Illinois Hoeticdltural Society. — A horticultural meeting was held, at Decatur, on the 

 ITtli of December, at which an " Illinois State Horticultural Society" was organized. The 

 following officers were elected : President — Dr. E. S. Hull, Alton. Vice-Presidents — R. W. 

 Hunt, Naperville ; W. H. Mann, Bloomington ; L. Siiaw, Tremont ; Wm. Stewakt, Payson ; 

 S. Francis, Springfield ; Dr. Kell, Paris ; John P. Reynolds, Salem ; Dr. Condon, .Tonesboro'. 

 Corresponding Secretary — A. B. Galusha, Lisbon. Recording Secretary — James Stakk, Alton. 

 Assistant Recording Secretary— ^Y . H. Piienix, Bloomington. 2''reasurer — Dr. B. F. Long, Alton. 



California State IIohticultukal Society. — We have received from Mr. Wm. Daniels, of 

 San Jose, California, the account of the formation of a State Horticultural Society, which is 

 destined to be of great importance in communicating to the rest of the world accounts of 

 the fruits, &c., of that great commonwealth. F. W. Macoudray, of San Francisco, is Presi- 

 dent — O. C. Wheeler, of Sacramento, Secretary. 



MARCH. 

 THE YINEYARD. 



BY R. BUCHANAN, CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



You have requested me to furnish you with a Montldy Vineyard Calendar for your 

 valuable magazine. I shall do so cheerfully, and with a hope that it may, in some measure, 

 assist to extend the cultivation of the vine. In whatever aspect this new branch of agri- 

 culture may be viewed, its usefulness will be acknowledged by all unbiassed minds. 



Tlie cultivation of the vine is rapidly on the increase all over the West and Southwest. 

 The uplands of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, have recently been dis- 

 covered to be admirably adapted to the growth of our great wine grape, the Catawba. There 

 it is getting back to its native locality, after years of wandering over the Middle and Western 

 States. The sale of cuttings and grape roots in Cincinnati alone, will be about 1,500,000 of 

 the former, and 300,000 to 400,000 of the latter, during the present season. 



It is with some diffidence that I offer directions for the cultivation of the vine to your 

 numerous readers, scattered, as they are, over the whole Union. But I trust I may be par- 

 doned for my presumption, when I state that the rules here given are such as are jDractised 

 by the best vine dressers in this vicinity. The intelligent cultivator elsewhere, will of course 

 make due allowance for the difference of climate and soil. 



With some vine dressers, this is the great month for spring pruning, but it is found best 

 to prune, in any mild and ojien weather, in February — never in hard, freezing weather — so 

 that too much work may not be thrown into March. Some commence pruning late in Novem- 

 ber, and continue all through the winter, when the weather permits. This will be the mode 

 best adapted to the South. 



In adopting the spur and bow system — which is in general use in this vicinity — the best 

 cane or branch of last year's growth is selected, and cut back to six, eight, ten, or twelve 

 joints, according to the strength of the vine ; this is to form the bow. The bow of last year 

 is cut away. Another cane, below this, is cut back to two joints, and left for the spur, from 

 which the bow will probably be formed the succeeding year, the object being to keep the 

 stock or stem of the vine down to one to two feet from the ground. The new or last year's 

 wood, trimmed from the vines, is then cut into lengths of twenty to twenty-four inches, 

 and tied up, with willow ties, into bundles of one hundi-ed to two hundred, and kept in a 

 cool, damp cellar, or buried on end with the buds a few inches in the ground, to be ready 

 for sale or for planting when the ground opens in April. 



In preparing cuttings, reject the small spindling tops of the vine, and put up none but 

 the strong, well-ripened wood, and if a piece of the old wood is left ou the cutting, it will 

 better assist it to strike root. 



In any open, dry weather in this month, manure maybe put in if required, and walls and 

 trenches repaired, if any, but never when the ground is wet. Toward the latter end of the 

 month, the stakes may be driven tight, and any broken ones replaced. And, late in this 

 month, should the buds begin to swell, the bow may be formed by fastening the centre of 

 the cane to the stake with a willow tie, and bending round and fastening the point (or upper 

 end) to the stake at the base of the bow with anotlier willow tie. Tliis should be done, in 

 moist weather, in the forepart of the day. The vine is then more pliable, and less liable to 

 break in bending. 



