210 On Root j)ii'uning of Pear Trees; 



the moisture given after the grapes begin to color, and want 

 of sufficient air, are the causes. 



To insure a good crop of grapes, we are satisfied that they 

 must have — pltnly of heat — plenty of air — plenty of moisture 

 — severe thinning of bunches — and severe thinning of berries. 

 The vines, also, must be pruned often, and kept free: the 

 wood never crowded. Great attention must be paid to the 

 airing of the house, which must be done gradually, that there 

 may be at no time a sudden change in the temperature. 



With such attention, and the prerequisite of a rich border, 

 on a dry subsoil, good crops of fine grapes are always to be 

 obtained. The vines require much moisture until they have 

 completed their last swell, when the moisture should be with- 



^'■^^"- O. Johnson. 



Lynn, Mass., Jlpril, 1842. 



Art. II. On Root-pruning of Pear Trees; to ivhich is added 

 a short Treatise on the subject, read before the London Hor^ 

 ticultural Society, Jipril 7, 1840. By T. Rivers, Jr., 

 of the Sawbridgeworth Nurseries, near London. 



Some time since, we adverted to the subject of root-prun- 

 ing trees, which has been much discussed in the English gar- 

 dening newspapers and magazines during the last year, and 

 yet continues to be a topic of great interest. We also stated 

 that we should prepare an abstract of what had been written, 

 for our pages, in which we should embody the substance of 

 all the various communications which have appeared on the 

 subject. Since then, the treatise of Mr. Rivers, which was 

 read before the London Horticultural Society in April, 1840, 

 and which first called the attention of cultivators to the sys- 

 tem, has been kindly forwarded to us by the author. Since 

 the original paper was written and published in the Transac- 

 tions of the Society, Mr. Rivers has revised his communica- 

 tion, and after adding "additional hints, suggested by recent 

 experiments," has published the whole in a small pamphlet. 

 As this paper goes into a detail of root-pruning, and gives all 



