1877.] 



AND HOB TIG UL T URIS T. 



303 



Seedling Raspberry which seemed to have some 

 good points, and received therefor, commenda- 

 tion in the Centennial weekly reports. It is some- 

 what like the Philadelphia. There have been 

 many raised of this character, but none so far 

 have equalled their parent. The full value of 

 this variety can only be known by seeing it as it 

 grows in the field or garden, and what it is really 

 worth will have to be spoken of in that connect- 

 ion. But so far as any one can judge from the 

 fruit, it will probably be a good competi- 

 tior with that well-known variety. For the 

 illustration we are indebted to Messrs. Gibson & 

 Bennett, of Woodbury, N. J. 



Tea in California. — The newspapers are try- 

 ing to induce attempts at Tea culture in Califor- 

 nia. It is found by experience that Asiatic trees 

 do not do so well on the Pacific as on the Atlan- 

 tic coast of our country. It does very well in the 

 older Southern States, but they cannot compete 

 with low Chinese labor. We fear that until the 

 wages of the Chinese tea laborer in China is 

 nearly equal to the wages of the American farm 

 laborer, we shall have little success in American 

 tea raising. 



Smith's Improved Gooseberry. — This variety 

 of the native race, which we noted several years 

 ago in our pages, is not yet much known, but is 

 growing in favor with Western growers. 



The Liberian Coffee.— This, so superior in 

 size and quality to the kinds now grown, and 

 thought to be free from disease, has given up the 

 last claim, according to recent English papers. 



Killing Grasshoppers. — A. G. Chandler, of 

 Leavenworth, Kansas, says that grasshoppers 

 can be kept under pVetty well by driving them 

 into ditches and destroying them, but that it is 

 too expensive. It takes twenty-five men for 

 every five acres, to do it eff'ectually. 



Alexander,Honeywell and Amsden Peaches, 

 — Mr. Charles Downing in Caiman's Rural World, 

 corrects a misapprehension that he said these 

 were the same. He says they are all different, 

 but that they are for practical purposes very 

 nearly alike. It is an important distinction, as 

 they may not always come so nearly alike as 

 they did on his grounds; different circumstances 

 of soil, seasons or climate, often operate on one 

 variety in one place, when another will be still 

 constant. 



The Concord Grape. — Concord grapes weigh- 

 ing two pounds, are not to be despised. Mr. N. 



Blanchard of Stoughton, New Hampshire, has 

 no difficulty in producing them. There has been 

 some curiosity to get his manner of treatment, 

 and, according to the Massachusetts Ploughman, 

 this is it: — " On a favorable soil, but in an ex- 

 posed locality, he has ripened, year after year, 

 on each of his well grown vines, from twenty to 

 twenty-five pounds of grapes, in clusters weigh- 

 ing from sixteen to thirty ounces each. He 

 grows no small clusters, and using only ground 

 bone, ashes, and plaster of Paris, as fertilizers, 

 spread broadcast on his land, his vines continue 

 perfectly healthy. His success depends upon no 

 local advantages which may not be found in 

 almost every garden or farm. His method is as 

 simple as it is successful. His ground was 

 prepared as if for corn. In rows running 

 north and south, good layers are set eight 

 feet apart. The roots are carefully covered 

 about four inches deep ; the surface of the ground 

 kept level and free from weeds by a light culti- 

 vator, or otherwise. The work of the first two 

 3'ears is to grow good strong, healthy roots. To 

 this end, a single cane is grown and tied to a 

 stake, pinching off the end if it grows too tall 

 and slim. After the leaves fall, cut this to the 

 ground, leaving only one or two buds, from the 

 better of which to grow a similar one the second 

 year. This is to be treated in the same manner, 

 except that in the Fall it is to be cut eighteen 

 inches from the ground. 



" The third year, a trellis running north and 

 south, should be erected, the lower rail or wire 

 twenty inches from the ground, with two above, 

 nine inches apart. No. 15 galvanized wire is the 

 best for this. From the two upper buds on the 

 cane,grow two shoots in opposite directions on the 

 lower Avire, pinching off the ends when they have 

 grown four feet. These are to be permanent 

 arms, never allowed to grow longer; but on 

 these arms allow laterals to grow ten or twelve 

 inches apart; tying them to the upper wires but 

 pinching them back occasionally to make them 

 grow stout. They should not grow much above 

 the upper wire. If shoots should come out of 

 these, they should be pinched off in the same 

 way. At the end of the season there will be two 

 strong arms, each four feet long, with eight or 

 ten laterals bearing good strong fruit buds. After 

 the leaves fall, prune the laterals, leaving only- 

 two buds on each, with the auxiliary or arm bud 

 at the junction. 



" In the Spring, when the buds start, save the 

 arm bud and the better one, on each lateral, rub- 



