The Canadian Hortiailtnrist. 



345 



in which swine are pastured. Hogs 

 give the triple advantage of main- 

 taining fertility, keeping the surface 

 loose and friable, and consuming the 

 falling fruit, thus destroying the 

 larvae of those ruinous insects, the 

 curculio and codlin moth. Some of 

 our farmers pasture old orchards 

 with sheep or cattle and get fair 

 fruit. Orchards kept in turf, either 

 for pasture or meadows, should have 

 a top dressing of coarse barnyard 

 manure once in two years. This 

 should be applied evenly under the 

 trees, enough to cover the ground as 

 far out from the body of each tree as 

 the roots or branches extend. De- 

 cember is the proper month for this 

 application, as the manure then af- 

 fords protection to the roots in winter 

 loosens the soil and serves as a mulch 

 in summer, for the preservation 

 of moisture. All things considered, 

 I have, with many years' experience, 

 found this winter application of 

 coarse manure the most satisfactory 

 for anv crop, as well as for orchards, 

 on all land where it is not liable to 

 be washed away, and the earlier in 



winter the application, the better. — 

 H. G. Tkvon, Lake County, O. 



Root Pruning. 



Root pruning ma}- be an unnatural 

 and reprehensible practice, and ac- 

 cording to some writers is now almost 

 obsolete, but there are exceptional 

 cases when it answers the purpose of 

 inducing fruitfulness when other de- 

 vices failed. Particularly is this the 

 case with dwarf apples, which in 

 some instances grow vigorously but 

 refuse to bear, caused, perhaps, by 

 the formation of roots above the 

 dwarf stock. A decrease of vigor is 

 essential to an increase of fruit-bear- 

 ing spurs, so that it is necessary to 

 open a trench around the specimen, 

 a short distance from the body of 

 the tree, cutting off all roots that 

 show. This operation must be per- 

 formed whilst the plant is in a state 

 of rest. Summer pinching also 

 assists in the formation of fruit spurs, 

 and the two systems taken together 

 will accomplish the desired end. — 

 JosiAH Hooper. 



XjS of Tn*aits. 



Grape Juice. 



Although I have alluded to this in 

 a previous number, there are so 

 many who prefer it to fermented 

 wine that I give here what I consider 

 an improvement in the manner of 

 preparing it. Instead of pressing 

 out the juice from the fresh grapes, 

 I plucked the berries from the stems 

 and boiled them until soft. A little 

 water is necessary in the boiler, or 

 some of the grapes at the bottom 

 may burn before the juice has been 

 sufficiently extracted. When the 

 grapes are quite soft take them out 

 and drain through a sieve. Then 



press them and boil all the«juice un- 

 til no scum arises. Have bottles 

 ready sufficiently heated to prevent 

 cracking ; fill them up full with the 

 hot juice, cork at once tightly, cut 

 the corks off even with the mouth of 

 the bottles and dip them in melted 

 cement. Set them away in a dark 

 place in the cellar, and you have a 

 delicious article of drink, any time 

 thereafter for years. I use half a 

 pound of good white sugar to the 

 gallon of juice, put in while boiling; 

 this is, however, not really necessary 

 but gives it more body. When using 

 it, fill a tumbler half full of juice, fill 

 up with fresh water, and it is simply 



