No. 10. 



Destruction of Grape-vines. — Fruit Trees. 



311 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Destruction of Grape-vines. 



Mr. Editor, — I have some very flourish- 

 ing grape-vines of the Isabella, Catawba and 

 Madeira varieties, which in former years 

 used to contribute to my use and pleasure 

 as well as repay all labour and attention to 

 them, by the abundance of excellent fruit 

 which they produced ; — but for two or three 

 years past I have scarcely been gratified by 

 the sight of a single perfect bunch. 



The failure of the crop has been caused 

 by the depredation of small green worms, 

 in hosts innuimerable, which attack and con- 

 sume the foliage, ranging themselves round 

 the border, on the under side of the leaf, 

 with all the regularity of a drill sergeant. 



I have tried all my ingenuity to dislodge 

 and annihilate the enemy, but without suc- 

 cess. Smoke, from offensive combustibles, 

 tobacco, &c., and even from brimstone match- 

 es, had no effect; soap-suds and lime-water 

 also failed. 



I then attempted removing the infected 

 or rather infested leaves daily, with shears, 

 and casting them by the basket full into the 

 fire, but in this I only succeeded in aiding 

 the destruction of the foliage. 



Will you please inquire of your numerous 

 subscribers, whether any of them have been 

 so annoyed, and have succeeded in finding 

 the genuine " worm bane !" B. 



Coatesville. Pa., April 14th, 1S45. 



We shall bo not a little gratified if some of our 

 readers should be able to answer the wishes of ourfriend, 

 for it is not in the country alone, but in the city also, 

 that these pests commit their depredations.— Ed. 



PoT.VTOE Sugar. — The growers of pota 

 toes in the British Kingdom are likely to be 

 benefited by the exertions of the home sugar 

 manufacturers, who are now determined to 

 purchase all that comes within their reach 

 At the manufactory of potatoe sugar at 

 Stratford, in Essex, and other places, we un 

 derstand that the " fruit of the earth" — po- 

 tatoe — will be taken in any quantity, and at 

 a fair price. We have no doubt that the 

 juice of the cane is superior to the meal of 

 the potatoe, but we have positive proof that 

 the potatoe can make up in quantity what is 

 deficient in quality, and as no one can ques 

 tion the nutriment in the potatoe, we do not 

 see why potatoe sugar should not be as ad 

 vantageous to the tea or cofiee table as the 

 potatoe is to the dinner table; be this as it 

 may, we have it on good authority that three 

 tons of the raw material will produce one 

 ton of the manufactured article, and conse- 

 quently the British manufacturer can suc- 

 cessfully compete with the foreign and colo 



nial producer, and pay the same duty as that 

 which is levied on the sugar imported from 

 the colonies. — Mass. Ploughman. 



From the Southern Planter. 

 Fruit Trees. 



I PROMISED to give you the result of an 

 experiment which I had made with tar in 

 preserving the peach and nectarine trees. 

 It is so very simple and cheap that all ad- 

 mirers of good fruit may have flourishing' 

 trees and a chance for eating good fruit. As 

 soon as the scion attains the size of a man's 

 finger, which is generally about the first of 

 autumn, remove the earth from about the 

 root and deposite around the stock of the 

 tree a half pint of soft tar, rubbing at the 

 same time the body of the scion for six or 

 eight inches above the surface with tar; 

 then replace the dirt previously removed. 

 This process must be repeated each suc- 

 ceeding year, say in the month of June, in- 

 creasing the quantity of tar according to the 

 growth of the tree. My own experience 

 enables me to say, that this recipe is infal- 

 lible. George C. Dodson. 



Mayoning, Va., Jan. 31st, 1845. 



Composition to render wood incombus- 

 tible. — Take a quantity of water, propor- 

 tionate to the surface of the wood you may 

 wish to cover, and add to it as much potash 

 as can be dissolved therein. When the wa- 

 ter will dissolve no more potash, stir into 

 the solution first a quantity of flour paste of 

 the consistency of common painter's size ; 

 second, a sufficiency of pure clay, to render 

 it of the consistency of cream. 



When the clay is well mixed, apply the 

 preparation as before directed to the wood ; 

 it will secure it from the action of both fire 

 and rain. In a most violent fire, wood thus 

 saturated may be carbonated, but it will 

 never blaze. 



If desirable, a most agreeable colour can 

 be given to the preparation, by adding a 

 small quantity of red or yellow ochre. — Buf- 

 falo Com. Adv. 



Malay Apple. — The Malay Apple, an 

 East India fruit, is now raised at Vicksburg, 

 Mississippi. Its scientific name is evgenia 

 iamhosia. In the East Indies, the native 

 clime of this fruit, the tree grows to a height 

 of twenty feet; at Vicksburg it is only five 

 feet in height. The apples are about the 

 size of a small peach, with a similar colour, 

 fragrant smell, and have the taste of a very 

 sweet common apple, with one seed in the 

 centre, of the size and colour of a chesnut. 

 — Western Farmer and Gardener. 



