530 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



culty M. Uauvfsse suggests (1h' following rcnie- ' 

 ily: When first received, keri) the iiiants in tlie ' 

 packinir. and j)iit Ihein iiinler shelter in a temper- 

 ate place, either a eelhir or vault, or hetter still, if 

 possible, in tlie ground; opening for this pjrpose, 

 a trench hmg and deep eii*ugh to cover tlic roots ! 

 anil collars of the trees, tlien covering them after- 

 warils with tlic earth taken from the trench, and 

 leaving tJiem in this condition until the thawing is 

 complete; they ai-c then taken from the (rcncli, the 

 planis are unpaclietl, anil usuallj' found to have re- 

 turned to their normal s'ate, which is not the case 

 when they have been left in the open air. Plants 

 that have been a long lime packed, sometimes 

 appeared to have suflered, and show wrinkles or 



shrivelling upon the bark or roots, particularly in 

 the autumn, when the bark is full of sajt, at the 

 lime of taking uj), which evaporating gradually, 

 ceases to fill them as before. It is best then, ini- 

 meilialely after unpacking, to plunge the roots and 

 even the stems of the plants which have sullered, 

 in water, for several hours. It is a good plan, and 

 reciimmended by Andkk Thouin, to soak the 

 roots in a tub or trench in which some cow ma- 

 luire has been dilutcl, so as to let it settle upon 

 thcni. We know that this method has been efl'ec- 

 tual for trees sent to a distance in the spring, and 

 when there is reason to fear the eflect of drouth 

 upon the roots. — Pepin, in Revue liorticole. 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Enormous Grape Vine. — I have lately made 

 an excursion to Burlinjiton, New-Jersey, for the 

 purpose of obtaining the exact measurement of the 

 most extraordinary grape vine I iiavc ever heard 

 of. It stands on a farm called West Jlill, beioncino' 

 to my late brother; two miles from the citv of Bur- 

 lington, New-Jersey, and the truth ol what lam about 

 lo relate, may be readily verified, thoufili in print it 

 may really seem incredible. At three feet from the 

 ground, it measures six feet one inch round the 

 trunk, and at ten feet high, it is positively three 

 /ee/ in circumference !* It is a native male (rrape, 

 and has been the wonder of the nci<:liborliood, as 

 long back as the memory of man reaches. It is still 

 healthy, and its giant folds run over and cover four 

 trees, one of which is a full sized while oak, arid ihe 

 others are quite large. 



The casual reader as ho glances over these unu- 

 sual dimensions, scarcely realizes the enormity of 

 this vine. Let us try if we can, to make it compre- 

 hensible, by a comparison or two. A string six 

 feet one inch long, will enclose two tolerable cor- 

 pulent people; and these dimensions are as large as 

 a good sized washing tub. You may thus form an 

 idea of its great orowili. This vine grows near a 

 springy soil on upland, its roots no doubt penetrating 

 to the water. May not this teach us a lesson, to give 

 the rootlets, wherever it is possible, access to a 

 spring or running water: it may be a question too, 

 whether we do not cut down our vines too much. I 

 observed IVequently in England, that a whole house 

 was devoted to a single vine, generally of the 

 Black Hamburgh, and I think they uniformly bore 

 the finest grapes; to carry a single vine over a 

 large grapery, would of course require several years 

 of judicious trimming and management. 



While on the subject of grape-, I might remark 

 that something has yet to be learned of the most 

 economical mode of raising them under cover. In 

 a late number, (Dee. 1846,) one of your correspon- 

 dents noticed Mr. Chauncey's, in Burlington, which 

 v/ere not protected in winter, and had the frames 



* The celebrated vine at Hampton Court, which we have 

 seen, does not, asrepjards size, deserve to be mentioned in the 

 same paragraph. 



used for forcing beds placed over them in the spring, 

 thus economising, by using one set of glasses for two 

 purposes. In the April Horticulturist, (page 

 481.) a correspondent has written on " early peas, 

 and cheap hot bed lights," for which I hiive taken 

 a hint for future application to a grapery. If coarso 

 cotton stufl", covered with oil, &c., as there recom- 

 mended, is sufficient to protect early peas, it would 

 undoubtedly answer for a summer grapery, and we 

 may thus soon solve the important problem of rais- 

 ing the best foreign grapes without an immense 

 cost. Why not, for instance, place your vines 

 against a plain tight board fence, and stretch your 

 prepared " coarse cotton stuff" over them, from 

 the middle of March, until the fruit was ripe. — 

 A grapery thus constructed, would at all events be 

 easily ventilated, without the movement of trouble- 

 some shutters. I am led to believe, that tons of 

 grapes will yet be produced in this cheap niiinner, 

 enriching the grower, and gratifying the public by 

 reduced prices. In this city last season, good for- 

 eign grapes were bought up eagerly, by retailers, at 

 fifty cents a pound; when raised without heat, on a 

 large scale, this would surely he a profitable crop 

 to those who understand their management, and 

 who do not invest too much in the buildings. 



Fruits in Philadelphia. — The above is an 

 interesting topic, as indeed are all which relate to 

 the production of good fruit. I am sorry tn say, 

 . that with all the planting that has been done in this 

 neighborhood, we rarely, if ever, can buy a truly 

 excellent pear, and good grapes are beyond the 

 means of most. Good apples, too, are rarely in pro- 

 fusion among us; in short our horticultural exhibi- 

 tions, which make one's mouth water with speci- 

 mens, have no counterpart in our markets, except 

 it be in melons and peaches, in which we excel. — 

 Pears I have observed, rarely do exceedingly well 

 in the country, while a lew city trees bear luxuriant- 

 ly very fine truit; it is owing to the superior protec- 

 tion and warmth of the town. 



Plants. — So too with rare and beautiful plants; 

 they are extremely difficult to procure; showing 

 emphatically that the business of liorticulture is not 

 overdone; of the Remontant, or Perpetual roses^ 



