IS11J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



333 



days get shorter. I never allow shoots to get 

 stronger than I can pinch them off with thumb 

 nail and forefinger. I find no ill effects from 

 leaving the leading shoot grow till it reaches the 

 top of the house, then turn it down to ramble at 

 its will. In a span-roofed grapery under my 

 charge the shoots have reached the floor, and 

 are growing up again. The eff'ect is pleasing, 

 and I think it has a tendency to keep the roots 

 in a healthy growing state. Tying the shoots : 

 I concur in the method of tying, but would here 

 remark that the wires should be at least twenty 

 Inches from the glass. Thinning the bunches : 

 The remarks are in accordance with my practice ; 

 the only exception is with such varieties as 

 white Muscadine and the Frontignaus. I leave 

 one bunch on each shoot without bad effects ; 

 they are smaller kinds and the latter at least is a 

 strong grower. Syringing: Squirting with a 

 hand-syringe is laborious where grapes are ex- 

 tensively grown. I find a portable garden en- 

 gine the most eff"ective. When washing the foli- 

 age is required I like to take the advantage of a 

 gust for the operation, when plenty of rain-water 

 can be had. Hydrant or spring water leaves a 

 mark on the bloom of the fruit, more or less. 

 In the grapery above mentioned, there has been 

 no water used on the foliage prior to blooming, 

 and the foliage is perfectly free from all insects. 

 Water can be used more freely on the surface 

 inside than in the United Kingdom. Watering: 

 Where borders are inside entirely, which is best 

 in this country north of Baltimore, if ripe grapes 

 are wanted by second week in May, abundance 

 must be given as recommended. Where parties 

 are satisfied with ripe grapes by middle of July, 

 outside borders answer the purpose. My expe- 

 rience is, the roots will seek out where they can 

 get ; they might work inside where they get en- 

 couragement to do so. Practical men in private 

 situations, " as a rule here," don't get the assist- 

 ance that is given in Great Britain, #nd there 

 are many points in grape-growing they cannot 

 do justice to for want of help, etc. Yet there are 

 a good many operations done in connection 

 with grape-growing there, could be done without, 

 or in a great measure simplified, considering the 

 extreme changes of climate and too often the 

 want of necessary help. Methinks not a few who 

 follow the profession will think with me, that 

 cultivating the grape-vine under glass in Great 

 Britain is one thing, and in America another. 

 Still I will not say, but there nre advantages here, 

 as well as disadvantages ; with the exception of 



giving the outside borders a slight watering with 

 manure water, say twice in the season, is all the 

 attention I have been able to give in that way, 

 yet have had good crops of grapes. There is yet 

 a great deal to learn, and more points to be ob- 

 served than have been discussed in those papers 

 — I mean in regard to this country. " If you de- 

 sire," I will relate several points commendable, 

 which experience has taught me, in another 

 paper. [Please do. — Ed. G. M.] 



A PROMISING ORCHARD. 



BY MR. A. C. FOWLER, PAN-HANDLE, W. VA. 



I see by a late Monthly a notice of trees being 

 killed by applying oil to prevent rabbits from 

 injuring them. I had a lot of apple trees greased 

 with lard to keep rabbits from them, and the 

 bark came off where they were greased, and new 

 bark came on a part of them. A neighbor 

 rubbed carbon oil on a fine lot of trees to keep 

 the rabbits from them and the next Summer the 

 trees were as dead as if they had been kept in a 

 barn. I have planted thousands of trees, and 

 seldom fail to have them grow finely. If I want 

 to have a tree make a fine growth, I tie hay or 

 straw from the branches to the ground. I have 

 saved some valuable trees in that way that I do 

 not think could have been saved any other way. 

 I am experimenting with about two thousand 

 pear trees, planted in different soils, exposures, 

 and planted different depths; also, am doing 

 what I can to stop the blight, and think I am 

 succeeding. This will be my third year, and if 

 I lose as few trees this year, I will give you my 

 way of prevention. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Fruit-growing as a Business. — The Country 

 Gentleman reports some interesting discussions 

 at the New York State Fair on these subjects. 

 Mr. Hooker thinks there are four and a half mil- 

 lions of acres in fruit in the Union, and the pro- 

 duct equal to half the value of an average crop 

 of wheat. Like every other business, however, 

 it required hard work and intelligent business 

 habits to make it a success. 



The Phylloxera in Europe.— They have an 

 International Phylloxera Congress in Europe, 

 and it sat recently in Susanne. It has no light 

 task before it. Apropos of Phylloxera, an asso- 



