VOL. XII. NO. 43. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



331 



have tlie sanction of scripture and the remotest 

 antiquity. The Jewish ritual enjoined a festival 

 and offering of first fruits at the ingathering of tin- 

 harvest, a day in which they should " do no servile 

 labor.'" The Romans and the Greeks had their 

 , agricultural festivals, dedicated to Bacchus and 

 Ceres, -whom they honored as the gods of corn 

 and wine: and it has also the sanction ot reason, 

 as the fruits of the autumn fall, to assemble mu- 

 tually to communicate the result of their labors, 

 and enjoy what has been emphatically called the 

 farmer's holiday. 



Long may this society enjoy the smiles of heav- 

 en. Long may they enjoy the character for in- 

 dustry, sobriety, and morality, which for two cen- 

 turies has distinguished the farmers of New Eng- 

 land. And long may they continue to reap abun- 

 dant harvests, 



" Till the s;reat reaping time shall come, 

 u And angels shout the harvest home." 



"communications. 



For tin New-England Farmer. 

 ON THE ACCLIMATION OP FRUITS. 



Mr. Fessenden — Sir, If you think this trifle fit 

 for insertion in your respectable and useful publi- 

 cation it is at your service for that purpose; and I 

 shall be happy to communicate the results of seve- 

 ral other experiments progressing at present in my 

 garden when they arrive. 



Last spring, a distinguished lover and promoter 

 of horticulture in Boston presented me with seeds 

 of a beautiful flowering biennial plant from Georgia, 

 Cantua cororiopifolia, which here as well as in Eu- 

 rope has been treated as a tender plant, requiring 

 the protection of glass during winter. It appeared 

 to me from its structure, being covered with a soft 

 down and some other indications, to be a fit plant 

 for an experiment on acclimation ; — with this view 

 I proceeded as follows: 



10 plants remained entirely exposed- during the 

 winter on a perfectly open spot — these are with- 

 out exception flourishing. 



1 plant placed on a grass bank facing the south 

 and protected from the north winds — this is also 

 flourishing, but began to vegetate rather earlier 

 than the preceding, and is now a very fine plant. 



10 plants I covered the roots 3 inches with hay, 

 and raised a bank of turf all round 1 foot high 6 

 inches witle ; this I covered with straw; these all 

 died, having perished at the surface of the earth 

 where covered with the hay, the tops still re- 

 maining green. 



2 plants, I placed in pots and kept in the parlor ; 

 these were much drawn or etiolated as the botan- 

 ists term it; on exposure to the winds last month 

 one was killed, the other remains alive, but is by 

 no means so strong as those which remained ex- 

 posed, although much taller. 



I do not know that physiological botanists have 

 yet undertaken the examination of the structure of 

 plants with a view to their different sensibilities of 

 temperature, and it is certainly a subject rather 

 difficult to approach — but much may be done in 

 this way by the collection of such facts as the pre- 

 ceding. 



Besides every addition to the number of hardy 

 flowering plants is an addition to the pleasure of 

 those horticulturists whose means do not place 

 them in possession of glass structures for protect- 

 ing them during the winter. 



Most truly yours, J. E. Teschemacher. 



Dorchester, 21 April, 1834. 



GRAPES. 



As we have many new subscribers who have 

 commenced with recent numbers, we again intro- 

 duce the subject of Grapes for their benefit. 



As it is now will established by experiments, 

 that our climate is well calculated for the cultiva- 

 tion of the finest of the American species of Grapes, 

 and well adapted to produoe strong growths of most 

 of the finer varieties of European vines, with cor 

 responding crops of fruit, so long as they can be 

 kept free from that parasitic plant, generally though 

 improperly called mildew. 



That the American grapes are capable of making 

 a wine equally as pleasant, as those in common 

 use in France and Germany, we verily believe ; 

 but since those vines are little known in this coun- 

 try, as our tastes, and opinions, are made up upon 

 Madeira wines; it is impossible to say how long a 

 prejudice will exist, as at present, in favor of that, 

 as the only perfect wine, and the only wine that it 

 is desirable to imitate. So long as that prejudice 

 does exist, so long we shall either be disappointed 

 in producing the desired article, or if we produce 

 it we shall do it to the injury of the country. 



It will be of little use for our temperance socie- 

 ties, to make exertions to banish Brandy from our 

 tables, if Madeira wine is to be used as a substitute, 

 or to prevent the use of pure alcohol and water ; 

 if we use the same quantity which only differs in 

 having vegetable extract in it. 



The French and German wines are light, and 

 are used to prevent thirst rather than promote in- 

 toxication, and as most of them are rather astrin- 

 gent, they act as tonics upon the stomach rather 

 rather than stimulants of the brain. 



Grapes arc not only useful for making wine, but 

 are generally preferred to all other kinds of fruit 

 for the table, and there is no good reason why our 

 tables are not supplied with them, eight months in 

 a year, without incurring any very material ex- 

 pense, as a half a dozen vines would be sufficient 

 for that purpose. 



The following are the varieties that we should re- 

 commend of both American and European varieties. 



AMERICAN VARIETIES. 



Catawba. Although the Isabella grape has gen- 

 erally been placed at the head of the lists, we put 

 the Catawba, as we consider it superior in many 

 respects to the Isabella. It is shorter jointed, and 

 if possible a better bearer. It endures our winters, 

 and the grapes keep better in jars than the Isabella. 

 As a wine grape it is undoubtedly superior. 



Isabella. Second to none unless it is the Ca- 

 tawba, and all its qualities taken into consideration. 

 Grows freely, endures our winters well, is a great 

 bearer, and a fine table fruit. 



Bullet Grape. There are several varieties of this 

 grape cultivated under different names, as Musca- 

 dine, black Scuppernong, and Muscadel, all mean- 

 ing a small round grape of dark purple color, rather 

 sour than sweet, with thin smooth leaves, destitute 

 of down beneath, free growers and endure our 

 winters perfectly. 



Red Bland. A fine grape well flavored, but the 

 seasons jin this vicinity are not sufficiently long to 

 perfect the fruit. 



EUROPEAN VARIETIES. 



White Frontignae. This is an oblong grape, of 

 good size, huge clusters, weighing from one to 

 two pounds, fine flavored, ami a great bearer, but 

 the vines, like all other European vines, are sub- 

 ject to mildew: requires a slight covering in winter. 



White Sweet Water, or Chusselas. A round grape 



of good size, and certainly one of the most pleasant 

 grapes for the table, a good bearer, vines require 

 protecting during the winter. Vines subject to 

 mildew. 



Munier. This is one of the hardest of the Eu- 

 ropean varieties, a good bearer, fruit small, and 

 thick set upon the clusters, rather acid but pleas- 

 ant, color dark purple. 



The above mentioned is all that is needed to 

 form the best suite of grapes for table use and ma- 

 king wine. — GoodseWs Farmer. 



LIME AS A MANURE. 



" Lime," observes Mr. Lambert in his excellent 

 work on Ireland, "is peculiarly adapted to land 



full of weeds and roots, as it decomposes such." 



" It is a better manure for wheat probably than 

 any other crop ; and the quality of wheat grown 

 on land where it is applied is much improved, 

 having a thinner skin, a better color, and yielding 

 more flour." — "It may be freely applied to land de- 

 void of much calcareous matter." 



Lime should as much as possible, be kept to the 

 surface soil : it readily sinks if ploughed in too deep. 

 Though I have mentioned what many may think 

 very heavy dressings of this manure, yet I have 

 known good effects produced from a far lighter 

 quantity : and 1 would say, it is safer to begin with 

 a moderate dressing, which can always be in- 

 creased if found necessary, than to over-dose at 

 first. It is essential that the lime should be well 

 slaked, and in a powdery state before spreading. 

 To this end, if the weather chance to be dry, cover 

 up the heaps with mold for a day or two, they will 

 open as fine as if water slaked. — Gen. Farmer. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 POSTS PLANTED TOP-END DOWNWARDS. 



The 3d volume of the memoirs of the Philadel- 

 phia Society for promoting Agriculture, contains 

 an account of some posts planted top-end down- 

 wards, which were more durable than some oth- 

 ers which were set out in the common mode ; and 

 understanding that one of our friends had success- 

 fully repeated the experiment we wrote to him for 

 particulars. The following is his statement : 



" The inverted posts were all sawed from two 

 trees, the logs having had but little taper, and they 

 w-ere sawed wedge shape, consequently one-half 

 were cut each way — that is, the top-ends of one- 

 half were larger, and we set the larger ends in the 

 ground. This was done iu the fall of 1817 and 

 the spring of 181S. There were about sixty pan- 

 nels or posts altogether, which were taken up in 

 1S30-31-32. From my best recollection about 

 one-third of those that stood butt-end down were 

 in tolerable preservation, while of those inverted, 

 about two thirds were in belter preservation than 

 the one-third just referred to; and a number of 

 them, except half an inch on the outside next the 

 earth, were quite sound, and decidedly in better 

 condition than any of the former kind," 



From the account given in the memoirs we 

 learn that the inverted posts were forked or knot- 

 ty ; and these are the most durable parts of the 

 timber, we thought rather lightly of the discovery. 

 The evidence which we now present to our read- 

 ers however, is more pointed than anything else 

 that we have seen on the subject ; yet we do not 

 understand why one-third of the inverted posts, 

 and two thirds of the others, should be more de- 

 cayed than the rest : and we should he better sat- 

 isfied with an experiment on posts sawed from one 

 single log or out of straight grained timber. 



