330 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 2, 1832. 



composition, or soiniuliiiig of the kiiul, which is 

 oft'ensive to the ilepreilators. 



As respects a rciiieily for trees already injured, 

 perhaps iiolhiug belter can he done than to head 

 them down, or cntotf their stocks near the ground, 

 and train the best shoots or sprouts to form new 

 trees. 



REMEDY FOR DISEASED FRUIT TREES 



Mr FESSE?iDEN — I ask leave, through your pa- 

 per, to communicate to the owners of apple trees, 

 a hint, which may possibly be useful. I observe, 

 that some of my trees which are putting forth 

 leaves, and whose roots appear not to be injiu'ed, 

 are nevertheless entirely dead at and near the i 

 ground. The tops no doubt will continue mme I 

 through a part or all of the season, but they must 

 soon die, unless the method which I am about to 

 suggest will save them. It is the same melhod 

 which some of your reailers know, has been adopt- 

 ed to save trees from which mice have eaten the 

 bark near the earth. Five or six years ago, J had 

 an apple tree which had been stripped in that 

 manner, to the height of eight or ten inches ; it 

 was about two inches in diameter. At the season 

 of grafting, I took some twigs, four in number, of 

 the proper length, and cut oif the ends' obliquely, 

 making a suitable angle; One end was inserted 

 under the bark of the root, and the other under 

 that of the body, immediately above the place in- 

 jured. They were kept in place by a string 

 which was wound round the tree, and the 

 air was excluded by a plentiful application of clay, ' 

 which was confined in the usual mamicr. I had 

 not much confidence of success, though I had | 

 heard that such things had been done. All tlie 

 twigs, however, took, and the circulation of the I 

 sap through them was sufficient to prevent the 

 tree from being much retarded in its growth. It 

 is now a flourishing tree. The twigs are from 

 three to four inches in diameter ; two of them 

 have grown firmly together, and the others will 

 ])robably do the same the coming season. The 

 stock within has decayed, and given place to an- 

 other generation. So much for fact; and the in- 

 creduliius will be cured gratis, if they should pass 

 through this village, and will examine for them- 

 selves. 



I have no doubt, there are thousands of trees, 

 now considered dead, that iriight he preserved in 

 the same manner. The number oftwigs or scions 

 ought to be increased in proportionto the size of 

 the tree. 1 should recommend, that they be small, 

 say one quarter or three eights of an inch in diam- 

 eter ; a larger scion will not easily bend so as to 

 be fitted to its place. It might facilitate the oper- 

 ation, to confine each scion by sta[)les made of 

 wire, before putting on the string, which may be 

 removed before the next season. 



If this comnmnication should be the instrument 

 of calling back to life any deceased favorite in the 

 orchards of your readers, it will give me great 

 pleasure. Respectfully, vonr ob't serv't, 



"JOSIAH ADAMS. 



Framingham, April, 1832. 



By the Editor.— This plan perhaps will answer 

 in many cases, but we fear that in general the 

 stocks or stems are killed or mortally diseased, too 

 great a distance from the roots, to admit of scions 

 forming the proposed channel of communica- 

 tion, between the root and the vital parts of the 

 tree. 



CULTIVATING GRAPE VINES. 



Mr Fesse.nde.n — .\greeably to my proposal in 

 your last, 1 now submit a few remarks in relation 

 to the cultivatiOTi and management of grape vines. 

 It should be remenihered, that in this as well as 

 all other undertakings, nuich depends upon a good 

 beginning. And first, grape vines should have a 

 warm and sheltered situation ; and it is equally 

 important that the soil should be of a suitable kind ; 

 in a cold clayey soil they will never succeed. My 

 vines are in a light gravelly soil, an<l to this cir- 

 cumstance I believe I owe much of my success ; 

 though it is true, that without constant care and 

 attention, this valuable fruit will not be fidly ma- 

 tured in any situation. 



The best time I think to transplant vines is 

 early in the spring. The ground should be pre- 

 pared in the ])revious fall, by digging trenches 

 about three feet wide and two feet in depth, sep- 

 arating the stones from the earth that is thrown 

 out. In the bottom of -these trenches should be 

 placed a quantity of the richest manure, eight or 

 twelve inches in depth, and the remainder of the 

 trench filled with alternate layers of earth and 

 manure, and well mixed with a spade or fork. 

 Posts of wliitc cedar for the trellises, should also 

 be set near the centre of the trenches and about 

 six or eight feet apart, but the trellises need not be 

 finished for a year or two. 



The best vines for transplanting are those of 

 two or three years' growth, but above all they 

 should be healthy and thrifty, without which, disap- 

 pointment will be certain. They should beset out 

 with care, about the middle of the trc^nch, and six 

 or eight feet asunder. If they are in good order, 

 several shoots will start the first season, all but 

 two of which should be rubbed ofl" as soon as it 

 can be ascertained which will be the strongest, 

 these two should be trained to a pole and suflered 

 to grow to their full extent, and in the fall, after 

 the wood has fully ripened, they should be cut 

 down to three eyes from the old wood ; a good 

 supply of rich manure may now be spread and 

 forked in aroiiiul the vines ; and early in Decem- 

 ber, they shoidd be prepared for the winter, by 

 covering with sea-weed, straw, or loam, to the 

 de]>th of three or four inches. The covering 

 shoidil not be removed until the beginning or mid- 

 dle of April, as it has been found that vines are 

 more injured by alternate frosts and thaws in the 

 spring, than by the cold in winter. 



The next season, three or four stalks may be 

 permitted to grow, according to tlie strength and 

 vigor of the vine ; and in the fall proceed as be- 

 fore, to cut down, selecting, however, if the growth 

 be vigorous, one stalk for fruit the following sea- 

 son, wliich may lie left two or three feet in length 

 according to the strength of the vine, if too much 

 wood is left the vine will be injured. 



A great error, I think, has been in taking away 

 too much wood at a time, in summer pruning, 

 when the vine is in its most rapid growth, and 

 thus a sudden check is given, by cutting ofl" the 

 natural channels of the sap to so great an extent. 

 If all superfluous shoots were taken away when 

 small, and the growth of others more frequently 

 checked at the ends, it seems to me this evil would 

 he avoided. 



But the greatest evil which the cultivator of 

 grapes has to contend with, is the mildew which 

 makes its appearance more or less every season, 

 and has almost destroyed the ciops in this vicinity 

 for the two last years, and though I do not pre- 



tend tiiat it can be entirely prevented, I think, tha' 

 with proper attention much of its evils may be 

 obviated. 



I know of nothing better than a free tjse of sul- 

 phur and lime ; this is prepared as follows : Put 

 into a firkin or jar, two pounds of flour of sulphur 

 and a lump of good uiislackcd lime twice as large 

 as a man's fist ; upon this, pour a pail-full of hot 

 water, stirring it until the whole is well incorpo- 

 rated ; cover it close, and after it is cool pour the 

 whole into a barrel, fill the barrel with water, and 

 in a tew days it will be fit for use. When clean 

 it should be thrown U]ion the vines with a garden 

 syringe, in .<uch quantity as to comjiletely cover the 

 fruit and foliage, and this operation must be per- 

 formed once in about a week or ten days through 

 tli(! season, commencing as soon as the gra))es are 

 well formed and before there is any ajipearance of 

 mildew, for after it lias once ap])eared the mischief 

 has been accomplished, and all attempts to pre- 

 vent it, is like " locking the door after the steed is 

 stolen." Whenever it attacks the fruit ihe effect 

 seetiis to be to destroy the elasticity of the skin, 

 and the next wet season bursts the grape and it 

 is destroyed. I believe a proper attention to 

 this would prevent much disappointment aftjl loss. 



Another thing of imporlaiice is to keep your 

 ground rich by ajiplwiig jilenty of manure in the 

 fall and spring, and it caiiuut well be too rich to 

 insure a full crop and an uninterrupted growth of 

 wood through the season, one of the best prevent- 

 atives against mildew, which never appears while 

 the vine is vigorously growing. 



And now a few words in regard to fall pruning, 

 and I have done. 



The time for this operation is when the saj) has 

 doBO flowing and after the wood is thoroughly 

 ripened, which will not be till after several pretty 

 smart frosts ; and as scarcely any two vines will 

 admit of the same treatment, it is obvious that no 

 rules can be given which will a|)ply in all cases, 

 some judgment is necessary, which can only l>e 

 acquirc<l by observation and experience. The 

 greatest error, however, I think has been to leave 

 too much wood, more especially on young vines; 

 the consequence of which is, mildew is encoura- 

 ged and :he vine is exhausted in attempting to 

 support ittelfand bring to maturity the fruit which 

 it has ]>ut;forth. There is little danger of pruning 

 too close, regard always being had, of course, to 

 the age and strength of the vine. 



Sui)pofing vines to be six or eight years old and 

 in a thritiy condition, my own method' has been as 

 follows :-f-First, to encourage the growth of two or 

 three cai|es from near the groimd, which are care- 

 fully traijied anit peimitted to grow to their i:t nost 

 extent diring the season, these, in order to be un- 

 derstood, I will call Nos. 1, 2, and 3. Second, at 

 the timejof pruning, cut down to the ground all 

 the old vood but one or at the most two stalks,, 

 which Iwill here call Nos. 4 and 5; all the nevT 

 branches on these last are cut off" within two or 

 three cjes of the stalk. No. 1 is then cut down 

 t« three or four eyes, and Nos. 2 and 3 are left 

 from thite to six feet in length, and I liave in a 

 few instmces left them eight or ten feet long. — 

 These canes the next season will generally put 

 forth friit from the ground to their extremity; and 

 in orderlto insure this, I have found an advantage 

 in tyingthem round in the form of a hoop, until 

 all the fuds have broken, when they are tied up 

 in thei) proper position. These, together with 

 the spufs left on the old wood, will produce a» 



