THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



even the small fibrous ones, and engrafting ealve 

 but over large cuts. The roots are immersed in 

 water lor above one hail liour belore planting, 

 thereby inducing the mould or loam \o become at- 

 tached to ikem. The hole to be dug sufliciently 

 large so that every root may exiend wnlioui bend- 

 ing or being cramped. I put nothing around the 

 roots but surlace earth, and that caielully woiked 

 in by hand, each root and titiie thus laying horizon- 

 tally and naiur.illy. J use nu njanuie m selling. 

 One bushel of fine stable manure v\as put round 

 each tree the first ol November, and repeated lor 

 two years. 



1 preler raising the earth around trees ulien first 

 planted, above ilie common Invel, and thereby 

 give them firmness, than to plant deep, plating a 

 tree deeper than it oiigmally stood, wuh no pros- 

 pect of finding the surlace earth, thus becoming a 

 moss-covered and stinted tree, whose roots have 

 been searching a cold and uncongenial soil, with 

 jitiie or nothing to give them viiahty. 



As to the tune lor planting, Irom "the little expe- 

 rience 1 have had, I much preJer the spring ol the 

 year. 



Much has been said and written in favor of au- 

 tumnal planting. It n)ay be that English authors 

 have (lone n)uch to encourage this opinion. In 

 Old England 1 should expect them to succeed well 

 in lall planting : they have but a lew degrees ol 

 fi-ost compared with New England. 



lu answer to your inquiries as to the oil soap, I 

 Bay thai Irom 8 to 10 lbs. of oil soap are put into a 

 common pail, we put on a sufficient quantity ol 

 warm water, so ihat when commingled with the 

 soap, it is about as thick or a little thicker than 

 paint when mixed lor use. With this pad olsoap, 

 thinned as described, the man having a small un 

 pail, or bag, or pocket, filled with fine sand, tied 

 round his waist, with a coarse c.-ash cloth and a 

 paint brush, is ready lor operating. He first wets 

 his cloth with soap, then scatters on some dry sand, 

 and gives the trunk and branches a good rubbing, 

 alter which, with a paint brush, he puis on a coat 

 of the soap, prepared as above, equal to a thick 

 coat of paint. It is well to select Ibr this work 

 the teiminalion of a storm of rain, when the moss, 

 or any roughness on the bark, will yield more 

 readily to rubbing. 



Respectfully, your ob'i. serv't. 



G Eo. Kandall. 



The preced ng useful observations were in part 

 made in Mr. Randall's first application to the 

 Secretary, Mr. Guild, Ibr premium, and afterwards 

 enlarged by the request of the committee. 



EXHIBITION OF GRAPES TO THK LO^DON 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



From tlie London Gardeners' Chronicle. 



A I an ordinary meeting in Regent street, Sept. 

 17th, we find the (bllowing report in relation to 

 eeveral srapes which were then exhibited: — 



Mr. Roberts sent specimens ol six difi'erent va- 

 rieiies of grapes, grown on young vines two years 

 planted ; and certainly Ibr size, and weight of the 

 bunches, we should think they have never been 

 surpassed : a large silver medal was awarded 

 them. The kinds were Cannon Hall Muse it ; 

 one bunch weighed 2 lbs. 3 oz., and some of the 

 berries measured 1^ inch in circumference : an ex- 



traordinary bunch of the white Nice, which 

 weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz., was not quite ripe, and 

 Irom its usually being brought to the table in that 

 state, it is little esteemed; when, however, it ia 

 well ripened, its berries assume an amber tint, and 

 become high flavored : black Hamburg, black 

 Prince, black Damascus, and black Morocco; a 

 bunch of the first weighing 2 lbs. 5 oz. ; of ihe 

 second, 2 lbs. 15 oz. ; of the third, 1 lb. 11 oz. ; 

 and ol the Iburth, 2 llis. 7 oz. Mr. Stewart had 

 a Banksian ceriificaie given him lor his black 

 Hamburg grapes, and a seedling with snjall round 

 berries. Mr. R. Ruck sent a bunch of Cannon 

 Hall Muscat, which weighed 1 lb. 11 oz. The 

 grapes from Mr. Roberts were as fine specimens 

 of cultivation as are ever seen near London, but 

 his Hamburgs wanted color ; this delect was 

 avoided in Mr. Stewart's, whose black grapes 

 were as jetiy as they ever can be in the brightest 

 and most sunny season. A bunch ol Muscat of 

 Alexandria, Irom A. Brooke, Esq., weighed 1 lb. 

 12 oz., and was in perleci maturity : a Banksian 

 certificate was awarded for it. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF ALKALIES IVi SOILS. 



To die Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Prospect Hilly Ky., Jan. 1, 1842. 



The following quotation is irom Liebig's late 

 work on organic chemistry. "A soil, which has 

 been exposed Ibr centuries to all the influences 

 which efiect the disintegration of rocks, but fiom 

 which the alkalies have not been removed, will be 

 able to aftbrd the means of nourishment to those 

 vegetables which require alkalies Ibr their growth, 

 during many years ; but it must gradually become 

 exhausted, unless those alkalies which have been 

 removed are again replaced ; a period will there- 

 lore arrive, when it will be necessary to expose it 

 Irom time to time to further disintegration, in order 

 to obtain a new supply of soluble alkalies. For 

 small as is the quantity of alkali which plants re- 

 quire, it is nevertheless quiie indispensable Ibr 

 their perfect developement. But when one or more 

 years have elapsed, without any alkalies having 

 been extracted irom the soil, a new harvest may 

 be expected." 



"The first colonists of Virginia (bund a coun- 

 try the soil of which was similar to that mentioned 

 above; harvests of wheat and tobacco were ob- 

 tained for a century, Irom one and the same field, 

 without the aid of manure, but now whole dis- 

 tricts are converted into uniruilful pasture land, 

 which, without manure, produces neither wheat 

 nor tobacco. From every acre of this land there 

 were removed, in the space of one hundred years, 

 1200 pounds of alkalies in leaves, grain, and straw ; 

 it became unfruitful, therelbre, because it was de- 

 prived of every particle of alkali, which had been 

 reduced to a soluble stale, and because that which 

 was rendered soluble again, in the space of one 

 year, was not siiffi<nent to satisly the demands of 

 ihe plants. Almost all the cultivated land in Eu- 

 rope is in this condition ; fallow is the term applied 

 to land left at rest for further disintegration. It ia 

 ihe greatest possible mistake to suppose that the 

 temporary diminution of fertility, in a soil, is 

 owing to the loss of humus ; it is the mere conse- 

 quence of the exhaustion of the alkalies." — p. 

 195-6. 



