PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 143 



into the street and eat them. Grapes are brought into the 

 market as soon as they are colored, which is some time before 

 they get their flavor, and we seldom see a peach that has the 

 peach flavor. The Isabella grape, the Lawton blackberry and 

 the Wilson strawberry are all green for a considerable time after 

 they are colored, and until they are thoroughly ripe they are not 

 only wanting in flavor but are unwholesome. There are some 

 varieties of the pear that can be ripened in the house ; but it is 

 necessary to study the peculiarities of each variety. He had 

 brought a specimen of the Isabella grape, colored, and inquired 

 whether any other person, excepting Mr. Steele, had grapes as 

 far advanced. 



Mr. Doughty. — I have the Hartford Prolific very nearly ripe. 



Prof. Mapes said there was a period of summer rest in the 

 growth of grapes which can be obviated by a stimulating 

 manure. Stick a pin at the end of any lateral, and it will be 

 found that the growth of all the laterals has for a time entirely 

 ceased. The nitrogenized superphosphate of lime, or potash in 

 solution, two pounds to one hundred gallons of water, applied 

 either before the first of July to prevent it, or after that time to 

 arrest it, will cause the grape to keep up its growth. He had 

 Delaware grapes riper than the Isabella ; also Norton's seedling 

 and Bland's Virginia. The Hartford Prolific he did not find 

 earlier than the Isabella. 



Mr. Doughty. — My Hartford Prolifics are a good deal earlier. 



Prof. Mapes exhibited two specimens of beet plants grown by 

 Prof. Mason. The seed was sown on the 20th of July, in the 

 early part of the drought, in a rich bed treated in alternate rows 

 willi Mapes' nitrogenized superphosphate of lime. Those treated 

 with the phosphate were twenty-six inches long, producing a 

 good crop, while those in the alternate rows not so treated were 

 four inches long and worthless. 



The Chairman.^-My family do not eat one-fourth of the fruit 

 and vegetables that we would eat if we could get them in a 

 proper condition. If we could only persuade the gardeners 

 around the city of New York that they can make more money by 

 keeping their fruit and vegetables back until they are ripe, we 

 could accomplish something. I have not bought five pounds of 

 grapes here for twenty years, because I cannot find them here 

 fit to eat. And I have not eaten an apple this season, excepting 

 one that Mr. Carpenter brought here. It is a subject well 



