*^7 ;;ts EDITOR'S TABLE. 



■VTiNTEii PiioTECTioN OF GaAPK ViNES. — What degree of cold Grape vines can endure without 

 iiijiirv, is an iiitcrestiii;; question to cultivators in an inclement climate. Where I am located, 

 we luav expect tlic thermometer to sink to 20° btlow /.cro, Farenheit, every winter, thoui;h there 

 may be exceptions. On the ICth December, 18S5, 1 saw it at — 37° (the night of the great tire 

 in New York), at 2 o'clock A. M. 



My house is span roofed, glass all around to within eight inches of the ground. This past 

 winter, thinking to provide against any extremity of cold, had ttie vines covered with tan-baik 

 and saw-dust. The result bos proved that it was a most injudicious method. The buds on the 

 length of cane of last season's growth were injured very materially, so much so that several of 

 the vines we have cut down to the first healthy shoot below the dead buds.* The wood was 

 well ripened. The injury was probabhj owing to the moisture in the covering freezing, and in 

 mild weather keeping the buds too moist. 



The name of the unproductive vine I wrote you of was Prince Albert, i)ruiicd on the spur sys- 

 tem, and has been well mannged. 



Uncovered vines the 28th March,f and this day we commence thinning the berries in the 



bunches. M. — Oneida Co., N. Y. 



* 



American Pomological Society. — Samuel Walker, Esq., of Roxbury, Mas?., general 

 Chairman of the Fruit Committee appointed by the American Pomological Society, has 

 issued to the Chairman of each State Committee the following circular, calling attention to 

 the more important points -which they are expected to investigate. It is very evident that if 

 the questions presented in this circular be answered by accurate reports from various States 

 and sections of the country, we shall be put in possession of a vast fund of information. 



Dear Sir: — The Constitution of this Society provides that there shall be in each State a Slan.l- 

 in'T Fruit Committee, of five members ; and of the Committee for the State of the 



gentleman whom I liave the honor to address was appointed Chairman, with power to fill any 

 and all vacancies in his Committee. 



At the meeting of the Society to be held some time during the present year, an important and 

 delicate duty is to be discharged, namely — to present to the country a full list of the fruits that 

 are wortliy of cultivation, and, as well, of those that cannot be so recommended. In the prepa 

 ration of these lists, the Society will naturally, and very properly, look to the various State 

 Committees for well-digested information, to aid them in their labors, and to guide them in their 

 decisions. 



This single view of the ca=e, (and there are others that coulJ be presented,) will alone show 

 how important it is, that the State Fruit Committees should be organized and at work, in good 

 season ; and that they should labor in concert, as the only means of obtaining systematic and 

 satisfactory results. 



If the Committee for your State is not already appointed, I trust that you will at once (as you 

 are fully authorized by the Society to do,) select and appoint four competent persons to be your 

 associates ; and that you will call together this Committee at the seaso7i of maturity of such fruits 

 as abound or excel in your State, to examine specimens and elicit information concerning them; 

 and that you will furnish me with a Report for your State, previous to the Society's next meeting. 



To render the various returns more systematic and thorough, it has appeared to me best to 

 adopt for our guidance, the present year, the recommendations and forms contained in the circu- 

 lar letter of my predecessor, the lamented Dowxixg, which are in substance as follows: — 



The State Committee will endeavor to ascertain these points, viz: — 



First. — Upon what kinds of natural soils, superior kinds of any of the standard fruits are grown. 



prefer dean dry straw to wrap the vines in ; and if this be an insufficient protection, we lay malts over them. 



Quite too early for a cold vinery in your latitude ; we never uncover ours until after all danger of hard frosts is 



Ed. 



