1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Fur the Neic England Farmer. 



MICE, AND YOUNG FRUIT TREES. 



Mr. Editor : — Young orchards are liable to be 

 much injured by mice "girdling"' the trees while the 

 gi-ound is covered with snow, and as I have noticed 

 some suggestions in the papers recently, in regard 

 to this matter, I will state, if you please, how I 

 contrived to prevent the evil on my own trees. 



Found some old waste tin, such as there is plen- 

 ty of "Ijing round loose" in the vicinity of tin 

 shops; cut into irregular sized pieces from five to 

 ten inches square, turned over a narrow strip of 

 edge on two opposite sides so as to "lock" together 

 Avhen bent about the tree, in the form of a hoop or 

 tube. These are reachly placed about the tree, and 

 removed again in the spring. It is immaterial 

 about the space inside, between the tube and tree, 

 or it may be well to till with saw-dust or earth. If 

 slightly pressed down at the base, the tube will not 

 get out of place, and will effectually protect the 

 tree from mice during the winter, at a first cost 

 less than one cent per tree. The tins will last for 

 many years. 



Two years ago I had some thrifty pear trees set 

 near the foot of grass terraces. The following 

 winter they were nearly all girdled by mice, so that 

 I lost some thirty trees. I reset again in the 

 spring, and last winter tried the tin tubes, occasion- 

 ally leaving a tree without any protection. Not a 

 tree with the tin about the base was touched by 

 mice, while those without were destroyed same as 

 previous winter. I have tried treading down snow 

 and piling up earth about young trees, but have 

 found nothing so etiectual as the tin tubes. There 

 is no danger of injury to the tree by using them. 



Messrs. Gushing & Mack, tin workers of this 

 city, will furnish anj- quantity of these tubes, to 

 our neighl3oring fruit-growers, at a trifling expense. 



Lowell, JVov. 27, 1855. R. 



THE GRAPE. 



Its Medicinal Properties— Influence upon the Blood, Liver, 

 Kidneys, and other Ortjans — Appreciated in Vine-growing 

 Countries — Its efficacy in Dyspepsia — Best Grown in Cities — 

 Manures for— Layering — Pruning — Cuttings— Prices, &c. 



The grape is a fruit held in high estimation 

 by those who have been accustomed to use it freely. 

 It is not, however, generally kno^vn, perhaps, that 

 in addition to its other excellent qualities, it pos- 

 sesses medicinal virtues Avhich, of themselves alone, 

 would seem to present a sufficient inducement for 

 its cultivation. 



In France and Spain, and other vine-growing 

 countries, these medicinal properties of the fruit 

 are well understood and appreciated, experience 

 having demonstrated that a free use of the grape 

 has a most salutary and invigorating effect uiion the 

 animal system ; that it dilutes the blood, removes 

 obstructions, particularly from the kidneys, liver, 

 spleen, and other important organs, imparting a 

 healthy tone and a \-igorous circulation, and in- 

 creasingi the strength of the entire physical econ- 

 omy. 



In cases of dyspepsia — a disease which is the 

 foundation of many others — and all diseases of the 



liver, by which health is not only destroyed, but 

 the mental powers sadly affected, a "grape diet" 

 is almost the only remedy resorted to, and gener- 

 ally with success. It is asserted, on reliable au- 

 thority, that those who labor m the vineyards, and 

 who are accustomed to partake constantly and lib- 

 erally of the fruit, are never troubled with that 

 disease. Those who are subject to it in cities, and 

 other places where the grape is not cultivated, on 

 the development of the symptoms of the com- 

 plaint, resort to the grape regions for the benefit of 

 the "grape diet," or "grape cure," and where the 

 disease has not become confii'med, and the system 

 reduced beyond the power of remedies, a radical 

 cure is often the result. 



The nutrimental properties of the ripe grape arc 

 considerable, and it is said men may Uve and labor 

 on it as an exclusive article of food, and without 

 becoming exhausted, for a much longer period 

 than upon a diet of any other species of fruit. It 

 is both stimulating and invigorating, and by retain- 

 ing the stomach in a healthy tone, promotes the 

 general health, and energy of all the parts. 



The culture of this truly valuable fruit should be 

 encouraged. It succeeds well on almost every 

 variety of soil, and will bear lucrative crops with 

 very little care or manure more than may be sup- 

 plied by every kitchen. At present, no production 

 yields a more liberal profit. The demand for it in 

 our markets is much more likely to increase than 

 diminish for the next half century. Insipid Black 

 Hamburghs, grown in hot-houses, are now selling 

 for one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound, and 

 Isabellas — though very few can be obtained — for 

 more than half that sum. 



Nearly all the grapes that are grown near Bos- 

 ton are ordered before they are fairly out of blos- 

 som, and at a price scarcely ever less than one dol- 

 lar a pound for the Muscat of Alexandria and 

 Golden Chasselas, and seventy-five cents, perhaps, 

 for the Black Hamburghs. 



This delightful ft-uit has the advantage, too, of 

 being more successfully raised in the city, than in 

 the country, as the close streets and sunny sides of 

 buildings, or the well-protected yards afibrd such a 

 shelter as to ensure the ripening of an annual crop 

 of the Isabella, Catawba, Concord, Diana, Amber, 

 and other varieties ; while the street-sweepings and 

 the daily wash of the kitchen, compose the pabu- 

 lum of all others the best suited to their nourish- 

 ment. 



Thousands of the little squares composing the 

 front yards of the city, though containing not more 

 than three or four feet by six in length, if dug out 

 and suppUed with proper soil, would sustain a vine 

 which might produce a bushel or two of grapes 

 annually. In such positions, the vines would bo 

 highly ornamental, and exert a beneficial influence 

 on he atmosphere the people are breathing. In 



