THE GEireSEE FARMER. 



328 



Home Again. — Our esteemed friend Sanfokd Howard, 

 editor of the Boston Cultivator, has just returned from a 

 visit to Europe. On the day after his arrival home, he 

 writes us, in a private letter, " I have now only time 

 to thank you for the letters you were so kind as to give 

 me to your friends, and to express my gratification, in 

 general terms, at the most cordial and warm-hearted re- 

 ception I met at their hands." Mr. Howard is a good 

 representative of the intelligent American farmer, and we 

 felt satisfied that he would be received in England with 

 Mtended arms. The English farmers entertain the highest 

 respect and the most cordial esteem for their American 

 hretheren, and nothing but more frequent intercourse is 

 necessary to connect them together in one indissoluble 

 bond of friendship. So mote it be. 



♦•< 



A Serious Loss. — The ship Judah Touro, in which 

 Mr. Howard forwarded his second purchace of choice 

 Stock from the North of England, encountered boisterous 

 weather, during which the mare "Fly away -Jean" per- 

 ished at sea. She was in foal to the noted horse "Dr. 

 Sangrado," and high expectations were entertained in 

 regard to the value of the progeny, as the mare was se- 

 lected as the " best among a thousand." 



The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory 

 roE 1859. — We are now busily engaged on this work. 

 It will be issued by the first of November. We hope to 

 make it superior to any of the previous volumes. A few 

 appropriate advertisements will be inserted at the rate of 

 $20 per page. They must be sent in immediately. 



■ ►•-.^ . 



Inquiries and Answers. 



Keeping Tomatoes for Winter.— Every one almost is 

 fond of tomatoes, and many go to considerable expense in 

 ttie purchase of patent self-sealing cans. Can not you or 

 some ot the numerous readers of the Gene-see Farmer, tell 

 us of a cheaper method that will do as well ? It will be a 

 great favor. Mrs. T. K. W. 



Tomatoes, and other vegetables, as well as fruits, can 

 be kept for any length of time, if all air is exhausted and 

 excluded. This is best done by cooking. Tomatoes 

 should be prepared as for table use, except seasoning, 

 only using a little salt. Heat them until you are sure 

 they are boiling hot. and then place them in jars previ- 

 ously warmed, and seal them by putting over the jar a 

 eotton cloth first, and over that another cloth dipped in 

 melted rosin ; add a small lump of tallow to the rosin to 

 soften it. The rosin renders the cloth air tight, and if 

 drawn closely over the top of the jar, and tied while warm, 

 they will be as safe as in^elf-sealing cans. Pitchers with 

 the handles and noses broken ofi", or any dish not too 

 large, will answer as well. The potteries are making 

 stone jars holding one pint, and one quart, with a cover, 

 which are cheap and excellent. If the air is excluded, 

 the cloth will settle down close to the cover or top of the 

 jar. If it puflfs up, take it off and try again. The cloth 

 put over before putting on the one dipped in rosin is to 

 prevent the cement from getting into the tomato. From 

 experience we know this to be a reliable method when 

 well done. 



Hat Scales.— (M. A. R.) You will find the hay scales 

 manufactured by Forsyth & Co., of this city, in all res- 

 pects such as you wish. You can obtain full particulars 

 by addressing them. 



Preserving Isabella Grapes through the Winter.— 

 Will Mr. Josiah Salter please give us, through the col- 

 umns of the Farmer, the method of keeping grapes fresh 

 through the winter, as he states in the Rural Annual for 

 1858, that they are "as easily kept fresh through the win- 

 ter as any other fruit." I have found it very difiBcult to 

 keep them fresh — retaining all their natural'flavor. *— 

 Balstoti Centre, N. Y. 



I preserve my Isabella grapes fresh through the winter, 

 by spreading them on shelves in single layers, just so the 

 bunches do not touch each other, in a close closet where 

 a very even temperature can be maintained. A closet in 

 a garret is frequently a good place. The temperature 

 should range from 34 to 40 deg. It requires a low tem- 

 perature, but it must not be so low that the frost touches 

 them, for they will at once fall off the bunch and decay- 

 nor must they be touched by frost in the least before 

 gathering; but they must be fully ripe, and before putting 

 away, every imperfect berry must be cut out with a pai? 

 ot scissors. Sometimes I drive shingle nails in the under 

 sides ot the shelves, and suspend the bunches with a 

 piece of string. The great difficulty is in maintainino- a 

 steady temperature and dry atmosphere. Last winter I 

 kept a few till the middle of February, which was four 

 months from the time of picking. 



By the way, the Isabella is the only out-door sour grape 

 I have seen to be affected with mildew, this and last sea- 

 son. Josiah Salter. — Fast Avenue J^urseries, EocJieater. 



Rot of the Catawba Grape.— I write to you to ask if 

 you can tell the cause of the rot in the Catawba Grape — 

 and if so, what remedy will stop it. The grapes fornia'nd 

 then rot ; they have done so for the last two years Jos 

 M. Hoops. — Neio Brighton, Fa. 



We handed the above to one of our best grape growers, 

 and annex his answer : 



I cannot tell what is the cause of the rot in the Catawba 

 grape. I have always thought that the skin of the berry 

 at this particular stage of growth, is so thin and tende' 

 that it can not bear the least exposure to either sun or 

 rain. But this will not always hold good, for I now have 

 some bunches hanging exposed to the sun, and on th« 

 shaded side of the bunch they are aflected with the rot 

 and upon that exposed to the sun not. It is always at- 

 tacked about the time it commences its second swelling 

 from the first to the middle of August, and after wet 

 weather, which leaves damp nights and hot days 



I know of no remedy but to send it south of Central 

 Ohio for its health. I have been told that the Catawba is 

 almost an entire failure at Cincinnati this season but this 

 IS but hearsay. The Catawba is a splendid grape whea 

 well ripened ; but if we get a good bunch once in five o~ 

 six years, we think we do remarkably well, about here 

 Josiah Salter.— ^a.s< Avenue Nurseries, Eoclmter, N. Y. 



Notices of Books, Pamphlets, &c. 



THE STORY OF THE TELKGRAPH. and a History of the 

 Great Cable; a complete record of the inception, progress, and 

 final success of that undertaking. A General History of the 

 Land and Oceanic Telegraphs. Descriptions of Telegraphic 

 Apparatus, and Biographical Sketches of the principal persons 

 connected with the great work. By Charles F. Briggs and 

 AnGusTus Mavick. Abundantly and beautifully illustrated 

 New York. Eubd & Cablton. 1858. 



We cannot say much for this work. It is a hasty com- 

 pilation from the newspaper reports of the Atlantic tele- 

 graph expedition, thrown into book form. The descrip- 

 tion of the telegraphic apparatus is most meagre and 

 imperfect. The " general history of land and ocean tele- 

 graphs" occupies just fourteen of the two hundred and 

 fifty-five pages of the book. A considerable portion of 

 these fourteen pages is occupied with new and unexplained 

 wood cuts, which as far as they throw any light on the 

 subject they are designed to illustrate, might as well have 

 been left out. From the very nature of the subject, there 

 is much in the book that is interesting, but the well in- 

 formed reader will find little in it that is new or per- 

 manently valuable. 



