1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



52] 



To Preserve Trees from Mice. — Mr. David 

 Gray, of Deerfield, Oneida county, who has r.everal 

 large young orchards, recently informed me that 

 for the last two or three years he has used a very 

 simple preventive against the girdling propensi- 

 ties of mice, which has succeeded in every case. — 

 He adds one pound of tallow to two quarts of com- 

 mon tar, melts and mixes thoroughly, and applies 

 while warm with a paint brush to the trunks of his 

 young trees, from the ground as high up as he 

 thinks there is danger of their being gnawed. He 

 makes the application just before winter sets in ; 

 any time late in the fall will answer. This simple 

 application he finds entirely successful, for while his 

 neighbors have suffered largely from mice, he has 

 not lost a tree. He is very confident that common 

 tar thus mixed and applied has no injurious effect 

 upon the trees. 



Mr. Gray's plan commends itself for its simplici- 

 ty, and if it proves as successful with others as it 

 has with him, of which I have no doubt If properly 

 applied, it will prove of great value to those who 



ESBECCA GEAPE. 



Under this name a new grape was ex- 

 hibited at the late annual exhibifion of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Scciety, 

 which attracted much attention, and which 

 seems to promise to become an acquisition 

 of great value to our hmited number of 

 hardy grapes. 



We have no white grape which is per- 

 fectly hardy, those that ripen their fruit 

 out of doors requiring to be covered up in 

 the winter. If this grape shall be found 

 equal to all that is said of it, and that it 

 promises to become, it will supply a want 

 that has long been felt, in not only adding 

 a valuable variety to the few really good 

 grapes, but also one of a color so desira- 

 ble, but heretofore never obtained, exr p]M 

 combined with so small a degree of hartli- 

 ness as to make the cultivation of the fruit 

 impracticable. 



We are not able to give a full account 

 of the grape, but take pleasure in presen- 

 ting our readers a cut of it, and in quoting 

 the following description from a lettei- 

 written by a gentleman in Hudson, wh:> 

 has had opportunities to observe the vine 

 from its first bearing. 



"The 'Rebecca' is an accidental sect! 

 ling which originated in the garden of Mi . 

 Peake, Hudson, N. Y., whether from the 

 seed of native or foreign grape is no' 

 known ; it is perfectly hardy, enduring ouj 

 severest winters In any exposure withou: 

 injury. The original vine has fruited fo' 

 the last five years. It Is a good bearer and 

 vigorous grower, extending its shoots 

 from fifteen to twenty feet in one season 

 with good cultivation. The bunches are 

 about the size of the Diana, compact, with- 

 out shoulders, and the berries are of s-imi- 

 lar size, the flesh is soft and melting, with a luscious 

 flavor. Skin thin, of a beautiful color, and ripens 

 Its fruit at Hudson, where It originated, ten days 

 earlier than the Diana or Isabella." 



The vines are advertised in another column by 

 Mr. Geo. Davenport, 14 Commercial Street. 



GROWING GRAPES IN POTS. 



One of the finest ornaments produced by horti- 

 cultural science Is the raising of "grapes In pots," 

 There can be no sight In Pomology more beautiful 

 than a well-trained vine In full fruit, for an orna- 

 ment to a conservatory, or for a table at a public 

 dinner. To accomplish this desirable object in the 

 most speedy way, a good branch of a bearing vine 

 should be layered Into a pot, or small tub, in the 

 winter, before fruit spurs start. In this way it will 

 form its roots and immediately sot its fruits, go on 

 and perfect them, and thus jjresent in a single year 

 a handsome vine. AVith a judicious care, the vine 



can be separated from the old one, and the pot re- 

 wish to raise orchards or nurseries. — Couninj Gen. 'moved with the fruit perfected. Great care should 



