1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



335 



finished its growth for the season, measures 

 should be taken to preserve it through the Win- 

 ter. For family use, it is probably as well to 

 let it stay where it is growing, covering the soil 

 with leaves, litter or manure, to keep out the 

 frost, so that it can be taken up as wanted. 

 Where large quantities are frequently required, 

 it is better to take it up and put it in a smaller 

 compass, still protecting it in any way that may 

 be readily accessible. It always keeps best in 

 the natural soil, where it is cool and moist and 

 free from frost, and whatever mode of protection 

 is resorted to, these facts should be kept in view. 

 Beets, Turnips, and other root crops, will also 

 require protection. They are best divested of 

 their foliage and packed in layers of sand in a 

 cool cellar. Parsnips are best left in the soil as 

 long as possible. If any are wanted for late 

 spring use, they may be left out to freeze in the 

 soil, and will be much improved thereby. Cab- 

 bage is preserved in a variety of ways. If a few 

 dozen only, they may be hung up by the roots 

 in a cool cellar, or buried in the soil, heads down- 

 ward, to keep out the rain, or laid on their sides 

 as thickly as they can be placed, nearly covered 

 with soil and then completely covered with 

 corn stalks, litter or any protecting material. 

 The main object in protecting all these kinds 

 of vegetables is to prevent their growth by keep- 

 ing them as cool as possible, and to prevent 

 shriveling by keeping them moist. Cabbage 

 plants. Lettuce, and Spinach sown last Septem- 

 ber, will require a slight protection. This is 

 usually done by scattering straw loosely, over. 

 The intention is principally to check the frequent 

 thawings , which draw the plants out of the ground. 

 In reviewing the progress of fruit culture, it is 

 remarkable how much we have gained in Grape 

 knowledge the few past years. We tried the 

 foreign Grape in the open air and failed, and 

 then fell back on the improvement of our native 

 kinds, but we had scarcely made much headway 

 before mildew, rot and insects gave us hard 

 work to do, and after all, seemed likely to beat 

 us. We found we had fallen into barbarous 

 modes of jiropagation and culture. We gradu- 

 ally came to think Grape culture hardly worth 

 pursuing. We left the whole thing to nature in 

 a great measure, and we were sm-prised to find 

 how much better the Grape vine did. Then it 

 was resumed under more sensible auspices on 

 the rules derived from sad expoi'icnces. and now 

 we find no more difiiculty in i-aising Grapes from 

 improved varieties than from any other kind of 



garden fruits. The Phylloxera is still trouble- 

 some, but not nearly so bad as it used to be, and 

 not because we have found out any particular 

 remedy, but the plants themselves seem to suf- 

 fer less. It is probable that more rational 

 methods of culture have given them greater 

 resisting power, and then, entomologists tell us 

 that as fast as one insect enemy increases and 

 threatens to overpower us, an aid generally 

 comes from some other insect which feeds on 

 and keeps down our foes. At any rate, we go 

 on and plant the rarer and choicer kind of Grapes 

 with much more confidence than formerly. 



In Plums, however, no insect foe seems to 

 have come to our assistance in our little un- 

 pleasantness with the curculio, and we do not 

 know that we have gained much in our knowl- 

 edge over past times. It is still some trouble to 

 get good Plums, though the improvements from 

 the Chickasaw are giving us something in the 

 place of nothing. 



In the Peach the great run has been to see 

 who shall be in the market first. There appears 

 to have been some little gain here, though it is 

 rather from the degeneration of the older kinds. 

 But then why is this ? There ought not to be 

 degeneracy, if culture was what it should be. 



It is much the same with the Strawberry. We 

 have some very good new kinds, but none better 

 than we have had in the past, and they are valu- 

 able chiefly because the older ones have not 

 done as well by us, as we think we have done 

 by them. 



In the Raspberry, there has been no gain of 

 late years. From time to time, vounger and 

 more enthusiastic fruitists have introduced new 

 kinds of European races, fancying, perhaps, that 

 they were " hybrids " or " crosses " with the na- 

 tive kinds, or fiattering themselves that there was 

 some good reason why they should be more suc- 

 cessful than those who went before. But the 

 older ones stood charita])ly by and shook their 

 heads in silence. They did not want to throw 

 cold water on efforts that might by a bare possi- 

 bility succeed. But where are the improved 

 Raspberries now ? In good Raspberries, we are 

 rather the worse off than ten years ago. This 

 is, perhaps, owing to the attention given to the 

 "hardy," but still inferior native kinds, which 

 has led us to forget the little we knew of the 

 much superior kinds of foreign breed. 



On the whole, we Avould suggest that we have 

 been looking too much to improved kinds in 

 fruits, and too little to common sense modes of 



