1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



147 



like, without any ill effect to the vines. Now 

 the main thing is to watch that they do not get 

 too cold. This is done by leaving the top board 

 loose, so that on severe nights you have the ad- 

 vantage of raising it. two or three inches to al- 

 low it to be kept just within the freezing point. 

 The same system answers for the early vinery, 

 only they need not be covered with soil. 



Pei'haps some will say : How shall we get old 

 vines down in that position ? A vine is easily 

 put in any position, and once or twice down 

 there is no trouble. I have always found it best 

 to put them down, whether the house be used 

 for any thing or not; for in starting a vinery 

 they should be bent in the shape of a bow, which 

 causes the eyes to push or break more regu- 

 larly than if they were tied straight up the 

 house. I would also advise J. C. S. to take out 

 his old vines and replace them with young ones, 

 first being careful to prepare a suitable border, 

 as that depends greatly on the success of grape 

 growing. If J. C. S. would start his own vines 

 from single eyes in February, planting them in 

 the border in the latter part of May, by careful 

 attention he can average two or three bunches 

 from each vine he wishes to fruit the following 

 year. This is done by planting extra thick — 

 every alternate vine being the one to fruit — 

 allowing it to make a run of six feet, then pinch 

 and keep it there in order to swell the wood and 

 buds, allowing at the same time the permanent 

 vine to make all the cane it can to encourage it 

 with root action. 1 have the past year replanted 

 the vinery on this place with vines started from 

 single eyes last March, and they average from 

 fourteen to twenty feet. I intend fruiting every 

 alternate vine, allowing it to stand until such 

 time as the permanent vine is strong enough to 

 fill its place, or a good rod from top to bottom, 

 giving good crops, and with the boxing back, a 

 good show of any plants you choose to grow. 

 If an early vinery is started in February, it will 

 be the middle of March or beginning of April 

 before they will injure the plants by shading too 

 much, and by that time the half-hardy plants 

 may be set with safety in protected cold frames 

 and pits, allowing the more tender plants to re- 

 main until such time as the weather is suitable 

 for them to be set out of doors, and found to be 

 no more injured than if the glass was covered 

 with white-wash or canvass. 



If you find this of any service to the Monthly 

 I will give my experience on the formation of 

 vine boi'ders and their growth in tjeneral. 



THE NEW CRAPE LADY WASHINCTOM. 



BV J. G. BURROW, FISilKILL, N. Y. 



Having been associated for nearly two years 

 with the originator of the Lady "Washington, — 

 Mr. .7. II. Kicketts of Xewburg, N. Y., — in culti- 

 vating and propagating his seedling, grapes, and 

 now being pecuniarily disinterested, I have had 

 an opportunity of observing their habits, and 

 testing their qualities from day to day possessed 

 by few and perhaps no other person ; hence I 

 am prepared to judge understandingly of the 

 merits and demerits of this and other seedlings 

 of his production, and under these circumstances 

 I venture to offer the following remarks : 



The Lady Washington is a cross between the 

 Concord and Allen's Hybrid, the former being 

 the female parent from which it imbibes the 

 majority of its characteristics as you will observe 

 by the following description : 



Vine, vigorous, hardy, and productive, resem- 

 bling Concord in habit of growth, wood, and fo- 

 liage •, leaves, large, thick, downy on the under 

 side ; bunch, very large, compact, generally 

 double shouldered; berries, medium, round; 

 color, semi-transparent yellowish amber, with a. 

 tinge of delicate pink suffused over the sunny 

 side, and covered with a thin white bloom ; flesh, 

 tender, juicy, sweet, few seeds, and almost with- 

 out pulp ; skin, thin, but sufficiently tough to 

 pack and carry well ; ripens about the time of 

 Concord, and is a promising grape for the vin- 

 yardist and the amateur, and I predict for it a 

 brilliant future. Should you consider these re- 

 mai-ks acceptable, it will afford me pleasure to 

 describe other varieties of Mr. Rickett's origin.. 



EDITORIAL NOTES: 



Pap AW AS a Fruit. — A correspondent of the^ 

 Mobile Advertiser says : 



" The Papaw in its wild state is very popular 

 as a fruit, most persons preferring it to the Ba- 

 nana, and still, strange to say no effort worthy 

 of mention has yet been made to tame it and 

 bring it into culture." 



It is news to us that the Papaw is " popular as 

 a fruit" in its wild state, and that " most per- 

 sons " prefer it to the Banana. The writer has 

 seen the fruit under the trees in large quanti- 

 ties along the Susquehanna River, quite near 

 enough to large populated places, without any 

 indications of " popularity " and where we are 



