Vfll.VIL— No.40. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



315 



feet, according to the strength of the viue, and 

 you will prune to the proper length, accordingly, 

 the extreme or leading shoots. If those shoots, or 

 one of them, should he killed or materially injur- 

 ed, suppress the failing one entirely, and cut off 

 the principal hranch itself, where it affords the 

 next shoot, thereby making the latter the leading 

 one. On each of these principal branches, or 

 arms, retain a row of upward shoots at the dis- 

 tance of about a foot from each other, each of 

 which prune to three, four, or five buds, according 

 to circumstances. Those that are very strong 

 and spring from a vigorous plant, may have a side- 

 shoot also left upon them, and sometimes two, one 

 upon each side, with one or two buds each. All 

 the upward shoots, between these that are to be 

 left at a foot's distance, must be cut off, as also all 

 downward and lateral shoots. 



The same rules for trimming apply to trained 

 vines as to staked ones. 



If the espalier, trellis, or wall, be long and high, 

 and there be several vines planted against it, each 

 must be trained in the manner just prescribed. — 

 But that they may not interfere with one another, 

 they need not be permitted to spread so much.' 

 It will be necessary, also, to give ther different 

 degrees of elevation, so that they may be one 

 above another in stories, as it were, and thus each 

 perform its part in covering the trellis. 



ORCHARDS. 



During the spring months of past years, our 

 fair State has been overrun with a troop of stroll- 

 ers, the lineal descendants of the pedlars of hick- 

 ory nutmegs and pine pumpkin seeds, with a cara- 

 van of fruit tree sprouts, and a cart-load of wax, 

 turpentine, and tallow, professing skill in the mys- 

 tery of engrafting. When the invaders fastened 

 upon an orchard their ravages have been more in- 

 jurious than the depredations of all insect enemies 

 of the cultivator. Saw, hatchet, and knife, were 

 busy in the extermination of tree-top and trunk, 

 until the apple groves became as bare of green 

 leaves as if a combined incursion of cankerworms 

 and locusts had wasted their verdure. Then the 

 marauders mounted their long tailed steeds, and 

 disappeared to the Green Mountains, leaving the 

 employer at a loss which to admire most, the ex- 

 tent of their devastations, or the apparent disinter- 

 estedness of their operations. On the latter point, 

 all uncertainty was removed when the itinerant 

 pruners reappeared with the closing sunmicr to 

 take the census of sticks, and enter into computa- 

 tion of costs swelling to a pleasant aggregate of 

 dollars. 



The operation of engrafting, although one of 

 the most curious, is aiiiong the simplest operations 

 of art. Slight observation and experience will 

 give to any one who can use a knife and saw 

 sufficient skill to perform the process, with his 

 own hand. By entrusting the safety of the or- 

 chard to the itinerants who swarm over the coun- 

 try, the life of the tree is risked, and the value of 

 the productions, if it survive the terrible amputa- 

 tion, endangered. If the leisure or inchnation of 

 the farmer do not permit his own practice, it were 

 bester to enijjloy those whose skill or fidelity was 

 more known than that of wandering strangers. 



Without intending to trespass on the hereditary 

 territories of the sages of the almanac, we would 

 venture to note that the present month is the prop- 

 er season for the insertion of scions. Experience 

 has shown that the operation may be most suc- 



cessfully performed by allowing the stock to have 

 the advantage in progress of vegetation over the 

 graft. Being gathered several weeks before they 

 are to be used, the buds are checked in their ad- 

 vance, and are ready to swell when inserted at a 

 period when the circulation is active. It is direct- 

 ed that they should be taken from the growth of 

 the preceding summer, on the outside horizontal 

 branches of healthy bearing trees. These are pre- 

 ferred, as the shoots are less likely to run to wood 

 than those cut from the ascending and central 

 branches, and they become the best bearers and 

 produce the truest specimens of the parent fruit. 

 In cutting from decaying trees, the central shoots, 

 however, are to be preferred as retaining most 

 vigor. 



A mode of engrafting has been practised which 

 is said to be easier and much more successful than 

 the method of operation in common use. The 

 stock is cut into a v/edgelike form, having the 

 sides approaching by a gradual and regular slope: 

 the scion is spht up and each half thinned with 

 the knife to a tongue shape — it is next placed on 

 the wedge, embracing it on each side, and the in- 

 ner bark made to meet. It may then be secured 

 by bandages and surrounded with clay. The ad- 

 vantages of this method are the great certainty of 

 the operation, the quick joining of the graft to the 

 stock, and the perfect union which scarcely leave 

 a scar to mark the point of contact after a few 

 years have passed. — Worcester Mgis. 



From the Hampshire Gazelle. 



HEMP. 



By the report of the Commissioners of the Navy 

 to Congress, on the subject of Hemp, it appears 

 that exijcriments have been made to ascertain the 

 quality of American water-rotted hemp, compared 

 with Russian hemp. The American hemp, before 

 spun into yarn, was found the strongest, and after 

 made into cordage and tested on board of ships, 

 its strength and durability were ascertained to be 

 fully equal to cordage made of Russian hemp sim- 

 ilarly exposed, and if there is any difference be- 

 tween the best American and the best Russian 

 water-rotted hemp, when brought to our market, 

 the Commissioners unhesitatingly say it is in favor 

 of the former. The Commissioners say, they 

 never have entertained a doubt of American 

 water-rotted hemp being equal to Russian hemp. 

 Cordage made of American dew-rotted hemp, 

 after a year's wear, was found inferior to Russia 

 rope, which had been used the sanie length of 

 time. 



One reason why American hemp has been es- 

 teemed inferior to the Russian arises from the im- 

 perfect mode of curing. The gummy or glutinous 

 substance not being sufficiently cleared away, the 

 tar does not penetrate the fibres equally, and by 

 use the cordage is liable to become loose and 

 spongy. But it is conlidently believed that hemp, 

 dressed by the Hemp and Flax Machine, and after- 

 wards immersed in water and exposed to the ac- 

 tion of frost, will be free from the gluten complain- 

 ed of. 



Hemp is considered a very hardy plant, resists 

 drought and severe frost, is easier cultivated, less 

 exhausting, and more profitable than many other 

 vegetable crops. It may be grown year after 

 year on the same ground, well manured, and has 

 been cropped from the same ground in England 

 seventy years in succession. The usual quantity 

 of seed sown on an acre of middling laud should 



be two bushels to the acre, and on very rich 

 ground three bushels. Early sowing renders the 

 coat heavier and stronger, the growth being early 

 shades the soil and preserves the moisture. The 

 seed, having been sown as even as possible, should 

 ho well harrowed, and a roller or bush passed 

 over to smooth and level the ground, so that the 

 hemp may be cut close to the roots. When sown 

 ■jarly it may be cut about the first of August ; the 

 time will be indicated by the blossom stalks be- 

 coming yellow-spotted, and dropping the leaves ; 

 and when the wind is still, a cloud of dust from 

 the blossom stalks or male hemp will be seen to 

 hang over the field. If allowed to stand longer, 

 the stalks of the male hemp wither, become dark 

 colored, and the coat will be of little value. The 

 way to secure seed for the succeeding year, is to 

 sow a patch thinly for that purpose, at the rate of 

 half to three-fourths of a bushel to the acre, but 

 the better way is to sow in drills or rows. Cut- 

 ting is preferable to pulling ; a man will cut from 

 half to an acre per day, but can pull only about 

 one-fourth of an acre ; and cut hemp will bring 

 more by the ton than pulled. In gathering the 

 hemp, it should be sorted into long and short. — 

 Fine and sofi: hemp is the best ; the American is 

 frequently the reverse, owing to the seed being 

 sown too sparingly. 



It is said that the usual mode of water-rotting 

 on Connecticut River is very imperfect. 



It is found that the crop of hemp varies accord- 

 ing to the richness of the soil, quantity of seed 

 sown, gathering, rotting, and dressing. Some es- 

 timate an average crop per acre by water-rotting, 

 in America at 400 lbs. (others say from 500 to 

 800 lbs.) in England 650 lbs., in Russia 500 lbs., 

 but it is acknowledged that hemp dressed by 

 the improved machines, yields a much larger 

 quantity. 



Let not Children be Rocked. — A foreign writer 

 finds fault with the prevalent practice of rocking 

 children, and considers it as the cause of many 

 diseases. He asks, and with much reason " When 

 the human offspring first begins to make use of 

 its faculties, and to give proof of its being sensible 

 to existence, even should this be done by infantine 

 cries, is it right to stop those cries and to prevent 

 its paying that tribute to nature ? The rocking 

 of the cradle brings on sleep only through the 

 stupor it produces on the senses. Such a motion 

 cannot but offend the delicate fibres of the brain 

 of an infant, injure his digestion, sour the milk from 

 which it derives its nourishment, and turns it into 

 curds." 



Physic for a Horse. — A friend informs that the 

 herb called Motherwort, is an excellent cathar- 

 tic for the horse. A strong decoction may bo 

 made and mixed with Indian meal, or given with 

 a horn or other means, if the horse will not eat 

 tlic meal when mixed with the decoction. It is 

 an excellent remedy against worms in horses, as 

 our informant has verified by experience. 



Sick Headach. — A teasjioonlul of finely powder- 

 ed charcoal, drank in half a tumbler of water, will 

 in less than fifteen minutes give relief to the sick 

 headach, when caused by a superabundance of 

 acid on tl;e stomach. — JVewhiinjport Herald. 



Hops. — The young shoots when three or four 

 inches in height, are sometimes boiled like aspara- 

 gus, and said to be little inferior. 



