  the  science  of  hom.oeo- 
pathy,  and  its  wholesome  influence  upon 
general  medical  practice  are  entitled  to 
consideration.  But  I  submit  that,  when 
the  above  solution  is  recommended,  not  for 
direct  contact  with  disease,  but  as  a  wash 
to  be  applied  to  the  trellis  and  cane  of  the 
vine,  in  the  open  air,  before  the  leaves  ap- 
pear, and  months  before  there  are  any  signs 
of  mildew,  it  requires  a  good  deal  of  faith 
to  believe  there  can  be  such  continued  virtue 
in  such  small  quantities  of  volatile  oils,  or 
even  in  the  salt  and  saltpetre.  If  the  so- 
lution were  applied  at  the  incipiency,  or 
just  prior  to  the  development  of  disease, 
and  in  connection  with  sulphur  and  lime, 
we  should  have  good  reason  to  expect  fa- 
vorable results,  though  the  quantity  of 
salts  and  of  oils  is  exceedingly  small.  But 
I  would  ask  Viticola  if  it  is  conceivable 
that  so  small  a  quantity  of  these  volatile 
oils,  when  applied  in  spring,  can  have  any 
perceptible  effect  upon  mildew  in  August — 
the  worst  month  for  its  ravages  ?  I  agree 
with  Viticola  in  hoping  for  good  results  from 
the  recipe  of  M.  Nubert,  and  I  thank  him 
for  indicating  that  my  previous  criticism 
was  too  sweeping.  Still,  I  think  the  propor- 
tions of  the  recipe,  and  especially  the  time 


320 


The  Horticulturist. 


of  application,  will  be  greatlj  modified  by 
trial.  In  this  connection,  I  would  ask  if 
any  vimj-growers  have  noticed  any  immu- 
nity from  mildew  to  vines  trained  around 
red  cedar  posts?  I  have  thought  there 
was  a  perceptible  difference  in  favor  of 
vines  on  cedar  posts.  We  might  expect 
this  result,  for  the  aroma  from  the  posts  is 
known  to  be  antiseptic,  and  it  is  quite  pow- 
erful when  the  posts  are  new. 

Thanks  to  Viticola  for  correcting  an  in- 
accuracy of  expression.  Sulphur  dusted 
upon  the  vines  volatilizes  slowly.  In  the 
process  does  it  not  combine  with  oxygen, 
and  form  sulphurous  gas  ?  I  had  supposed 
so,  but  have  no  authority'  or  practical  test. 
W.  C.  Strong. 


Messrs.  Woodward  : 

A  neighbor  amateur  has  this  year  grown 
about  a  bushel  of  most  delicious  Imperial 
Gage  plums  on  one  tree,  passed  over  to  him 
some  three  years  since  by  a  brother,  who 
said  "  No  use  for  him  to  try  to  grow 
plums."  After  it  was  planted  out  one 
year,  the  family  woodpile  |.was  corded  up 
under  and  about  it;  and  after  the  fruit 
had  set,  so  long  as  any  fear  of  curculio,  a 
plentiful  shower  of  air-slacked  lime  dust 
was  scattered  over  the  top  every  week  or 
twice  a  week.  Last  year  it  bore  a  peck ; 
this  year  a  bushel  or  so — and  here  you 
have  the  whole  story. 

The  writer  is  a  profound  believer  in  the 
efficacy  of  a  similar  course  of  treatment,  so 
far  as  dusting  with  lime  &c.,  not  merely 
for  curculio,  but  for  the  whole  herd  of  insects^ 
mildew  and  fungi  generally.  I  vet  believe 
this  mode  of  throwing  dust  in  trees  will 
force  our  enemies  to  yield,  if  it  did  not  the 
boy  in  the  old  story  who  was  up  in  the  ap- 
ple tree.  So  far  as  large  trees  are  concern- 
ed, and  the  cost  of  material,  either  lime, 
ashes,  plaster,  or  sulphur,  are  entirely 
within  reach  and  reason,  and  will  be  found 
against  cracking  on  pears,  scab  on  White 
Winter  Pearmain  and  other  choice  apples, 


and  mildew  on  grapevines,  an  eminently- 
paying  application.  Year  by  year,  some  of 
our  best  fruits  are  black-balled  in  conven- 
tion, because  found  scabby  or  cracked,  but 
who  proposes  better  ones  in  their  stead  ? 
Or  who  faithfully  combats  their  maladies, 
as  he  would  on  live  stock,  for  instance  ? 

We  do  not  yet  seem  half  rid  of  the  old 
notion  that  a  fruit  tree  must  do  all  without 
care  or  aid.  Do  pears  blight — "  no  use ; 
can't  raise  'em."  Does  a  White  Doyenne 
crack  badly,  reject  it  as  an  "  outcast  intol- 
erable to  sight."  Seriously,  can't  we  do 
better?  Who  will  mind  this  for  next 
3^ear  ? 

F.  K.  Phoenix. 

Bloomington,  III,  Sept.  13,  1866. 


^^  Books  by  Mail. — We  supply  from  this 
office  all  books  and  publications  on  Archi- 
tecture, Agriculture  and  Horticulture,  and 
mail  them  free  of  postage  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  In  addition,  we  execute  orders 
for  the  purchase  and  mailing  of  all  miscel- 
laneous books,  &c.  Order  any  book  pub- 
lished, through  us,  and  it  will  be  promptly 
sent  at  the  lowest  price. 


Advertising    Columns. — We   call    the  1 

attention  of  our  readers  to  our  advertising  j 

columns  this  month.     It  will  pay  to  look  j 
through  them  carefully.     Many  new  names 

will  be  found,  and  we  believe  all  will  deal  ' 

fairly.  ■ 

Each  year    shows   an    increasing    pros-  | 

perity   in  the   Nursery  Trade,   and  those  j 

who  grow  good  plants,  transact  their  busi-  '• 

ness  promptly,  and  advertise  liberally,  are  | 
those  who  meet  with  the  greatest  success. 

So  far  as  Grape  Vines  are  concerned,  we  i 

would  advise  our  readers  to  order  early. —  i 

The  stock   in   the  whole   country   is  not  ' 

large.     We  believe   the  demand   will  not  ' 
be  met,  and  that  larer  in  the  season  prices 
must  advance  very  considerably. 


THE 


HORTICULTUEIST. 


VOL.  XXI NOVEMBER,    18GG. 


,N0,  CCXLV. 


WITHIN  DOORS. 


It  is  not  alone  to  the  outward  embelisli- 
ment  of  the  country  home,  that  art  and 
taste  should  be  directed.  The  influence  of 
these  should  be  shown  as  well  in  its  inter- 
nal arrangement  and  adornment,  and  that 
too,  in  a  way  to  conduce  to  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  the  family,  and  indirectly  to 
promote  that  genial,  unrestrained  sociability 
which  should  ever  characterize  country  life. 
To  the  full  accomplishment  of  this,  our 
rural  communities,  possessed  as  they  are, 
of  ample  means,  need  only  to  have  their 
good  sense  and  judgment  properly  directed. 
Towards  this  end  but  little  has  as  yet  been 
said  or  aone,  while,  on  the  contrary,  much 
thought  has  been  given  to  rural  embellish- 
ment in  the  usual  acceptation  of  the  term. 

How  can  we  hope  to  efiect  that  which  is 
so  much  to  be  desired  ?  How  can  we  best 
make  known  the  necessary  suggestions  to 
those  who  might  profit  by  them  ?  "We  can 
have  no  better  means  than  those  which  the 
p;iges  of  the  Horticulturist  present. 

There  are  certain  little  foibles,  of  which 
our  country  neighbors,  particularly  in  New 
England,  are  guilty,  which  we  heartily 
wish   were   abolished.      For   example,   we 


would  that  the  spirit,  not  always  to  be 
attributed  to  meanness,  were  done  away 
with,  which  shuts  up  every  portion  of  the 
dwelling  even  against  its  own  inmates,  ex- 
cepting perhaps  a  single  apartment.  In 
that  delightful  book,  "  My  farm  at  Edge- 
wood,"  the  author  gives  us  a  faithful  pic- 
ture of  this  failing  too  commonly  met  with, 
and  the  death  of  poor  Dorothy,  and  the 
opening  of  the  darkened  parlors,  is  a  true 
sketch  of  what  takes  place  every  day  in 
almost  every  country  village. 

We  would  gladly  see  the  money  now  ex- 
pended in  the  trashy,  half-made  articles  of 
furniture,  merely  because  the  uncomfort- 
able shapes  of  some  of  them,  are  said  to  be 
of  the  latest  style,  laid  out  for  those  which 
are  truly  strong  and  serviceable,  and  for 
this  reason,  elegant. 

We  grieve  to  know  that  there  are  families 
who  would  willingly  dispose  of  ancestral 
.  relics — choice  heirlooms  that  they  are,  in 
the  shape  of  solid  mahogany  chairs,  lofty 
chests  of  drawers,  with  curiously-wrought 
brass  handles,  elaborately  carved  bureaus, 
claw-footed  tables,  &c.,  all  in  perfect  pre- 
servation, and  all  of  which  would  long  out- 


Entkred  according  to  A.ct  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Wf  odwakd,  in  the  Clerk's  Officd 
of  .the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


322 


The  Horticulturist. 


live  their  present  owners,  as  they  have  theip 
preceding  ones,  to  supply  their  places  with 
modern  articles,  with  chairs  and  sofas  upon 
which  no  mortal  man  could  ever  sit  or  re- 
cline with  the  least  degree  of  comfort,  and 
with  beds  and  bureaus  which  soon  melt  away 
before  the  blasts  of  our  modern  stoves  and 
furnaces. 

We  would  wish  that  less  dependence 
were  placed  in  these  very  stoves  and  fur- 
naces, and  that  an  open  fire-place  existed 
in  every  room,  thus  securing  ample  ventila- 
tion and  cheerfulness,  and  thereby  contri- 
buting to  good  health  and  happiness.  That 
at  the  proper  seasons  every  blind  and  cur- 
tain in  the  country  home  should  be  thrown 
open  to  admit  the  genial  sunlight.  That 
the  light  from  the  blazing  wood-fire  as  it 
dances  on  the  walls  and  ceiling,  should  show 
to  the  belated  traveler  as  he  passes,  the 
forms  of  a  happy  group  gathered  about  the 
ample  chimney  place. 

These  are  but  a  tythe  of  the  changes 
which  we  would  exert  ourselves  to  bring 
about  among  the  intelligent  of  our  rural 
population.  As  regards  the  arrangement 
and  adornment  of  the  interior  of  the 
country  dwelling,  in  the  present  paper  we 
shall  speak  more  especially  of  the  dining- 
room. 

There  is  nothing  more  essential  to  the 
comfort,  and  consequently  to  the  happiness 
of  the  family,  than  that  the  dining-room, 
should  be,  of  all  the  apartments  of  the 
house,  the  most  pleasant  and  the  most 
attractive.  And  to  this  end,  the  first  re- 
quisite is,  that  it  should  be  properly  placed. 
In  building,  or  in  the  occupation  of  the 
residence  already  constructed,  let  that  room 
be  selected  for  the  purpose,  into  which  the 
morning  sun  at  least  shall  throw  its  cheer- 
ful rays.  In  our  cold  climate,  at  no  time 
is  its  presence  more  welcome  than  at  the 
breakfast  table.  If  practicable,  let  both 
the  morning  and  evening  sun-light  illumin- 
ate the  room.  These  points  can  be  attained 
by  the  choice  of  the  southeastern  exposure. 
It  is  not  uncommonly  the  case,  that  the 
most  dreary,  forbidding  room  in  the  house, 


has  been  chosen  for  the  daily  repasts — a 
room  into  which  no  sunshine,  ever  pours, 
and  whose  whole  aspect  partakes  of  that 
gloomy  spirit  which  too  often  broods  over 
the  tables  of  our  people.  "We  are  great 
advocates  for  the  admission  of  the  sun, 
especially  into  those  rooms  which  are  occu- 
pied throughout  the  day,  and  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  country  dwelling,  where 
choice  of  position  is  almost  invariably  to  be 
had,  this  important  point  is  to  be  kept  most 
distinctlj^  in  view.  Where  his  beams  pen- 
etrate household  neglect  on  the  part  of 
mistress  or  dependants,  is  not  so  apt  to  be 
tolerated. 

And  who  can  estimate  the  moral  in- 
fluence which  a  cheerful,  sunlighted,  taste- 
fully-arranged room  exerts  over  the  mem- 
bers of  a  household,  especially  over  the 
younger  portion.  An  influence  which  shall 
go  with  them  through  life,  and  which  shall 
build  up  happy  associations,  to  which  their 
minds  shall  ever  joyfully  revert,  wherever 
in  the  broad  world  may  be  their  habita- 
tion. 

In  the  picture  which  we  should  form  of 
what  a  dining-room  ought  to  be,  certainly 
so  far  as  regards  the  essential  points  of 
which  we  have  spoken,  we  cannot  do  better 
than  to  present  a  description  of  our  own, 
for  to  us  at  least  it  embodies  all  that  is 
requisite  for  the  growth  and  encouragement 
of  that  home-feeling  which  we  would  ever 
see  manifested  in  our  children. 

We  have  a  decided  penchant  for  all  that 
smacks  of  antiquity.  We  like  old  houses 
and  old  furniture,  particularly  if  comely 
and  serviceable.  We  delight  in  painting 
to  ourselves  the  scenes,  through  which 
they  must  have  passed ;  we  believe  too  that 
they  exert  a  much  greater  influence  in 
producing  a  love  for  home,  than  those  con- 
structed at  a  more  recent  period.  Having 
premised  thus  much,  we  will  say  that  our 
house  is  old,  with  a  gambrel  roof  j  that  its 
location  is  a  delightful  one ;  that  we  have 
refined  and  agreeable  neighbors,  and  those 
not  too  near.  The  dining-room  has  a  bay- 
window  to  the  southeast,  and  two  windows 


Within  Doors. 


323 


with  a  southerly  aspect.  The  morning  and 
evening  sun  throughout  the  year  gladdens 
it  with  its  presence.  The  apartment  is  of 
fair  dimensions,  the  ceiling  low;  so  low  that 
in  the  moments  of  play  and  during  tempo- 
rary forgetfulness  we  have  brought  the 
heads  of  our  children  into  very  dangerous 
proximity. 

The  principal  feature  of  the  room,  and 
the  one  in  which  we  take  the  most  delight, 
is  the  big  open  fire  place,  which  will  admit 
as  large  a  log  as  one  can  conveniently  bring 
in.  The  back  and  jambs  are  of  brick,  well 
blackened  with  the  soot  of  many  a  generous 
fire.  The  tiled  hearth  is  broad  and  long, 
well-polished  brass  handirons  and  fenders^ 
with  the  accompanying  shovel,  tongs  and 
bellows,  all  necessary  appendages  to  the 
fire  on  the  hearth,  are  each  in  their  ap- 
propriate places. 

And  what  would  induce  us  to  part  with 
the  cheery  and  happy  spirit,  which  this  old 
fire-place  continually  infuses  into  our  little 
family  —  whether  at  the  morning  hour, 
when  we  first  assemble  around  the  table, 
or  at  the  "children's  hour"  between  day- 
light and  dark,  when  we  gather  around  its 
hearth  to  listen  to  some  oft  read  story  or 
to  recite  some  well-known  adventure !  A 
Turkey  carpet  of  pleasing  colors,  and  of 
thick  texture,  an  article  which,  in  our 
minds  is  always  associated  with  substantial 
old-fashioned  families,  contributes  greatly 
to  our  comfort.  An  antique  sideboard  con- 
venient both  in  its  external  and  internal 
arrangements,  with  a  half  dozen  high- 
backed  mahogany  chairs,  telling  of  Dutch- 
land,  not  to  forget  a  more  luxurious  arm- 
chair, constitute  the  moveable  furniture. 
Simple,  unostentatious  woolen  curtains, 
hang  at  the  bay  and  other  windows — sup- 
ported upon  black  walnut  fixtures.  These 
may  be  easily  dropped  at  night,  shutting 
off,  if  necessary,  the  recess  of  the  bay 
window,  and  thereby  adding  amazingly  to 
the  cosy,  secure  feeling  in  which  we  love 
to  indulge  in  the  long  winter  evenings  of 
the  country.  Numerous  engravings  adorn 
the  wall,  not  in  gilded  frames,  but  in  those 


made  of  hard  wood,  merely  polished  and 
not  varnished,  and  simple  in  design.  Be- 
side the  ancient  clock  and  bronze  candle- 
sticks numerous  little  objects,  tokens  of 
kind  rcmembiance,  adorn  the  broad  and 
ample  mantel-shelf.  Plants,  whose  flowers 
have  delighted  us  through  the  drearj' 
season  of  winter,  find  a  congenial  atmos- 
phere and  plenty  of  sun-light  in  the  bay- 
window.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state 
that  a  convenient  pantry  and  a  good  closet, 
adjuncts  which  cannot  be  dispensed  with 
in  the  well-ordered  household,  are  con- 
tiguous. 

Such  are  the  principal  features  of  our 
dining-room.  While  we  have  seen  many 
that  are  more  spacious  and  elegant,  we 
have  rarely  seen  any  that  contained  within 
it,  more  that  was  essential  to  comfort  or 
that  was  more  calculated  to  make  a  stranger 
feel  at  home. 

We  have  been  thus  particular  in  our 
description,  for  the  reason  that  we  would 
dilate  more  fully  upon  certain  points. 

Of  course,  we  could  not  hope  to  govern 
all  tastes,  but  in  such  a  matter  as  the  se- 
lection of  a  carpet  for  a  country  dining- 
room,  we  should  advocate  the  choice  of  one 
modest,  not  only  in  color,  but  in  design.  So 
also  with  the  coloring  of  the  walls,  whether 
by  paint  or  paper,  we  should  be  governed 
by  similar  rules  of  fitness — giving  our  pre- 
ference to  some  warm  neutral  tint,  and 
most  decidedly  eschewing  white,  as  a  color 
totally  unfitted  for  either  adornment  of 
exterior  or  interior. 

Drapery  curtains,  however  simple  in 
their  Jabric  or  construction,  contribute 
greatly  to  the  appearance  of  a  room,  doing 
away  with  that  bareness  which  is  never 
agreeable,  at  least  during  the  cold  season. 
For  their  accompanying  fixtures,  the  various 
species  of  hard  wood  simply  polished, 
are  far  preferable  to  the  gilded,  which  are 
less  suitable  in  the  country,  being  more 
tawdry  and  more  easily  destroyed.  The 
same  remarks  apply  also  to  the  frames  of 
engravings,  and  in  many  cases  even  those 
of  oil  paintings.     These  may  seem  to  be 


324 


The  Horticulturist. 


matters  of  trilling  importance,  but  they 
all  go  to  show  the  presence  of  good  sense 
and  a  refined  taste,  ruliug  over  a  house- 
hold. 

Plants,  whether  upon  a  stand  or  hanging 
in  appropriate  pots  at  the  window,  add 
amazingly  to  the  cheerfulness  of  any  room, 
contributing  to  the  pleasure  of  those  who 
care  and  tend  for  them.  They  serve  also 
as  useful  barometers,  telling  us,  by  their 
condition,  of  the  atmospherical  state  of  our 
apartments,  their  delicate  organization 
being  unable  to  stand  against  the  injurious 
emanation  from  overheated  furnaces.     Mr. 


Rand,  in  his  pleasant  book  upon  flower?, 
says,  "  a  plant  or  a  stand  of  flowers  is  a 
constant  source  of  pleasure  in  a  room ;  it  is 
a  spring  of  sunshine,  and  its  silent  influence 
makes  all  the  household  more  cheerful  and 
better." 

Finally,  a  certain  degree  of  harmony 
should  be  preserved  in  all  that  concerns 
the  internal  embellishment  of  the  country 
home,  a  point  which  is  very  apt  to  be  over- 
looked by  those  otherwise  correct  in  their 
tastes. 

Chestnut  Hill,  Feb.,  1866. 


DESIGNS  IN  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE.-No.  18. 

BY    G.  E.    HARNEY,    COLUSPRING,  N.  Y. 

The  plan  of  this  house  has  been  adopted  there  has  been  made  some  considerable  al- 

in  a  number  of  instances,  where  cheapness  teration  in  the  exterior,  to  suit  the  fancies 

and  compactness   of  accommodation  were  of  different  parties,  or  the  requirements  of 

particularly  desirable;  and  in  each  instance  different  locations.     In  the   design   before 


Fig.  131.— Pc?  •^pectne. 


us,  the  principal  feature  of  the  exterior  is  the  convenience  of  the  plan,  opening  as  it 
the  covered  balcony  over  the  entrance  does  out  of  the  two  principal  chambers  of 
porch,  which,  by  its  depth  of  shadow,  gives  the  house,  and  affording  comfort  and  re- 
boldness  to  the  front,  and  adds  much  to  tirement  to  the  occupants.     In  winter,  it 


Rogers^  Hyhrid. 


325 


may  be  shut  in  by  a  glass  front,  and  -will 
form  then  a  very  pleasant  little  conserva- 
tory— a  luxury  which  houses  of  this  size 
seldom  afford. 

The  front  door  is  shielded  by  a  broad 
hood,  and  the  stoop  has  seats  protected  by 
a  railing  at  the  sides. 

The  front  entry.  No.  1,  is  five  feet  by 
nine,  and  opens  into  the  living-room,  No.  2, 
twelve  feet  by  seventeen  ;  this  opens  into 
a  pantry,  No.  3,  which  is  fitted  up  with 
sink,  cupboards,  shelves,  and  other  conve- 
niences.    No.  4  is  the  parlor,  twelve  feet 


Fig.  132. — Ground  Plan. 

square ;  and  No.  G  is  a  large  closet  or  pan- 
try, opening  out  of  the  parlor,  and  fitted 
up  with  shelves  and  drawers. 

The  cellar  stairs  descend  from  the  pantry, 
and  the  cellar  has  coal  and  wood  bins,  and 
hanging  shelves,  &c.,  &c.  In  the  second 
story  are  three  chambers,  one  over  the  par- 
lor, and  two  smaller  ones  over  the  living- 
room.  Each  has  a  closet  attached,  and  the 
two  front  ones  open  upon  the  balcony  be- 


fore mentioned  by  means  of  French  case- 
ment windows. 

In  one  of  the  designs  to  which  this  plan 
was  adapted,  an  extra  chamber  was  made 
in  the  place  of  the  covered  balcony,  and 
the  exterior  was  finished  otherwise  in  a 
more  ornamental  manner.  The  second  story 
projected  over  the  first  about  ten  inches, 
and  was  finished  in  the  vertical  and  batten- 
ed manner,  the  boards  being  all  reduced  to 
a  uniform  width,  and  the  lower  ends,  which 
projected  over,  were  sawn  in  an  ornamental 
drop  pattern. 

The  principal  story  exterior  was  covered 
with  shingles,  also  cut  to  a  pattern,  and 
nailed  to  hemlock  boarding. 

In  another  design,  the  gables  were  all 
cut  oft",  and  the  roofs,  which  were  much 
flatter,  projected  three  feet  all  around,  and 
were  supported  on  heavy  brackets — some- 
what after  the  manner  of  Swiss  houses — 
the  front  and  rear  projections  being  con 
tinuations  of  the  main  roof. 

The  house  in  each  instance  was  built  of 
wood,  filled  in  with  brick,  and  the  roofs 
covered  with  slate. 

Both  stories  measured  nine  feet  high  in 
the  clear,  and  all  the  rooms  had  open  fi.re- 
places.  The  walls  were  hard  finished 
throughout,  and  all  the  inside  wood-work 
was  stained  a  dark  color  and  varnished. 

The  floors,  which  were  laid  with  narrow 
plank  in  courses,  were  stained  alternately 
light  and  dark. 

The  exteriors  were  painted  with  grays 
and  drabs,  varied  in  shade  and  tint. 

This  design,  which  was  the  simplest  of 
them  all,  cost  in  1864  about  ^1,500. 


ROGERS'  HYBRID— No.  4  GRAPE. 

BY   F.    R.    ELLIOTT. 


For  six  years  past,  I  have  been  examin- 
ing the  various  hybrid  grapes  sent  out  by 
Mr.  E.  S.  Rogers,  of  Salem,  Mass.  I  have 
examined  many  of  the  numbers  yearly,  and 
made  my  own  note-book  comments,  with 


little  regard  to  the  clouds  and  shadows  of 
public  opinion  that,  from  some  unaccount- 
able cause,  have  long  overshadowed  them. 
I  find,  on  referring  to  my  notes  in  1862, 
when  I  saw  the  fruit  on  vines  in  four  difter- 


326 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


''•s,*^-*^'' 

t 


:'-  *:.  "^I"^!''*! 


:>^; 


/l?^.-.--. 


^^ 


^iT 


Fru.  133.— iZo^o-s'  Hyhrid  No.  4. 


Grape  Memoranda. 


327 


ent  States,  and  twenty-seven  different  lo- 
calities, on  sand,  gravel,  loam,  and  clay- 
soils,  that  I  have  written — "  As  a  table 
grape,  ripens  with  Concord,  is  larger  in 
size  of  berry,  equally  handsome  in  bunch, 
and  of  a  superior  quality." 

From  that  year  to  this  present  season,  I 
have  had  opportunity  of  seeing  the  vine  in 
fruit  in  various  localities  and  soils,  and 
my  note-book  yearly  confirms  above  re- 
marks. 

In  vigor  of  growth  and  hardihood  of  vine, 
I  see  but  little,  if  any,  difference  between 
No.  4  and  Concord  ;  and  as  neither,  in  my 
opinion,  can  rank  as  first-class  wine  grapes, 
and  as  size  and  quality  are  points  to  meet 
the  public  market  demand  for  table  grapes, 
I  cannot  but  think  cultivators  err  when 


they  plant  out  Concords  to  exclusion  of 
Rogers'  No.  4, 

Herewith,  I  send  you  drawing  and  de- 
scription of  a  bunch,  with  one  berry  show- 
ing its  interior. 

Bunch  large,  pretty  compact,  generally 
slightly  shouldered.  Berries  large,  oblong, 
round.  Color,  dark  purplish ;  almost  black 
when  fully  ripe  ;  covered  with  a  light  blue 
thick  bloom.  Flesh  dark,  with  a  fine  white 
outer  concentric  line  next  the  second  cuti- 
cle, and  red  on  the  stem  formation  next 
the  seeds.  Pulp  small,  rich,  vinous  ;  slightly 
harsh,  or  of  native  aroma.  Seeds  whitish- 
yellow.  Skin  like  Isabella  in  thickness. 
Ripens  with  or  before  the  Concord  ;  or  say, 
in  Northern  Ohio,  from  1st  to  15th  of 
September. 


GRAPE  MEMORANDA. 


EY    M.    II.    L.,    SANDUSKY,  OHIO. — PART    I. 


A  FEW  weeks  in  August  and  September 
of  this  season  have  been  very  pleasantly 
and  profitably  spent  in  visiting  many  of 
the  noted  and  promising  localities  for  grape 
growing  in  Ohio,  and  somewhat  beyond  her 
limits  along  the  South  shore.  If  a  "  plain, 
unvarnished  tale"  of  facts  observed  and 
opinions  "bagged"  shall  be  of  any  sort  of 
service  to  the  vast  public  interest  in  grape 
and  fruit  culture,  I  shall  not  repent  having 
complied  with  the  request  of  the  Editors 
of  the  Horticulturist.    . 

THE    IVES'    seedling    AT    INDIAN    HILL. 

The  unpromising  look  of  the  Catawba 
vinej^ards,  on  the  steep  hill  sides,  as  one 
approaches  Cincinnati  by  the  Little  Miama 
Railroad,  recalls  the  wail  of  Mr.  Thomas 
H.  Yeatman,  on  the  unsuccessful  "grape- 
growing  in  this  vicinity,"  and  arouses 
curiosity  to  see  that  grape,  "  not  addicted 
to  mildew  nor  rot,"  of  Colonel  Waring, 
Indian  Hill,  which  figured  so  handsomely 
(netting  $2,000  per  acre)  in  the  rejoinder 
of  the  Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society. 


A  ride  of  nine  miles  through  Walnut 
Hills,  where  numerous  villas  "bosomed 
high,  in  tufted  trees,"  lend  additional  charm 
to  a  lovely  landscape,  brought  us  to  the 
elevated  summit  of  Indian  Hill.  The  top 
of  this  hill  is  a  small  plateau  of  gently- 
rolling  surface,  and  400  feet  or  more  above 
the  Ohio  river. 

The  colonel,  who  is  a  very  courteous  and 
sensible  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  show- 
ed his  well-kept  vineyards  with  something 
of  honest  pride  ;  for  he  told  us  that  he 
now  gathered  thousands  of  dollars  with 
ease,  where,  a  few  3^ears  since,  with  toil 
and  anxiety  he  sometimes  realized,  but 
oftenerlost  hundreds  on  his  Catawba  vines 
from  rot,  mildew,  or  winter's  frosts. 

He  has  now  nearly  three  acres  of  Ives  in 
bearing.  A  portion  of  these  are  four,  and 
some  six  years  old.  One  would  not  hesitate, 
at  the  first  sweep  of  the  eye  over  it,  to 
call  it  a  Concord  vineyard ;  there  is  such 
exuberant  growth,  such  large  size  of  leaf 
with  healthful  color  and  apparent  firmness 
of  texture.     The  soil  is  a  clay  loam,  never 


328 


The  Horticulturist. 


subsoiled,  I  believe^  and  not  underdrained. 
The  ground  is  sligbtly  undulating,  but  I 
sbould  judge  that  a  vast  pro;  ortion  of  the 
water  which  falls  on  it  must  find  lodge- 
ment there.  The  vines  are  set  in  rows  five 
feet  apart  and  at  the  same  distance  in  the 
row.  They  are  trained  to  high  stakes  and 
as  they  exceed  the  prescribed  limits,  are 
entertwined  with  each  other  along  the 
row.  I  found  many  canes  stretching  across 
five  spaces  or  twenty-five  feet,  and  this  on 
the  1st  of  August.  It  is  well  known  that 
the  Colonel,  when  he  first  planted  this  vine- 
yard, supposing  the  soil  exhausted,  manured 
an  acre  or  more  of  it  very  heavily,  and  fol- 
lowed up  the  process  one  or  two  successive 
years.  "While  the  growth  elsewhere  is  all 
that  could  be  desired,  here  it  is  excessive, 
as  indicated  above.  It  is  his  practice  to 
trim  out  laterals  on  the  bearing  wood,  but 
the  young  canes  are  allowed  to  grow  at 
will.  The  vines  are  prolific.  Everywhere 
they  labored  under  a  burden  of  dark  clus- 
ters, generally  quite  compact.  The  heavy 
rains  at  the  time  of  fiowering  had  thinned 
many  bunches,  and  some,  on  the  part  most 
heavily  manured,  had  been  affected  by  rot. 
He  sadly  laments  his  hundred  wagon  loads 
of  manure  to  the  acre — and  that  twice  re- 
peated. 

Last  year  his  crop  of  fruit  was  large,  and 
the  must  was  sold  off"  at  once  at  lg;5  per 
gallon.  The  wood  ripened  thoroughly,  was 
trimmed  oft'  in  the  fall  and  sold  mainly  to 
Mr.  McCuUough,  of  Cincinnati,  at  ,^20  per 
thousand.  I  might  add  that  in  the  spring 
following  Ives  wood  was  eagerly  bought 
■  at  $40  per  thousand.  I  could  not  see  that 
the  remaining  canes  were  even  partially 
injured  by  last  winter's  severe  freezing. 
Colonel  Waring  helped  me  to  the  following 
account  of  the  origin  and  history  of  the 
Ives: 

"  Henry  Ives,  of  Cincinnati,  raised  it  from 
the  seed.  After  fruiting  it,  some  twenty- 
six  years  ago,  he  exhibited  a  few  clusters 
at  the  rooms  of  the  Cincinnati  Horticul- 
tural Society,  and  distributed  cuttings  of 
it  under  the  name  of  the  Ives'  Madeira 


Seedling.     He  supposed  it  to  have  sprung 

from  the  seed  of  a  Madeira  grape,  which  he  i 

had  obtained  from  foreign  shores.    A  fuller  i 

acquaintance  with  the  habits  of  the  vine,  j 

its  leaf  and  its  products,  convinced  many  ; 

members  of  that  Society  that  Mr.  Ives  was  \ 

mistaken  as  to  its  parentage,  and  it  was  j 
agreed  to  name  it  simply  Ives'  Seedling. 

When  the  cuttings  were  thus  first  given 

out,  Col.  Isaac  F.  Waring,  of  Indian  Hill,  ^ 
near  Cincinnati,  received  several,  planted      • 

them  out  in  his  garden,  and  raised  six  or  \ 

eight  vines.     He  did  this  to  have  on  his  j 

grounds  a  very  early  grape.  ''. 

The  fruit  colored  by  the  first  of  August, 
and  was  presented  by  Ives  at  once  as  being  ". 
fully  ripe.     The  appearance  of  bunch  and  \ 
berry  pleased  the  eye,  but,  as  the  grape  : 
was  really  many  weeks  from  being  mature,  j 
it  did  not  very  favorably  impress  the  Soci-  I 
ety,  though  recommended  for  further  trial.  ! 
These  few  vines  of  Col.  Waring  remained  • 
many  years  in  his  garden,  fruiting  heavily  ' 
each  year,  plucked  of  their  black  berries  in  li 
early  August  by  children  and  visitors,  but  1 
unnoticed  by  the  owner,  because  he  did  ■ 
not  fancy  a  comparatively  green  and  taste- 
less pulp,  even  though  he  could  have  it  ; 
many  weeks  before  his  favorite  Catawba.  i 
AYhen  his  vines  came  into  full  bearing,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Rufus  Kittredge,  his  , 
neighbor,  he  experimented  in  making  wine  ■ 
from  his  new  grapes,  but  unsuccessfully, 
since  the  pressing  took  place  too  early  in  ( 
the    season.      Twelve    or    fourteen    years 
passed,  in  fact,  before  Col.  Waring  tasted  ;! 
of   well   ripened    Ives'.     By   accident    he 
found  a  few  clusters  hanging  on  the  vines 
in  the  middle  of  September,  and  was  de- 
lighted with  the  fine  aroma  and  quality  of  ; 
the  fruit  and  the  weight  of  the  expressed  '' 
juice.     He  decided  at  once  that  the  very  ] 
early  rijjening  was  a  mistake,  and  that  he  ■ 
would  increase  as  largely  as  possible  the  ' 
nmnber  of  his  vines.     Dr.  Kittredge  made 
wine  later  in  the  season,  which  met  with  : 
high  favor,  and  for  a  time  this  grape  was  ; 
known   as  the  Kittredge.     The  Colonel's 
confidence  was  now  so  great  that  a  failing  j 


Grape  Memoranda. 


329 


Catawba  vineyard  "was  uprooted,  and  Ives', 
as  fast  as  they  could  be  multiplied,  planted 
in  its  place.  In  a  published  article  he  says : 
'  I  have  had  this  grape  in  cultivation,  with 
fruit  every  year,  for  more  than  twenty 
years;  during  this  time  no  mildew  has 
ever  been  seen  upon  it.  One  year,  when  I 
had  manured  my  vineyard  heavily,  an  im- 
mense growth  of  wood  was  made.  There 
was  some  rot,  yet  the  crop  that  year  was  a 
fair  one.  Never  since  the  vine  first  came 
into  bearing  has  there  been  more  than  a 
partial  failure,  while  some  years  it  has 
produced  the  largest  crops  of  fruit  I  have 
ever  seen  from  any  grape.  The  yearly 
average  product  of  wine  per  acre  thus  far 
is  over  five  hundred  gallons.'" 

I  append  the  following  extracts,  which 
are  historically  valuable,  and  which,  coming 
from  well  known  and  interested  horticul- 
turists, will  give  this  account  more  weight 
in  the  eyes  of  many : 

"  Geo.  Graham,  Esq.,  President  of  the 
Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society,  gave  an 
interesting  account  of  the  Ives'  Seedling 
before  the  Ohio  Pomological  Society  in 
December,  1865,  and  among  other  state- 
ments, made  the  following:  'Two  years 
since  (1863)  Col.  Waring  made  about  five 
hundred  gallons  of  superior  wine.  *  *  * 
It  weighed  in  the  must,  that  year,  86°  and 
the  weight  of  alcohol  contained  in  it  13^ 
per  cent.,  when  separated  by  a  French  in- 
strument. (It  would  not  show  so  much  al- 
cohol by  the  German  scale.)  *  *  *  * 
Some  vineyards  in  "Waring's  neighborhood, 
where  the  vines  grew  in  the  native  soil, 
without  manure,  were  not  affected  by  rot, 
and  the  wine  of  this  year's  (1865)  pressing 
is  of  very  high  character,  selling  from  the 
press  at  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per 
gallon.  Col.  "Waring,  I  believe,  expects  to 
get  six  dollars  per  gallon  for  this  year's 
wine. 

The  grape  is  a  dark  purple,  of  large  size 
and  large  cluster,  shouldered  and  compact 
as  the  Catawba.  The  vine  is  a  remarkably 
strong  grower,  carries  the  leaf  very  late  in 
tlie   season,    and   grows   very  freely   from 


cuttings  in  the  open  ground,  or  from  buds 
forced  by  heat. 

The  wine  is  a  beautiful  claret  color,  of 
pleasant  flavor,  and  by  some  connoisseurs 
is  considered  as  a  high  character  of  Bur- 
gundy ;  by  others  as  a  very  superior  claret. 
"With  our  German  wine-drinkers  it  is  now 
the  favorite  wine,  and  brings  the  highest 
prices.' 

The  Cincinnati  Commercial  of  September 
3d,  1866,  in  a  report  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society,  says : 
'  Dr.  "Warder,  R.  Buchanan,  Geo.  Graham, 
and  J.  M.  McOuUough,  paid  a  visit,  during 
the  week,  to  the  vineyards  of  "Waring, 
Roberts  and  Demar,  on  Indian  Hill,  to 
examine  the  Ives'  Seedling.  They  report 
that  this  grape,  thus  far,  has  generally 
resisted  the  rot,  and  this  year  the  crop 
promises  well.  The  vines  planted  twelve 
years  ago  by  Dr.  Kittredge,  had  a  good 
crop  of  fruit,  with  little  appearance  of  rot. 
The  vines  were  in  a  very  healthy  condition, 
holding  the  foliage  better  than  any  of  our 
native  grapes  and  showing  an  unusual 
strong  growth  of  wood.  It  may  be  con- 
sidered the  grape  for  this  climate.' 

One  of  the  members  of  the  above  com- 
mittee, Mr.  McCullough,  writes  us  under 
date  of  September  4th:  '"We  think  the 
Norton's  Virginia  Grape  the  best,  but  very 
unproductive — the  Ives'  next  best,  and  very 
productive,  and  hence  the  most  profitable 
in  cultivation.' " 

Let  me  add  that  this  is  a  fine  table  grape, 
sweet  and  vinous,  better  than  Concord — 
never  cracks  and  never  drops,  and  is  said 
to  make  an  excellent  raisin. 

As  the  time  of  my  stay  at  the  Queen  City, 
was  limited,  I  did  not  have  the  opportu- 
nity of  visiting  other  vineyards  of  Ives',  of 
which  there  are  now  a  number  of  small 
ones,  nor  especially,  which  I  most  regret- 
ted, the  fine  vineyard  of  Norton's  Virginia 
of  Mr.  Geo.  Bogen  and  the  famous  Dela- 
wares  of  the  veteran  John  E.  Mottier. 
Mr.  B.  reported  his  Norton's  in  prime  con- 
dition and  fruiting  fairly  but  not  heavily. 
He  did  not  think  they  had  ever  yielded 


330 


The  Horticulturist. 


with  him  more  than  half  as  much  wine  as 
the  Catawba  in  its  favorable  seasons.  He 
brought  forth  a  bottle  of  Norton's  three 
3'ears  old.  This  he  kept  in  reserve  in  his 
home  cellar.  The  must  weighed  118°.  It 
was  certainly  most  excellent.  It  diffused 
a  genial  glow  through  the  body,  and  was 
quite  reassuring  to  weak  nerves  in  a  chol- 
era panic.  He  said  that  tha  physicians 
prescribed  both  Virginia  and  Ives'  wine, 
and  that  during  that  week  he  had  sold 
more  of  the  Norton's  than  for  months  be- 
fore. It  was  stated  that  many,  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  complained  of  the  discour- 
agements in  getting  under  headway  with 
Virginia  vines,  Mr.  B.  replied  that  he  had 
had  no  difficulty  with  first-rate  roots. 

Yet  I  know  that  in  many  cases  the  vines 
have  died  after  having  made  a  growth  of 
ten  inches  the  second  year.  The  Catawba 
promised  varied  results.  With  some  it 
had  not  blighted,  and  rotted  but  little. 
These  hoped  for  three-fourths  of  a  crop. 
"With  others  it  was  already  nearly  a  fail- 
ure. It  was  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Mottier, 
Mr.  Heaver,  and  others,  that  there  would 
be  on  the  average  a  fair  crop.  Since  my 
visit,  I  have  learned  from  A.  C.  Mottier 
that  later  the  I'ot  had  set  in  again,  and 
there  would  not  be  more  than  half  a  yield. 
The  Delaware  was  troubled  some  in  leaf, 
though  not  as  badly  as  last  year.  It  was 
injured,  too,  with  them  by  the  winter's  ex- 
posure. Mr.  Mottier  expects  a  good  yield 
from  his  vines. 

AT    DELAWARE. 

All  who  grow  or  eat  the  nectarous  little 
Delaware  (even  the  birds),  will  be  anxious 
to  hear  from  Delaware  and  Mr.  Campbell. 
His  castellated  residence  is  as  much  of  an 
ornament  to  the  little  city  of  schools  and 
sulphur  springs  as  to  his  "  descriptive  list;" 
and  though  not  enwreathed  in  nature  as  in 
vignette,  it  is  vine-clad,  and  bespeaks  the 
man  of  refined  tastes  and  "  given  to  hospi- 
tality." His  grounds  near  his  residence 
are  well  occupied  with  plant  and  propagat- 
ing houses  of  admirable  construction.     In 


the  nursery  were  myriads  of  young  plants 
of  all  the  tried  varieties ;  but  chiefly  the 
clean  and  delicate  leaf  of  the  Delaware  met 
the  eye  and  plainly  indicated  that  Mr.  C. 
had  not  by  any  means  forgotten  his  old- 
time  enthusiasm  for  this  favorite  variety. 
Delawares  of  advanced  age,  eight  and 
ten  years,  standing  near  his  residence, 
branching  at  will,  over  its  blue  limestone 
walls  and  aspiring  even  to  the  roof,  show 
great  healthfulness  of  leaf,  vigorous  growth, 
and  are  richly  garnished  with  well-com- 
pacted clusters.  There  were  lonas,  too,  in 
the  fourth  year  looking  thrifty  as  Catawbas ; 
but  only  fruiting  from  secondary  buds,  as 
the  late  frosts  took  the  first  show  of  fruit. 
A  Rodger's  No.  2  was  quite  remarkable  for 
its  numerous  and  large  bunches  with  ber- 
ries like  those  of  the  Union  Village.  Too 
late  for  his  locality,  but  he  thought  it 
might  do  well  on  the  lake  shore.  He  has 
a  good  opinion  of  the  Underbill  Seedling 
and  the  Miles — both  comparatively  new, 
but  well  recommended.  They  are  good 
growers,  hardy,  and  of  good  flavor — the 
latter  very  early.  He  has  many  seedlings ; 
one  of  which  was  quite  heavy  with  fruit, 
colored  even  then  in  broad  splashes  and 
petted  with  a  net,  as  if  to  veil  it  from  pro- 
faner  eyes,  though  in  reality  to  protect  it 
from  the  birds.  Mr.  C.  takes  great  inter- 
est in  small  fruits  also,  and  has  made  up 
his  mind,  as  almost  every  one  else  has,  that 
the  Kittatinny  blackberry  and  Philadelphia 
raspberry  must  yet  be  found  in  all  the  gar- 
dens and  on  all  the  tables  of  the  land.  The 
Kirtland  is  high  in  his  favor,  both  for  its 
quality  and  hardiness. 

THE    LAKE    SHORE   GRAPE-GROWERs'   EXCUR- 
SION. 

On  the  15tli  of  August,  the  steamer 
Clinton,  of  our  city,  carried  fifty  or  sixty 
grape  enthusiasts  over  to  Kelly's  Island, 
where  we  found  a  hundred  odd  excursion- 
ists already  busily  spying  out  the  land  and 
the  fruit  of  the  vine.  Oapt.  John  Spalding, 
of  the  steamer  Lac  la-Belle,  had  generous- 
ly given  them  free  passage  from  Cleveland. 


Grape  Memoranda. 


331 


Among  them  were  many  of  tlie  magnates 
of  horticulture,  viz :  Hon.  Marshall  P. 
Wilder,  Chas.  Downing,  P.  Barry,  and 
F.  K.  Phcenix. 

Kelly's  Island  contains  2,800  acres,  and 
a  resident  population  of  about  800.  So 
rapidly  has  vine-planting  extended  within 
the  last  ten  years,  that  745  acres  are  now 
devoted  to  grape-growing.  The  annual 
increase  at  present  is  about  100  acres. 
Last  year  (1865)  1,865,811  pounds  of  grapes 
were  gathered,  and  80,496  gallons  of  wine 
were  pressed.  The  largest  yield  of  wine 
from  one  acre  was  800  gallons. 

The  crop  last  year  was  excessive ;  the 
wood  was  not  thoroughly  ripened  when 
winter  set  in,  and  the  frosts  of  last  Feb- 
ruary materially  lessened  this  year's  pros- 
pect by  destroying  one-third  of  the  buds. 
At  the  time  of  blossoming,  there  were  re- 
peated, and  often  violent  showors, continued 
at  intervals  through  June  and  well  into 
July,  which  made  sad  innovations  upon 
the  clusters,  washing  away  the  pollen, 
blighting  parts  of  the  bunches  with  mil- 
dew, and  in  early  July  inflicting  some  rot. 

These  destructive  causes  were  generally 
at  work  on  the  islands,  peninsula  and  main- 
land; and,  though  there  are  many  Instances 
of  fair  crops,  especially  in  the  young  vine- 
yards, such  as  are  now  in  their  fourth  year, 
and  did  not  bear  heavily  in  the  third,  still 
the  crop  hereabouts  may  be  safely  averaged 
at  one-third.  The  above  estimate  is  made 
in  reference  to  the  Catawba.  With  us  this 
year,  the  Isabella  is  quite  a  failure — buds 
and  wood  even,  sometimes  nearly  to  the 
ground,  destroyed  by  the  cold  of  the  16th 
of  February  last — 16°  below  zero.  Last 
season  the  vines  of  this  variety  fruited  very 
heavily,  did  not  suffer  from  rot,  but  in  the 
fall  early,  as  the  berries  began  to  turn, 
mildew  struck  the  leaves.  The  fruit  ripen- 
ed but  poorly,  in  some' cases  not  at  all,  and 
the  wood  was  ill-prepared  even  for  the 
frosts  of  December.  The  excursionists, 
particularly  those  from  the  Lake  Shore 
eastward,  seemed  disappointed  at  the  ap- 
parent neglect   of  many   vineyardists   on 


Kelly's  Island.  They  attributed  it  to  dis- 
couragement. No,  there  is  no  thought  on 
the  islands  or  elsewhere  of  throwing  up,  or 
of  giving  careless  attendance  upon  theirwell- 
cheiished  acres,  .i  It  is  the  teaching  of  their 
experience,  as  they  read  it,  that  too  con- 
stant tillage  during  a  wet  season  induces 
blight  and  rot,  and  that  summer  pruning  in 
any  season  is  a  positive  detriment.  One 
feature  witnessed  here  struck  every  one 
favorably.  In  one  part  of  the  island  there 
are  125  acres  of  unbroken  vineyard,  with 
several  proprietors,  who  cultivate  their  in- 
dividual tracts  in  perfect  harmony  without 
division  fences.  Universally  in  this  vicinity, 
islands  and  mainland,  the  heavy  clays  are 
esteemed  the  best  grape  land.  To  prepare 
them,  they  must  be  subsoiled  and  well  un- 
derdrained.  The  vineyards  on  low,  dark 
soil,  or  where  it  is  shallow  upon  rock  sub- 
soil, generally,  had  yellow  leaves  and  strag- 
gling clusters. 

The  Delaware  everywhere  looked  well — 
foliage  healthful,  good  growth  of  wood  and 
a  plentiful  crop.  We  were  particularly  in- 
terested in  the  comparison  of  an  acre  of 
Delaware  with  an  acre  of  Catawba  of  the 
same  age,  side  by  side,  in  Mr.  Beatly's 
vineyard.  Of  the  two,  the  Delaware  had 
made  the  more  wood,  looked  the  healthier, 
and  was  the  more  heavily  fruited.  Both 
were  on  heavy  clay,  and  neither  ever  had 
the  least  enriching.  With  regard  to  manur- 
ing. I  might  say  that  nobody  believes  in 
it  or  practices  it  here  for  any  variety, 
and  it  is  acknowledged  on  all  sides  that 
our  heavy  clay,  when  well  prepared,  gives 
us  the  most  healthful  vines  and  the  best 
fruit  and  most  of  it.  I  allude  particularly 
to  such  well-tried  varieties  as  Catawbai 
Isabella,  Delaware,  Concord  and  Hartford 
Prolific. 

Our  party  spent  the  greater  part  of  the 
day  at  Kelly's,  and  then  set  sail  for  Put- 
in-Bay, eight  miles  distant.  This  island, 
also  called  South  Bass,  contains  1,400  acres, 
and  has  a  resident  population  of  500.  There 
are  now  494  acres  planted  in  grapes.  Last 
year  there  were  1,117,801  pounds  of  grapes 


332 


ITie  Horticulturist. 


gathered  and  33,805  gallons  of  wine  pressed 
in  Put-in-Bay  township,  which  includes 
Put-in- Bay,  Middle  and  North  Bass,  Sugar 
and  Rattlesnake  Islands.  The  largest  yield 
was  from  Mr.  Lorenzo  Miller's  vineyard. 
A  prize  hat  was  offered  by  a  Sanduskian, 
C.  J.  Parsons,  Esq.,  to  the  man  who  could 
prove  the  largest  crop  of  grapes  on  an  acre 
of  ground.  After  thorough  investigation  it 
was  decided  that  Mr.  Miller  had  fairly  won 
the  said  clia2Jeau.  The  yield  was  eight  tons. 
He  sold  from  five  acres  34,500  pounds  of 
fruit,  and  made  6,000  gallons  of  wine.  The 
price  of  grapes  averaged  7^  cts.  per  pound, 
and  new  wine  was  worth  90  cts.  per  gallon. 
This  gives  3J7,987.50  for  a  five-acre  grape 
crop,  or  ,^1,597.50  per  acre.  These  were 
mostly  Catawbas.  It  may  be  added  that 
this  year  Mr.  Miller  will  not  be  able  to 
show  anything  like  so  remarkable  a  record. 
His  vines  are  in  their  sixth  year.  Pie  looks 
only  for  a  quarter  of  a  crop.  The  vines 
were  badly  winter-killed. 

Philip   Vroman    took   real    pleasure    in 


showing  us  through  "  the  oldest  vineyard 
on  this  island."  He  first  set  out  five  aci'es 
nine  years  since,  if  memory  serves  me. 
Last  year's  vines  yielded  him  $900  per  acre 
for  fruit.  His  Catawbas  were  bearing 
scantily;  but  1,200  Delawares,  which  bore 
well  last  year,  were  heavily  loaded,  and 
layered  somewhat  besides.  He  sold  last 
year  at  25  cents  per  pound ;  they  are 
generally  selling  for  that  this  year.  In  fact, 
on  islands  and  mainland,  the  Delaware  is 
winning  golden  opinions  on  clay,  black  soil 
and  sand. 

I  have  wearied  the  reader's  patience  past 
forgiveness  now,  I  fear,  or  I  would  speak 
of  the  wines  tasted,  the  sales  of  land  at 
fabulous  prices,  the  methods  of  training 
and  cultivation,  the  visit  to  Middle  Bass 
and  the  hiainland  about  Sandusky,  and 
subsequent  observations  on  the  Peninsula. 
In  a  future  article  I  propose  to  speak  of  a 
trip  among  the  vines  eastwardly  along  the 
lake  shore  as  far  as  Pennsylvania. 


IMPORTING    ENGLISH    SPARROWS. 


BY    J.    S.    H. 


In  the  Horticulturist  for  October,  I 
observe  that  you  recommend  the  importa- 
tion of  English  sparrows,  as  a  means  of 
protection  against  the  destructive  insects 
which  infest  our  fruit  trees  in  America.  I 
am  not  prepared  to  say,  positively,  that  the 
recommendation  is  not  a  wise  one,  as  I  am 
not  fully  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the 
bird  in  question  ;  but  I  would  like  to  know 
more  about  the  English  sparrow  before 
joining  in  your  advice. 

In  reading  the  horticultural  journals  of 
England,  I  have  noticed  that  there  appears 
to  be  more  damage  done  to  fruit,  in  Great 
Britain,  by  birds,  than  there  is  in  the 
United  States.  There  are  frequent  dis- 
cussions of  an  earnest  character,  upon  the 
question,  which  are  the  most  destructive  to 
fruit,  the  insects  or  the  birds  1     It  appears 


that  in  England  it  is  necessary  to  protect 
cherry  trees,  and  nearly  all  the  small 
fruits,  especially  strawberries,  with  netting, 
to  preserve  any  portion  of  the  crop  from 
the  birds. 

English  black  birds,  thrushes,  finches, 
and  sparrows  are,  I  believe,  much  more 
ravenous  and  destructive  than  similar  birds 
are  in  this  country.  I  think  I  have  seen  it 
stated,  but  I  cannot  now  find  the  author- 
ity, that  the  sparrows  even  devour  the 
tender  fruit-buds  of  the  pear  and  apple,  in 
early  spring,  before  they  expand  into  blos- 
soms. I  have  an  impression  that  the  Eng- 
lish sparrow  is  a  fierce,  ravenous,  pugnaci- 
ous bird,  and  that  while  he  might  help  us 
to  get  rid  of  some  insects,  he  would  prove 
a  dangerous  guest  in  our  orchards  and  gar- 
dons. 


Hicks'  Apple. 


333 


I  have  not  felt  altogether  sure  that  even 
our  gentle  little  Jenny  Wren  was  not 
guilty  of  eating  good  plump  fruit-buds.  I 
have  intended  to  watch  them  in  the  eavly 
spring,  but  have  as  yet  failed  to  do  so. 
Certain  it  is,  that  many  a  fruit-hud,  from 
some  cause,  proves  fruitless.  I  suspect  the 
birds  take  many  a  tender  bit  from  the 
opening  flowers. 


With  these  views,  I  advise  caution  in 
the  introduction  of  English  sparrows.  Let 
us  know  precisely  what  are  the  habits  of 
these  birds ;  how  much  damage  they  do  to 
fruit-buds,  to  cherries,  strawberries,  and 
other  small  fruits.  I  fear  it  will  be  found 
that  this  sparrow  is  worse  than  the  insects 
he  destroys. 


THE  HICKS'  APPLE. 


BY    ISAAC    HICKS,    NORTH    HEMPSTEAD. 


Fig.  134.— i?ic/ts'  Apple. 


This  apple  is  a  natural  seedling,  found  fruit  of  fine  size  and  appearance.  I  consider 
growing  wild  in  a  hedge.  It  is  an  early  it  the  best  early  sweet  apple  that  I  have 
and  abundant  bearer  ;  tree  a  good  grower;     seen.     Season,  middle  of  August. 


334 


The  Eorticulturist. 


THE  DORSON  PEAR. 


BY    ISAAC  HICKS. 


The  Dorson  pear  is  a  seedling,  found  near  gether  with    the   fact  that,  unlike   many 

Glen    Cove,  Long  Island.      It  has  so  far  early   pears,  it   will  keep  a  long  time,  if 

proved  hardy,  a  good  grower,  and  produc-  taken  early  from  the  tree,  and  house  ripen- 

tive.      Its  very  attractive  appearance,  to-  ed,  must  render  a  good  market  fruit. 


^ 


Fig.  135. — Dorsov,  Pear. 


In  general  appearance  it  resembles  Os-     of  the  French  Jargonelle,  but  superior,  in 
band's    Summer,    which  it,   however,  sur-     every  respect  to  its  parent. 
passes  in  quality.     It  is  probably  a  seedling 


Notes  on  the  September  Number-. 


335 


NOTES  ON  THE  SEPTEMBER  NUMBER. 


Laws  of  Association  in  Ornamental 
Gardening. — Thanks  to  the  writer  for 
thus  embodying  ideas  of  association  fa- 
miliar to  the  student  of  Nature,  but  as  lit- 
tle known  or  understood  by  the  mass  of. 
people  as  so  much  Greek.  1  hope  that,  as 
the  Horticulturist  reaches  hundreds, 
this  article  will  revive  and  encourage  mem- 
ories and  associations,  and  educate  to  a  just 
appreciation  the  creations  of  God's  bound- 
less love  for  man,  until  each  home  of  man 
on  earth  shall  evince  in  its  outward  sur- 
roundings their  knowledge  that  even  here 
He  would  not  have  us  satisfied  with  an 
"abode  simply  endurable,  but  would  have 
it  a  paradise  of  delight." 

Designs  in  Rural  Architecture. — 
Country  School-House. — A  simple,  plain, 
yet  effective  design.  But  why  is  it  that 
we  construct  our  own  dwellings  with  wide 
verandas,  for  comfort  and  enjoyment  in 
shielding  us  from  sun  and  storm,  and  in 
the  construction  of  our  schoolhouses  omit 
every  such  point?  I  certainly  think  a 
great  error  has  been  committed  in  all 
schoolhouse  designs  and  buildings,  in  the 
omission  of  wide  covered  verandas.  Let  us 
take  practice :  The  rules  of  a  school  are, 
that  the  door  shall  be  closed  until  the  ex- 
act hour  of  assembling,  and  if  a  child  is 
one  minute  late  in  entering  the  room,  he  is 
marked  "  tardy."  Now  the  child  has  no 
timepiece  t)  guide  his  movements;  and  if 
it  rains  or  snows,  and  he  reaches  the  school 
door  fifteen  minutes  before  time,  he  has  to 
endure  the  storm  without  roof  protection  ; 
or  if  he  does  not  get  there  in  time,  as  I  have 
said,  he  is  marked  down  as  a  laggard.  That 
is  one  item  of  practice,  where  the  wide  and 
extended  veranda  would  be  a  comfort,  and 
often  a  preventive  of  sickness. 

Again,  on  a  rainy  day  or  a  sloppy  time, 
as  schoolhouses  are  constructed,  the  child 
at  recess  cannot  go  out  of  doors  without 
exposure,  and  the  risk  of  wet  clothing  and 
feet ;  but  if  a  veranda  were  built  say  on 
two  sides  of  the  building,  one  side  or  the 


other  would  always  be  clean  and  dry  for 
play  and  enjojanent  during  recess  hours. 
There  may  be  strong^objections  to  the  ve- 
randa, and  I  suppose  there  must  be  good 
ones,  for  no  schoolhouse,  to  my  knowledge, 
has  one ;  and  yet  I  never  heard  a  valid  rea- 
son for  their  omission. 

Grapes  at  Avon  Point. — A  good  re- 
cord of  the  doings  of  one  energetic  perse- 
vering man,  of  which,  however.  Northern 
Ohio  has  many  samples.  Recently  I  tra- 
versed the  grape-growing  region  of  that 
section,  and  with  a  recollection  of  years 
back,  when  Kelly  Island  was  almost  the 
only  point  where  grapes  were  grown  to 
any  extent.  I  confess  my  surprise  at  the 
present  number  of  acres  in  vineyard,  and 
the  apparent  prospect  of  their  being  profit- 
able as  a  crop.  In  earlier  days,  the  Kelly 
Islandeis  counted  their  lands  as  the  only 
ones  fitted  for  grape-growing;  and  when 
Put-in-Bay  and  the  Peninsula  began  the 
work  of  planting,  they  laughed  at  the  mat- 
ter as  one  of  experiment.  Now,  all  the 
islands  in  that  portion  of  the  lake  have 
grapes  growing  on  them  successfully ;  and 
the  shore  on  the  south  border  of  the  lake, 
from  North-East,  Pa.,  to  Toledo,  Ohio,  has 
many  thousands  of  acres,  some  giving  pro 
mise  even  of  better  results  than  the  famed 
lands  of  Kelly  Island. 

Among  the  Raspberries. — A  practical 
record.  As  with  the  strawberry  so  with 
the  raspberry,  we  find  that  soil  and  loca- 
tion make  a  very  great  difference  in  the  ac- 
tual value  of  the  plant,  both  in  its  fruit  and 
its  hardiness.  Planters  should,  therefore, 
use  sparingly  of  new  sorts. 

Plan  for  Laying-Out  a  Ten-Acre 
Lot. — It  may  be  I  have  no  taste,  or  if  a 
taste,  not  a  just  and  appreciative  one ;  but 
cannot  fancy  a  mathematical,  curved,  or 
circular  line  as  a  natui  al  roadway.  It  may 
be  the  "  line  of  beauty,"  but  not  as  I  have 
studied  it.  Again,  as  I  have  studied  water, 
in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred, 
the  extent  of  ground  here  occupied  would 


36 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


present  only  a  ditcli  and  a  mud-hole.  It  is 
possible  a  piece  of  ground  could  be  found 
or  constructed,  where  the  level  would  be 
such  as  to  bring  the  banks  in  accordance 
with  this  breadth,  fhd  where  the  stream 
would  flow  rapidly  enough  to  keep  all  clear; 
but  where  one  such  piece  occurred,  many 
others  would  present,  as  I  have  already  said, 
only  a  ditch  and  mud-hole.  "Water  is  a 
difficult  thing  to  handle  in  landscaping;  and 
unless  the  grounds  are  naturally  adapted, 
by  clear  running  streams  through  thera,  or 
some  such  connection,  the  improver  of 
grounds  had  better  let  the  construction  of 
ponds  and  lakes,  with  fancy  islands,  remain 
in  the  pictui'c,  rather  than  attempt  their 
construction  in  his  grounds. 

The  Delphiniums. — I  am  glad  the  writer 
says  he  has  not  done  with  his  subject ;  for, 
although  I  have  given  the  flower  little  at- 
tention for  some  years,  I  have  often  thought 
much  might  be  got  from  them  by  skill, 
care,  and  time. 

Grape  Mildew  versus  the  Essential 
Oils. — It  is  well  to  keep  before  the  public 
the  beneficial  effects  of  the  use  of  salt,  cop- 
peras, &c. ;  but  in  my  experience  this  sea- 
son their  use  has  been  needless,  at  least  so 
far  as  grape  mildew  is  concerned.  I  have 
looked  for  some  record  of  practice  this 
year  of  their  use  in  blight  on  the  pear. 

In  my  grounds  I  have  used  salt  as  a  ma- 
nure, and  have  had  no  blight  on  my  pear 
trees,  while  all  around  me  the  blight  has 
been  destructive.  Now,  how  does  the  salt 
act  in  this  connection  1  or  does  it  act  at 
all  ?  Is  my  exemption  anything  but 
chance  1 

Early  Fall  Transplanting. — Loudon, 
I  think,  says  that  trees  removed  before  the 
young  wood  is  all  ripe  are  injured  and  en- 
feebled, but  I  think  he  can  only  have  re- 
ference to  plants  taken  with  root  entire. — 
"Whereas,  as  here  recommended,  the  re- 
moval of  the  tree  in  our  natural  course  and 
manner  of  digging,  breaks  off",  and  leaves  in 
the  ground,  at  least  one-quarter  to  one- 
third  of  the  roots  ;  and,  as  the  shortening 
in  of  the  top  takes  off"  the  unripe  wood,  it 


appears  to  me  no  injury  is  done  by  early 
removal,  but  a  gain  is  made  by  early  trans- 
planting, by  means  of  the  new  formation 
of  fibrous  roots,  aiding  the  tree  to  endure 
its  position  during  winter,  and  enabling  it 
to  supply  food  to  the  new  leaves  at  an  early 
period  in  spring. 

Notes  on  Raspberries  and  Currants. 
— Concise,  plain,  and  practical.  No  man 
in  our  whole  country  stands  more  truthful 
and  reliable  than  the  writer  of  th?se  notes; 
and  every  horticulturist  quotes  him  as  au- 
thority not  to  be  questioned.  I  am  glad  of 
these  notes,  because  I  want  to  add  to  my 
raspberries,  and  because  I  now  am  confirm- 
ed in  my  opinion  relative  to  the  identity 
of  sorts.  It  is  a  most  unpleasant  item  to 
write  in  one's  note-book,  viz.,  that  juniper 
and  red  juniper  are  the  same  identical  kind 
of  currant ;  then,  when  the  time  comes  to 
make  fall  purchases,  find,  in  a  reliable  cata- 
logue, the  two  recorded  as  distinct,  rare, 
and  of  course  a  good  price  appended.  I  say 
this  is  an  unpleasant  item,  because  it  either 
leads  one  to  think  he  has  no  knowledge, 
even  of  his  own  eyesight  and  taste,  or  that 

the  issuer  of  the  reliable  catalogue  is  a 

My  Experience  of  Gooseberries. — I, 
like  the  writer,  have  often  wondered  why 
the  gooseberry  was  not  more  generally 
grown.  In  mj  earlier  days,  we  used  to 
have  gooseberry  pies  in  February  and  other 
winter  months,  from  green  gooseberries, 
kept  in  Junk  bottles,  packed  in  sand  in  the 
cellar.  To  my  present  recollection,  those 
pies  were  good ;  but  now  I  cannot  recollect 
when  or  where,  of  late  years,  I  have  met 
with  such  a  thing.  The  canning  of  fruits, 
as  peaches,  &c.,  I  suppose,  has  taken  the 
place  of  all  such  fruits  as  gooseberries  and 
currants ;  but  when  we  take  into  account 
that  these  are  fruits  always  to  be  relied 
upon,  while  the  peach  is  at  best  an  uncer- 
tain crop,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  owner  of 
lands  from  which  to  realize  money,  as  well 
as  comfort  for  his  family,  should  plant 
largely  of  the  gooseberry. 

Strawberry  and  Raspberry  Notes. — 
I  am  glad   to  see   this   record.     It  is  one 


Experience  loith  Grape  Seedlings. 


337 


more  nail  in  tlie  fact  tliat  mulcliing~pays, 
and  another  notch  in  the  paying,  as  a  mar- 
ket strawberry,  of  the  "Wilson,  three  acres 
of  which  produced  10,000  quarts,  to  six 
acres  of  Russell  and  French,  producing 
8,000.  The  Philadelphia  raspberry  here 
again  is  a  success.  I  hope  Mr.  Hicks  will 
try  more  kinds  another  year,  and  give  us 
the  results.  Messrs.  Downing  and  Elliott 
both  record  sorts  that  I  would  like  to  see 
farther  tested. 

Gleanings. — In  commenting,  I  only  wish 
to  say,  that  the  tulipomania,  as  recorded  in 


Holland,  reminds  me  of  the  stockomania  of 
Wall  Street,  from  1862  to  1864;  and  of  the 
mulberryomania  of  1836  to  1838.  And  to 
this  I  desire  to  add,  the  tulip  is  one  of  our 
most  gorgeous  flowers 'of  early  spring,  and 
too  much  neglected.  I  have  seen  a  bed  of 
tulips,  only  six  by  ten  feet,  or  thereabouts, 
in  extent,  draw  admirers  from  every  quar- 
ter, and  from  all  classes;  those  of  educated 
tastes,  as  well  as  those  all  unused  to  the 
knowledge,  or  acquainted  with  the  terms 
bybloemen  and  bizarre. 

Reuben. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  GRAPE  SEEDLINGS. 


BY    E.    IVINS,    PHILADELPHIA. 


During  the  Fall  of  1865  I  collected  a 
number  of  seeds  of  the  best  varieties  of 
grapes,  both  native  and  foreign,  as  far  as  I 
could,  selecting  from  the  largest  grapes  and 
from  the  finest  bunches.  From  the  North- 
ern States  I  selected  Creveling,  lona,  Allen's 
Hybrid,  Adirondac,  Delaware,  Diana,  Con- 
cord, Elmira,*  Isabella,  Union  Village, 
Mount  Lebanon,  Rebecca,  Israella,  and 
Catawba.  A  friend  sent  me  from  California, 
Catawba,  Diana.  Isabella,!  California  Mis- 
sion, Decan  Superb,  White  Nice,  Black 
Hamburg,  Flamed  Tokay,  Chasselas  Fon- 
tainebleau,  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  and 
White  Frontignan.  I  also  secured  a  few 
White  Almeria  or  Malagas.  I  put  each 
kind  in  small  envelopes  properly  labelled 
and  kept  them  in  a  box  which  I  placed  on 
the  cellar  floor  in  a  dark  place  to  keep  the 
seeds  from  getting  too  dry.  But  they  did 
not  freeze — a  fact  I  subsequently  found  to 
be  of  vital  importance.  About  the  last  of 
December  I  prepared  a  box  about  2h  feet 
long  by  16  inches  wide  and  10  inches  deep; 
filled  it  with  leaf  mould  with  which  I 
mixed  a  little  lime  and  ashes ;  laid  out  my 

*  A  fine  luscious  tlack  grape,  I  found  for  sale  in  a 
store  at  Elmiva,  New  York,  and  not  knowing  the  name 
of  it,  I  was  obliged  to  use  this  one  in  order  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  rest. 

+  The  following  are  exotics. 


rows  2  inches  by  1^,  planting  one  row  of 
each  kind,  marked,  about  |-inch  deep,  and 
placed  the  box  in  my  office  window  in  the 
factory,  the  temperature  of  which  during 
the  day  was  about  65  degrees  Fahrenheit. 
The  balance  I  planted  January  15th,  in 
similar  boxes  and  soil,  and  kept  them  in 
the  cellar  of  my  dwelling.  On  February 
26th  I  observed  that  one  seed  had  germi- 
nated in  the  first  box  I  had  planted.  I 
found  it  in  a  row  marked  "  Malaga;"  on 
closer  examination  I  found  that  all  the 
Malagas  had  sprouted.  But  no  others.  It 
then  became  evident  to  me,  by  examina- 
tion, that  the  natives  would  not,  or  rather 
could  not,  germinate,  unless  the  seeds  were 
first  frozen.  I  then  carefully  removed  the 
row  of  Malagas  to  a  box  by  themselves. 
And  as  the  weather  was  still  quite  cold,  I 
placed  the  others  out  of  doors  with  a  view 
to  get  them  frozen.  The  boxes  in  my 
cellar  were  removed  to  the  roof  of  the 
house  on  the  same  day  and  for  the  same 
purpose. 

I  would  here  remark  that  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  seeds  of  the  various  kinds 
that  had  been  planted  fully  convinced  me 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  germ  to 
burst  the  shell,  unless  aided  by  frost  or 
some  other  means,  these  seeds,  after  lying 


338 


The  Horticulturist. 


in  good,  ricli  leaf-mould  for  nearly  two 
months  and  kept  at  a  temperature  of  from 
50  to  75  degrees  during  that  time,  were 
nearly  as  firm  and  hard  as  when  first 
planted.  True,  a  small  portion  of  the 
outer  covering  appeared  to  be  decompos- 
ing, but  when  that  was  scraped  off',  the 
firm,  hard,  bony  shell  was  tight  and  per- 
fect. The  Malaga,  which  germinated  freely 
without  freezing,  is  a  native  of  the  southern 
coast  of  Spain.  In  these  the  shell  was,  no 
doubt,  thinner,  and  I  must  consider  the 
fact  as  additional  evidence  of  the  great 
adaptability  of  nature. 

After  placing  the  boxes  on  the  top  of  my 
house  (our  city  lots  are  so  diminutive  that 
this  course  became  a  necessity  with  me), 
they  got  two  or  three  good  freezings  and 
nothing  remained  but  to  patientlj^  await 
the  return  of  spring  to  prove  the  results. 
About  the  first  of  May  I  discovered  a  few 
of  the  Catawbas  making  their  appearance 
above  ground,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
end  of  the  month,  they  continued  to  come 
up,  including  all  the  different  kinds,  except 
Diana  and  Israella,  these  two  being  very 
late  and  sparse,  and,  after  a  brief  existence, 
they  mostly  gave  up  the  ghost.  With  the 
above  exceptions,  success  of  growth,  now 
seemed  almost  certain,  and  in  my  daily 
visits  to  them,  I  derived  great  pleasure  in 
seeing  the  beautiful  little  leaves  expanding 
and  assuming  that  rich  green  color  indica- 
tive of  health  and  vigor.  I  may  mention 
that  I  noticed  a  few  among  the  different 
kinds  that  came  up  with  three  primary 
leaves.  These  I  have  marked,  to  see  if 
their  future  foliage  will  differ  from  the 
others.  The  following  is  about  the  rate  or 
proportion  of  the  different  kinds  that  came 
up;  Malaga  and  Catawba,  9-tenths  ;  Con- 
cord, California,  Mission  and  Creveling,  8- 
tenths  ;  Isabella,  lona,  Elmira  and  Allen's 
Hybrid,  6-tenths  ;  Delaware,  Adirondac, 
Union  Village,  Rebecca  and  Mount  Leb- 
anon, 5-tenths ;  White  Muscat,  Fronti- 
gnan,  Black  Hamburg,  Flamed  Tokay, 
White  Nice,  Decan  Superb,  and  Chasselas 


Fontainebleau,     3 -tenths  ;     Israella     and  I 
Diana,    1-tenth.      At    first,   the   Catawba  i 
and  Creveling  took  the  lead  in  size.     But  [ 
during  the  latter  part  of  August  the  former 
was   much    afflicted   with    blight   on    the  \ 
leaves,  and  at  the  present  writing,  Septem- 
ber 26th,  Malaga  and  Decan   Superb  are  ' 
ahead  of  all,  being  from  18  inches  to  2  feet  i 
in  height.     Natives  and  exotics  were  all  I 
treated   alike,  and  all   suffered   the   same  ' 
exposure   including   the    frosts    and    cold  ; 
nights  in  May,  and  I  really  must  confess  ■ 
surprise  to  find  at  present  that  the  latter  < 
is  the   most  vigorous    and   healthy.     The  | 
California  Mission,  as  well  as  most  of  the  \ 
other  European  kinds  still  hold  their  leaves  \ 
which  are  firm  and  green,  while  many  of  [ 
our  natives,  such   as    the  Catawba,  lona,  'i 
Delaware   and   Rebecca   have   nearly  lost  ; 
theirs  with  blight.     Although  the  grapes  i 
from  which  the  seeds  of  the  foreign  kinds  ] 
were  taken,  vrere  grown  in  the  open  air  in  ] 
California,    I    could   hardly   expect    that 
fact  to  qualify  them  to  stand  the  out-door  i 
changes    of    our  climate,  yet,  with  their  j 
present  appearance  I  would  scarcel}^  dare  :: 
to  deny  it.    Another  year  or  two  however,  • 
will  prove  more  in  that  respect.     It  is  my  ' 
intention  to  remove  them  from  the  boxes  | 
after  the  leaves  fall  in  November  and  cover  ' 
them  with  earth  in  the  cellar,  replanting 
all  the  best,  in  the  spring,  in  the  open  air, 
but  not  in  boxes.  ' 
I  have  read  and  heard  the  experiences  of  | 
many  with   grape  seedlings,  and  I  would  ] 
not  have  any  of  your  readers  suppose  me  ' 
vain  enough  to  think  my  plans  superior  to  I 
that  of  others  who  have  had  more  expe-  ,; 
rience.    On  the  contrary,  being  in  the  city,  ) 
I  have  labored  under  great  disadvantages  | 
for  a  proper    place    to    grow   my    seeds.  '^ 
Neither  would  I  have  them  think  me  in-  < 
flated  with  the  idea  of  producing  a  superior  ) 
grape.     That  I  have  hopes  I  will  not  deny.  j 
1  have  considered  well  the  chances  and  in-  | 
tend  to  give  the  subject  my  best  care  and  { 
patience,  believing  that  some  one  will  yet  i 
produce  the  "  Great  American  Seedling."  j 


Ch'oioing  Asparagus. 


339 


GROWING   ASPARAGUS. 


BY  DR.  J.  S.  HOULJHTON,    PHILADELPHIA. 


Having  tried  the  plan  of  growing  Aspara- 
gus from  plants  only  six  months  old,  instead 
of  two  years  old,  as  is  generally  done,  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  give  the  result  of 
the  experiment. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  I  sowed  the  seeds 
of  asparagus  in  a  hot-bed,  and,  as  the  plants 
appeared,  thinned  them  oiit  and  treated 
them  in  all  respects  just  as  is  usual  with 
tomato  and  cabbage,  thinning  them  very 
much,  or  pricking  them  out  into  a  cold  pit, 
and  hardening  them  off  as  the  season  ad- 
vances. The  young  plants  were  then  left 
to  stand  in  the  frame  or  pit  till  the  last  of 
August,  when  they  were  transplanted  into 
properly  prepared  trenches  or  drills  three 
feet  apart,  or  nearer,  and  about  nine  inches 
apart  in  the  rows.  At  the  time  of  trans- 
planting, the  tops  were  shortened  a  little, 
to  remove  part  of  the  foliage. 

The  plants  of  course  made  little  or  no 
growth  the  season  of  transplanting,  but 
took  root  and  maintained  their  vitality  till 
frost,  when  they  were  cut  down  to  the 
ground,  and  covered  with  soil  and  a  mulch 
of  manure. 

In  the  spring  of  1866,  the  plants  were 
uncovered  as  soon  as  they  showed  signs  of 
starting,  and  as  they  grew,  were  tied  up  to 
small  stakes  to  keep  them  from  breaking 
down.  As  soon  as  it  was  evident  that  the 
large  portion  of  the  plants  were  alive,  they 
were  thinned  out  to  eighteen  inches  apart, 
and  the  vacant  spaces,  if  any,  were  filled 
with  the  spare  plants. 

The  growth  this  season,  notwithstanding 
the  drouth,  and  a  poor  soil,  has  been  highly 
satisfactory,  making  large  bushy  shoots, 
with  numerous  shoots  from  each  plant ; 
and  now,  after  a  single  season's  growth, 
giving  promise  of  a  cutting  for  the  table 
next  year,  if  desired,  although  it  may  not 
be  advisable  to  take  any  of  the  shoots  for 
eating  so  soon. 


The  argument  in  favor  of  this  plan  of 
planting  asparagus  is,  that  from  the  start 
you  save  all  the  roots  of  the  plants,  and  do 
not  check  or  stunt  the  young  asparagus  so 
much  as  you  do  by  digging  up  and  planting 
older  plants. 

Another,  and  the  chief  point  is  this : 
When  two  year  old  plants  are  dug  up  from 
closely-planted  seed  beds,  they  are  gener- 
ally in  clusters,  and  are  not  only  rudely 
torn  apart,  and  thus  injured,  but  many  of 
the  roots  are  lost  in  digging,  and  more  are 
usually  cut  off,  so  that  when  the  plants  are 
set  out  (usually  too  late  in  the  spring)  they 
are  bruised,  enfeebled  and  stunted,  and  do 
not  start  into  growth  till  late  in  the  season. 
Then  of  course  they  continue  to  grow  till 
late  in  the  fall,  and  do  not  ripen  their 
stalks  or  crown  buds  till  after  frost,  if  at 
all,  and  the  tender  crown  buds  are  very 
apt  to  be  injured  by  frost  and  rain,  in  the 
winter,  and  the  plants  die  out  the  ensuing 
season. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  this  metliod  of 
growing  asparagus.  It  seems  to  me  a  sav- 
ing of  time  and  trouble,  and  I  think  it  pro- 
duces superior  plants. 

I  may  add  that  I  have  planted  my  aspara- 
gus, not  in  a  bed,  after  the  old  method,  but 
in  rows  three  feet  apart,  (as  before  ob- 
served) with  the  intention  of  working  the 
plants  with  the  horse  hoe  and  plow,  just  as 
we  do  potatoes,  which  I  have  no  doubt  is 
better  than  the  bed  system.  I  now  think 
the  rows  should  be  three  and  a  half  feet 
apart,  at  least,  where  land  is  plenty,  as  my 
plants  of  one  season's  growth  almost  meet 
in  the  centre  of  the  three  feet  space. 
Heavy  surface  manuring  may  be  applied  in 
the  fail,  between  the  rows,  and  the  plants 
are  then  to  be  covered  deeply  with  the 
plow.  This  is  the  best  plan  I  think  for 
growing  asparagus  for  market  in  large 
quantities. 


340 


Tlie   Horticulturist. 
GRAPES  IN   CITY  YARDS. 

BY  CHAS.   \V.  RIDGELV,  BALTIMORE,  M.  D. 


After  three  years  of  patient  waiting,  at 
last  I  have  eaten  my  own  grapes,  grown  in 
my  city  yard,  and  proceed  to  tell  the  reader 
how  they  taste  here  in  the  "  Border 
States,"  and  how  I  made  room  for  so  many 
kinds  in  my  diminutive  domain. 

The  lona  is  prince  of  the  hardy  grapes. 
Compress  two  or  three  berries  gently  with 
your  tongue,  and  your  mouth  is  filled  with 
juice,  rich,  sweet,  pure  and  vinous.  You 
miss  no  desired  ingredient,  you  detect 
nothing  unpleasant  in  the  taste  ;  you  spon- 
taneously say,  "  that  suflBces  ;  I  seek  noth- 
ing better."  Besides  its  excellence,  it  is 
early,  prolific  and  the  most  beautiful  of 
grapes.  The  Delaware  comes  next  ;  were 
it  of  equal  size,  and  not  so  wonderfully 
sweet,  it  would  rival  the  lona.  The  saccha- 
rine element  is  in  such  excess,  that  it  seems 
almost  to  have  candied,  and  the  grape 
tastes  as  if  3^ou  were  eating  sugar.  Some- 
times a  bunch  may  be  found  juicier  than 
the  rest,  and  not  so  sugary  ;  quite  as  pure 
and  vinous,  but  sweeter  and  more  delicious 
than  the  Ilerbemont.  The  Israella  is  large, 
early  and  very  sweet,  with  a  thick  skin. 
Every  one  should  have  it ;  but  I  have  not 
yet  fully  decided  where  to  place  it  in  my 
list.  If  it  has  not  attained  to  the  '■'•first 
three,''''  it  is  certainly  '•  honorable  among  the 
thirty."  Diana  is  very  rich,  vinous  and 
sweet,  with  an  agreeaVjle  peculiarity  of 
flavor.  Allen's  Hybrid  is  sweet  and  pure  ; 
but  it  seems  deficient  in  "  vinous  refresh- 
ment." It  improved,  however,  greatly  the 
last  few  weeks ;  and  in  a  wanner  season, 
no  doubt,  would  reach  a  much  higher  ex- 
cellence. Rebecca  is  excellent;  ripening 
thoroughly,  even  to  the  skin  ;  and  by  some 
is  preferred  to  the  Allen.  Elsinburgh  is 
the  smallest  of  grapes  ;  rich,  sweet  and 
pure ;  too  raisinish  for  my  taste,  but  wor- 
thy a  place  in  every  choice  collection.  The 
Herbemonts  are  maturing ;  and  about  the 
25th  inst.,  if  patiently  waited  for,  will  be 
on  hand  with  a  flavor  as  pure  as  can  be 


found  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  a  vinous 
energy  which  no  one  can  forget  who  has 
been  refreshed  and  exhilarated  by  them  as 
often  as  the  writer.  My  Catawbas  ripened 
as  well  this  season  as  they  ever  did ;  but 
retained  the  tough,  acid  centre;  and  the 
Isabellas,  insipid  as  ever,  making  me  marvel 
at  the  avidity  with  which  I  used  to  devour 
them. 

About  twent)'-five  of  these  vines  are 
growing  in  my  yard,  of  30  feet  by  20,  clear 
space,  in  which,  after  due  concessions  to 
domestic  claims,  I  laid  off  a  grape  border 
about  45  feet  long  and  3  wide,  beside  the 
west  and  north  fences  ;  and  another  border, 
12  feet  by  5,  a  little  in  advance  of  the 
latter  fence.  Having  selected  the  ground, 
m}'-  first  business  was  to  take  up  the  stifl' 
clay  soil  to  the  depth  of  2  feet,  and 
thoroughly  incorporate  it  with  a  liberal 
proportion  of  old  field  sods,  street-scrapings, 
plaster,  coal-ashes,  cellar-dirt,  and  sand. 
Then  I  procured  from  Dr.  Grant,  of  lona, 
New  Tork,  a  selection  of  his  choicest  vines, 
and  planted  them  agreeably  to  his  instruc- 
tions. They  all  lived  and  made  satisfactory 
growth  in  1864  ;  some  reaching  a  height  of 
10  feet.  Cutting  them  back  to  two  or 
three  eyes,  the  second  season  I  permitted 
one  shoot  to  grow  on  each  ;  and  when  these 
had  reached  the  proper  elevation,  pinched 
off  the  terminal  buds,  to  develop  the  two 
highest  laterals,  and  from  them  grow  the 
permanent  arms  of  my  vines.  After  test- 
ing various  other  plans,  I  submit  this  as 
the  surest  and  readiest  mode  of  obtaining 
the  arms.  Last  spring,  having  in  most 
ca-es  obtained  the  two  arms  for  each  vine, 
I  cut  these  back,  permitting  each  arm  to 
produce  only  2  or  3  fruit-bearing  canes  j 
two  are  preferable,  unless  the  vine  has  re- 
markable vigor ;  and  now,  at  the  end  of  the 
third  season,  most  of  my  pets  are  occupy- 
ing the  portion  of  the  trellis  designed  for 
them,  having  produced  as  much  fruit  as 
they  could  safely  mature,  and  with  ample 


Greely  Prize  "  on  Grapes. 


341 


reserve  space  in  which  to  grow  and  expand 
for  the  next  five  years. 

Possibly,  some  one  may  wish  to  know 
how  T  could  find  room  for  these  vines  in  so 
small  a  space.  My  method  was  to  plant 
the  vines  about  2^  feet  apart,  and  to  train 
them  in  four  courses  on  the  trellis,  one 
above  another ;  setting  up  stout  posts  to 
support  the  four  horizontal  bars,  the  first 
placed  one  foot  from  the  ground,  and  the 
others  above  it  at  intervals  of  two  feet. 
Each  vine  was  grown,  as  to  height  of  arms, 
&c.,  with  special  reference  to  the  position 
it  was  to  occupy  on  the  trellis.  And  they 
were  so  arranged  that  those  of  the  third 
course  should  be  just  over  those  of  the 
first,  and  those  of  the  fourth  just  over 
those  of  the  second  ;  each  vine  for  the 
higher  courses  being  carried  up  to  its  place 
behind  the  horizontal  bars,  so  as  not  to  in- 
terfere with  the  lower  vines. 


Each  thus  has  a  space  on  the  trellis  nearly 
10  feet  long  and  2  feet  in  height.  By  care- 
ful winter  trimming  and  summer  pinching- 
in,  almost  any  vine,  when  old  enough  to 
fruit,  can  easily  and  profitably  be  confined 
within  this  space.  And  should  a  long- 
jointed  Isabella  or  Herbemont  aspire  to 
reach  its  neighbor  in  the  next  higher  course, 
it  may  safely  be  passed  behind  the  bar  as- 
signed to  the  other,  and  permitted  to  ex- 
patiate at  pleasure.  The  arms  may  be 
lengthened  by  2  or  3  buds  each  season ; 
but  this  must  be  done  intelligently  and 
cautiously.  If  too  great  an  addition  be 
made,  the  older  spurs  on  the  arm  will 
suffer,  as  the  sap  seeks  the  extreraeties. 
In  everj'thing  that  pertains  to  the  vine, 
festinans  lente^  is  one  of  the  best  maxims  we 
can  follow. 


GREELEY  PRIZE"  ON  GRAPES. 


The  committee  appointed  by  the  Horti- 
cultural Association  of  the  American  In- 
stitute to  award  the  prize  of  §100,  offered 
by  the  Hon.  Horace  Greely,  President  of 
the  Institute,  for  the  best  grape  for  general 
cultivation  beg  leave  to  report :  First,  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  offer  lias 
not  called  out  more  competition  from  the 
thousands  of  persons  now  usefully  and  pro- 
fitably engaged  in  the  production  of  this 
d«licious  fruit,  of  which  there  were  but 
five  varieties  presented  for  our  examination 
at  the  late  session.  Second,  one  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  offer  was,  that  samples  of 
the  fruit  be  presented  for  examination  by 
the  committee,  and  therefore  we  were  re- 
stricted to  the  consideration  of  such  varie- 
ties as  were  brought  before  us.  Thirdhj, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  committee  held  last 
year,  a  scale  of  points  were  adopted  for  our 
guidance  in  the  decision  on  the  grape.  One 
of  these  points  was  the  necessity  of  health- 
iness and  hardiness  of  the  vine  and  foliage, 
hy  which  is  meant  its  ability  to  withstand 


frost  and  mildew.  Excellence  of  the  fruit 
itself  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  point  of  great 
merit,  but  of  infinitely  less  consequence  for 
the  general  planting  community  than 
healthfuluess  and  vigor,  hardiness  and  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  vine. 

Fruit-growers  are  generally  convinced  of 
the  importance  of  selecting  such  varieties 
as  will  prove  profitable,  and  everybody  un- 
derstands what  is  meant  by  a  "good  mar- 
ket fruit,"  although  it  often  happens  that 
such  are  quite  inferior  to  other  varieties  in 
their  respective  classes. 

We  believe  this  to  have  been  the  object 
in  offering  the  premium,  and  that  we  were 
to  select  from  among  those  kinds  that 
might  be  brought  before  us,  such  a  variety 
that  could  safely  be  recommended  to  the 
millions  to  plant,  with  a  tolerable  certainty 
of  being  rewarded  by  satisfactory  crops. — 
With  regard  to  some  of  the  new  and  choice 
rarieties  brought  to  our  notice  as  competi- 
tors, it  will  be  recollected  that,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  committee  held  in  Septem- 


342 


The  Horticulturist. 


ber,  lb' 65,  we  declared  ourselves  unprepared  tensive  culture  in  every  part  of  the  coun- 

to  make  any  expression,  because  we  Lad  try,  to  be  both  hardy,  productive,  and  sat- 

not  then  a  sufficiently  extended  opportunity  isfactory,  in  regard  to  its  character  as  a 

for  seeing  the  vines  tested  under  varying  vine  ;   while  the  showy  appearance  of  its 

circumstances  throughout  the  country. —  fruit  makes  it  most  welcome  to  the  mil- 

Another  year  has  brought  us  into  farther  lions,  with   wliom   it   is   very   acceptable, 

acquaintance  with  the  candidates,  and  bet-  For  ourselves,  however,  we  must  be  per- 

ter   enables   us   to   come  to  a  conclusion,  mitted  to  say  that  we  wish  the  fruit  were 

which,  however,  may  yet  prove  premature,  of  a  more  refined  character,  in  addition  to 

On  these  grounds,  we  have  awarded  the  the  admirable  qualities  of  this  noble  vine, 

premium  to  the  Concord,  to  exhibitor  33,  John  A.  Warder, 

W.  X.  Goldsmith,  Newark,  N.  J.,  because  Wm.  S.  Carpentek. 

we  believe  that,  though  of  less  excellence  P.  T.  Quinn. 

as  a  fruit  than  some  of  its  competitors  in  E.  Ware  Sylvester. 
their  trial,  it  is  found,  under  the  most  ex- 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 

publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Lake  Shore  Grape  and  Wine  Show — 
A  correspondent  writes  us,  giving  the  fol- 
lowing short  account  of  the  Second  Annual 
Exhibition  of  the  Northern  Ohio  and  Lake 
Shore  Grape  and  AVine  Association  :  "  The 
meeting  was  held  at  Cleveland,  on  the  10th 
11th  and  12th  of  October,  and  was  attended 
by  a  large  number  of  grape-growers,  not 
only  of  Ohio,  but  of  other  States.  Hon, 
Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Professor  J.  P.  Kirt- 
land,  George  Graham,  Esq.,  Dr.  J.  A.  War- 
der, Rev.  J.  Knox,  Dr.  C.  AV.  Grant,  and 
many  other  prominent  pomologists,  were 
there,  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings. 

Notwithstanding  the  partial  failure  of  the 
grape  crop  of  old  vineyaids  on  the  Lake 
Shore,  the  tables  were  literally  loaded  with 
bunches  of  well-ripened  grapes,  embracing 
something  over  thirty  varieties  of  out-door 
hardy  sorts,  and  eighteen  of  foreign  char- 
acter, grown  under  glass.  Of  this  last,  the 
best  collection  was  grown  by  Mr.  W.  T. 
Harding,  of  Cleveland — a  gardener  of  prac- 
tice and  knowledge  equal  to  the  best,  and 
now  open  to  an  ofFtr  of  engagement. 


Of  seedlings,  new,  named,  and  unnamed, 
the  Walter,  Saratoga,  Modena,  and  Detroit 
were  all  that  received  much  attention. 

The  Walter  is  similar  to  the  Delaware; 
a  little  more  sugary;  more  pulp;  a  trifle 
larger ;  looser  bunch ;  claimed  to  bo  per- 
fectly hardy;  of  vigorous  growth,  with 
wood  of  close  firm  texture,  resembling  in 
color  Delav^'are;  free  from  all  diseases  ;  and 
to  ripen  its  fruit  from  8th  to  20th  of  August; 
and  so  rich  that,  if  kept,  it  will  not  decay, 
but  dry  up  like  a  raisin. 

Saratoga  so  much  resembles  Catawba, 
that,  were  it  not  for  the  statement  of  one 
or  two  good  grape  pomologists,  we  should 
incline  to  the  impression  that  it  was  that 
variety,  onlj'-  grown  in  a  sheltered  locality. 
If,  as  claimed,  it  ripens  in  all  places  earlier 
than  Catav.'ba,  it  will  prove  valuable. 

Modena  is  a  small  black  grape ;  loose 
bunch;  claimed  to  ripen  with  Hartford 
Prolific ;  of  good  quality ;  but  with  the 
many  black  grapes  competing  with  it,  such 
as  Israella,  Adirondac,  &c.,  there  are  doubts 
of  its  growing  very  rapidly  into  favor. 


Editor's  Toble. 


343 


Detroit. — This  grape  was  found  growing 
in  a  garden  in  Detroit  about  six  years 
since,  and  the  present  owner  says  has 
j-early  ripened  its  fruit  nearly  as  soon  as 
Delaware.  The  fruit  is  of  the  color  of  a 
well-ripened  Delaware  or  Catawba;  has 
very  little  pulp ;  is  sweet  and^rich,  with  a 
Catawba  flavor;  bunch  full  medium  size, 
say  one-half  larger  than  Delaware,  and 
very  compact.  The  vine  is  stated  to  be  a 
vigorous  grower,  never  had  any  protection 
and  never  been  injured  by  winter  frosts. 

Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder  exhibited  nine 
numbers  of  Rogers'  Hybrid  grapes,  but 
specimens  of  No.  15,  grown  in  Cleveland, 
were  acknowledged  to  be  superior,  in  size 
of  bunch,  berry,  and  in  qualit}^,  to  txnj 
ever  before  exhibited.  This  and  No.  4, 
from  the  exhibition  of  specimens  here,  gave 
many  a  grape-man  a  new  and  correct  im- 
pression of  their  great  value. 

Adlrondac,  grown  on  the  Lake  Shore, 
was  on  the  tables  ;  and  while  the  bunches 
were  not  as  largo  as  we  have  seen,  the  ber- 
ries were  large,  and  the  quality  such,  that 
the  exhibitor  had  to  watch  carefully,  in  or- 
der to  keep  enough  to  show  the  committee. 

Ices''  Seedling  was  on  exhibition,  and,  in 
discussion,  it  was  stated  that  it  was  a  rapid 
healthy  grower,  growing  freely  from  cut- 
tings; a  great  bearer,  yielding  five  times 
as  much  as  Norton's  Virginia,  and  second 
only  to  that  variety  as  a  red  wine  grape. — 
The  yield  was  stated  at  530  gallons  to  the 
acre,  the  weight  of  must  ranging  from  80 
to  88,  and  its  acid  8  to  10  per  cent.  The 
fruit  this  year  sold  in  Cincinnati  at  $13.75 
per  bushel. 

The  lona  was  a  long  time  under  discus- 
sion. Its  exhibitor  from  lona  Island  stated 
that,  as  the  vines  grew  older,  the  fruit 
ripened  earlier  than  on  young  vines,  and 
that  when  packed  and  transported,  on 
opening  held  well,  i.  e.,  did  not  drop  from 
the  bunch. 

In  the  discussion,  the  testimony  from 
several  growers  was,  that,  on  clay  ground, 
it  dropped  its  foliage  early  in  midsummer, 
and  hence  did  not  ripen  its  wood.     Other 


testimony  gave  it,  as  well  as  some  other 
sorts,  a  character  of  not  ripening  fruit  or 
foliage  on  light  loose  soil,  where  the  roots 
ran  deep.  Good,  rich,  loamy  clay  seemed 
to  show  it  up  in  its  best  light. 

In  some  remarks  relative  to  the  Rogers' 
Hybrid  grapes,  Mr.  Wilder  said  they  were 
all  strong  vigorous  growers,  and  must  in 
their  training  have  plenty  of  room.  That 
he  knew  a  vine  of  No.  4,  five  years  planted 
out,  which  now  covered  a  trellis  seventy- 
five  by  eleven  feet,  and  that  this  year 
fruited  800  bunches  of  grapes.  The  vine, 
of  course,  was  well  supplied  with  food.  In 
this  connection,  Mr.  W.  did  not  think  No. 
4  should  be  compared  with  Concord,  as  he 
did  not  regard  the  latter  of  standard  qual- 
ity. In  the  market  of  Boston,  his  No.  4 
sold  at  35  cents  a  pound  on  the  same  day 
as  his  Concords  at  20  cents. 

Mr.  Knox  regarded  the  Concord  as  the 
most  valuable  variety  in  the  country  ;  and, 
in  inviting  all  interested  in  grape-culture 
to  attend  his  grape  show  on  the  17th  and 
18th  instant,  said,  of  thirty-five  sorts,  that 
he  would  show,  the  Concord  would  speak 
for  itself. 

The  partial  failure  of  the  Catawba  in  the 
old  vineyards  on  the  Lake  Shore  was 
brought  up,  but  testimony,  as  heretofore, 
mostly  favored  the  over-bearing  of  previous 
years  as  the  cause. 

The  laws  of  Ohio  for  prevention  of 
adulteration  of  grape  wine  were  read,  and 
the  practice  of  Dr.  Gall  strongly  denounced, 
as  well  as  its  practicers,  by  Messrs.  Griffith, 
Warder,  Leonard,  and  McCuUocli,  the  lat-, 
ter  of  whom  advised  the  transfering  low 
grade  wines  to  vinegar,  rather  than  raise 
them  by'  means  of  foreign  agents.  Mr. 
Griffith  introduced  a  resolution,  making 
obnoxious  to  grape-growers,  and  the  pomo- 
logical  world  generally,  the  oflFering  for 
public  favor  any  new  grape  until  its  merits 
have  been  passed  upon  by  some  competent 
association. 

Mr.  Elliott  hoped  that  hereafter  origina- 
tors of  new  sorts  would  be  required  to  pre- 
sent a  test  of  the  weight  of  the  must,  its 


344 


The  Horticulturist. 


acid,  alcobol,  &c.,  before  obtaining  favor 
from  committees  or  journals.  Such  test, 
he  thought,  very  important  to  the  grower 
of  grapes  for  wine. 

One  evening  during  the  session  was 
pleasantly  devoted  to  listening  to  instruc- 
tive as  well  as  humorous  remarks  connected 
with  grape-growing  and  other  pomological 
pursuits,  from  Hon.  "W.  P.  Wilder,  Professor 
Kirtland,  and  others. 

Before  closing  the  session,  a  resolution 
was  oifered  expressive  of  the  wish  of  the 
Society  to  have  Mr.  Rogers  give  to  his  num- 
bered grapes  special  names,  that  hereafter 
there  may  be  no  more  confusion. 


for  winter  quarters,  or  planted  out  in  their         i 
permanent  location.     Bright  clear  sun,  or  a 
cold,  frosty,  dry  wind,  are  either  very  inju-         , 
rious  and  often  are  death  to  trees  taken 
immediately    from    the     packing-case     or         j 
bundle. 


Care  of  Trees  Received  from  the 
Nursery. — At  this  season,  many  of  our 
readers  .will  undoubtedly  be  receiving  trees 
and  plants  from  the  nurseries,  and  a  word 
of  caution  as  to  their  care  on  such  recep- 
tion may  not  be  amiss.  We  know  many  a 
person  to  have  received  trees  in  good  or- 
der, but  from  want  of  care  on  their  receipt, 
or  injudicious  care,  to  have  lost  nearly  all. 
Should  your  trees  arrive  in  a  cold  frosty 
time,  place  the  bundles  or  boxes,  if  possible, 
at  once  in  a  cellar  or  pit,  where  the  tem- 
perature is  above  freezing  point,  and  there 
let  them  remain  packed,  just  as  received, 
until  a  warm  moist  day  will  enable  you  to 
open  and  transplant  them  ;  or  if  you  choose 
to  open  them  in  the  cellar  or  pit,  do  so; 
but  in  taking  them  out  for  heel ing-in,  wrap 
the  roots  carefully  from  a  drying,  cold, 
harsh  wind,  or  a  clear  burning  sun.  Should 
your  trees  arrive  in  a  frozen  condition,  if 
they  are  in  bundles,  bury  them,  just  as 
they  are,  half  a  foot  or  more,  or  below  the 
frost,  in  the  ground.  If  they  come  in 
boxes,  and  are  frozen,  and  you  have  no  cel- 
lar or  pit  to  place  them  in,  prepare  a  trench, 
one  and  a  half  to  two  feet  deep ;  then  open 
the  box,  and,  taking  them  out  as  much  in 
bundles  as  possible,  lay  them,  tops  and  all, 
down  in  the  trench,  and  cover  at  once  with 
earth.  Leave  them  there  a  few  days,  or 
until  a  cloudy  warm  day  occurs,  when  they 
should  be  taken  out  and  carefully  heeled-in 


Grapevines  out  of  doors,  in  vineyard,  or 
about  the  house,  should  this  month  receive 
their  pruning  back  for  the  next  spring's 
growth.  As  to  the  exact  number  of  buds 
to  be  left  on  each  cane,  the  number  of  canes 
to  a  vine,  much,  of  course,  notwithstanding 
opinions  and  rules,  must  depend  on  the 
vigor,  age,  and  strength  of  the  vine ;  whe- 
ther it  has  grown  feebly  and  matured  a 
heavy  crop  of  fruit,  or  vigorously  without 
any  fruit.  No  universal  rule  can  be  laid 
down  for  vineyard  pruning,  but  each  man 
performing  the  work  must  study  general 
directions,  and  then  follow  good  common- 
sense  principles,  with  knowledge  of  vegeta- 
ble physiology.  Our  pages  have  abounded 
in  practical  articles  on  grape-culture  the 
past  year,  and  yet  presume  many  will  for- 
get that  their  Concord  vines  will  endure  to 
have  more  than  double  the  length  of  wood 
left  on  them  than  the  Delaware  or  Rebecca  j 
Norton's  Virginia  and  Clinton,  Ive's  Seed- 
ling, and  others  of  that  class,  will  bear 
even  longer  pruning  than  the  Concord,  and 
treble  that  of  Catawba  or  Isabella. 

Vines  that  have  borne  heavily  the  past 
year  should  be  pruned  back  more  severely 
than  those  which  have  only  expended  their 
strength  in  growth. 

Records  show  that  extra  product  of  this 
year,  as  a  rule,  is  exhibited  in  reduced  pro- 
duct, loss  of  vitality,  disease  of  vine,  or  rot 
in  fruit  next  year.  Occasionally,  if  a  favor- 
able fall  has  occurred,  and  stimulating 
manures  applied,  this  exhibit  does  not 
fully  show  itsell  for  a  year  or  two,  or  more 
after  the  first  overcrop  ;  but  its  results  will 
come  sooner  or  later,  and  the  common-sense 
man  will  try  to  aid  Nature  in  her  recovery 
of  vitality,  by  reducing  opportunity  for 
continued  exhaustion  by  reason  of  fruiting. 

Good  vines  of  Concords,  on  the  simple 


Editor's  Tahle. 


345 


trellis  of  wire  in  vineyard,  will  carry  their 
canes  of  four  to  six  feet,  while  Delawares 
will  not  bear  more  than  half  that  length, 
and  yet  set  more  bunches,  because  of  the 
shorter-jointed  wood. 

With  these  remarks,  we  shall  recommend 
every  grape-grower  to  buy  and  read  one  or 
more  books  of  modern  writers  on  grape- 
culture. 


Low  Branches. — Whatever  you  may 
do  in  pruning  your  newly-planted  trees 
this  fall,  or  3'our  old  orchards,  don't  by 
any  means  cut  away  the  lower  limbs. — 
Let  the  limbs  branch  low  from  the  body, 
no  matter  if  they  almost  or  quite  rest  their 
ends  upon  the  ground  as  they  grow.  These 
limbs  will  shade  the  crown  of  the  plant, 
keep  the  roots  moist,  and  the  tree,  in  one- 
half  the  time,  will  have  increased  to  double 
the  size  of  one  where  the  limbs  have  been 
pruned  away  from  the  main  stem  to  a 
height  of  from  five  to  eight  feet.  We  know 
of  an  apple  orchard  that  changed  hands 
five  years  since.  It  was  then  six  years 
planted,  and  the  planter  had  grown  his 
trees  with  low  branches,  so  that  at  the 
time  they  completely  shielded  the  bodies 
and  roots.  The  new  owner  went  at  once 
to  work,  and  trimmed  every  tree  up  to 
some  eight  or  nine  feet,  put  a  boy  on  a 
horse,  and  man  to  hold  the  plough,  and 
broke  up  the  ground  and  roots  as  near  the 
trees  as  he  could,  cutting  away  every  limb 
that  interfered  with  the  boy  on  the  horse. 
That  orchard  at  this  day  is  one-fourth  dead, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  trees  do  not  cover 
as  much  surface-ground  as  when  the  present 
owner  purchased  it. 


is  of  that  kind.  Before  you  buy  any  new 
furniture,  think  of  its  use.  Remember  that 
a  shiny  convex  hair-cloth  sofa,  too  short  to 
lie  down  on,  and  too  slippery  to  sit  on, 
may  do  for  show,  but  never  for  your  family 
comfort.  Remember  that  a  marble-top  ta- 
ble, with  a  plain,  white-painted  wood-work 
and  wall  of  white,  without  pictures,  is  not 
in  keeping,  however  artistic  or  beautiful  it 
may  be  in  itself.  Think  well  of  your 
wants,  of  the  association  of  your  furniture 
with  your  pecuniary  means,  and  above 
all,  with  the  use  and  comfort  obtainable 
therefrom.  Do  not  buy  high-backed,  stiff, 
hair-cloth  chairs,  when  you  can  enjoy  more 
real  comfort  in  a  splint  bottom  wood,  sim- 
ply varnished,  and  procurable  at  one-fourth 
the  price.  Do  not  buy  a  pair  of  vases, 
with  pictures  painted  on  them  professing  to 
represent  China  scenes,  at  a  high  price,  and 
place  them  on  the  wooden  mantelpiece, 
where  they  are  all  out  of  character  in  their 
false  representation.  Do  not  buy  a  carpet 
for  a  small  room,  with  a  pattern  scrawling 
like  a  schoolboy's  earlier  penmanship,  in 
forms  and  figures  all,  every,  but  yet  no- 
where. Let  all  carved  work,  in  chair  or 
table,  mantel  or  cornice,  alone,  unless  you 
have  wealth  to  carry  out  all  in  keeping. — 
Leave  out  knicknacks  of  all  sorts  ;  and  re- 
member that  your  own  comfort,  and  that 
of  your  family,  is  obtained  by  a  free  use 
and  enjoyment  of  all  you  have  around  you, 
and  that  plain,  substantial,  and  appropriate 
patterns  and  colors,  without  gilding,  are 
always  best  received  and  appreciated  b}'" 
your  friends  or  enemies,  and  that  they 
really  contribute  most  to  your  own  enjoy- 
ment. 


House  Furniture. — At  this  season  of 
the  year,  new  carpets  are  often  procured ; 
curtains  arc  renewed — that  is,  the  lighter 
ones  of  summer  are  replaced  by  heavier  ones 
of  damask,  &c.,  for  winter — and  often  new 
furniture  throughout  for  the  room  is  pro- 
cured. Now,  we  wish  to  offer  one  sugges- 
tion to  our  rural  friends  ;  and  as  we  are  all 
practical  in  our  table  matter,  our  suggestion 


Geranium  and  other  plants,  taken  from 
out  of  doors  and  potted  for  sitting-room 
decoration  and  enjoyment,  should  be  but 
sparingly  watered  this  month.  It  is  best 
to  keep  them  where  they  will  receive  only 
the  morning  sun,  and  in  a  cool  just  above 
freezing  temperature,  rather  than,  as  is 
often  done,  place  them  at  once  in  a  warm 
room. 


346 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


Make  all  the  planting  you  can  in  this 
month.  Heavy  soils  work  much  easier  and 
better  now  than  in  spring  ;  and  light  sandy 
soils,  if  now  worked,  pack  closer  than  when 
handled  in  spring.  Again,  all,  or  nearly  all 
trees,  fall  planted  carefully,  go  on  healipg 
their  broken  roots,  and  fitting  themselves 
for  the  draft  of  spring  growth. 

In  landscape  planting,  think  which  you 
will  prefer — the  immediate  effect  in  a  crude 
manner  for  show,  three  to  five  years  ;  or 
an  imperfect  and  comparative  baldness  in 
effect,  for  two  to  five  years,  with  a  then 
filling  up  and  outlining  by  growth  of  tree 
and  plant,  to  result  in  the  true  and  happy 
effects  of  the  artists  original  plan.  The 
first  costs  more  than  double  in  plants  and 
labor  of  that  of  the  latter,  and  unless  the 
plants  are  judiciously  thinned  out  from 
time  to  time,  afterward  results  in  anything 
but  a  pleasing  character  to  grounds.  This 
thinning  is  a  matter  generally  neglected,  as 
improvers  of  new  places  become  more  or 
less  attached  to  each  tree  and  plant,  and 
dislike  to  cut  away,  even  when  their  judg- 
ment tells  them  plainly  it  should  be  done. 
Our  advice  is,  to  plant  only  permanent 
trees  for  the  first  year  or  two  on  a  new 
place,  relieving  the  barrenness  of  the 
grounds  for  the  time  being  with  dahlias, 
hollyhocks,  &c.,  for  immediate  filling  of  the 
groups. 


Winter  Pjiotection  to  Plants  and 
Trees. — Many  of  our  shrubs,  vines,  and  es- 
pecially young  ornamental  evergreen  and 
other  trees,  although  quite  hardy  in  some 
winters,  are  again,  by  some  extreme  tem- 
perature of  only  a  night  or  day,  killed  quite 
to  the  ground  when  left  fully  exposed.  A 
slight  protection  of  hemlock  or  other  ever- 
green branches,  stalks  of  corn  fodder,  ordi- 
nary branches  of  deciduous  trees,  plaited  in 
with  rye  straw,  and  set  around  the  plants 
or  trees,  to  shield  them  from  both  wind  and 
sun,  will  often  render  plant-  or  tree  hardy 
while  becoming  established,  that,  without 
such  protection,  would  be  discarded  as 
valueless. 


FuscHiAs,  commonly  called  Ladies'  Ear- 
drop, are  easily  kept  throughout  the  win- 
ter, and  if  planted  where  they  receive  only 
the  morning  sun,  form  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  summer-blooming  plants  that 
decorate  the  garden.  When  taken  up  in 
the  fail,  all  that  is  requisite  is  to  see  that 
the  roots  are  covered  in  the  soil,  and  that 
during  the  winter  they  are  just  a  little 
moist,  never  wet,  and  always  free  from 
frost.  An  ordinarily  dry  cellar,  dark,  will 
generally  keep  them  pcrfectlj'-,  without  any 
attention. 


Grapes  to  Keep  Well,  and  be  really 
good  when  opened,  should  be  fully  ripe,  not 
simply  colored  ;  in  other  words,  they  should 
remain  on  the  vine  just  as  long  as  the  wea- 
ther will  admit  5  then  gather  carefully, 
handling  them  only  by  taking  hold  of  the 
stem ;  lay  them  in  a  cool  dry  room,  in  tiers 
of  three  layers  ;  leave  them  two  days  ;  then 
pack  in  shallow,  tight  boxes,  holding  about 
twenty  or  twenty-five  pounds,  layers  only 
two  deep  ;  lay  paper  in  around  the  whole 
inside  the  box,  between  the  grapes  and  the 
wood ;  nail  up  tight,  and  set  away  in  a  cool 
dry  room,  free  from  frost. 


Tree  Planting  may  be  continued  all 
this  month,  or  until  the  ground  becomes 
frozen.  All  dry  soils  work  better  and  easier 
in  fall  than  spring  and  all  hardy  trees  suc- 
ceed as  well,  or  better,  transplanted  in  the 
autumn.  Hardy  shrubs,  also,  should  be 
transplanted  at  this  season ;  and  perennials 
may  also  be  divided,  and  successfully  trans- 
planted. Over  all  the  latter,  spread  a  light 
covering  of  straw,  bean  haulm,  &c.,  to  pre- 
vent the  frost  from  heaving  them  out,  and 
around  each  tree  and  shrub  draw  up  a  slight 
mound  of  earth. 


Layers  of  vines,  shrubs,  &c.,  are  better 
to  be  taken  up  and  heeled-in  to  winter 
quarters  than  left  on  their  parent  plant.  In 
heeling-in,  as  we  have  before  said,  select  a 
dry  spot  of  ground,  and  shield  it  from  the 
sun's  rays  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


Editor's  Table. 


347 


Poultry  should  Lave  a  warm  roosting 
and  laying  room,  and  a  sheltered  sunny 
spot  for  day  recreation.  Give  them  food  of 
varied  grains,  as  barley,  corn,  wheat,  and 
oats,  mixed,  and  kept  always  by  them,  or 
accessible  to  them.  See  that  they  have 
plenty  of  broken  oyster  shells,  lime  rub- 
bish, coarse  sand  gravel,  &c.,  and  dry  sand 
or  ashes  to  dust  themselves.  Every  fowl 
should  have  one  foot  of  space  for  roosting, 
and  the  roost  should  always  have  a  good 
ventilator  for  escape  of  foul  air. 

Place  dry  ashes  in  the  bottom  of  the 
nests,  and  where  you  can,  form  the  nests  of 
dry  moss. 


Selection  of  Orchard  Sites. — Those 
•who  are  about  forming  new  orchards  should 
study  well  the  location,  remembering* that 
an  elevation  of  only  a  few  feet  often  renders 
a  location  free  from  frost,  and  thus  insures 
the  crop  of  fruit.  Again,  it  is  not  only 
that  the  hills  are  more  exempt  from  frost 
than  valleys,  but  that  the  increased  tem- 
perature of  the  valleys  in  summer  causes  a 
more  rapid  and  succulent  growth,  less  capa- 
ble of  enduring  uninjured  the  severity  of 
winter. 


Set  Out  One  More  Tree. — This  re- 
commendation we  heard  a  friend  of  ours 
giving  a  few  days  since.  He  said  every 
man,  almost,  could  find  room  in  his  grounds 
for  one  more ;  and  that,  ere  he  became 
aware  of  it,  one  or  more  of  his  present 
stock  would  die  out,  and  then  this  addi- 
tional one  would  make  all  good.  Now,  like 
our  friend,  we  say  to  the  readers  of  the 
Horticulturist,  find  room  for  one  more 
choice  fruit-tree,  and  perhaps  there  is  yet 
a  space  for  an  additional  flowering  shrub. 
Plant  it  now. 


Be  careful  to  leave  no  fence  corners  or 
bj^-places  occupied  with  small  or  large  heaps 
of  rubbish  of  old  melon  vines,  bean  haulm, 
&c.,  for  these  are  almost  invariably  the 
harbors  of  insects,  and  if  lelt,  they  will 
cause  3^ou  to  regret  your  neglect  another 
season. 


In  forming  footpaths  or  carriage-drives 
in  a  new  place,  if  you  have  not  obtained 
the  advice  or  aid  of  a  landscape  gardener, 
which  you  should  have  done,  be  earful  not 
to  get  the  curves  too  strong.  A  crooked 
path  is,  if  anything,  more  objectionable  to 
the  eye  of  taste  than  a  straight  line.  Let 
all  your  curved  lines  exhibit  a  reason  for 
diverging  from  a  straight  course,  and  let 
that  reason  be  apparent  to  the  mind  of  the 
most  thoughtless. 


Orchards  that  have  been  man}"-  years  in 
grass,  as  well  as  the  trees  in  young  orchards, 
will  receive  far  greater  benefit  from  plov/ing 
the  ground,  and  leaving  it  in  a  rough  state 
for  action  of  the  winter's  frosts,  than  if  the 
work  is  left  until  spring.  After  plowing, 
go  round  to  every  tree  with  spade  or  hoe, 
and  clear  away  all  grass  or  weeds,  &c.,  im- 
mediately next  the  body  of  the  tree,  so 
that  mice  may  not  harbor  there  and  girdle 
them. 


Always  have  a  work  bench  in  your  wood 
shed  or  a  part  of  your  barn,  it  you  cannot 
aflbrd  a  room  purposely  as  a  tool  and  work- 
room. A  few  tools  of  the  common  kinds, 
a  triplicate  of  saws,  some  chisels,  two 
planes,  &c.,  will  enable  yourself,  or  your 
man-of-all-work,  to  fit  up  and  repair,  or 
make  many  a  thing  that  if  you  had  to  hire 
a  carpenter,  you  would  never  think  of  hav- 
ing, because  of  its  cost.  Labels,  stakes, 
melon  boxes,  &c.,  can  be  made  up  in  stormy 
days  of  fall  and  winter,  at  a  great  saving. 


All  clay  lands,  and  we  may  say  all  good 
garden  lands,  if  dug  or  plowed  deeply,  and 
turned  up  rough,  and  exposed  to  the  win- 
ter's frosts,  will  improve  in  quality  full  as 
much  as  the  covering  of  one  coat  of  ma- 
nure given  and  worked  in  spring. 


Lose  no  time  in  attending  to  the  gather- 
ing and  storing  of  roots  of  all  kinds.  Cab- 
bages, celery,  &c.,  should  at  once  be  trench- 
ed, and  prepared  for  early  obtainment  in 
winter. 


348 


The  Horticulturist. 


Shaker  Russet  Potato. — Among  the 
man}^  varieties  of  potato  that  we  have 
grown,  none  have  given  us  better  satisfac- 
tion than  one  known  as  Shaker  Russet.  It 
forms  large  tubers,  fit  for  eating  early  in 
the  season,  and  that  when  cooked  are  dry 
and  mealy,  and  yet  it  continues  growing 
until  near  the  very  last  of  the  season,  pro- 
ducing abundantly,  and  nearly  all  of  large- 
sized  tubers. 


Wood  ashes,  distributed  freely  on  lawns, 
will  serve  to  enrich,  render  compact  or 
loose,  as  the  soil  is  sand  or  clay,  and  stimu- 
late the  roots  of  the  grass.  The  rate  of 
200  bushels  to  the  acre  will  not  be  too 
much  on  worn-out  lawns,  or  those  in  which 
wild  grasses  have  come  in. 


All  the  paths  around  the  house  and 
grounds  should  be  carefully  cleaned  this 
month,  and  any  little  repairs  requisite  to 
comfort  about  the  house  and  grounds  made, 
that  comfort  and  security  from  storms,  &c., 
may  be  had  during  the  cold  frost  and  storms 
of  winter. 


As  every  ruralist  is  supposed  to  have  a 
horse  and  cow,  we  must  remind  them  that 
warm  and  dry  stables  are  a  great  preserva- 
tive of  their  health,  and  that  all  saving  of 
animal  heat,  by  having  a  warm  room,  is  a 
saving  of  food. 


Ground  for  new  lawns  may  continue  to 
be  prepared  any  time  until  frost  prevents 
the  labor,  but  it  is  too  late  this  month  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  grass.  Dig  and  trench 
the  ground  deep ;  work  in  plenty  of  well- 
rotted  manure,  and  leave  the  whole  as  loose 
and  light  as  possible,  for  action  of  the  ele- 
ments and  the  air  during  winter. 


A  BOQUET  of  flowers  may  be  kept  fresh 
a  long  time,  by  sprinkling  freely  with  wa- 
ter, and  then  placing  them  under  a  glass 
shade.  If  you  have  no  shade,  spi'inkle  the 
flowers  freely  at  night,  and  shut  them  up 
closely  in  a  covered  box. 


Cultivate  the  Orchard — By  some  the 
practice  of  cultivating  the  ground  around 
orchard  trees  is  questioned,  as  of,  at  least, 
doubtful  propriety.  Their  claims  as  to  its 
value  are,  that  our  young  orchards,  under 
regular  culture  of  plow  and  hoe,  are  more 
strong,  and  less  injured  by  insects,  than 
those  that  have  been  left  in  grass.  They 
also  claim  that,  by  stimulating  the  growth 
of  the  trees  by  cultivation,  they  are  more 
liable  to  blight,  and  destructive  to  the  tree. 

How  far  such  views  may  be  sustained  in 
practice,  we  know  not ;  certainly,  in  our 
observation,  they  are  not  tenable.  We 
have  found  the  fruit  in  most  uncultivated 
orchards  to  be  small  and  knotty  ;  and,  when 
the  vigor  of  the  tree  has  been  checked  by  a 
close  compact  sod,  if  any  growth  occurs 
from  an  unusually  growing  season,  it  is  gen- 
erally water  sprouts,  filling  up,  choking, 
and  diverting  the  vitality  of  the  tree  from 
its  true  and  legitimate  channel. 

We  do  not  believe  in  breaking  the 
ground  deeply,  tearing  asunder  roots  of  half 
to  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  especially  those 
near  the  crown ;  but  we  believe  the  ground 
kept  light  and  loose,  two  to  four  inches 
deep,  and  stirred  often  during  the  season  of 
growth  with  the  cultivator  or  Shares'  har- 
row, will  give  a  healthy  growth,  prevent  in 
a  measure  the  increase  of  insect  life,  and 
render  the  tree  hardy,  and  capable  of  en- 
during extremes  of  temperature  in  the  best 
manner. 


Asparagus  Beds,  if  not  already  done, 
should  at  once  have  the  old  tops  mowed 
and  cleaned  off,  a  good  dressing  of  salt 
given,  and  the  whole  covered  with  half- 
rotted  stable  manure,  say  three  inches  deep. 


Bean  poles,  dahlia  stakes,  &c.,  should  be 
gathered  together,  and  stacked  away  care- 
fully for  another  season. 


Azaleas  should  be  kept  cool  during  win- 
ter. The  cooler  they  are  kept,  and  yet  free 
of  frost,  the  better  will  be  the  flowers  in 
spring. 


Editors  Table. 


349 


Charles  J.  May,  of  Warsaw,  111.,  has 
sent  us  samples  of  lona  and  Delaware  vines, 
of  extra  fine  qualit}^,  wliicli  we  shall  plant 
out  and  care  for  with  our  best  skill.  If 
the  vines  grow  as  vigorously  as  their  ap- 
pearance promises,  they  will  overtop  our 
trellis  next  summer. 


Bo  NOT  attempt  to  group  small-growing 
shrubs  or  trees  with  those  of  lofty  natural 
habit.  A  few  years  will  show  the  error 
and  the  loss  in  effect  of  all  the  trees  so 
planted. 

Geraniums,  if  kept  at  a  low  temperature 
during  the  winter,  require  very  little  water; 
and  so  kept,  when  put  forward  in  spring, 
their  growth  is  like  magic,  and  their  bloom 
profusion. 


Be  careful  in  creating  fire  heat  in  the 
greenhouse  at  this  season  of  the  year.  Keep 
the  temperature  as  cool  as  possible,  so  it  is 
above  the  freezing  point. 


Don't  be  afraid  of  the  spade  in  preparing 
holes  for  setting  trees.  Large  wide  holes, 
and  plenty  of  good  soil,  in  place  of  sand, 
gravel,  or  poor  clay,  will  repay  well  the 
labor. 


cause  we  love  to  chat  with  them,  and  be- 
cause we,  as  a  rule,  gather  more  ideas  than 
in  our  other  associations  with  professional 
gardeners.  True,  these  ideas  are  sometimes 
crude,  and  occasionally  hint  at  practices 
new  to  the  promulgator,  but  by  us  known 
long  to  have  been  tried ;  but  they  set  us 
thinking  ;  and  when  we  get  back  into  our 
library,  with  pencil  in  hand,  we  have  tried 
to  write  plainly  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  unpractised.  We  hope  we  have,  at 
times  at  least,  succeeded.  It  is  our  desire 
to  aid  the  uninitiated  by  practical  matter, 
and  to  give  hints  to  be  seized  hold  of  and 
improved  on  by  the  practised  amateur  or 
gardener. 

We  shall  be  thankful  for  any  suggestions, 
and  are  always  ready  to  answer  questions. 


"  Write  for  the  Poor." — We  have 
had  quite  a  number  of  letters,  asking  us  to 
"  give  more  of  matter  in  our  table,  directly 
for  the  interest  of  those  who  have  no  spe- 
cial garden,  gardener,  or  greenhouse,  but 
who,  at  same  time,  live  in  the  countrj'-,  and 
love  both  flowers  and  fruit."  Some  of  our 
letters  complain  that  "  too  much  of  the 
monthly  magazine  instructions  are  written 
apparently  by  a  greenhouse  man,  and  with- 
out thought  of  doing  anything  except  by 
means  of  a  practised  gardener." 

We  do  not  know  but  these  complaints 
may  be  just.  All  we  can  say  is,  that  we 
ourself  are  almost  daily  among  just  the 
people  who  love  flowers  and  fruits,  and  who 
perforaa  their  own  labor  in  the  simplest  and 
plainest  manner.     We  go  among  them,  be- 


WiNTER  Clothing. — It  is  not,  perhaps, 
in  our  line,  as  horticulturists,  to  write 
about  what  we  shall  wear ;  but  yearly  we 
see  so  much  of  error,  as  we  count  it,  in  the 
matter  of  clothing  the  human  frame,  and 
especially  in  that  of  the  female  portion, 
that  we  cannot  avoid  writing  just  one  word. 

As  a  people,  we  are  proverbial  for  heat- 
ing our  rooms  in  winter.  We  raise  the 
heat,  dry  and  harsh,  in  our  rooms  of  a  win- 
ter's day,  when  the  temperature  outside  is 
10°,  to  a  range  of  80°  to  85°— just  such  a 
temperature  as  in  summer  we  call  oppres- 
sively warm.  We  pass  from  the  one  tem- 
perature to  the  other  with  a  shiver  or  a 
feeling  of  oppressive  warmth,  and  find  our- 
selves nearly  all  the  time  suffering  from 
severe  colds. 

Let  us  here  urge  upon  our  lady  friends, 
and  upon  the  children,  the  use  of  more 
clothing,  so  that,  in  passing  from  tlie  warm 
room  to  the  cold  air,  or  vice  versa,  the  shock 
will  not  be  perceptible.  With  this  use  of 
more  and  warmer  clothing,  the  use  of  wool- 
lens—not light  thin  muslins,  and  gauzes, 
we  would  soon  find  a  temperature  in  our 
rooms  of  62°  to  70°  far  more  comfortable, 
and  far  more  healthy,  giving  us  little  or  no 
shock  in  passing  from  the  one  to  the  other, 
and   carrying   us  through  from  month  to 


350 


The  Horticulturist. 


month,  without  colds,  neuralgia,  or  other 
troublesome  ills,  consequent,  as  every  phy- 
sician will  tell  you,  upon  sudden  shocks  in 
temperature  to  the  system. 


Woodbury,  Conn.,  Oct.  1,  1866. 

Messrs.  Editors — The  grape  crop  in  this 
region,  as  well  as  other  fruits,  this  season 
is  a  failure.  Twenty  degs.  below  zero,  and 
no  snow  in  January,  and  heavy  frosts  on 
the  15th  and  24th  of  May,  seem  to  have 
been  too  much  for  the  fruit  buds.  Our 
opinion  would  bo  expressed  about  as  fol- 
lows :  First,  Concord  gives  a  good  crop  ;  no 
disease  or  mildew ;  nothing  less  than  the 
explosion  of  a  13-inch  shell  in  its  vicinity 
would  injure  it.  Hartford  is,  like  Concord, 
free  from  mildew,  but  not  worth  cultivating 
while  we  have  something  better.  N.  Mus- 
cadine, also  free  from  disease,  and  a  better 
grape  for  us  to  eat  than  either  the  former. 
Union  Village  too  late.  Rebecca — feeble 
"■rower;  never  fruits.  Anna  has  grown 
one  inch  a  year  for  the  last  six  years,  and 
of  course  no  fruit.  Diana — a  vigorous 
"•rower,  no  mildew  and  have  received  about 
one  grape  annually  for  seven  years  past ; 
but,  as  Jacob  served  twice  seven  years  fur 
Rachel,  so  we  shall  wait  on  this  coquette 
Diana  seven  years  more,  hoping  she  will 
yield  in  time.  Catawba  is  free  from  rot 
and  mildew ;  ripens  its  fruit  uniformly 
every  year;  vine  is  on  the  south  side  of 
house.  Delaware  is  by  far  the  best  grape 
yet  cultivated  and  fruited  ;  vines  have  mil- 
dev/ed  badly  for  two  years  past,  but  have, 
nevertheless,  given  good  crops  of  well- 
ripened  fruit.  lona  and  Tsraella  have  not 
yet  fruited  (second  year) ;  they  made  a 
good  growth  last  year,  but  this  season  have 
mildewed  badly,  and  most  of  the  buds 
pushed  feebly  ;  hope  to  fruit  them  next 
season. 

Single-eye,  one-year-old  plants  make  a 
better  growth,  and  I  am  confident  will 
fruit  sooner  than  vines  described  by  the 
Lieut.-General  (whose  head-quarters  is  at 
"  Zona,  near  Peekskill")  as  "  vines  of  ex- 
traordinary  quality  and   value,  grown  in 


pots,"  &c.,  and  which,  in  the  height  of  my 
grape  fever,  I  expected  would  fruit  imme- 
mecUately. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say,  plant  one 
Concord,  and  from  one  to  ten  thousand 
Delawares,  and  twenty  thousand  Jonas,  if 
the  latter  fruits  as  well  as  Delaware.  I  am 
waiting  patiently  for  the  doctors  to  agree 
on  an  early  grape.  Whether  that  will  be 
Tsraella  or  Adirondac  no  one  seems  to 
know. 

Your's  trul}'-, 

Eli  Sperry. 


Readers  of  the  Horticulturist — you 
grape-growers,  I  mean — have  you  grapes  ? 
Have  you  more  grapes  than  you  can  sell  1. 
more  grapes  than  you  can  at  present  eat  ? 
Tf  you  have,  let  me  tell  you  how  a  neighbor 
of  mine  keeps  Catawba  grapes  until  the  1st 
of  April  as  nice  and  fresh  as  the  day  tliey 
were  gathered  from  the  vine,  so  that  you 
may  go  and  do  likewise  with  your  surplus. 
First,  he  gathers  his  grapes,  when  iully 
ripe,  on  a  clear  dry  day,  and  lays  them  on 
the  floor  of  his  attic,  there  to  remain  eight 
or  ten  days.  They  are  then  carefully 
looked  over,  taking  out  all  decayed  berries 
(these  will  be  few  in  number),  and  placed 
in  boxes  or  barrels,  in  layers  of  one  bui^ch 
in  depth,  with  alternate  layers  of  finely- 
cut  wheat  straw,  perfectly  dry.  When  full, 
the  boxes  and  barrels  are  nailed  up  and 
placed  in  a  cool  room,  where  they  are  left 
until  in  danger  of  freezing.  (Usually  about 
the  middle  of  December.)  When  cold 
weather  comes  on,  he  places  them  in  his 
pantry,  (connected  with  the  kitchen)  where 
they  remain  until  used  or  sold.  The  at- 
mosphere in  the  pantry  is  always  dry  and 
cool,  and  the  temperature  gradual,  ranging 
from  45  to  50  degrees  ;  and  here  is  the 
secret  of  his  success.  I  have  eaten  Catawba 
grapes  at  his  house  in  March  having  an 
appearance  as  fresh  as  the  day  they  were 
gathered,  and  I  know  they  were  luscious. 

And  now,  as  I  have  told  you  how  he 
keeps  them,  would  you  like  to  know  how 
he  grows  them  ?     His  vine  is  the  oldest  in 


Editor's  ToMe. 


351 


our  neighborhood  of  that  variety ;  stands 
on  clay  soil,  with  a  subsoil  as  retentive  of 
water  as  a  wet  sponge.  It  is  trained  to  the 
east  and  south  side  walls  of  his  house,  and 
covers  an  area  of  at  least  1200  square  feet. 
It  has  never  been  manured  except  once. 
Three  years  ago,  one  bushel  of  unbroken 
bones  were  placed  around  it.  lie  jirunes 
gently,  and  receives  yearly  enormous  crops 
of  the  most  handsome  Catawbas  I  ever  wit- 
nessed. I  never  knew  this  vine  to  miss 
fruiting.  For  the  last  three  or  four  years 
its  yield  has  been  twelve  to  fifteen  bushels. 

Another  vine  growing  near  this  is  trained 
to  a  trellis,  and  is  pruned  severely,  in  order 
to  confine  it  to  the  trellis.  Two  years  ago, 
a  branch  shot  up  into  a  cherry  tree  from 
this  vine,  and  the  difference  in  the  quan- 
tity quality,  and  appearance  of  the  fruit, 
between  that  grown  on  the  branch  unprun- 
ed  and  rambling  at  will  through  the  tree, 
and  that  grown  on  the  vine  pruned  and 
trained  to  the  trellis  has  to  be  seen  to  be 
believed.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  branch  in 
the  tree  produces  four  times  the  quantity, 
and  the  quality  and  appearance  are  so  vast- 
ly superior  that  comparison  is  preposterous. 
Now,  I  always  did  advocate  with  the  Ca- 
tawba long  pruning,  and  what  I  saw,  during 
a  little  trip  the  past  season  to  some  of  the 
principal  grape  regions,  where  tbe  Catawba 
is  and  has  been  grown  extensively,  fully 
convinces  me  that  I  am  right.  It  may  be 
I  am  wrong ;  who  will  sa"  I  am  ? 

John  H.  Jenkins. 

East  BetJdehem,  Pa.,  Oct.  15,  1866. 


BOOKS,  &c.,  RECEIVED. 

"  Outpost"  is  the  title  of  a  novel,  from 
an  American  pen,  soon  to  be  published  by 
J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.  From  a  glance  over 
the  proof  sheets,  we  should  judge  it  would 
make  its  mark.  The  freshness  and  origi- 
nality of  the  style,  incidents,  and  charac- 
terization, show  an  unhackneyed  mind 

The  childhood  of  the  heroine  is  represented 
with  a  mingled  pathos  and  humor,  such  as 
we  have  not  noticed  in  ronriance  since  Dick- 


ens' Little  Nell,  and  Mrs.  Stowe's  Eva. — 
Boston  Daily  Evening  Transcript. 

Peat  and  its  Uses,  by  Samuel  W.  John- 
son, A.  M.  Orange,  Judd  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Price,  $1.25. 

This  work  treats  of  Peat  both  as  a  fer- 
tilizer and  as  a  fuel. 

Part  I.  Origin,  Varieties  and  Chemical 
Characters  of  Peat. 

Part  II.  On  the  Agricultural  Uses  of 
Peat  and  Swamp  Muck. 

Part  III.    On  Peat  as  a  Fuel. 

The  best  modes  of  preparing  and  com- 
posting Peat  for  the  use  of  the  farmer  a£e 
explicitly  given,  as  well  as  the  process  of 
manufacturing  into  fuel.  This  last  part  of 
the  work  is  fully  illustrated  with  views 
of  the  various  machines  now  in  use  both  in 
Europe  and  this  country  for  manipulating 
the  Peat. 


Second  xInnual  Report  of  the  New 
England  Agricultural  Society,  18G5. 
"We  have  received  this  book  from  Messrs. 
J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.,  Boston,  issued  in  their 
usual  elegant  style  of  binding  and  typo- 
graphy, and  profusely  illustrated  with  en- 
gravings. 


The  Historical  Magazine,  and  Notes 
and  Queries  concerning  the  Antiquities, 
History  and  Biography  of  America.  Edited 
by  Henry  B.  Dawson.  This  long  established 
monthly  has  been  much  enlarged  since  it 
lately  passed  into  the  hands  of  its  present 
editor,  whose  well  known  ability  as  an 
author  and  historian  is  a  guarantee  that 
the  character  of  the  work  will  be  main- 
tained and  its  interest  increased.  Dealers 
supplied  by  the  American  News  Co.,  N.  Y., 
and  mail  subscribers  by  Henry  B.  Dawson, 
Morrisiana,  N.  Y. 


Thirteenth  Report  of  the  Ohio  Po- 
MOLOGiCAL  Society. 

Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Greenvale 
Nurseries.  W.  D.  Strowger  &  Co.,  Mur- 
ray St.,  Geneva,  N.  Y. 


352  TJie  Horticulturist. 

Dealers  List  of  the  Erie  (Pa.)  Com-         Price   List   of   Vines.     J.  F.   Martin, 
MERciAL    Nurseries.       J.    A.    Plattman,     Mount  Washington,  0. 
proprietor. 

Grape  O^^talogue.     H.  B.  Lum,  Sand- 

ClKCULAR    OF  THE    CaNANDAIGUA  (N.  Y.)       USkj,  0, 

Propagating  Establishment.  P.  L.  Perry, 

proprietor.  Circular  and  "Wholesale  Price  List. 

R.  Halliday  &  Son,  Baltimore  City,  Md. 
Price  List  of  the  West  Avenue  Nur- 
series, Kocbester,  N.  Y.  Vick's     Illustrated     Catalogue     of 

Hardy   Bulbs.      James  Vick,  Rochester, 
Price  List  of  the  Dutchess  Nurseries.     N.  Y. 
Ferris  &  Cay  wood,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

Price  List  of  Small  Fruits.     M.  W. 
Price  List  of  Grape  Vines,  Humbolt     Johnston,  South  Bend,  Ind. 
Nurseries,  Toledo,  0.     Lenk  &  Co. 

Circular  and  Wholesale  Prices.     H. 
Manual  of  Grape  Culture  and  Annual     g.  Hooker  &  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Catalogue.     J.  H.  Foster,  Jr.,  Westmore- 
land, Penn.  p,^j^j.  Lj^^  ^^  Native  Grapes.  IL  Ren- 

„  T>  -n  T,  nison,  Bloominu;toD,  111. 

Catalogue  OF  Bulbs  and  Flower  Roots.  '  °       ' 

Henry  A.  Dreer,  Philadelphia,  Penn.  ^i  t  TrTTT-P/-.o 

^  '  *       '  Price  List.     M.  H.  Lewis  &  Co.,  San- 

Cataloguf,  and  Price    List  of  Grape     ^usky,  Ohio. 

Vines.    John  W.  Bailey  &  Co.,  Plattsburg,         ^rr  ^^  t  i       c     i 

■^  -y  J  ■>  05         Wholesale   Catalogue.       John   Saul, 


Catalogue  of  Plants  and  Description 
of  the  Kittatinny  Blackberry.  E.  Williams, 
Mont  Clair,  N.  J. 


Washington,  D.  C. 

Catalogue.     J.  W.  Manning,   Reading 

Mass. 


Wholesale  Price  Lists  of  Reid's  Nur-  ^«^^^  ^^""^^  ^^'°   ^o^^^-     ^^^''^^  J^^'^" 

SERiEs,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.     D.  D.  Buchanan.  ^<^"'  ^^^*  ^''*^^'^'  P®'^^- 

Descriptive    Catalogue     of    Plants,  Wholesale    Price    List    of     Bronson 

Vines,  &c.     J.  M.  Price,  Media,  Delaware  Gfraves  &  Selover,  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

''           ■  Wholesale  Trade  List  of  T.  C.  Max- 

Catalogue    des   Ognons  a  Fleurs   et  ^^'^  ^  Brothers,  Geneva,  N.  Y. 


DEs  Fraisiers.  Vilmorin  Andrieux  et  Cie. 
Paris. 


Wholesale  Catalogue  of  Utica  Union 
Nurseries.     John  Best,  Agent. 
Catalogue  and    Price  List  of  Grape 
Vines.     J.  F.  Deliot,  Sing-Sing,  N.  Y.  Price  List  of  C.  L.  Hoag  &  Co.,  Lock- 

port,  N.  Y. 
Wholesale  List  of  Hoopes  Brothers 
&  Thomas,  Cherry  Hill  Nurseries,  West-         Catalogue   of  Amenia  Vineyard  and 
Chester  Penn.  Nursery.  Miss  J.  L.  Waring,  Amenia,  N.Y. 

Price  List  of  Plants,  Trees,  &c.  E.  A.         Wholesale  Price  List.  Dinger  Conard 
Baumann,  Rahway,  N.  J.  &  Co.,  West  Grove,  Penn. 


THE 


HOETICULTUEIST 


VOL.  XXI DECEMBER,   1866 NO.  COXLVI. 


THE  ORCHARD. 


"When  we  talk  of  tlie  orchard,  it  is  usu- 
ally understood  that  we  have  apples  in  our 
minds'  eye  ;  that  we  mean  a  good-sized 
field  well  planted  with  apple  trees.  If  we 
go  back  to  our  verdant  days  and  recollec- 


tions, we  find  one  grand  paramount  idea  on 
this  subject,  and  that  is  a  big  field,  some 
ten  or  more  acres,  filled  with  old  apple  trees, 
exhibiting  all  sorts  of  odd  and  curiously- 
productions  of  Nature.  Here  an  old 


Fig.  136. 

patriarch,  with  a  trunk  as  erect  as  a  main-  we  ever  hear  it  called  by  any  particular 

mast,  and  spreading  his  massive  foliage  over  name  ;  and  what  is  more,  we  never  cared 

a  quarter  acre  of  ground;  we  never  saw  to  hear  a  name  for  it;  'twasn't  worth  a 

very  much  fruit  on  it  at  one  time,  nor  did  name.  There's  a  good  many  such  old  chaps 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  Geo.  E.  &  E.  W.  WroDWARii,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  State<,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


354 


The  Horticulturist. 


standing  around  yet.  Nest  neighbor  to 
this  was  a  queer  old  fellow,  that  at  some 
time  or  other  had  got  a  diversion  from  the 
perpendicular,  and  led  his  trunk  a  long  dis- 
tance almost  along  the  ground,  but  at  a 
slight  inclination  before  the  superstructure 
of  the  tree  commenced.  We  never  under- 
stood the  why  of  this,  but  in  our  boyish  days 
it  was  great  fun  to  walk  up  this  old  tree. 
"We  always  thought  he  grew  so ;  but,  sad  to 
say,  our  maturer  philosophy  Avas  suggestive 
of  September  gales  and  old-fashioned  equi- 
noctials, confound  them !  This  funny  old 
fellow  was  our  favorite  ;  we  never  knew  by 
what  name  he  was  called,  but  one  thing  is 
certain,  not  many  of  those  apples  ever 
found  their  way  into  the  house.  But  we 
can't  go  through  the  whole  ten  acres.  As 
to  the  rest  of  the  trees,  they  were  pretty 
much  of  a  muchness. 

There  are,  however,  other  orchards  than 
apple-orchards  since  our  youthful  days. — 
Now  we  have  orchards  of  the  peach,  the 
pear,  and  the  plum.  Those  of  our  readers 
who  have  never  seen  an  orchard  of  this 
last-named  fruit  may,  perhaps,  look  upon 
the  thing  as  somewhat  mythical.  Who  is 
there,  in  this  day  of  the  curculio,  that 
would  be  so  bold  as  to  plant  an  orchard  of 
plums  1  We  do  not  wish  to  put  our  vera- 
city in  jeopardy,  but  we  have  seen  an  or- 
chard of  this  fruit,  all  in  full  bearing. 

We  have  now  in  our  mind's  eye  an  orch- 
ard of  plums,  some  four  or  more  acres  in 
extent,  near  Catskill  Village,  on  the  Hud- 
son, just  across  the  Creek,  which,  at  the 
time  of  our  visit,  was  a  perfect  miracle  of 
health  and  beauty ;  every  individual  tree 
with  clean  bark,  and  weighed  down  with 
fruit,  the  picture  of  health  and  beauty. — 
On  asking  the  proprietor  how  it  was  that 
he  could  have  plums,  and  whether  he  never 
suffered  any  from  the  ravages  of  the  cur- 
culio, his  ready  answer  was,  to  the  latter 
part  of  our  question,  "  Oh,  jes  ;  but  we 
have  enough  for  ourselves  and  the  curculio 
too."  But  be  it  understood  that  this  is 
a  locality  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  smooth 
skin  stone  fruits. 


As  a  general  thing,  the  orchard  is  a  much 
abused  institution.  It  seems  a  bold  under- 
taking nowadays  to  plant  an  apple  orchard. 
As  usually  managed,  we  do  most  undoubt- 
edly consider  it  such,  and  think  the  owner 
must  be  a  man  sanguine  of  long  life,  and 
big  with  hopes  of  fruition.  We  confess 
that,  at  our  time  of  life,  we  should  despair 
of  ever  tasting  of  the  fruit  of  any  ajiple 
orchard  we  should  set  out,  and  consider  our 
work  as  done  for  posterity. 

We  remember^  however,  once  expressing 
ourselves  in  this  way  to  Mr.  Charles  Down- 
ing, on  a  visit  to  his  model  grounds.  He 
pooh-poohed  us  with  the  encouraging  re- 
mark, "  I  was  older  than  you  are  when  I 
planted  these  apple  trees,  and  I  expect  to 
enjoy  their  fruit  for  some  time  yet."  These 
trees  were  at  the  time  in  full  bearing,  and 
any  other  than  an  expert  would  have  said 
they  were  nearly  as  old  as  the  proprietor 
himself;  but  there  are  very  few  Downings 
among  our  fruit-growers. 

The  usual  method  of  proceeding  is  to 
take  a  lot  which  has  been  cropped  to  death 
or  kept  in  meadow  until  it  is  no  longer 
profitable  as  such,  and  without  further 
preparation  than  a  simple  breaking  up  of 
the  ground,  to  dig  so  many  lioles^  and  plant 
j-our  apple  trees  ;  then  the  grass  is  allowed 
to  grow  up  around  them,  or  the  lot  is  seed- 
ed afresh,  and  annual  crops  of  grain  or 
grass  taken  from  the  soil.  What  wonder 
that  orchards  managed  in  this  way  never 
amount  to  anything,  and  that  premature 
decrepitude  follows?  We  have  observed 
just  such  orchards,  year  after  year,  strug- 
gling for  dear  life,  the  proprietor  growing 
gray  waiting  for  his  trees  to  grow.  If  they 
survive  the  first  year  after  their  planting, 
they  live  along,  showing  in  course  of  ten 
years  a  misshapen  and  unsightly  head,  sup- 
ported by  a  trunk  of  about  three  or  four 
inches  diameter,  beautifully  garnished  with 
moss  and  knobs,  and  other  excrescences  ; 
skin  bound,  and  pretty  thoroughly  perfo- 
rated with  the  borer — (all  unhealthy  sub- 
jects seem  to  be  the  special  favorites  of  in- 
sect  enemies).     We  have  had  some  dear 


The  Orchard. 


355 


experience  in  this  line  ourselves.  At  the 
time  of  setting  out  a  number  of  young- 
trees  in  an  old  orchard,  two  trees  were 
planted  in  a  spot,  adjacent  to  which  we 
subsequently  put  a  cold  grapery,  the  bor- 
der of  which  was  run  close  up  to  these 
trees.  This  border  being  very  deep,  and 
constructed  with  more  than  ordinary  care, 
showed  an  immediate  effect  upon  the  two 
trees,  which  commenced  growing  very  vig- 
orously, and  are  at  this  day  beautiful  and 
symmetrical  objects ;  fruiting  well  ;  large 
and  perfect  fruit;  and  to  all  appearance 
double  the  age  and  size  of  the  trees  in  the 
orchard  planted  at  the  same  time  with 
them.  These  two  trees  have  been  a  volume 
of  instruction  to  us ;  they  have  shown  us 
the  conditions  of  success  in  planting,  and 
subsequent  management ;  and  we  have 
learned  this  much,  at  least,  that  it  is  worse 
than  wasted  time  to  plant  an  orchard  with- 
out most  thorough  previous  preparation  of 
the  soil. 

We  would  lay  down  these  two  cardinal 
rules  in  commencing  the  work : 

1st.  Select  not  a  poor  piece  of  ground, 
which  3^ou  think  you  can  spare  for  an  or- 
chard, but  choose  rather  the  best  ground 
you  have. 

2d.  After  thus  taking  your  ground,  go  to 
work  and  prepare  the  soil,  just  as  carefully 
as  if  you  were  going  to  make  a  garden, 
giving  especial  care  to  the  mechanical  man- 
ipulation thereof.  Depend  upon  it,  there 
is  no  amount  of  pains  which  you  take  in 
this  i'espect  that  will  not  amply  repay  you 
in  the  end,  and  you  will  not  be  long  in  the 
realization. 

We  look  upon  it  as  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  the  future  welfare  of  the  tree,  that 
it  should  have  a  good  start  in  the  begin- 
ning, and  make  an  early  and  rapid  growth. 
This  will  enable  it  to  resist  the  attacks  of 
disease  and  insects  the  better.  We  have 
observed,  as  a  general  rule,  that  insects  at- 
tack unhealthy  plants  and  trees  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  healthy  and  vigorous.  People 
often  wonder  why  it  is  that  our  orchards 
cease  to  yield  as  they  once  did,  and  why 


new  trees  planted  in  the  same  ground  won't 
grow. 

There  is  no  mystery  about  it.  The  soil 
of  the  orchard  has  been  completely  ex- 
hausted by  constant  cropping ;  every  ele- 
ment required  by  the  trees  has  been  used 
up;  and,  as  a  consequence,  there  is  nothing 
left  for  the  old  trees  but  sterile  old  age, 
and  for  the  new  ones  planted  among  them, 
premature  decay  and  languishing,  until 
they  find  their  way  to  the  wood-pile.  In 
replacing  trees  in  the  orchard,  whether  of 
the  apple  or  the  pear,  when  it  is  necessary 
to  place  the  new  tree  in  the  very  spot  oc- 
cupied by  a  predecessor,  the  greatest  care 
should  be  taken  to  remove  all  the  old  soil. 
Enlarge  the  hole  to  double  its  former  size, 
spreading  the  soil  taken  therefrom  over  the 
surrounding  surface,  filling  in  with  new 
soil  and  properly-prepared  compost  judi- 
ciously commingled,  keeping  away  from  the 
young  rootlets  all  heating  and  stimulating 
manures.  In  this  way  you  will  avoid  all 
deleterious  matter  left  by  the  old  roots — 
all  sick  and  unhealthy  soil.  The  contrary 
course  would  be  like  putting  a  healthy  per- 
son to  sleep  in  the  bed  of  a  patient  who 
had  died  of  a  highly  contagious  disease — 
say  yellow  fever — which  inhuman  practice 
would,  in  all  probability,  result  in  another 
case  of  the  same  disease,  with  similar  fatal 
results.  We  merely  mention  the  analogy, 
simply  to  show  that  there  is  not,  after  all, 
such  a  wide  difference  between  animal  and 
vegetable  economy,  and  that  when  the 
rules  and  wisdom  of  the  one,  are  entirely 
ignored  in  the  other,  the  blunder  will  sure- 
ly speak  for  itself. 

We  speak  feelingly  on  this  subject  of  the 
orchard,  for  we  have  been  pained  to  see  the 
amount  of  ignorance  prevalent  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  to  witness  the  malpractice  in  planting 
new  orchards  particularly;  and  this  not 
among  the  untaught  farmers  alone,  but 
among  the  wealthy  rural  gentlemen  who 
expend  large  sums  in  the  improvement  of 
their  country  houses. 

We  commend  this  subject  earnestly  to 
the   study  of  our  intelligent  readers,  and 


356 


The  Horticulturist. 


beg  those  who  can  aiford  to  do  so  to  set  an 
example  of  a  more  intelligent  and  reasona- 
ble practice  in  this  regard. 

What  we  have  written  of  the  apple-tree 
and  the  orchard  is  equally  applicable  to  the 
pear,  and  in  fact  to  all  other  fruit  trees. 

We  hare  heard  enthusiastic  rural  persons 
speak  of  their  interest  in  the  trees  they 
had  planted  about  their  estates,  and  which 


had  grown  up  around  them  to  adorn  their 
grounds,  and  give  shade  and  shelter,  and 
pleasure  to  the  eye,  as  akin  to  that  of  pa- 
rents in  their  offspring,  calling  them  "  my 
children."  To  all  such,  then,  who  plant 
orchards,  we  would  say,  treat  and  train 
them  with  the  same  zealous  care  you  be- 
stow upon  your  children,  looking  for  a  good 
return  and  a  golden  harvest. 


DESIGNS  IN  EURAL  ARCHITECTURE-No.  19. 


BY  G.  E.  HARNEY,  COLD  SPRING,  N.  Y. 


137. — A  Simjjle  Rustic  Cottage 


This  design  represents  a  simple  rustic 
cottage,  for  a  family  of  small  means.  It  is 
built  of  wood,  filled  in  with  soft  brick  on 
edge — and  covered  in  the  vertical  and  bat- 
tened manner,  with  rough  boards  and  heavy 
battens — care  being  taken  in  laying  the 
boards  on,  that  the  splinters  of  the  wood 
made  by  the  saw  in  sawing  from  the  log 
point  downwards  instead  of  upwards,  to 
shade  the  water  more  efi'ectually.    The  roof 


is  covered  with  shingles,  and  the  projections 
of  the  gables,  which  are  quite  heavy,  are 
relieved  by  ornamental  verge  boards  sawn 
from  heavy  plank.  The  windows  have  all 
bold  trimmings,  and  those  on  the  lower 
story  are  protected  by  broad  hoods,  and 
glazed  with  diamond  shaped  glass.  The 
verandah,  or  front  stoop,  is  made  with  cedar 
posts  and  trimmings,  but  has  a  plank  floor 
and  a  tight  roof.    The  chimneys  represented 


Grapes  in  Kansas. 


357 


are  terra  cotta  chimney  tops  of  large  size, 
resting  upon  a  blue  stone  base  cut  for  the 
purpose. 

The  interior  arrangement  is  as  follows : 
The  hall,  No.  1,  measures  eight  feet  by 
eleven,  and  coTitains  stairs  to  the  chamber 
and  cellar.  The  principal  stairs  arc  three 
feet  wide,  and  the  cellar  flight  is  two  feet 


Fig.  138. 

eight  inches,  inclosed  by  a  partition  with  a 
door  at  the  top.  No.  2  is  the  living  room, 
fourteen  feet  square, — provided  with  an 
open  fire  place  for  burning  wood,  and  also 
having  on  one  of  its  sides  a  recess  or  bay, 
with  side  lights  only,— the  back  being  made 
to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  book-case  or  cup- 
board. No.  3  is  the  kitchen,  twelve  by 
fourteen,  well  lighted  by  two  large  win- 


dows, and  having  a  large  closet  opening  out 
of  the  side  beyond  the  fire-place.  No.  4  is 
a  pantry,  measuring  five  by  eight,  and 
opening  out  upon  the  back  stoop.  This 
pantry  may  have  a  sink  in  it,  and  may  be 
fitted  up  with  shelves  and  cup-boards. — 
Additional  room  may  be  got  by  putting  the 
kitchen  in  the  basement,  and  using  the 
upper  room  as  a  living  or  dining  room,  and 
the  front  room  as  a  parlor.  This  would 
give  an  opportunity  for  finishing  the  parlor 
in  a  little  more  expensive  manner,  and  on 
that  account  may  be  more  desirable. 

The  second  floor  contains  two  good  sized 
chambers  and  four  large  closets.  There  is 
no  attic  to  the  house,  but  a  space  of  about 
five  feet  in  height  is  left  above  the  chamber 
and  below  the  peak  of  the  roof— which 
serves  a  good  purpose  as  ventilator. 

The  posts  are  fourteen  feet  high,  and  the 
lower  story  is  finished  nine  feet  high  in  the 
clear.  The  finish  of  the  interior  is  all  of 
pine,  and  put  up  in  a  simple  manner.  The 
walls  are  all  plastered  and  finished  with  a 
rough  white  sand  finish,  which  may  after- 
wards be  tinted  in  any  desirable  shade. 
The  outside  should  be  painted  two  or  three 
tints. 


GRAPES  IN  KANSAS. 


BY  A.  M.  BURNS. 


In  looking  over  the  Horticulturist  of 
October  '66,  page  318,  I  find  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  '■  Lake  Shore  Grape  Growers' 
Association"  attribute  the  cause  of  grape 
disease  "  in  a  great  measure  to  permitting 
the  vines  to  overbear,"  &c.  As  it  is  only 
from  the  experience  of  others,  as  well  as  our 
own  that  we  can  arrive  at  correct  conclu- 
sions, I  would  say  that  the  few — very  few 
— mildewed  berries  on  my  vines  this  season 
were  produced  from  vines  that  had  never 
averaged  two  pounds  of  grapes  during  any 
year  since  they  were  planted  (1860).  They 


were  in  18C3  and  1864  prevented  from  bear- 
ing more  than  one-fourth  of  a  crop  by  the 
late  vernal  frosts,  and  in  1865  and  '66,  the 
rain  which  poured  down  in  torrents,  when 
they  were  in  full  bloom,  knocked  the 
flowers  off  the  vines  ;  while  other  vines,  not 
then  in  bloom,  which  had  borne  enormous 
crops  were  free  from  any  disease.  I  can 
account  for  the  mildew  in  no  other  way 
than  the  vines  were  planted  too  close  (6  by 
8  feet),  and  were  prevented  from  having 
the  influence  of  the  sun  and  air  as  much  as 
they  should  have  had  in  such  wet  seasons. 


358 


The  Horticulturist. 
IVES'   SEEDLING. 


v^  V 


i_^^cr^; 


4.1 1 


Fig.  139.— Ji-fs'  &f//f//<7. 

We  are  indebted  to  M,  II,  Lewis,  Esq  ,  was  made.  A  full  description  of  the  grape, 
of  Sandusky,  Oliio,  for  buiiclies  of  this  its  origin,  &c.,  will  be  found  on  pages  Ji28, 
grape,  from  one   of  w'hich  our  engraving     and  9  of  our  November  number. 


Ladies'  Ear-Drop  Apple. 
LADIES'    EAR-DROP    APPLE. 


359 


Fig.  1¥).— Ladies'  Ear-Drop  Apple. 


The  apple  from  whicli  our  illustration 
was  taken,  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  John  B. 
Tompkins,  President  of  the  Yorktown 
Agricultural  Association,  Weschester  Co., 
N.Y.,  at  the  annual  fair.  "He  describes  the 
tree  as  a  vigorous  grower  and  great  bearer. 
The  original  tree  stands  near  Croton  Lake, 
on  the  farm  of  Solomon  Tompkins. 


The  apple?  are  [all  as  nearly  alike  as  so 
many  peas,  both  in  size,  shape,  and  color." 

Color,  a  beautiful  lemon  yellow,  with  a 
brilliant  scarlet  cheek ;  fruit  acid,  and  of 
second-rate  flavor.  As  an  ornamental  fruit 
for  the  table,  this  apple  is  not  surpassed  in 
beauty  of  appearance. 


A  BRIEF  RETROSPECTIVE  VIEW  OF  THE  PAST  SEASON'S  FRUITS. 


A  YEAR  of  peace,  free  from  din  of  battle 
or  roll  of  drum  for  supplying  a  draft,  we 
have  been  left  to  pursue  our  labors  quietly  ; 
to  prune  our  vines  ;  plant  and  cultivate  our 
seeds;  revel  in  the  fruits  of  our  strawberry 
and  raspberry  grounds  ;  gather  abundantly 
of  apples  and  pears  ;  and  in  a  word,  while 
reclining  under  the  shade  of  our  vines,  to 
feel  thankfulness  and  rejoicing  for  the  sup- 
plies so  lavishly  bestowed  upon  us  by  an 
unseen,  yet  by  all  acknowledged  supremely 
benevolent  Power. 


Notwithstanding  a  Avinter  of  apparent 
mildness,  yet  in  reality  of  almost  unprece- 
dented destruction  to  the  vitality  of  vege- 
table life ;  and  a  spring  opening  late,  yet 
we  were  enabled  at  once  to  go  to  work  to 
plow  and  plant ;  and  either  from  the  im- 
proved quality  of  seeds  sold  by  seedsmen, 
and  the  better  quality  of  trees  soipplied  by 
tree  dealers,  success  was  generally  the  rule 
in  attendant. 

Commencing  with  strawberries,  although 
the  uncared  for  beds,  and  occasionally  those 


360 


The  Horticiilturisf, 


of  late  planting  and  unprotected,  yet  the 
extent  of  plantations  tliat  were  uninjured 
gave  us  abundance  of  fruit  superior  in  qual- 
ity, if  a  little  reduced  in  quantity. 

Quite  a  number  of  new  sorts  liave  been 
brought  forward  to  public  notice,  and  many 
of  last  year's  introduction  further  tested ; 
but  among  them  all  none  that  appear  likely 
to  displace  the  Wilson  as  a  berry  for  the 
market-growers. 

Raspberries  were  more  injured  than 
strawberries ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
Black  Cap,  our  Southern  and  Western 
friends  would  have  had  to  treat  imagina- 
tion rather  than  their  palates  with  this 
fruit. 

Of  the  hardy  kinds  that  have  been  well 
tested,  the  Kirtlandand  Philadelphia  stand 
first  among  the  reds;  Orange,  although 
partially  tender  yet,  holds  a  prominent 
position  among  the  light  colors  ;  and  the 
Doolittle  is  the  black. 

Like  the  strawberry,  this  fruit  has  shown 
quite  a  number  of  new  varieties,  some  of 
which  give  great  promise  of  characters  that 
will  displace  the  sorts  wc  have  named 
above. 

Blackberries,  like  the  raspberries  suffered 
from  the  last  past  winter  in  many  sections; 
and  so  certain  are  the  promulgators  of  two 
new  sorts,  that  they  are  superior  in  every 
respect  to  varieties  that  we  have  heretofore 
been  satisfied  with,  that  we  find  ourselves 
too  often  dreaming  over  past  scenes,  when 
Lawton  was  in  the  ascendant,  and  wonder- 
ing whether  all  then  was  real. 

Currants,  South  and  West,  have  this 
year  been  a  failure  ;  but  East,  we  believe,  a 
good,  fair,  if  not  full  crop  has  been  realized, 
and  the  character  of  many  determined. 

In  gooseberries,  no  special  novelty  to  our 
present  memory  has  been  introduced,  but 
their  culture  has  been  shown  to  be,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  large  cities,  one  of  profit. 

The  cherry  crop  has  been  a  light  one, 
and,  so  far  as  we  know,  a  singular  one,  in 
the  fact  that  a  few  trees  in  orchards  pro- 
duced abundantly  when  their  associates 
gave  but  sparingly.    To  the  great  storm 


over  the  whole  county,  just  when  they 
were  in  bloom,  we  suppose  we  must  attri- 
bute the  cause,  as  most  trees  exhibited 
bloom  in  abundance.  Why  some  should 
escape,  however,  and  others  not,  when  all 
were  alike  exposed,  we  confess  is  beyond 
our  knowledge. 

We  do  not  now  remember  of  any  new 
sort  of  excellence  having  been  introduced. 

Apricots,  unfortunately,  are  so  sparsely 
cultivated,  and  the  successful  fruiters  so 
limited,  that  we  confess  we  have  had  but  a 
few  opportunities  of  enjoying  their  rich 
fruit  this  past  year. 

We  are  seriously  of  the  impression  that 
a  fruit-house  exclusively  devoted  to  grow- 
ing apricots  would  pay.  It  could  be  cheap- 
ly constructed,  and  the  fruit  always  sold  at 
very  high  prices. 

Peaches,  with  exception  of  a  few  isolated 
cases,  have  been  a  failure  at  the  West;  a 
partial  crop  in  the  middle  Southern  section; 
and  while  a  good  crop  South,  so  much 
afi'ecled  by  their  long  drought  as  to  greatly 
lessen  their  value.  We  hear  of  no  new 
ones  of  value. 

Of  plums  and  nectarines  we  have  nothing 
to  say,  it  not  having  been  our  good  fortune 
to  enjoy  but  a  few,  nor  to  read  of  produc- 
tive crops  obtained  by  others. 

Apples,  although  not  in  profusion,  have 
nevertheless  been  sufficiently  abundant  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  people  at  moderate  * 
prices,  and  at  the  same  time  they  have  been 
of  superior  size  and  beauty. 

Trees,  as  a  rule,  have  not  been  overload- 
ed, but  the  fruit  has  been  evenly  distri- 
buted upon  them,  swelling  and  coloring  to 
perfection. 

A  number  of  new  sorts  have  been  noted, 
but  judging  of  their  records,  without  an 
opportunity  of  examining  and  comparing, 
we  doubt  if  any  of  the  new  sorts  will  su- 
persede the  older  varieties. 

Pears,  like  apples,  although  not  in  profu- 
sion, have  nevertheless  been  abundant,  and 
like  the  apples,  have  perfected  themselves 
most  surprisingly. 


Willis'  Sweeting. 


361 


Many  new  sorts  have  fruited  for  the  first 
time  this  year,  and  others  have  shown  sus- 
taining marks  of  their  previous  good  char- 
acters. "VYe  hope  to  figure  some  of  the 
new  ones  in  our  pages  for  the  coming 
year. 

Grapes,  although  much  injured  in  the 
vines  at  the  West  and  South- West,  have, 
nevertheless,  reported  a  fair  average  crop 
as  compared  with  former  years,  owing,  we 
suppose,  to  the  extent  of  new  vines  just 
come  into  bearing. 

The  rot  has  appeared  in  some  vineyards, 
but  it  has  not  been  as  general  as  last  year. 

East,  the  crop  of  grapes  has  been  good, 
and  everywhere  they  have  ripened  up  bet- 


ter than  in  the  average  of  years. 

Many  new  seedlings  have  been  introduced 
to  the  public  for  their  favor,  while  others 
somewhat  highly  lauded  last  year  have  not 
this  season  shown  themselves.  Possibly 
their  owners  aie  keeping  them  back  to  get 
stock  for  prospective  demand. 

The  old  sorts,  as  a  whole,  have  fully  sus- 
tained their  characters,  and  a  few  have  im- 
proved on  acquaintance. 

Insects  and  diseases,  we  think,  have  been 
less  prevalent  than  usual  this  past  season. 
If  we  except  the  blight  in  some  sections 
West,  we  have  heard  of  nothing  beyond 
the  controlling  reach  of  the  careful  pomol- 
ogist. 


WILLIS'  SWEETING. 


Fig.  141 Willis' 


Willis'  Sweeting  was  found  in  crossing  Changed  by  Parsons  &  Co.  to  Willis'  Sweet- 
the  fence  on  the  farm  of  Edmond  Willis,  ing.  We  consider  it  the  best  baking  sweet 
of  Jericho  Oyster-bay,  L.  I.,  about  seventy-  apple  known  here.  It  is  quite  productive 
five  years  ago.  It  was  called  the  apple  of  and  is  a  long  time  in  ripening  its  fruit, 
the   Pear-tree  lot — its   usual   name  here.     Season  middle  of  August  to  1st  of  October. 

Isaac  Hicks. 


362 


The  Horticulturist. 


STREET  SHADES. 


If  there  is  any  one  thing  that  beautifies 
and  adorns  the  suburbs  of  our  large  cities, 
our  large  and  small  towns,  villages  and 
country  roads,  it  is  the  numerous  trees  that 
have  been  planted  from  time  to  time  as 
street  shades  by  the  hands  of  our  enterpris- 
ing, industrious  and  rural  people.  As  a  . 
nation  we  progress  so  rapidly  in  the  accu- 
mulation of  wealth,  that  perhaps  we  may 
with  safety  be  called  a  money-getting  peo- 
ple ;  but,  with  all  our  love  of  money  it  has 
fortunately  thus  far  in  the  course,  been 
gained  more  for  the  enjoyments  it  would 
purchase,  or  the  good  the  owner  was 
enabled  to  do  therewith,  than  for  the  sim- 
ple, yet  base,  purpose  of  hoarding.  Travel- 
ers abroad  speak  occasionally  of  the  road- 
side trees — of  a  proportion  being  fruit-bear- 
ing, and  of  their  fruit  being  untouched  by 
thieves,  etc.,  by  the  simple  protection  of 
placing  a  straw  band,  or  some  similar  de- 
vice, around  the  trunk  by  the  owner  to 
designate  his  wish  that  such  tree  be  left  for 
his  own  use,  while  from  all  the  others  the 
traveler  may  eat  and  refresh  himself  at 
will.  AVhen,  however,  travelers  relate 
this  truth  and  dilate  upon  it  as  a  feature 
so  superior  to  anything  of  this  country,  we 
cannot  but  think  they  have  gone  abroad 
before  travelling  over  and  learning  of  the 
beauty  and  hospitality  of  the  States.  "We 
would  be  v/illing  to  place  the  old  elms  of 
Springfield,  Worcester,  etc.,  of  Massachu" 
setts — the  elms,  maples,  etc.,  of  NewHaven, 
Connecticut,  or  even  the  younger  trees  of 
many  of  our  "Western  cities,  like  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  for  instance,  in  competition  with  the 
street  trees  of  any  country  ;  and  whenever 
we  find  the  man,  who  traveling  along  asked 
for  fruits  to  eat  and  did  not  freely  receive, 
we  will  abandon  all  our  present  belief  in 
the  amelioration  of  the  rough  points  of  man 
by  means  of  his  daily  walks  and  labors  in 
cultivating  the  fruits  of  the  earth. 

True,  we  have  not  a  government  so 
strict  as  to  prevent  unjust^appropriation  of 
fruits  when  growing  upon  our  road  sides, 


and  therefore  the  planting  of  fruit  trees  in 
isolated  cases,  by  liberal,  philanthropic 
men,  has  been  to  them  a  source  rather  of 
sorrow  than  joy.  Not  that  they  did  not 
wish  the  traveller  to  partake,  but  that  in 
taking  there  was  often  no  partition,  and 
also  that  in  so  taking  they  destroyed  limbs 
as  well  as  fruit,  thereby  disfiguring  the 
beauty  and  proportions  of  the  tree. 

We  say  that  we  have  not  a  government 
so  strict  as  to  prevent  this  wrong  appro- 
priation of  the  street  fruits,  but  while  a 
few  cases  of  peculation  of  this  kind  occur, 
often  we  believe  from  an  erroneous  impres- 
sion that  all  fruits  of  the  road-side  are  pub- 
lic. How  rare  do  we  see  a  shade  tree  upon 
the  road-side  injured  wilfully  or  even  care- 
lessly, and  this  too  over  an  immense  terri- 
tory, with,  in  many  places  a  roving  popula- 
tion made  up  of  ail  races,  classes  and  con 
ditions  of  men. 

Our  forefathers  set  us  the  example  of 
planting  street  shades  :  as,  witness,  nearly 
all  the  older  towns  and  cities  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  and  their  example  has  been  most 
worthily  followed,  as  their  children  and 
children's  children  have  marched  towards 
the  setting  sun. 

While  we  have  no  law  to  compel  a  man 
to  plant  a  tree  upon  the  road-side  for  every 
child  born,  we  have,  as  a  people  so  much 
of  enterprize  and  taste,  that  no  matter  how 
Teutonic  a  man  may  be  wheii  first  settling 
in  a  neighborhood,  a  short  time  only  elapses 
ere  his  farm  is  bounded  on  its  street  side 
by  noble  elms  or  maples.  Again,  such  is 
the  taste  and  love  of  trees  among  us  as  a 
people,  such  the  additional  adornment  to 
vacant  lots  of  a  few  shade  trees,  that  the 
land  speculator,  even,  often  freely  expends 
his  mone)'-  for  their  planting.  We  have,  it 
is  true,  in  the  preservation  of  our  street 
shades  which  now  beautify  so  many  miles 
of  our  country,  had  to  contend  against 
depredations  of  roving  cows,  mules,  horses, 
etc.,  but  thanks  to  the  courts,  and  more 
recently  to  some  of  our  State  laws,  it  is 


Street  Shades. 


363 


fast  coming^  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
multitude  that  our  roadways  are  public 
property,  only  as  they  may  be  properly  and 
soberly  used  as  passage  ways  for  all,  and 
that  otherwise  they  belong  to  the  owners 
of  the  lands  adjoining.  When  this  feature 
is  more  generally  known  and  adopted,  our 
roadways  and  public  pleasure  drives  may  be 
adorned  with  terrace  or  lawn,  in  front  of 
each  man's  land  as  may  please  his  taste  or 
suit  the  position. 

More  variety  of  trees  can  also  be  safely 
phinted,  and  as  the  light  wire  fences,  or 
well-trimmed  hedges  gradually  take  the 
place  of  heavy  boards,  rails  or  pickets,  our 
roadways  will  present  n\ore  the  appearance 
of  an  extensive  park,  than  path-ways  to 
market. 

Although  our  native  elms  and  maples 
have  their  sway  and  are  extremely  beauti- 
ful, there  are  also  other  trees  that  at  times, 
we  think,  would  be  better  suited  to  the 
location  about  to  be  planted. 

The  English  Elm,  Ulmus  campestris,  ap- 
pears equally  hardy  as  our  native,  while  its 
habit  is  more  upright  and  compact,  afford- 
ing a  shade  almost  as  dense  as  the  sugar  or 
hard  maple.  Its  branches  are  slender,  but 
abundantly  covered  with  small,  deep  shin- 
ing green  leaves  that  remain  on  until  very 
late  in  November.  For  narrow  streets  in 
our  cities,  or  for  forming  groups  in  grounds 
of  limited  extent,  it  seems  to  us  better 
suited  than  our  native  white  elm  with  its 
spreading,  expansive  habits. 

The  Acer  j^latanoides^  or  Norway  maple, 
is  another  tree  ot  close,  compact  character 
in  forming  its  head.  It  has  rich  broad 
foliage  of  yellowish  green,  that  like  our 
maple  becomes  red,  then  yellow  in  autumn. 
The  young  shoots  being  green  make  it  ex- 
tremely ornamental,  also  when  out  of 
foliage. 

The  European  Sj^camore,  Acer  pseudo  pla- 
tanus,  is,  however,  the  foreign  maple  most 
desirable,  because  of  its  rapid  growth,  broad, 
clean,  dark-green  foliage,  and  perfect  hardi- 
hood.. It  cannot  be  called  a  spreading  tree, 
yet  its  proportions  sometimes  measure  that 


of  large  elm-S  :  it  is,  therefore,  well  adapted 
to  broad  streets  or  road  sides,  and  for  form- 
ing back  grounds  for  trees  of  less  magnitude 
in  growth  and  of  a  lighter  foliage. 

The  ash-leaved  maple,  Acer  negunclo,  of 
Michaux,  is  a  native  that  we  have  often 
wondered  was  not  more  planted.  It  is 
easilj^  obtained,  grows  readily  and  rapidly, 
appears  to  endure  patiently  all  positions, 
even  to  the  coal-smoke  of  cities,  is  beautiful 
in  its  yellow- green  young  shoots  when  de- 
void of  foliage.  Its  pale  pea-green  foliage 
forms  a  pleasing  diversity  and  an  adm.irable 
contrast  with  the  sycamore  in  summer. 
For  small  grounds  or  positions  where  a  too 
spreading  tree  would  be  objectionable,  the 
ash-leaved  maple  is  adapted.  It  affects 
moist  situations,  and  transplanted  grows 
most  rapidly  in  moist,  yet  light  soil. 

The  Tulip  Tree,  Lirioclendron  tnlipifera^ 
is  another  of  our  native  trees,  that  has  no 
compeer.  Tall,  stately,  yet  spreadingly 
graceful — every  leaf  and  every  branch  a  line 
of  beauty.  Its  flowers  are  of  many  brilliant 
colors  and  so  bea,utifully  mingled  with  the 
rich  green  of  the  foliage  as  to  make  it  of 
itself  one  immense  elegant  boquet.  As  a 
town  street  tree  it  is  not  adapted  because 
of  its  dislike  to  have  its  roots  trampled 
upon,  but  for  country  road-sides  it  is  one  of 
all  to  be  most  desired. 

There  are  yet  other  trees  that  hereafter 
we  may  mention  as  suited  for  road-sides 
and  the  suburban  streets  of  our  cities,  but 
we  think  it  may  not  be  well  to  say  too 
much  or  enumerate  too  many  kinds  in  one 
article. 

The  Horse  Ohesnut  does  admirably  in 
some  localities,  and  so  also  does  the  Linden 
or  Basswood — neither  of  them,  however, 
succeed  well  where  pavements  cover  the 
entire  root.  But  let  3^our  taste  be  what  it 
may  for  kind  and  variety,  do  not  forget  that 
trees  give  shade,  shelter,  coolness,  and  with 
the  dew  at  eve  or  early  morn  dropping 
through  their  umbrageous  foliage,  serve  to 
inspire  soft,  sweet,  soothing  dreams  that 
act  as  restoratives  from  the  cares  and 
troubles  of  life's  busy  world. 


364 


Tlie  Horticulturist. 


NOTES   ON  TPIE  OCTOBER  NUMBER. 


Laws  of  Association  in  Ornamental 
Gardening. — I  have,  in  previous  notes, 
expressed  myself  so  favorably  upon  this 
writer's  subject,  and  his  manner  of  hand- 
ling it,  that  1  hesitate  to  make  the  remark 
that  came  to  my  lips  on  reading  this 
last,  viz.,  "  good  ideas,  but  impracticable." 
Evidently  the  writer  has  never  constructed 
a  garden  or  planted  trees  and  shrubs  with 
thought  of  their  harmony  in  foliage,  habit 
of  growth,  &c.  Association  of  ideas  with 
the  records  of  earlier  ages  as  connected 
with  the  tree,  is  certainly  a  point  that 
should  be  more  cultivated ;  but  it  should 
never  induce  the  planting  of  ''  a  great  va- 
riety of  trees  and  plants  from  different 
countries  and  different  climes,"  without  a 
knowledge  of  their  relative  habits  of 
growth,  form  and  color  of  foliage,  and  con- 
stitution to  endure  our  climate,  to  the 
end  that  they  may,  in  after  years  present 
effective  and  pleasing  groups.  One  ill-ap- 
pointed tree  in  a  group,  no  matter  how 
beautiful  in  itself,  or  how  pleasing  and  en- 
nobling in  its  association,  will  often  de- 
stroy the  harmony  of  effect  sought  by  the 
planter ;  while  it  is  well  to  inculcate  the 
love  of  trees  and  shrubs  as  connected 
with  their  associations,  practically,  the 
arrangement  of  trees  and  shrubs  around 
one's  home  should  first  be  made  on  paper 
by  the  landscape  artist.  As  well  might 
you  expect  every  man  to  be  capable  of 
painting  a  good  landscape,  as  to  expect 
him  to  arrange  trees  and  plants  on  his 
grounds  to  present  when  grown  an  effect 
pleasing  to  the  taste,  or  in  harmony  with 
his  buildings  or  the  surrounding  country. 
There  are  very  few  good  landscapists.  A 
man  must  be  lorn  with  the  requisite  taste, 
and  have  added  thereto  by  study  and  prac- 
tice, to  enable  him  so  to  arrange  tree  and 
plant  upon  a  place  that,  at  the  expiration 
of  twenty  years,  it  will  present  a  pleasing 
and  harmonious  result.  At  the  present 
time,  I  venture  to  say  that  not  one  place 


in  fifty,  throughout  our  countr}'-,  is  so  ar- 
ranged that,  if  left  to  grow  twenty  years, 
it  would  be  regarded  as  anything  but  a 
wilderness,  and  the  new  proprietor  would, 
immediately  on  occupation,  commence  cut- 
ting away,  transplanting,  &c.,  in  order  to 
obtain  either  harmony  of  growth  or  color 
of  foliage.  Many  men  are  good  cultivators, 
but  very  few  are  found  who  have  carefully 
studied  the  law  of  harmony  in  colors,  hab- 
its of  growth,  and  associatiou  of  ideas  as 
connected  with  trees  and  plants.  Every 
planter,  no  matter  how  small  his  grounds, 
should,  before  setting  a  single  tree,  have  a 
map  or  plan  prepared,  on  which  the  name 
and  position  of  every  tree  and  plant  should 
be  marked  ;  and  should  he  desire  more  trees 
or  shrubs  tiian  could  consistently  be  placed 
in  his  grounds,  then  let  him  set  aside  a 
plot  in  rear  of  his  house,  for  the  special 
Ijurpose  of  growing  such  tree  or  plant  as 
his  taste  or  fancy,  or  the  credit  of  the  day, 
might  render  desirable. 

A  Chat  about  Early  Summer  Ap- 
ples.— A  good  practical  article ;  but  the 
writer  has  left  out  one  or  two  sorts  that 
have  many  friends — the  Pi'imate,  for  in- 
stance, which  is  a  delicious  little  apple,  but 
too  tender  and  delicate  for  any  but  ama- 
teur cultivation.  For  market  purposes, 
the  red  color  and  a  pretty  thick  skin  are 
essentials  to  render  a  variety  profitable. 

Low-Priced  Country  Homes. — Judg- 
ing from  the  illustrations  here  given,  the 
"  Annual  of  Architecture  "  must  be  a  val- 
uable work.  I  wish  you  would  send  me  a 
copy.  If  house  carpenters,  whose  labors 
are  mostly  m  the  construction  of  cheap 
houses  in  the  country  and  the  suburbs  of 
our  young  cities,  could,  each  and  every  one, 
be  supplied  with  a  copy,  judging  from  these 
cuts,  it  would  soon  result  in  an  improved 
appearance  of  the  country. 

We  all  know  that  the  house  carpenter 
alone  has  the  planning  of  a  majoritj^  of 
cheap  houses,  and  we  also  know  that  such. 


Mr  Neuhert  and  the  Essential  Oils  against  Gi^apevine  Mildeio.     365 


men,  as  a  rule,  do  not  read,  have  never 
studied  a  work  on  architecture,  and  during 
their  whole  lives  follow  out  the  ideas  ob- 
tained practically  when  learning  their 
trade.  I  hope  the  book  has  a  glossary  of 
architectural  terms  most  in  use.  On  its 
receipt,  I  shall  show  it  round,  and  I  hope 
everybody  will  purchase — not  that  I  care 
so  much  for  the  book's  success,  but  that 
the  more  the  public  in  its  lower  walks  be- 
come educated,  the  more  is  the  safety  and 
union  of  our  country  ensured. 

Notes  on  Magnolias. — I  presume  the 
writer  is  correct  in  his  premises  relative  to 
the  greater  hardihood  and  durability  of  the 
magnolia  conspicua  glauca,  &c.,  when  work- 
ed on  the  acuminata;  but  I  also  know  that 
many  growers  are  unsuccessful  in  budding 
or  grafting.  Cannot  Professor  Kirtland  be 
induced  to  write  us  a  short  article,  telling 
us  how  and  when  to  bud  or  graft,  &c.,  &c  1 

Our  good  friend,  Charles  DoAvning,  Esq., 
is,  I  believe,  also  a  successful  grower  of 
magnolias  budded  on  acuminata.  "Will  n>>t 
he  tell  us  the  secret  of  success,  if  any  se- 
cret it  is  ? 

The  Birds  of  Brightside. — A  pleasant 
record ;  and  while,  with  the  writer,  we 
confess  to  the  love  of  birds  and  their  songs, 
nevertheless  it  is  terribly  provoking  to 
have  them  come  in  flocks,  as  the  robins, 
cedar  birds,  and  some  others  have,  around 
us  this  fall,  taking  our  all  of  Lydia,  Re- 
becca, and  some  other  grapes,  of  which  we 
had  but  a  few  bunches,  and  then  reveling 
at  large  on  our  Delawareo,  and  finally  our 
Oatawbas. 

The  writer  said  he  "  did  not  keep  a  cat." 
I  don't  keep  a  gun,  and  so  the  birds  got  off 
with  my  grapes.     But  if  I  had  owned  a 


gun,  there  is  no  knowing  but  that  I  might 
have  committed  some  rash  act  birdward. 

Pulverized  Clay  as  a  Remedy  eor 
Mildew  on  the  Grapevine — and  Grape- 
vine Mildew. — Two  articles,  touching 
upon  the  subject  of  which  I  have  already 
written  my  notes ;  and,  as  I  then  said,  I  am 
a  "  little  of  an  unbeliever,"  and  disposed 
to  thiiik  we  must  kok  farther  for  perma- 
nent remedy  of  mildew  than  dusting  with 
clay,  sulphur,  or  any  other  advised  specific. 
We  must  grow  a  vine  as  free  from  mildew 
and  as  hardy  as  'the  Clinton,  with  a  fruit 
as  desirable  for  the  table  as  lona  or  Adir- 
ondac. 

Box  or  Basket  Layers.—  Like  the  wri-^ 
ter,  I  have  noticed  the  expression  that 
"basket  layers  were  unmitigated  humbugs," 
and,  in  the  sense  that  I  think  that  ex- 
pression was  mado,  believe  it  correct. 

Viticola  endeavors,  and  does  explain 
wherein  a  basket  layer  may  be  made  and 
transplanted  profitably.  I  took  the  expres- 
sion of  "  unmitigated  humbug  "  as  applied 
to  basket  layers,  to  apply  to  unscrupulous 
dealers  who,  in  advertizing  and  recom- 
mending them,  deceived  the  uninitiated 
grape-grower  into  paying  an  extravagant 
price  for  a  plant  that,  perhaps,  with  extra 
care,  after  a  transportation  of  a  hundred  or 
more  miles,  might  possibly  yield  the  first 
year  a  few  bunches  of  grapes,  but  in  all 
probability  at  a  loss  of  the  vine  the  follow- 
ing winter.  No  well-informed  grape-grower 
would  ever  transport  a  basket  layer  any 
distance,  and  no  honest  dealer  should  ever 
recommend  to  the  uninformed  a  practice 
that  he  would  not  himself  perform.  It  is 
worse  than  stealing,  because  it  destroys 
confidence  in  the  culture  of  the  grape,  as 
well  as  in  the  honor  of  horticulturists. 

Reuben. 


MR.  NEUBERT  AND  THE  ESSENTIAL  OILS  AGAINST  GRAPEVINE  MILDEW. 


BY   HORTICOLA. 


Before  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  ing  and  correct  pronunciation  of  the  name 
the  subject,  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  of  a  gentleman  who  is  so  frequently  men- 
those  interested  in  the  matter  to  the  spell-    tioned  now  in  connection  with  grapevine 


366 


The  Horticulturist. 


mildew.  It  is  spelled  as  in  the  above  head- 
ing, not  N!tbert,  as  I  saw  it  lately  in  print. 
This  wrong  spelling  has  its  origin  in  the 
English  pronunciation  of  e«,  which  sounds 
like  u.  The  eu  in  German  has  a  sound  sim- 
ilar to  oi  or  oy,  as  in  hoil  and  loy. 

Mr.  Neubert  is  a  scientific  chemist.  For 
such  as  are  acquainted  with  German  cus- 
toms and  laws,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  here 
that  Mr.  Neubert  is  an  apothecary  in  the 
city  of  Leipzig,  until  very  recently  the 
very  centre  of  profound  learning.  Its  cel- 
ebrated University  was  founded  more  than 
400  years  ago — 1409.  Thomasius,  G.  A. 
Hermann.,  J.  A .  Ernest^  and  scores  of  other 
names,  the  mere  sound  of  which  fills  with 
veneration  all  who  appreciate  erudition  and 
are  acquainted  with  literature,  were  pro- 
fessors in  it,  and  count  their  pupils  by 
thousands.  An  apothecary  in  such  a  place 
must  be  a  scientific  chemist.  His  daily  in- 
tercourse with  learned  physicians  and  pro- 
fessors of  medicine  compels  him  to  be  a 
scientific  chemist.  Mr.  Neubert  is  the 
owner  of  the  White  Eagle  drug  store  in 
Hain  Street  (Hof-Apotheke  zum  Weissen 
Adler  in  der  Hainstrasse).  For  such  as  are 
"not  acquainted  with  German  customs  and 
and  laws,  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  a  young 
man,  who  intends  to  become  an  apothecary 
in  Germany,  has  to  serve  as  an  apprentice 
for  four  or  five  years  ;  then  for  several  years 
as  an  assistant ;  and  finally  he  has  to  study 
chemistry,  botany,  mineralogjr — in  fact,  all 
the  natural  sciences,  in  some  university,  to 
enable  him  to  pass  the  most  rigid  examina- 
tion before  professors  and  practical  men 
appointed  by  the  Government.  Such  an 
examination  lasts,  including  the  time  to  be 
spent  in  the  laboratory  for  the  purpose  of 
chemical  analysis,  required  by  the  Board 
of  Examiners,  more  than  a  month.  It  is 
conducted  in  writing  and  orally. 

Mr.  Neuhert  has  nowhere  said  that  the  essen- 
tial oils,  water,  and  salts  are  a  remedy  against 
grapevine  mildew.  The  object  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  mixture  is  only  preparatory. 
Sulphur  is  the  remedy. 


"We  know  from  the  very  interesting  ex- 
periments of  Mr.  de  Comini,  near  Botzen, 
(Tyrol,)  that  the  germs  of  the  oidium  lie, 
during  the  winter,  dormant  in  the  brown 
bark  of  the  canes  of  the  vine.  He  cut,  in 
November,  canes  with  dark  spots,  the  effect 
of  the  oidium  spores,  and  kept  them  in 
pots,  filled  with  sods  and  horse  manure,  in 
a  warm  room.  After  seven  weeks,  the 
oidium  appeared  on  those  black  spots,  and 
covered,  in  a  short  time,  the  whole  cane  so 
treated. 

The  solution  is  applied  to  destroy  the  germs 
which  lie  dormant  on  or  in  the  cane. 

The  mixture  is  not  an  invention  of  Mr. 
Neuhert,  but  of  Mr.  Borchers,  Superintend- 
ent of  the  Koyal  Garden  in  Herrenhausen, 
near  Hanover,  in  Germany.  Mr.  Borchers 
is  the  author  of  one  of  the  best  manuals  on 
pomology  in  the  German  language,  I  cop- 
ied the  recipe,  a  number  of  years  ago,  from 
the  then  last  edition  of  Kecht's  classical 
work  on  the  vine.  That  Mr.  Neubert  has 
adopted  it,  speaks  certainly  for  its  efficacy. 

The  readers  will  permit  me  to  clear  up 
an  uncertainty  as  to  the  component  parts 
of  the  mixture.  I  give  those  of  the  salts 
in  ounces,  but  in  regard  to  the  water  I  use 
the  word  "  parts."  I  ought  to  have  writ- 
ten ouncei,  in  order  to  be  unmistakably 
clear. 

The  quantity  of  the  salts  (8^  ounces  of 
common  salt,  and  4  ounces  of  saltpetre)  in 
a  little  more  than  100  ounces  of  water,  is 
very  far  from  being  a  homceopathic  mixture. 
It  is  alloeopathic  enough  for  the  purpose  to 
be  accomplished  by  it.  At  least  Mr.  Neu- 
bert cautions  me,  in  a  letter  dated  Leipzig, 
March  G,  18C4,  against  using  it  when  the 
leaves  are  expanding  or  expanded — it  in- 
jured or  destroyed  them.  He  advised  me, 
therefore,  to  add  more  water,  should  I  wish 
to  use  it,  when  the  vine  has  commenced 
growing. 

Viticola's  view,  first  to  try  a  compound, 
made  according  to  the  original  recipe,  es- 
pecially when  it  emanates  ffom  a  trust- 
worthy source,  before  an  attempt  is  made 


Sulpliur  and  the  Essential  Oils. 


367 


to  improve  it,  is  good  sound  doctrine.     Mr.     such  men  does  one's  heart  good.     By  their 
Strong's  frank  declaration,  shows  that  he     united  efforts  viticulture  will  gain, 
means  the  thing^  not  the  person.     To  meet 


SULPHUR    AND   THE   ESSENTIAL   OILS. 


Messrs.  Editors,  Sulphur  has  long  held 
the  first  place  in  the  materia  medica  as  a 
remedy  for  the  various  forms  oipso^'aj  but 
there  seems  to  be  one  disease  in  this  class 
against  which  it  is  powerless — Cacoethes 
scribendi.  I  trust  however  that  your  readers 
■will  not  deem  me  very  seriously  afHicted 
therewith  if  I  venture  a  few  remarks  in 
response  to  the  very  pleasant  note  of  Mr. 
Strong. 

In  my  note  in  the  September  number,  I 
stated  that  I  regarded  the  solutions  as 
weak;  but,  as  they  have  been  found  efH- 
cient  by  IMr.  Neubert,  it  occured  to  me 
that  we  had  better  give  them  a  fair  trial. 
I  find  upon  examination  that  the  saline 
solution  is  sufficiently  strong  to  leave  a 
minute  layer  of  crystals  over  any  surface 
moistened  with  it;  and,  as  for  the  essential 
oils,  if  the  mere  amount  diffused  in  the  air 
by  the  presence  of  articles  perfumed  with 
them,  prevents  mildew  in  neighboring 
bodies,  the  prescription  may  be  strong 
enough.  In  dealing  with  specific  jjoisons 
for  certain  classes  of  animals  and  vegetables, 
he  would  be  a  rash  man  who  should  affirm 
that  a  given  amount  is  too  small  to  effect 
the  purpose  required,  unless  he  has  experi- 
mentally proved  the  truth  of  his  assertion. 
And,  remember,  all  that  I  claim  is  that 
Mr.  Neubert's  recipe  should  have  a  fair 
trial. 

I  would  also  call  Mr.  Strong's  atentiton 
to  the  fact  that,  against  the  mildew  itself, 
Mr.  Neubert  uses  sulphur;  the  salt  and  oils 
are  applied  early,  so  as  to  reach  the  un- 
developed spores.  It  is  obvious  that  if  all 
the  spores  on  the  vine  and  trellis  were 
destroyed  before  the  vine  made  any  growth, 
it  would  not  be  as  liable  to  attack  as  if 
these  seeds  were  left  ready  to  germinate  as 
soon  as  opportunity  offers  ?     M.  Neubert's 


advice  was  probably  based  upon  the  old 
maxim :  "  One  year's  seeding  makes  seven 
years  weeding." 

Mr.  Strong's  suggestion  in  regard  to 
cedar  posts  may  prove  quite  a  valuable  one. 

The  action  of  sulphur  is  not  well  under- 
stood. I  believe,  from  certain  experiments 
that  I  have  made,  that  sulphur  is  a  specific 
poison  to  certain  classes  of  animals  and 
vegetables.  It  seems  to  be  a  poison  to  many 
of  the  acaridce  and  fungi,  while  to  mam- 
mals, birds  and  most  of  tie  phanerogamous 
plants,  it  is  quite  the  opposite.  Under  any 
circumstances,  however,  sulphur  does  not 
act  by  forming  an  acid — either  the  sulphm-ic 
or  the  sulphurous.  I  know  that  many  writers 
on  the  grape  make  this  statement ;  but  no 
chemist  would  venture  to  make  such  an  as- 
sertion. Dr.  Grant,  in  his  Manual  (page  60), 
attempts  to  give  an  elaborate  "  theory  of 
the  sulphur  remedy."  But  the  Doctor, 
evidently,  never  studied  chemistry,  or  he 
would  not  have  stated  that  sulphur  as  or- 
dinarily burned  forms  sulphuric  acid.  M}^ 
chemical  statements  are  based  not  only 
upon  my  own  experiments,  but  upon  the 
works  of  Gmelin,  Brande,  Taylor,  Pelouze, 
Fremy,  and  others. 

We  know  that  sulphur  volatilizes  at  or- 
dinary temperatures,  because  it  will  blacken 
a  silver  plate  placed  over  it  in  a  sealed 
bottle,  where  the  air  is  kept  perfectly  still ; 
and  we  know  that,  at  ordinary  temperatures, 
it  does  not  combine  to  form  an  acid,  because 
we  cannot  detect  the  acid  either  by  chemi- 
cal analysis  or  by  our  senses ;  and  if  Mr. 
Strong  will  burn  a  little  sulphur,  and  thus 
form  sulphuric  acid,  he  will  find  out  ex- 
perimentally that  the  odor  of  sulphurous 
acid  is  not  only  very  easily  detected,  but 
that  it  is  very  different  from  the  odor  of 
sulphur  vapor.  Viticola. 


368 


TJie  Horticulturist. 


LETTER  TO  HUGH  BLANK,  ESQ. 


My  Dear  Hugh. — FoDowing  up  the 
subject  of  my  last  letter,  I  may  as  well  say 
here,  that  even  in  this  country,  new  as  it 
is  in  culture  and  embellishment,  and  im- 
measurably behind  the  old  ancestral  land 
in  all  these  aspects,  there  are  favored  mor- 
tals who  possess  gardens,  and  who  have 
ample  means,  well-stored  knowledge,  and 
intelligent  industry  and  devotion  to  rural 
pursuits.  They  can  employ  an  adequate 
corps  of  skilled  gardeners,  who  look  up  to 
them  for  direction  and  guidance,  as  the 
army  looks  up  to  its  general.  Such  per- 
sons are  horticultural  lighthouses — men 
who  diiFuse,  freely  and  generously,  the  ge- 
nial light  all  around  them.  The  gratifica- 
tion they  derive  from  their  pursuits,  and 
from  observing  the  progress  of  rural  art 
in  the  country,  much  of  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  their  own  example,  must  be  very 
great  indeed.  But  this  class  is  by  no 
means  large,  though  yearly  increasing. 

They  need,  of  course,  less  than  many 
other  classes  of  country  gentlemen,  such 
information  as  is  furnished  by  our  horti- 
cultural and  other  publications  relating  to 
rural  art,  and  yet,  I  venture  to  saj^,  they 
are  the  most  prompt  and  liberal  supporters 
of  these  publications,  buying  them  and  read- 
ing them,  with  unfailing  interest  in  the  sub- 
jects of  which  they  treat.  They  do  not — 
nor  do  they  wish  to — monopolize  the  learn- 
ing and  the  pleasures  of  horticulture.  On 
the  contrary,  they  are  fountain-heads  of 
patronage  (I  do  not  like  that  word  patron- 
age in  such  connexion,  but  [  cannot  now 
command  a  better)  ;  they  are  patterns  of 
successful  practice;  centres  of  dissemina- 
tion and  distribution.  Without  them,  and 
even  in  spite  of  them,  horticulture  would 
still  flourish  and  grow,  but  by  no  means 
would  its  progress  be  what  it  now  is.  To 
name  any  single  individuals,  would  be  in- 
vidious to  the  rest  of  this  select  and  ad- 
vanced guard. 

But  there  is  a  second  class,  who  are 
much  to  ue  envied,  and  that  because  they 


have  what  Dr.  Watts,  in  his  Logic,  calls  a, 
"  learned,"  instead  of  a  "  vulgar. idea,"  of 
the  hobby  which  they  ride  so  pleasantly. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  there  are  few  who  .derive 
so  great  an  amount  of  enjoyment  from  their 
country  pursuits  as  these  every-gentleman- 
Ms-oion-gardener.  They  are  spared  an  im- 
mense number  of  known  nuisances,  and 
revel  in  a  multitude  of  unknown  delights. 
In  the  early  spring,  it  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  garden  can  furnish  nothing 
for  kitchen  or  parlor — for  cook  or  cook's 
mistress.  But  our  horticultural  friend 
comes  in  with  a  charming  bunch  of  violets, 
fragrant  coltsfoot,  daphne,  &c.,  for  the 
drawing-room  table  or  console,  and  a  quan- 
tity of  the  sweetest,  greenest  sprouts,  and 
whitest,  crispest  sea-kale  for  the  cook. 

I  wonder,  dear,  Hugh,  if  there  is  no 
sense  of  enjoyment — of  satisfaction  and 
pleasure,  such  as  no  money  could  buy  on 
any  street  in  New  York — in  such  employ- 
ments and  experiences  as  these.  For  ex- 
ample— inserting,  with  your  own  hand,  a 
simple  bud  on  a  little  branch,  and  after  a 
few  years  or  months,  gathering  therefrom  a 
heaping  dish  of  choice  fruit,  or  a  great 
handful  of  beautiful  flowers;  of  being  able 
to  say,  "  With  the  sun  shining  in  this  man- 
ner, I  cannot  go  on  reading  and  writing, 
shut  up  within  these  four  walls,  while  the 
day  is  so  bright  and  glorious  without,  and 
the  birds  are  singing,  and  the  flowers  re- 
joicing in  the  blessed  light — I,  too,  must 
out  into  the  genial  sunshine,  and  take  my 
joy  therein ;"  to  be  asked  to  dine  with  a 
wealthy  neighbor,  himself  "  fat  and  well- 
liking,"  who  has  his  forcing-houses,  his  hot 
and  cold  graperies,  and  his  staff  of  garden- 
ers, at  nobody  knows  what  wages,  and  to 
eat  what  he  sets  before  you,  and  to  send 
him  better  the  next  day — you  keeping  only 
the  man,  the  boy,  and  yourself;  to  see  the 
look  of  thankfulness  in  a  neighbor's  eyes 
when,  calling  to  inquire  after  his  convales- 
cent wife  or  his  sick  child,  you  produce 
some  dainty  from  your  garden  which  will 


Salt  as  a  Remedy  for  Fear  Blight 


369 


be  relished  and  enjoyed.  And  these  are 
only  specimens  of  the  luxuries  of  a  sensi- 
ble country  life,  and  of  discreet  and  intelli- 
gent gardening.  Nor  are  they  selfish  en- 
joyments. No  such  thing,  my  boy.  While 
you  are  doing  all  this  for  your  own  satis- 
faction and  pleasure,  you  are,  in  many  ways, 
conferring  great  benefits  upon  your  neigh- 
bors, and  enlarging  the  sphere  of  public 
improvement.  Your  experience  and  skill 
inure  to  the  benefit  of  those  whose  expe- 
rience and  opportunities  have  been  less 
than  yours.  Your  example  stimulates 
others,  who  observe  that,  with  industry, 
information  derived  from  horticultural  pub- 
lications, and  with  comparatively  little  ex- 
tra expense,  they  can  have  the  choicest 
fruits,  and  the  most  charming  flowers,  and 
the  most  beautiful  and  comfortable  homes. 
And  this  is  not  all.  Your  horticultural 
pursuits  can  hardly  fail  to  react  beneficially 
upon  your  main  business  pursuits.  The 
habits  of  order  and  neatness,  and  prompti- 
tude and  industry,  which  are  indispensable 


in  your  garden  and  greenhouse,  must  go 
with  j'ou,  without  doubt,  into  your  more 
important  daily  industries  —  into  your 
office,  or  counting-room,  or  factory. 

You  have  already  learned,  dear  Hugh,  to 
appreciate  the  delights  and  refreshments  of 
the  quiet  country  home,  when  the  day's 
work  in  the  busy  street  is  done,  and  you 
are  at  liberty  to  retire  from  its  crowd  and 
turmoil.  With  your  garden,  your  love  of 
the  country  will  grow  everyyear,  doubt- 
less, because  you  are  likely  to  take  pains  to 
cultivate  these  rural  tastes,  and  to  inform 
your  mind  in  these  subjects  and  pursuits. 
Provide  yourself  with  such  books  and  cur- 
rent horticultural  literature  as  may  be 
within  your  reach.  It  is  a  miserable  and 
mistaken  idea  of  economy  to  attempt  to 
starve  your  garden  and  your  borders,  be- 
cause of  the  cost  of  the  best  fertilizers  ;  or 
your  mind,  because  works  of  taste  and  in- 
formation require  moderate  expenditure. 
I  am,  yours, 

Ralph  Noire. 


SALT  AS  A  REMEDY  FOR  PEAR  BLIGHT. 


In  the  November  number,  Reuben  asks  if 
salt  is  a  preventive  of  mildew  or  blight  on 
the  pear.  This  is  a  very  difficult  question 
to  answer,  as  I  believe  it  is  not  yet  fully 
determined  what  the  pear  blight  is. 

Reuben  does  not  say  whether  his  pears 
are  standards  or  dwarfs  on  quince  stocks. 
If  the  latter,  then  salt  may  act  in  one  of 
three  ways. 

Firstly,  as  a  general  tonic  for  plants.  In 
this  case  we  would  class  salt  with  sulphate 
of  iron,  which  we  know  to  be  an  admirable 
tonic  for  pear  trees  and  grape  vines ;  being 
especially  a  specific  on  some  soils  for  that 
want  of  vitality  exhibited  by  the  Delaware 
which  causes  it  to  shed  its  leaves  pre- 
maturely. The  same  difficulty  seems  to 
exist,  and  in  some  cases  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent, in  the  case  of  the  lona ;  and  for  that 
too  it  Kiight  be  worth  while  to  try  a  weak 
solution  of  sulphate  of  iron. 


It  has  often  occured  to  me  that  we  per- 
haps pay  too  little  attention  to  the  use  of 
tonics  for  vegetables.  We  forget  that  our 
trees  and  vines  do  not  gi'ow  in  conditions 
entirely  natural,  and  that  if  we  force  them 
unnaturally  in  one  direction,  we  ought  to 
supply  them  with  artificial  stimulants  in 
another. 

Secondly,  as  a  specific  for  the  quince 
stock  upon  which  the  pear  is  worked.  It 
has  long  been  known  that  salt  is  a  sine 
qua  non  for  healthy  quince  trees,  even 
regardless  of  fruit ;  and  we  suspect  that  a 
light  application  of  salt  to  the  quince  stocks 
of  our  dwarf  pears  would  not  be  a  useless 
expenditure  of  the  article.  There  seem  to 
be  certain  localities  where  pear  trees  on 
the  quince  thrive  better  than  in  others. 
Rochester,  Syracuse,  and  the  near  vicinity 
of  the  Atlantic  coast,  seem  to  be  favorable 
localities.     Has  the  salt  which  is  known  to 


370 


Tlie  Horticulturist, 


abound  in  these    places   any  thing  to  do  jg  a  specific  local  remedy  for  some  human 

with  this  success  1  diseases. 

Thirdly,  salt  may  act  as  a  local  specific  We  throw  out  these  suggestions  merely  as 

for  the  disease  in  the  leaf,  just  as  sulphur  hints  towards  the  solution  of  the  question. 

VlTICOLA. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 

To  Contributors  and  Others. — Address  all  Communications,  for  the  Editorial  and 
publishing  departments,  to  Geo.  E.  &  F.  W.  Woodward,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 


Messrs.  Editors — Perhaps  you  and  the 
readers  of  the  Horticulturist  would  like 
to  peruse  a  few  lines,  giving  the  experience, 
impressions,  and  views  of  a  "horticulturist," 
settled  away  down  in  the  lower  part  of 
Delaware.  If  so,  you  shall  have  them 
forthwith.  First  for  the  experience.  That 
is  not  very  extensive,  embracing  only  a 
year,  but  it  may,  nevertheless  be  somewhat 
instructive,  if  not  particularly  entertaining. 
I  began  last  October,  b}^  planting  out  some 
strawberries,  the  variety,  Downer''s  Prolific ; 
the  ground  was  pasture,  containing  a  good 
deal,  or  1  might  say  a  bad  deal,  of  the  wild 
running  blackberry — the  dewberry  of  the 
North.  By  no  means  a  suitable  place,  you 
will  say,  and  rightly,  but  it  was  the  best  I 
could  select.  Unfortunately,  the  season 
was  not  as  usual,  showery,  and  the  plants 
did  not  make  a  good  growth.  I  also 
neglected  to  mulch  them,  an  error  that 
might  not  have  had  bad  consequence,  but 
for  the  unusually  severe  cold  of  the  succeed- 
ing winter.  In  the  spring,  my  plantation 
looked  poorly  enough,  and  it  bore  no  fruit. 
In  May  of  this  year,  I  planted  a  quantity 
of  the  French's  Seedling;  they  have  by 
this  time,  completely  covered  the  alternate 
spaces  between  the  rows,  with  fine  strong 
plants.  Of  tlieir  yield,  positively  and  com- 
parative, I  ma}',  if  desired,  tell  you  next 
summer.  Finding  that  the  necessary  weed- 
ing of  the  Downer's  patch  would  not  pay, 
on  account  of  the  small  number  of  plants 
remaining,  I  allowed   them   to   take  their 


chance,  preferring  to  take  from  them  suflS-  • 
cient  plants,  in  the  summer,  (August)  for 
a  new  plantation.  This  new  plantation  I 
have  made  in  a  corn  field,  and  I  am  pleased 
with  the  result.  The  ground,  from  the 
frequent  stirring  with  the  cultivator,  was 
clean  and  mellow,  and  the  broad  blades  of 
the  corn  sheltered  the  young  plants,  and, 
now  that  the  corn  is  removed,  they  show 
well,  very  few  having  died.  I  did  not  con- 
fine myself  to  these  two  varieties,  but 
planted  from  1,000  to  2,500  of  the  "  Agri- 
culturist," Brooklyn  Scarlet,  New  Jersey 
Scarlet,  the  (so-called)  Bufialo,  Byberry 
Seedling,  &c.,  &c.  So,  I  hope  next  season 
that  I  can  report  on  their  comparative 
merits,  as  they  are  growing  side  by  side, 
and  with  similar  treatment,  some  being 
allowed  to  run,  others  not. 

The  Philadelphia  raspberry,  of  which 
some  2,500  roots  were  set,  has  grown  with 
its  usual  vigor,  though  doing  best  in  the 
soil  of  the  low,  heavy  bottoms.  The  same 
can  be  said  of  the  Wilson  Early  blackberry. 
In  this  connection,  I  might  call  attention 
to  a  fact,  that  goes  far,  I  think,  to  show 
the  relation  the  Wilson  bears  to  the  Dew- 
berry, that  is,  the  facility  with  which  it 
can  be  propagated,  by  layering  the  tips.  I 
spoiled  a  number  of  canes  in  my  first  ex- 
periments, and  I  trust  some  may  benefit  by 
the  rules  I  will  give  for  insuring  success. 
First,  the  cane  must  be  a  principal  one,  a 
lateral  will  not  root ;  next,  it  must  be  in 
vigorous  growth,  the  wood  at  the  base  well 


Editor's  TaUe. 


Ml 


matured,  but  the  tip  succulent  and  growing 
rapidly.  It  must  be  buried  (the  tip)  just 
to  the  right  depth,  two  or  two  and  a  quarter 
inches,  else  it  will  rot,  or  if  too  shallow, 
shoot  up  without  rooting.  The  ground 
must  be  mellow,  and  not  allowed  to  get 
packed  over  or  around  the  tip  as  buried, 
till  well  rooted.  Observe  these  conditions, 
and  you  may  get,  as  I  have  done,  five  good 
plants  by  winter,  from  the  one  root  planted 
in  the  spring,  and  some  of  the  roots  of  the 
larger  will  be  as  thick  as  the  quill  of  a  large 
duck,  and  over  four  feet  long.  So  much  for 
the  Wilson's ;  as  to  the  fruit,  I  can  tell 
about  that  next  year. 

I  may  mention  that  the  winter  ('66)  was 
very  severe  on  the  Belle  de  Fontenay  rasp- 
berry, of  which  I  had  planted  6,000.  I 
think  that  suflBcient  earth  was  not  thrown 
on  to  the  roots,  as  many  failed  to  grow  in 
the  spring.  A  young  peach  orchard  of  1000 
trees  was  on  the  place  when  I  purchased  ; 
this  has  been  increased  to  3000.  The  apple 
orchard,  mostly  of  the  earliest  varieties, 
numbers  300  trees.  The  pear,  standard,  100, 
and  300  on  quince.  These,  with  175  early 
cherries  complete  the  list,  not  omitting 
100  Delaware  and  the  same  number  of 
Adirondac  vines.  The  Delawares  have  not 
taken  kindly  to  the  sandy  soil,  and  even 
refused  to  add  to  their  inches  when  stimu- 
lated in  the  summer  with  horse  manure. 
The  Adirondacs,  on  the  contrary,  have 
grown  well,  ripened  their  wood  thoroughly, 
and  have  only  just  parted  with  their  foliage, 
in  obedience  to  the  hint  conveyed  by  a  sharp 
frost  on  the  night  of  the  5th  of  October. 
I  allowed  one  bunch  of  grapes  to  mature 
on  the  strongest  of  the  Adirondacs,  after 
reducing  the  number  of  berries  to  five — 
and  some  friends  from  New  York  who  were 
here  when  I  gathered  the  bunch,  and  who 
were  allowed  one  berry  each,  agreed  that 
they  were  excellent.  I  did  not  taste,  pre- 
ferring to  wait  until  another  season. 

Thus  much  for  my  own  place.  A  neigh- 
bor has  a  young  vineyard ;  when  he  planted 
his  vines — now  bearing  several  thousand, 
and  of  all  the  varieties  of  merit,  except  the 


Adirondac— used  a  large  quantity  of  bone 
meal.  He  obtained  a  great  growth  of  wood, 
but  his  lonas  are  nearly  all  killed,  about 
the  only  ones  that  were,  by  the  winter 
of  ('66).  His  strawberries,  being  heavily 
covered  with  straw,  withstood  the  winter 
well,  but  a  late  spring  frost  killed  a  large 
number  of  blossoms,  and  reduced  his  crop 
over  one- third.  Peaches  in  this  section, 
were  a  great  failure.  Apple  trees,  being 
usually  much  neglected  by  the  inh.abitant!=, 
bore  medium  crops  of  worse  than  medium 
fruit.  Of  other  fruits  here,  there  are  none 
to  speak  of.  Though  I  remember  buying 
some  tolerable  Isabella  grapes,  on  the  8th 
of  September,  in  the  town,  for  eight  cents 
per  pound. 

It  is  only  within  a  very  few  years  that 
attention  has  been  paid  to  fruit  raising 
here,  and  even  now,  it  is  not  done  by  the 
natives,  they  go  on  in  the  old  routine, 
growing  wheat  and  corn,  alongside  of 
northern  men,  who  make  more  from  one  or 
two  acres,  than  they  do  from  their  whole 
farms.  The  soil  here  is  a  sandy  loam,  easily 
worked  ;  we  have  one  railroad,  the  Dela- 
ware, giving  us  the  Philadelphia,  Baltimore 
and  New  York  markets,  within  eighteen 
hours  by  express,  and  another,  the  Junc- 
tion and  Breakwater,  under  way,  which 
via  steamers  from  Lewes,  opposite  Cape 
May,  will  bring  us  in  still  closer  and  cheap- 
er connection  with  New  York.  Our  latti- 
tude  is  exactly  that  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
materially  south  of  Vinelaud.  In  fact, 
excepting  Norfolk,  I  believe  the  place  to  be 
the  most  southernly  point  where  the  small 
fruits  are  grown  for  the  New  York  market, 
and  to  my  mind,  is  quite  far  enough,  suffi- 
ciently so  to  get  the  highest  prices  for 
early  fruit,  yet  near  enough  to  have  it  de- 
livered in  prime  order,  to  have  it  compete 
with  the  Jersey  growers.  Northern  men 
are  rapidly  taking  up  the  available  farms, 
and  prices  of  land  is  rapidly  augmenting. 
Already  we  have  changed  the  majorities  at 
the  polls  to  the  right  side,  and  a  bright, 
prosperous  career  seems  to  be  in  view  for 
MiLFORD  Hundred, 

Kent  Co.,  Delaware. 


372 


The  Horticulturist 


Grafts  cut  this  month,  before  severe 
cold  weather,  and  laid  away  in  a  cool  cel- 
lar with,  say  one-half  their  length,  the 
lower  half,  in  clean  sand,  we  consider  more 
likely  to  succeed  when  wanted  for  use  than 
if  the  cutting  is  left  until  some  time  in  Feb- 
ruary, or  after  severe  cold  has  to  a  certain 
extent  reduced  their  vitality. 


Carrots,  to  keep  well  and  not  sprout, 
should  have  the  crown  cut  completely  off, 
and  not  the  petioles  of  the  leaves  only.  In 
this  manner  there  is  no  loss  of  the  sac- 
charine matter,  as  in  the  case  when  the 
crown  is  left  on,  and  sprouts  are  continually 
breaking  forth. 


Baltimore,  Nov.  13,  1866. 
Messrs.  Woodward  : 

Gentlemen, — A  correspondent,  in  your 
November  number,  on  growing  grape  seeds, 
concludes  from  some  trials  he  made,  that 
freezing  the  seeds  is  of  '■'■vital  imiportance  ;" 
in  fact,  they  "  could  not  germinate  unless 
the  seeds  were  first  frozen."  As  my  ex- 
perience differs  from  his,  and  as  growing 
grape  seedlings  is  now  a  mania,  it  may  be 
well  to  have  as  much  light  on  the  subject 
as  possible. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  I  hybridized  a 
number  of  native  varieties  with  foreign 
pollen,  and  when  the  seeds  were  ripe,  I  put 
them  in  vials,  labelled  and  laid  away  in  a 
drawer.  As  the  hybridizing  cost  me  some 
time  and  trouble,  I  did  not  want  to  lose 
them ;  and  as  there  was  so  much  difference 
of  opinion  about  the  best  way  to  grow 
them,  1  determined  to  divide  them,  plant- 
ing half  out-doors,  the  other  half  in  my 
green  house. 

In  November,  I  prepared  the  best  piece 
of  ground  for  the  purpose  in  my  garden, 
with  a  layer  of  sand  on  top,  and  planted 
the  seeds  in  it  in  rows,  marking  each  kind ; 
covered  them  with  a  few  leaves  and  twigs 
to  prevent  being  washed  by  the  rains.  At 
the  same  time  I  put  a  like  number  of  each 
variety  in  large  seed  pans  filled  with  good 
soil,  sprinkled  over  with  sand,  set  them  in 
the    green-house,    and    watered    when    I 


thought  they  needed  it.  In  February,  not 
showing  signs  of  growth,  a  neighboring 
florist  proposed  I  should  give  them  bottom 
heat,  on  his  hot  water  tank,  which  I  did. 
In  a  few  weeks  they  started,  and  when  the 
weather  was  warm  enough,  set  out  of  doors 
in  the  pans,  where  they  grew  all  summer, 
being  carefully  watered  in  dry  weather. 
About  75  per  cent,  came  up ;  of  the  Dela- 
wares,  nearly  every  seed  germinated. 

Of  those  planted  out-doors,  not  more 
than  5  per  cent.  grew.  If  the  Delawares 
did  so  at  all,  it  must  have  been  towards  the 
antipodes  ;  as  not  one  made  its  appearance 
above  ground ;  and  they  were  examined 
often  during  the  summer.  There  was  cer- 
tainly frost  enough,  as  the  thermometer 
was  several  degrees  below  zero,  which  is 
uncommon  in  this  lattitude ;  hence  my  ex- 
perience is,  that  our  grape  seeds  will  ger- 
minate without  frost;  as  those  put  in  the 
green-house  were  not  in  a  lower  tempera- 
ture than  40°. 

That  the  cold,  if  not  too  severe,  will 
not  prevent  our  seeds  from  growing,  is  of 
course  correct.  I  have  vines  which  I  grew 
from  picked  seeds,  that  were  out  of  doors 
all  the  winter  of  1862-63,  but  the  ther- 
mometer with  me  was  not  at  any  time  that 
winter  lower  than  12°,  and  it  is  probable 
that  too  hard  a  freezing  injures  the  germ  so 
as  to  destroy  its  vitality. 

My  conclusion  from  the  above  facts  is 
that  freezing  is  not  indis2)ensdble;  but  the 
best  way  to  grow  grape  seedlings  is  in-doors 
with  bottom  heat,  being  careful  not  to  over- 
water.  The  hybridized  seedlings  showed 
a  wonderful  variety  in  the  same  pan ;  some 
having  the  thick  downy  leaf  of  the  native, 
others  the  peculiar  lobed  and  thin  leaf  of  its 
male-parent ;  while  others  again  had  pecu- 
liarities of  their  own.  One  could  scarce 
credit  they  were  grown  from  the  same 
native  seed. 

I  propose   putting  them   in  single  pots, 
and  growing  them  in  the  green-house  next 
spring,  so  as  to  have  the  wood  well  matured 
before  being  exposed  to  the  frost. 
Yours,  &c., 

Wm.  King. 


Editor's  TaUe, 


373 


In  the  Editor's  table  of  the  November 
number,  you  remark :  "  Do  not  attempt  to 
group  small  growing  shrubs  or  trees  with 
those  of  lofty  habit.  A  few  years  will  show 
the  error  and  the  loss  in  effect  of  all  trees 
so  planted."  You  can,  Messrs.  Editors,  do 
more  than  any  one  to  prevent  this  diffi- 
culty. 

Call  upon  all  nurserymen  to  insert  in 
their  catalogues,  the  height,  color  and  time 
of  blooming  of  every  shrub  and  plant ;  also, 
if  naturally  inhabiting  dry  or  moist  soil,  and 
if  a  table  of  soil,  similar  to  that  in  Buist's 
Flower  Garden  Directory,  be  added,  it  will 
furnish  inexperienced  persons  with  a  guide 
which  cannot  be  found  in  any  of  the  works 
on  gardening,  and  would  probably  increase 
to  a  great  extent  the  sales  of  the  nursery- 
men. 

Such  a  catalogue  can  be  arranged  in  col- 
umns, and  in  about  the  same  space  that 
the  present  issues  require.  I  think  the  old 
catalogues  of  Bartram's  Botanic  Garden,  at 
Philadelphia,  were  on  this  plan.  It  fur- 
nishes the  best  "  writing  for  the  poor,"  and 
the  rich  also. 

Boston,  Nov.  12,  1866. 


Watering  Trees. — Strange  as  it  may 
seem  to  the  mind  of  the  practised  horticul- 
turist, there  are  novices  who  are  under  the 
impression  that  a  newly-transplanted  tree 
requires  to  be  watered  from  time  to  time, 
whether  planted  in  spring  or  fall.  As  a 
rule,  we  believe  watering  trees  at  any  time 
has  resulted  in  more  injury  than  good  ;  but 
certainly  no  person  should  water  a  newly- 
plauted  tree,  whether  evergreen  or  decidu- 
ous, except  during  the  growing  season,  and 
then  only  in  dry  hot  weather,  when  not  a 
wetting  of  the  roots,  but  a  perfect  shower- 
ing of  the  whole  tree  should  be  given. 


Grafting  may  be  safely  performed  this 
month,  and  indeed  any  time  during  winter, 
upon  all  hardy  trees  like  the  pear  and  ap- 
ple. Be  careful  that  the  wax  covering 
forms  a  perfect  exclusion  of  air  and 
moisture. 


PoMARiA,  S.  C,  Nov.  8,  1866. 

Editors  Horticulturist, — A  long  and 
serious  illness  has  prevented  me,  until  now, 
responding  to  the  inquiries  of  "  Betiben," 
on  the  Hebe  Pear. 

It  is  a  new  variet}?^;  a  seedling  grown 
from  seed  taken  from  my  pea,r  orchard ; 
seeds  of  the  Duchesse  D'Angouleme  and 
Easter  Beurre  having  been  sown.  The 
product  has  been  what  we  so  much  lacked 
in  the  South — a  native  winter  Pear  of  first 
size  and  quality.  The  tree  is  in  habit 
naturally  pyramidal,  and  comes  into  bear- 
ing earl3^  The  fruit  hanging  until  the  last 
of  October,  when  we  have  our  first  killing 
frosts,  rendering  it  necessary  to  take  them 
off".  They  ripen  well  in  the  house,  and 
mature  without  shriveling.  The  large  size, 
great  beauty,  thrifty  growth,  productive- 
ness, and  the  superior  quality  of  its  fruit  for 
table  or  market,  renders  it  the  "Eureka" 
of  pears. 

I  am  aware  with  what  distrust  new  fruita 
should  be  received,  and  fully  appreciate  the 
responsibility  of  standing  sponsor  for  nov- 
elties. In  the  case  of  the  "  Hebe,"  I  chal- 
lenge the  world  to  produce  a  superior  win- 
ter pear. 

In  the  description  which  accompanied 
the  engraving,  in  July  number  of  the  Hor- 
ticulturist, a  slight  mistake  occurred,  in 
saying,  "free  from  thorns."  In  young  trees, 
the  growth  is  frequently  thorny.  This  va- 
riety, growing  equally  well  on  quinces,  re- 
tains its  leaves  in  good  health  until  frost, 
a  good  quality  in  all  pears,  and  particularly 
necessary  for  success  in  the  South. 

Wm.  Summer. 


Ir  the  weather  continues  open,  all  hardy 
deciduous  trees  may  yet  be  planted.  "We 
prefer  very  late  fall,  or  even  mid-winter 
planting,  so  that  the  ground  is  not  frozen, 
to  that  of  the  spring.  Mulch  all  newly- 
planted  trees,  taking  care  that  the  litter  is 
kept  so  far  from  the  body  of  the  tree  that 
mice  cannot  form  their  nests,  and  in  time 
of  deep  snows  gather  their  living  by  eating 
the  bark,  and  so  destroying  the  tree. 


374 


The  HorticuUurid. 


Keeping  Apples. ---Fruit  houses  and 
special  patents  for  keeping  fruits  have  of 
late  become  the  rage,  and  while  we  are 
disposed  to  favor  every  progress  in  the  sci- 
ence of  horticulture,  either  as  connected 
with  the  growing  or  keeping  of  fruits,  etc., 
yet  we  feel  unwilling  that  any  of  our  read- 
ers should  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
keeping  apples  for  spring  uses,  is  at  all  a 
matter  requiring  either  the  use  of  a  fruit- 
house  or  any  special  patent.  Records  are 
daily  made,  and  have  been  for  years,  of  the 
success  of  keeping  apples  after  being  frozen 
solid,  and  hundreds  of  barrels  are  yearly 
buried  in  the  earth  and  brought  out  in 
spring  as  fresh  as  so  many  potatoes.  The 
one  great  feature  connected  with  the  pre- 
servation of  a  frozen  apple  is  that  it  be 
kept  in  the  dark  until  completely  thawed 
out.  And  the  successful  feature  of  keeping 
apples  in  ordinary  dry  cellars,  is  to  place 
them  in  bins,  or  boxes,  of  about  one  foot  in 
depth,  and  cover  them  from  all  light,  while 
at  the  same  time  there  is  kept  up  a  free 
circulation  of  air  in  the  apartment.  Light 
and  warmth  serve  to  assist  the  natural  pro- 
cess of  maturation,  while  shade  and  a  cool 
temperature  retard  it.  Shade,  again,  in  a 
confined  atmosphere,  as  in  the  case  of  apples 
barrelled  tight,  often  advances  decay  rather 
than  retards  it.  This  is  known  to  every 
fruit  dealer,  and  to  most  men  who  purchase 
their  winter's  fruit  from  the  dealer.  On 
opening  a  barrel  of  apples  that  have  been 
headed  up  tight  for  a  couple  of  weeks  or 
more  their  appearance  is  fresh  and  good  . 
but  a  few  days  exposure  causes  them  to 
grow  dull  looking  and  of  a  light  colored 
fruit  to  soon  present  the  appearance  of 
having  been  half  baked.  This  is  from  the 
steam  or  warmth  and  moisture  of  the  fruit. 
Had  the  barrel  heads  and  some  part  of  the 
side  staves  been  bored  so  as  to  let  off  this 
moisture  engendered  from  the  warmth  of 
the  fruit  so  confined,  the  apples  on  opening 
would  appear  equally  well,  and  with  care 
in  hands  of  the  consumer  could  be  kept  a 
long  time.  It  will  be  remembered,  there- 
fore, that  to  keep  apples,  it  is  not  only  re- 


quisite to  exclude  the  light,  but  that  free 
circulation  of  air  even  if  it  be  down  to  a 
freezing  point,  or  even  below,  is  also  neces- 
sary, 


A  Hint. — It  is  one  of  the  great  sins  of  j 

the  present  day,  that  fashion,  rather  than  , 

cultivated  taste,  rules  in  the  arrangement 
of  walks  and  plants  in  and  around  many  of  ! 

the  costly  and  elegant  architectural  resid-  j 

ences  of  our  fortunate  people.  Long  straight  \ 

walks,  with  plants  in  ribbon  arrangement,  -■ 

may  be  skilfully  arranged  in  their  placing  ;  j 

long   meandering    curves,   with   here   and  j 

there  a  few  herbaceous    plants,  intermin-  j 

gled  with  shrubs,  but  without  defining  the  ; 

boundary  of  the    walk,  as  for  comfort  or  j 

convenience ;  masses,  and  irregular  plant-  ; 

ings  and  groupings,  or  attempts  thereat,  of  ! 

every   new   tree   and   shrub  may   be   the  ! 

fashion,  but  our  fashionables  will  excuse  us  \ 

for  once  if  we  claim  that  there  is  too  much  : 

monotony  in  the  first ;  in  the  second,  there 
is  none  of  the  grace  and  boldness  of  nature,  : 

with  beauty  of  effect,  obtained  by  masses 
of  distinct  varieties  of  shrubs  outlined  upon,  ■ 

and    sweeping   the  walk,   whose  graceful  \ 

curves  are  made  only  to  avoid  real  or  ap-  i 

parent  obstacles,  and  leading  to  some  spe- 
cial point,  giving  reason  and  beauty  in  util- 
ity. The  last  arrangement,  that  of  the 
nexo  trees,  &c.,  we  can  only  associate  in  idea  \ 

with  the  botanist  or  amateur  tree  dealer,  \ 

when  we  should  look  for  grandeur  and  art  : 

from  the  combined  powers  of  vigor  in  Na-  i 

ture  and  tasteful  arrangement  of  man.  We 
have  hinted  our  hint. 


Strawberry  Beds,  if  not  already  mulch- 
ed, should  be  attended  to  without  delay 

Some  cultivators  argue  that  strawberry 
vines  are  better  never  to  be  mulched  until 
after  the  ground  becomes  frozen,  and  that 
then  the  mulch  should  be  applied,  and  so 
hold  the  vines  in  a  more  dormant  condition 
than  if  the  mulch  is  applied  before  frost. 
However  correct  this  may  be,  in  any  event 
all  strawberry  vines  pay  for  the  labor  of 
light  mulching. 


Editor's  Table. 


375 


Grape  Soils. — Much  has  been  said  pro 
and  con  in  the  pages  of  the  Horticultu- 
rist, in  that  of  other  journals,  and  in  the 
meetings  of  fruit  growers,  relative  to  the 
soils  best  adapted  to  profitable  grape-grow- 
ing. The  subject  has  been,  and  continues 
to  be,  one  of  great  interest,  as  a  larger 
amount  of  capital  is  probably  being  invest- 
ed in  grape  culture  than  in  that  of  any 
other  one  crop  connected  with  horticultu- 
ral, and  we  might  almost  say,  with  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  Each  advocate  of  a  parti- 
cular soil  or  location,  has  his  "  good  and 
sufficient "  reasons  for  his  preferment,  and 
as  each  advances  them,  he  too  often  con- 
siders his  opponent  as  ultra  and  intractable. 
Good  feeling  and  a  conciliatory  spirit  should 
ever  characterize  the  remarks  of  the  horticul- 
turist, for  the  scope  of  their  pursuits  is  over 
the  whole  world,and  unlike  the  politician  no 
party  purpose  or  office  aggrandisement  can 
be  embraced  as  a  motive  of  action.  We 
have  watched  these  advocates  of  clay  soil, 
of  loam  or  sand,  and  have  no  doubt  all  are 
sanguine  of  the  truth  of  their  advancements, 
and  from  our  impression  of  their  stand  pointy 
we  do  not  doubt  them.  But  the  extent  of 
climate  and  the  varied  condition  of  that 
climate  also,  within  a  radius  of  often  not 
more  than  two  to  five  miles ;  the  impres- 
sion of  one  that  fruit  for  eating  purposes  is 
the  thing  sought;  of  another  that  wine 
only,  and  that  of  a  particular  kind,  is  the 
object ;  the  experience  of  one  with  cer- 
tain sorts  of  grapes,  unknown,  in  practice, 
to  another,  are  all  points  of  reason  for  the 
apparent  differences  of  opinion.  As  we 
have  said,  we  have  watched  these  disputa- 
tions, and  in  collecting  them  bring  about 
something  like  the  following  results : — 1st- 
That  the  grape  of  some  variety  can  be 
grown  in  almost  any  location  or  soil,  and 
that  too  with  satisfactory  results  in  fruit 
returns.  2nd.  That  locations  adjoining 
large  bodies  of  water  have  the  greatest  cer- 
tainty of  succes  with  all  varieties.  3rd. 
That  with  the  light  colored  gi'apes,  as  Cat- 
awba, Iona,&c.,  heavy  clayey  soil  wellundei'- 
drained,  promise  most  valuable  for  produc- 


tion of  fruit  for  wine  purposes.  4th.  That 
with  the  black  grapes  the  character  of  the 
soil  is  not  so  essential  to  give  satisfactory 
results  or  quality  for  wine  purposes.  In 
this  last  item  we  may  err  in  our  deductions 
but  it  is  the  result  of  our  opinion  from  our 
watchings  of  opinions,  and  from  our  years 
of  examination  of  both  grapes  and  wines  in 
various  parts  of  the  States.  No  one,  there- 
fore, should  be  deterred  from  planting,  but 
before  investing  too  largely  in  the  pursuit, 
it  may  be  well  to  call  the  aid  of  some  ex- 
perienced person  and  get  a  knowledge  of 
what  is  probably  best  for  the  locality  and 
soil  of  the  proposed  vineyard. 


All  fruit  trees  should  be  carefully  look- 
ed over  at  this  season,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  insects.  Borers  may  have  laid 
themselves  up  cozily,  for  winter  quarters, 
in  the  bodies  of  the  quince,  apple,  pear, 
mountain  ash,  or  plum  tree.  A  good, 
strong,  and  sharp  knife,  to  cut  away  dead 
bark  and  wood,  and  a  strong  piece  of  wire 
are  the  requisite  tools  for  the  work,  follow- 
ing it,  if  you  please,  by  washing  or  coating 
the  wound  with  some  mixture  of  soft  soap, 
sulphur,  tobacco  water,  &c.,  or  with  a  cheap 
shellac  varnish.  The  eggs  of  caterpillars 
should  be  sought  for  on  the  small  branches 
and  in  the  forks  of  the  tree. 

The  cocus,  or  scale  insect,  should  be  de- 
stroyed by  washing  the  bodies  and  limbs 
of  trees  to  which  thej^  have  attached  them- 
selves. Strong  lye  water,  or  a  mixture  of 
soft  soap  and  fresh-slacked  lime  will  destroy 
them.  

Draining. — The  winter  is  often  compar- 
atively a  leisure  season.  It  ra&j  be  profit- 
ably occupied  in  most  cases  in  draining  or- 
chards or  vineyards,  gardens,  &c.  Make 
the  ditches  narrow,  two  and  one-balf  to 
three  feet  deep,  and  use  two-inch  tile  for 
the  primary  drains,  and  four  to  six-inch  tile 
for  the  mains  or  outlets. 


Leaves,  and  a  good  heap  of  rich  loamy 
soil,  should  be  gathered  this  month,  and 
placed  under  cover,  for  use  in  forming,  hot- 
beds early  in  spring. 


376 


The  Horticulturist. 


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South  Pass,  III.,  Nov.  17,  1866. 
Messrs.  Woodward  : 

The  Annual  of  Architecture  received. 
I  am  much  pleased  with  the  idea,  and  the 
manner  of  its  expression.  It  is  just  what 
the  people  need  :  Beautiful  homes,  and 
within  the  means  of  most  livers  in  the 
country.  I  earnestly  hope,  and  have  no 
doubt,  that  the  sales  of  this  number  will 
justify  the  continuance  of  the  series. 
Very  respectfully, 

Parker  Earle, 
Pres'klent  Illinois  Slate  Horticultural  Society. 


Avoid  giving  drenching  waterings  to  all 
house  plants  at  this  season,  and  remember 
to  keep  the  temperature  of  the  house  low. 
A  high  temperature  causes  very  rapid  ab- 
sorption of  moisture,  and  aflacid  unhealthy 
growth  to  the  plant,  enfeebling  and  unfit- 
ting it  to  give  beauty  of  foliage  or  bloom. 

If  you  have  not  yet  mulched  around 
your  newly-planted  trees,  do  so  at  once.  If 
possible,  at  this  season,  also,  use  fresh  sta- 
ble manure,  as  in  its  nature  it  imparts  more 
warmth  ;  and  during  the  winter,  more  or 
less  of  its  value  becomes  incorporated  with 
the  soil  about  the  roots,  and  causes  them 
to  make  an  early  and  vigorous  growth. 


Look  over  beds  of  Japan  lilies,  hyacinths, 
tulips,  &c.,  and  see  that  no  mice  are  prey- 
ing on  them.  If  anj^  evidence  of  their  ap- 
pearance, place  sticks,  or  strips  of  cloth, 
dipped  in  coal  tar,  in  and  around  the  bed. 


Should  there  come  a  warm,  "  soft  spell 
of  weather,"  say  two  weeks,  or  so,  the 
mulch  covering  of  bulb  beds  should  be  re- 
moved, but  a^zain  returned  immediately  on 
approach  of  a  chaixge  of  temperature  to 
cold.