VOL. XI. JVO. 48. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



381 



Brooks on tljis subject, whose Travels in Nortliern 

 Europe, by tlie way, interesting as they are liavo 

 "not yet been republished here. Will our readers 

 give us the rationale of the fact above stated. We 

 know a highly respectable country gentleman who 

 stoutly maintains that it were better to lose one's 

 eye-sight than one's taste, for the simple and ob- 

 vious reason that in the former case. Dr. Howe 

 might take him in hand, while in the latter, 

 " they would certainly give him bad butter, and 

 that would kill him !" Doubtless. 



And now let us caution our readers against re- 

 garding this paragraph with feelings of levity, as 

 if we had offered issue on immaterial points. Is 

 not butter material ? And what is butter without 

 bread ? And what is bread without butter ? 

 And what is a member of society good for who 

 doesn't know when his bread is well buttered? — 

 These suggestions, we trust, will be conclusive. 



From the Southern AgricidturUI . 

 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROT OP THE 

 GRAPE. 



Dear Sir, — The cause of the rot in grapes, in 

 my opinion, is from the redundancy of sap in the 

 vine, any one may rot his grapes in fifteen days, 

 by putting manure upon the root of the vine ; now, 

 Sir, if they will permit the vines to run upon ar- 

 bours, and prune but very little, grapes may be 

 raised in abundance. I know of a vine in this 

 neighborhood of which the grapes never rot from 

 not pruning at all. I permitted one of mine to 

 grow and ceased pruning it, the consequence was 

 that it bore grapes plentifully, and I never saw a 

 rotten one on it twelve months alter 1 ceased to 

 prune, wliile others near it continued to loose their 

 grapes ; some of the bunches lay on tlic ground 

 and remained sound and good, though they con- 

 tinued to decrease in size a little. My neighbor 

 had a vine upon which he had some well rotted 

 manure thrown ; when the grapes were full grown 

 they rotted ; he mentioned it to me and I advised 

 the raking of the ground from the roots, about 

 eight feet around, until they were exposed ; it was 

 done, and the grapes ceased to rot and ripened, 

 though the same vine had the year before lost its 

 grapes. It is a well-known fact, that any fruit 

 tree that casts its fruit while green, may be 

 brought to bear by taking the rich earth from the 

 roots and filling the place with poor sand ; why 

 may not this succeed with the vine? Any tree 

 that blossoms may be made fruitful in that way ; 

 take ofi' the rich earth from the roots, say about 

 si.x inches deep, and say about eight or ten from 

 the tree, and fill up with sand. 



Yours, &,c. James Jones. 



Paris, Henry Co., (Ten.) Oct. 6, 1832. 



Practical advantages of Science. — The following 

 illustration of the utility of science in the common 

 occurrences of life, is from the Genesee Farmer. 



"A penknife, by accident, dropped into a well 

 twenty feet deep. A sunbeam from a mirror was 

 directed to the bottom, which rendered the knife 

 visible ; and a niagnst, fastened to a pole, brought 

 it up." 



HOP TOPS 



The hop forms an excellent substitute for aspar- 

 agus, and the tops may be had the whole year 

 round. Hop tops also form an admirable ingredi- 

 ent for a variety of dishes, such as soups, omelets, 

 &c. Long experience in the practice of cookery, 

 both in this and in my native country, for upwards 



of forty years, makes me bold in recommending 

 hop tops. I was for some time in the kitchen of 

 the king of Sardinia, where the art was j)ractised 

 in all its branches. I was afterwards thirty-four 

 years with the Hon. D. F. Halyburton as cook and 

 house-steward. He being of delicate constitution, 

 and eating no sort of animal food whatsoever I 

 was, on his account, obliged to study varieties of 

 vegetable dishes. Hop tops formed one on which 

 I by chance stumbled, and of which he very high- 

 ly approved, finding it agreeable and very whole- 

 some. — Caledonian Horticultural Society. 



AN AMERICAN L,ADY GARDENER. 



When Lafayette called at Fredericksburg, pre- 

 viously to his departure for Europe, in the autumn 

 of 1784, to pay his parting respects to the mother 

 of Washington, he found her working in the 

 garden, clad in domestic-made clothes, and her 

 gray head covered by a plain straw hat. The 

 venerable matron saluted him kindly, observing, 

 in re])ly to the encomiums which Lafayette had 

 lavished upon his hero, and paternal chief: " I am 

 not sm'prised at what George has done, for he was 

 always a very good boy." — Loudon^s Magazine. 



WATERING HORSES. 



A VPRITER in a Cincinnati paper justly censures 

 the practice of watering horses. Many are killed 

 every year by the absurd custom of stage 

 drivers and others, giving horses water eve- 

 ry five or six miles when travelling. Farmers 

 who work horses at the plough or cart all day, 

 never break oft' to water their horses, except at 

 dinner time. The same bad ])ractice prevails in 

 England. But the writer informs us, they manage 

 these things better in France. They never water 

 their horses only when they are fed. We recol- 

 lect on a very warm and dusty day, travelling in a 

 stage over the hills of Normandy, the horses foam- 

 ing with sweat and covered with dust. The dri- 

 ver stopped at an inn, and when we expected to 

 see him with his bucket, giving water to each, he 

 brought from the house a bottle, and pouring 

 into bis hand some of the contents, he washed 

 each horse's nose and threw a little up into them. 

 On iiiquiring, we found it was VINEGAR ; and 

 although they had already travelled a long stage 

 they went off as fresh as ever. 



ACTIVITY. 



A DISTINGUISHED Writer says, it is of great im- 

 portance to train ploughmen to habits of activity 

 and diligence. In some districts of England they 

 are proverbial for the slowness of their steps. 

 Their slow drawling movements they teach their 

 horses ; whereas if they were accustomed to a 

 quicker pace, they and their horses would move 

 with as much ease, and accomplish much more 

 work. It is common to see teams make some 

 half a dozen stops in turning about ; and in cross- 

 ing the field, in light plowing, to move with the 

 slowest possible step, and stop every time the 

 plough struck a stone as large as a robin's egg. 



Ray observes, that an obscure and prolix author 

 may not improperly be compared to a cuttle fish, 

 since he may be said to hide himself under his 

 own ink. 



TO PREVENT THE ANNOYANCE OP FL,IES. 



Farmers might easily save the flesh of horses 

 and cows, and confer a great kindness on their an- 

 imals, in preventing the usual unuoyance of Jlies, 

 by simply oiling the parts most exposed. Flies 

 will not alight a moment on the spot over which 



an oiled sponge has been pressed. — Probably either 

 fish or flaxseed oil would answer, but what I have 

 known used with success was the Tanner's oil. 

 Every man who is compassionate to his beast 

 ought to know this simple reinedy, and every live- 

 ry stable, and country Inn, ought to have a supply 

 at hand fur the use of travellers. — Greenfield Gaz. 



TO DESTROY THE RED SPIDER. 



Mr. Kendall, in the Gardener's Magazine, 

 directs six ounces of soft soap to be put into one 

 gallon of rain water, and made into a fine lather. 

 This must be carefully applied to both sides of the 

 leaf. 



Boring for Water. The Steam Engine, at 

 Holt's Hotel, is still industriously engaged in boring 

 for water. Yesterday it made eight inches, and 

 reached to the depth of 594 feet. The process 

 was commenced a year and a half ago, and has 

 been perseveringly pursued. Five hundred feet 

 has been bored through the solid rock. Salt wa- 

 ter was struck at the depth of 150 feet. The wa- 

 ter is now within five feet of the surface, but it is 

 brackish. It is hoped that a vein of pure water 

 will soon be struck, and, in that hope, the process 

 will be continued. — A'". Y. Jour, of Com. 



We hear with regret that the rust has made its 

 appearance in the wheat fields in this vicinity, and 

 that the crop has likewise sustained injury from 

 the recent high winds and heavy rains — such as 

 the beads partially beaten down by the former, 

 and the blooms washed off by the latter. We 

 hope, however, the damage has not extended far, 

 and that a medium crop may yet be harvested. — 



Petershurg, (Va.) Int. May 31. 



Take off' the old surface between 

 the rows, and substitute a new one of light rich 

 soil. "I am convinced that top dressing is as es- 

 sential to asparagus, as the preparation of the 

 ground for its reception either at the time of sow- 

 ing or planting." — Hort. Reg. 



To preserve Beans and Peas. Peas and beans 

 may be preserved through the winter by scalding 

 them in a strong syrup of sugar and drying them 

 — after which they should be put in a bottle and 

 corked close. If each part of this process is con- 

 ducted with care, it will be found when they are 

 cooked that they have lost but little of their flavor, 

 and that they will form a great addition to our 

 vegetable dishes during winter. — Genesee Farmer. 



The Weevil. Salt is said to be a complete pre- 

 ventive against the destruction of wheat by the 

 weevil. Mix a pint of salt with a barrel of wheat, 

 or put the grain in old salt barrels, and the weevil 

 will not attack it. In stacking wheat, four of five 

 quarts of salt to every hundred sheaves, sprinkled 

 among them, will entirely secure them from the 

 depredations of this insect, and render the straw 

 more valuable as food tor cattle. — Hort. Reg. 



Locust Trees. A few locust trees were sold in 

 this town last week at five dollars each. One of 

 them, a stately tree about two and a half feet in di- 

 ameter near the ground, was sold for less than half 

 its value ; the purchaser admitted that it would 

 bring 40 or 50 dollars in New York. — JVorihamp- 

 ton Gazette. 



Upwards of 13,000 tons of coal were received 

 at Philadelphia last week, by the various channels 

 of communication with the mines in the interior. 



