THE GENESEE FARMER. 



317 



vate the wTiole field^ providing water courses to 

 carry off the surplus moisture, and you will have 

 an orchard in bearing years earlier than you can if 

 you plant before this is done. 



On clayey soils, and mi;.ny of the prairies of the 

 west, fruit and ornamental trees — even the elm, 

 maple and other hardy species — can not be 

 planted in the fall Avith safety. It can only be 

 done in the spring on prepared soil, and then the 

 tree will do best set near the surface, so as to re- 

 quire banking and staking to keep it upright. As 

 roots readily find their way down in well cultivated 

 ground, there is little danger to be apprehended 

 from shallow planting, whether done fall or spring. 



PICKING AND PRESERVING GRAPES. 



The grape crop in western New York the pres- 

 ent season is unusually fine — so much so that they 

 are hardly worth marketing. In the absence of the 

 usual supply of other fruits, it becomes a question 

 of importance to the good housewife to know how 

 they may be best and easiest kept for winter use. 

 The experience of many growers has demonstrated 

 that grapes may be kept fresh and good through 

 the winter, and as late into spring as March and 

 April. To do this most efliectually, they should be 

 allowed to rijien weU on the vine, — letting them 

 remain, where not exposed to winds, until the fol- 

 iage becomes discolored, unless severe frosts render 

 early gathering absolutely necessary. They are not 

 seriously injured by slight frosts. Gather them 

 with care, cutting the bunch from the vine with a 

 sharp knife or a pair of grape scissors, laying them 

 on a board or shallow dish, so as to put bunches 

 top of each other as little as possible, as all bruising 

 injures them. After gathering, each bunch should 

 be pruned of all green or defective grapes, by a pair 

 of sharp pointed scissors, leaving only whole ripe 

 grapes on the stem. Spread the bunches in a cool, 

 airy, dry room a few days, that the stems may wilt 

 or dry as farmers dry clover hay. They may be 

 packed in shallow boxes, placing a thickness of 

 cotton wadding between each layer of grapes to 

 absorb moisture and prevent bruising. Some wrap 

 each bunch in a piece of soft paper. "We have done 

 so with satisfactory success. Others practice dip- 

 ping the end of the stem in sealing wax, which 

 ■ prevents rapid evaporation of the juices of the 

 stem ; but if they are well wilted this is unneces- 

 sai'y. After boxing, nail down the covers and put 

 them in a room where they will not freeze. The 

 lower the temperature, and keep above the freezing 

 point, the better they will keep, as a warm room 

 would be their destruction. For market purposes 



they are most convenient put up in small paper 

 boxes, holding six to ten pounds, as they can be 

 sold without handling. 



We have never seen the experiment tried, but see 



no reason why they may not be bottled in the same 



manner as gooseberries, currants and other small 



fruits. This is accomplished by placing the fruit in 



a bottle, which should have a large mouth, and 



then putting the bottle in a kettle of cold water, 



which should be heated to boiling and continued 



until the fruit is heated through. The bottles 



should be corked and sealed while hot, as the heat 



exsludes the air. Sealing may be very cheaply 



done by melting one pound of rosin and one ounce 



of tallow together, into which dip one side of 



pieces of old cotton cloth, which stretch over the 



cork so as to reach on to the neck of the bottle or 



jar, where it may be tied with a twine while warm. 



When cold, this makes a perfectly tight jar, equal 



to the best self-sealing, and less expensive. Take 



care of your grapes, and they will re-pay all your 



care. 



■ ■ — r% ♦■^— 



BEST SEASON FOR TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES. 



In sections where dry summers prevail, and the 

 winters are comparatively mild, the autumn is cer- 

 tainly the most preferable time, as the vital action 

 of the trees is in operation in the spring, forming 

 rootlets, before it is possible to do the planting ; 

 and, should a dry summer follow, they have de- 

 cidedly the advantage of those planted late. In 

 sections where there is excessive cold, accompanied 

 with drying wind, they may require protection if 

 planted in the fall, which may be given them in a 

 very cheap and expeditious way by an embank- 

 ment of earth for the roots, and a small bundle of 

 rye or wheat straw bound round the tree, stake 

 and all. (Each tree planted in the fall should be 

 staked.) Anotlier advantage of fall planting is that 

 is about the only proper season of transplanting 

 trees where they are to be sent to any considerable 

 distance, which is no small item to those living re- 

 mote from a reliable nursery. jas. edgeeton. 



Barnesville, Ohio, 1S5S. 



OnERRY Trees Dying in Ohio. — The Oh'o Far- 

 mer states that great numbers of cherry trees are 

 dying in and around Cleveland. The majority have 

 the upper branches denuded of leaves. The cause 

 is ascribed to the saw-fly slugs. Trees that were 

 dusted with air-slaked lime, or ashes, early in the 

 season, before the slogs had made much headway, 

 are healthy. Those dusted later, after the slugs 

 had devoured the leaves, are nearly as bad as if 

 they had not been dusted at all. 



Some Grapes. — The Mahoning (Ohio) Register 

 says that Michael Simon of that county, counted 

 the number of bunches growing on an Isabella vine 

 tliat he set out a couple of years ago on his prem- 

 ises, and found upon it two hundred and seventy' 

 four lunches of large size. 



