314 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



a way that master thought of doing away with 

 thera altogether. 'Ay, 1 said the other gentleman, 

 *and see how a little sprinkling of charcoal will 

 brighten up a flower-bed.' 



u The rain was now over, and the gentlemen left 

 the mews; and I thought, 'Well, but before I try 

 the charcoal upon my plants. I'd best make some 

 inquiry of them as aren't doctors, but gardeners ;' 

 so I went to our nurseryman, who has a deal of 

 book-learning, and I asked him if he'd ever heard 

 of charcoal-dressing being good for vines, and he 

 said he'd read in a book that it was so, but he had 

 never tried it. He kindly lent me the book, which 

 was translated from some forren one. And, after 

 I had picked out of it all I could, I tried the char- 

 coal in the way the book told me to try it ; and 

 that's how the grapes and the flower-beds come to 

 please you, my Lord. It was a lucky chance that 

 I ever heard those gentlemen talking in. the mews, 

 please your Lordship." 



" Chance happens to all," answered the peer, 

 sententious]}- ; " but to turn chance to account is 

 the gift of f(iw. , '' 



His Lordship, returning home, gazed gloomily on 

 the hues of his vast parterres ; he visited his vine- 

 ries, and scowled at the clusters; he summoned 

 bis head gardener — a gentleman of the highest re- 

 pute for science, and who never spoke of a cowslip 

 except by its name in Latin.. To this learned per- 

 sonage rny Lord communicated what he had heard 

 and seen of the benignant effects of charcoal, and 

 produced in proof a magnificent bunch of grapes, 

 which he had brought from the squire's. 



"My Lord," said the gardener, scarcely glancing 



at the grapes, "Squire 's gardener must be a 



poor ignorant creature to fancy he had discovered 

 a secret in what is so very well known to every 

 professed horticulturist. Prof. Liebig, my Lord, 

 has treated of the good effect of charcoal-dressine, 

 to vines especially ; and it is to be explained on 

 these chemical principles" — therewith the wise 

 man entered into a profound disputation, of which 

 his Lordship did not understand a word. 



" Well, then," said the peer, cutting short the 

 harangue, "since you know so well that charcoal- 

 dressing is good for vines and flowers, have you 

 ever tried it on mine?" 



" I can't say I have, my Lord ; it did not chance 

 to come into my head." 



"Nay," replied the peer, "chance put it into 

 your head, but thought never took it out of yonr 

 head." 



My Lord, who, if he did not know much about 

 horticulture, was a good judge of mankind, dis- 

 missed the man of learning; and, with many 

 apologies for seeking to rob his neighbor of 6uch a 

 treasure, asked the squire to transfer to his service 

 the man of genius. The squire, who thought that 

 now the charcoal had been once discovered, any 

 new gardener could apply it as well as the old one, 

 was too happy to oblige my Lord, and advance the 

 fortunes of an honest feUow born in his village. 

 His Lordship knew very well that a man who 

 makes good use of his ideas received through 

 chance, will make a still better use of ideas re- 

 ceived through study. He took some kind, but 

 not altogether unselfish, pains with the training 

 and education of a man of genius whom he had 

 gained to hie service. The inaa is now my Lord's 



head foi ester and bailiff. The woods thrive under 

 him, the farm pays largely. He and my Lord are 

 both the richer for the connection between them. 

 He is not the less practically pains-taking, though 

 he no longer says " ben't " and " his'n ;" nor the 

 less felicitously theoretical, though he no longer 

 ascribes a successful experiment to chance. 



BUSYING GRAPES IN THE GROUND. 



Some time since we alluded to a statement made 

 in the Germantown Telegraph, of a gentleman, 

 who, on the 28th of last March, was presented with 

 some bunches of Isabella and Catawba grapes that 

 were as full and plump as if just taken from the 

 vines. The gentleman referred to was Samuel 

 Miller, the well-known grape man of Lebanon, 

 Penn. The following is his account of the manner 

 in which they were preserved : 



" In the fall when the grapes are perfectly ripe, 

 they are taken from the vines, when they are free 

 from anything like moisture, handled carefully and 

 packed in small kegs — nail kegs were the kind used 

 in this instance. Put a layer of green leaves, right 

 off the vines, in the bottom, on this a layer of 

 grapes, then leaves again, and grapes, alternately, 

 until the keg is full, then finish off with leaves. 

 Put in the head, and your cask is ready for — what? 

 Why, to be buried in the ground ! Dig a trench so 

 as to admit the casks deep enough that they will 

 have about one foot or fifteen inches of soil over 

 them when covered. The ground should be packed 

 moderately tight, and a board laid along on the top 

 before the ground is thrown in. Then throw some 

 litter on the surface of the ground over those which 

 you wish to take up during the winter, to prevent 

 the ground from freezing so hard as to keep you 

 from getting at them. One important thing must 

 be observed, that they be placed where there can 

 be no standing water about the casks, or they will 

 suffer." 



It is thought that other fruit may be kept in the 



same way. 



Transplanting Bearing Grape Vines in Sum- 

 mer. — The Boston Cultivator says that Mr. E. S. 

 Rand, Jr., of Dedham, while making, last month, 

 some improvements on his grounds, found it neces- 

 sary to remove a fine Delaware grape vine which 

 had on it several bunches of fruit. It had stood 

 there two years, and was three years old when set. 

 Mr. R. resolved to save, if practicable, both the 

 vine and the fruit. The vine was trimmed so as to 

 bring it within manageable dimensions, and an ex- 

 cavation was made in such a way as to leave a ball 

 of earth a foot and a half in diameter inclosing the 

 principal roots. The vine was then transferred to 

 its destined place, where it has not ceased for a 

 moment to grow. Even the fruit has pushed reg- 

 ularly along, and bids fair to be as perfect as if the 

 vine had not been touched. 



