EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE. 



11 



tte )3cst traits of his character, it is undenia- 

 ble that a large source of beauty and interest 

 is always lost by those who copy each other's 

 homes without reflection, even though they 

 may be copying the most faultless cottage 

 ornee. 



We would have the cottage, the farm- 

 house, and the larger country house, all 

 marked by a somewhat distinctive character 

 of their own, so far as relates to making them 

 eomplete and individual of their kind; and 

 believing as we do, that the beauty and 

 force of every true man's life or occupation 

 depend largely on his pursuing it frankly, 

 honestly, and openly, with all the individuality 

 of his character, we would have his house and 

 home help to give significance to, and dignify 

 that daily life and occupation, by harmonizing 

 with them. For this reason, we think the 



farmer errs when he copies the filagree work 

 of the retired citizen's cottage, instead of 

 showing that rustic strength and solidity in 

 his house which are its true elements of inte- 

 rest and beauty. For this reason, we think 

 he who builds a simple and modest cottage in 

 the country, fails in attaining that which he 

 aims at by copying, as nearly as his means 

 will permit, the parlors, folding doors, and 

 showy furniture of the newest house he has 

 seen in town. 



We will not do more at present than throw 

 out these suggestions, in the hope that those 

 about to build in the country will reflect that 

 an entirely satisfactory house is one in which 

 there are not only pretty forms and details, 

 but one which has some meaning in its beauty, 

 considered in relation to their own position, 

 character and daily lives. 



EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE, NO. IV— GRAPES. 



BY B., POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 



For the last ten years, I have had under cul- 

 tivation from three hundred to five hundred 

 grapevines. They comprised about twenty 

 varieties originally, but have dwindled down 

 to three, viz., the Catawba, Isabella and El- 

 sinburgh. I still retain specimens of the 

 best foreign grapes ; but it is labor lost to at- 

 tempt to produce fruit from them, in any 

 quantity, in the open ground. The Cataw- 

 ba I esteem most highly, especially for wine. 

 The Isabella is preferred by many as a dessert 

 fruit, although my taste Inclines to the former. 

 The Elsinburgh makes a good wine, and is the 

 most hardy of them all. Indeed, this last 

 was the only variety which passed unscathed 

 through the excessively cold winter of 1848-9. 

 Without attempting to detail the various 

 modes of iilanting and training which have 

 been tried, I will merely state that which has 



proved most satisfactory. Take vines one or 

 two years old, in the spring, and plant them 

 in rows running north and south ; the rows to 

 be six feet apart, and the vines eight feet 

 apart in the row. Within a year or two, at 

 your leisure, prepare posts with bottoms of 

 locust and tops of pine fence railing, seven 

 and a half feet in length, and set one equi-dis- 

 tant between every two vines in the rows, so 

 that they will stand five and a half feet in 

 height. Then procure galvanised wire. No. 

 12 or 13, and having bored five small holes 

 through each post at distances of eleven inches, 

 pass the wire through, draw it tight and fasten 

 each end. The upper wire is to rest on the 

 top of the posts, and be fiistened by staples. 

 Then paint your posts, and brace those at the 

 extremities of the rows, to enable them to 

 bear the weight, and you will have the fouu- 



