112 



THE GENESEE PARMER 



December 31, 1SSJ 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



'VlORUS MULTICAULIS, CATALPA, &c- 

 If I recollect right, J. Buel, Esq. stated tha 1 

 ■he Moras multicaulis did not stand the open 

 -.vinter at his nursery grounds near Albany. — 

 Last summer, a year ago, I received three trees of 

 that description from the nursery of Mr. Par- 

 mentier, on Long Island. It being \ery late, and 

 not at the moment having time to set them out, I 

 put them, with some other trees, into, or rather 

 on to the ground, setting them at an. angle of per- 

 haps 40 degrees, and covered the roots and stems 

 about one foot with earth. In the spring I set 

 Uiem out : they grew well and are now alive. I 

 -ivill try to give you an account of them next sum- 

 mer if they live. As an ornamental tree, I think 

 them worthy of attention. Their large, deep 

 green leaf is particularly grateful for shade, while 

 their rapid growth quickly supplies it. Even the 

 •;ommon white mulberry, such as is used for feed- 

 ing the silk worm, is a tree of great ornament. — 

 1 1 leaves out very late in the spring like the Lo- 

 cust, but retains a fine green foliage late in Octo- 

 ber, when all other trees are in the " sear and yel- 

 low leaf," or stripped entirely of their verdure. 

 It is also very easily propagated, growing in ma- 

 ny instances from the slips. 



The Catalpa has with many in this latitude, 

 died in the winter to the ground. I have several 

 in my grounds that have stood through the two 

 past winters, and very severe ones too, with no 

 protection at all. They grow vigorously, and as 

 yet appear well adapted to the climate; but I 

 much doubt whether they will attain that deep and 

 full luxuriance in this country, that they do in the 

 climate of Philadelphia and Cincinnati. 



As I may have occasion to again speak of the 

 growth or situation of vegetation, under my own 

 observance, I will remark that all my trees, plants, 

 shrubs and flowers, together with my garden and 

 orchard, are situated on an eminence in full view 

 of Lake Erie, and elevated about sixty feet above 

 .{; receiving of course, the full force of all the 

 winds that sweep over it from the south west. — 

 The soil is a fine sandy loam, of exceeding fertil- 

 ity, and throws out a luxuriance of vegetation 

 equal to any I have ever seen. The level of Lake 

 Erie is 568 feet above the Hudson River, at Alba- 

 ny, and about 68 feet above the canal at Roches- 

 ter; and although vegetation at Buffalo, is about 

 $ week or ten days later in the spring than at 

 Rochester, caused, no doubt, by the low tempera 

 I are of Lake Erie, it is nearly the same as at Al- 

 bany, and earlier than at Utica. The thermome- 

 ter ranges on an average, ten or twelve degrees 

 higher in the coldest weather than at Utica, or 

 Albany ; and usually higher than at Rochester. 

 But in the summer the average is considerably 

 lower than at either place, owing, no doubt, to the 

 cool and refreshing air of the Lake. These facts 

 might be of little consequence otherwise than in 

 comparing notes, as may with much advantage 

 be occasionally done, with other of your distant 

 c.ovrespendenls, for which purpose, such notes are 

 necessary to arrive at correct conclusions. 



Ulmus. 



fj» Ten bales of American sliirtings were sold at 

 auction. at Calcutta, on the 27th of May last. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



VARIETIES OF THE VINE. 



The Muscadine, Sweet water, or Chasselas 

 Grape — (for I consider them all the same, as I 

 have never yet been able to see any difference; 

 notwithstanding the parade of the nurserymen in 

 holding forth some dozen varieties for sale) — has 

 been exposed to the open air through the winter 

 here for several years without detriment. It is 

 usually a profuse bearer, and yields witli little 

 trouble much better fruit than is .now selling at 

 our shops, imported from France, for forty-two 

 cents a pound. I have never yet known any 

 description of the grape here to blast or mildew. 

 Whenever the fruit forms, it grows to full maturi- 

 ty. And whenever we have bloom, we have 

 fruit; owing, no doubt, to the vegetation being 

 retarded so long in the spring, as to be out of dan- 

 gerof the late frosts. I have neverseen finer Chas- 

 slas, Black Hamburg, Munier (or Miller,) or 

 Isabella Grapes, than here : and never do I recol- 

 lect seeing a blasted berry, or one injured by the 

 sting or puncture of an insect. In a garden at 

 Brooklyn, on Long Island, last summer, I saw a 

 number of very fine Isabella vines, with a prodi- 

 gious quantity of fruit upon them, and in many 

 instances, nearly one half the berries had wither- 

 ed and turned brown, showing the appearance of 

 having been stung by some insect. Indeed, the 

 old gentleman who owned them, a very kind man, 

 of much practical knowledge on the subject, alleg- 

 ed that to be the fact, but was entirely ignorant of 

 the insect causing it ; having, as he told me, never 

 suffered so before. This was about the middle of 

 August. Whether those noxious insects have not 

 yet reached us, or our atmosphere is more friendly 

 to the growth of the grape than on the sea board, 

 I am not yet able to say : but our fruits generally, 

 are fairer and freer from the annoyance of such 

 animals. I never yet saw a wormy apple in this 

 county but once, which was in an apple from Can- 

 ada, on Niagara river. 



Speaking of Grapes, Mr. Prince, in his work 

 on Horticulture, published in 1828, at page 51, in 

 describing the Isabella Grape, says: "this grape 

 of which but a single vine existed in 1816, and 

 which I at that time met with in the possession 

 of the gentleman before mentioned (Col. Gibbs,) 

 and deemed worthy of notice, and a name, &c." 

 Mr. Prince speaks what he no doubt believed ; 

 but the same grape, not known by that name, was 

 introduced into his garden at Norwich, Connecti- 

 cut, as early as the year 1804 or 5, by a French 

 gentleman, named Vernet, where it has been cul- 

 tivated ever since, and the original vine is yet in 

 the garden where it was planted, now owned by 

 Oapt. Bela Peck. Where Mr Vernet obtained 

 the grape, I am unable to say. It was called in 

 Norwich, the Lisbon Grape, and was supposed to 

 have been brought by Mr. V. from France or Cu- 

 ba, where he had a plantation. That grape I 

 know to be the identical Isabella, as I now have 

 them growing side by side, and can never discover 

 the difference in stem, fruit, or leaf. One I raised 

 from a slip from the original vine at Norwich, 

 and the other was obtained from the genuine 

 stock at Long Island. 



The above quoted remark of Mr. Prince, I 

 deem of but little consequence, other than a mis- 

 apprehension of the true history of that most ex- 

 cellent fruit, about which much has been said, and 



generally supposed to be a native American frui! 

 That it is a native of our country, of original 

 stock, I do not believe ; as all the indigenous 

 grapes that I have ever yet seen, possess the same 

 acid, hard pulp, and thick leathery skin of the or- 

 dinary Fox or Bullet Grape. 



It would be a matter of much satisfaction, if 

 not instruction, to know from either professor 

 Gimbrede, Mr. Adlum, or other experienced 

 vignerons, whether any native grape has yet been 

 produced from the seed of native grapes, not 

 crossed with the pollen of foreign varieties, which 

 is free from those qualities of skin and pulp be ■ 

 fore mentioned. So far as my own observations 

 have extended, the native American grape, inclu- 

 ding the Isabella, (if it be one) in its varieties, is 

 by far the most certain and prolific of any yet 

 cultivated. I have now under cultivation, seven 

 varieties of the native and ten or twelve foreign 

 varieties. I expect most of them will bear the 

 next season, and I shall compare and note them 

 impartially. So far, with the same soil and cul- 

 ture, which is not extraordinary, the natives are 

 from two to five times the size of the others. The 

 Miller, Burgundy, and Black Hamburgh, howev- 

 er, come, nearer to the natives than any others in 

 thrifty growth and hardy quality. Ulmcs. 



FOR THE OENESEE FARMER. 



1 would sooner borrow the purchase money at: 

 interest than be without Webster's American Die 

 tionary abridged by Worcester. 



In order to test the value of this work. I took tip 

 the last number of Silliman's Journal, and open 

 ing at page 1, 1 read on to page 14, noticing such 

 words as are not found in Walter (and Johnson's) 

 8vo. Dictionary. These pages chiefly consist of 

 an extract from Ph ill ip's Geology of Yorkshire. 

 1809 ; and all these words except tile first, arc 

 used by an Englishman in England. W. indi- 

 cates such of the words as are in Webster. 

 critique, W. page 1 radiaria, page 10 



intermutation, W. 3 mollusea, W. 10 



Wernerian, W. 3 mammiferous, W. 10 



oolitte (oolite, W.) 5 subaqueous, W. 13 



stratification, W. 6 dyke (dike, W.) 13 



superimposed, W. 6 faults, W. 13 



sienite, W. 9 coal-measures, 14 



Again, I opened Good's Book of Nature, and 

 (without any particular choice) examined his 13th 

 Lecture, from which I took the following words 

 which arc not in Walker. 



mammals, W. 



oxygen, W. 

 nitrogen, W. 

 caloric, W. 

 azote, W. 

 gaseous — gas 

 carbonic, W. 

 carbon, W. 

 modena hue, 

 hydrogen, W. 

 carbonaceous, 

 aroma, W. 

 fibrine, W. 

 albumen, W. 



crassament, W. 



oxyd, W 



phosphorescent, W. 



amphibials, W. 



stigmata, W. 



trachea, W. 



molluscous, W 



primordia, 



aura, W. 



fetor, W. 



pabulum, W. 



harmattan, W, 



septics, W. 



adipocire (adipoccre W-) 

 In Good's Medicine, I found the following: 

 infusory, W- page 1 caicum, page 3 



parietes," 1 mammalia, 3 



medusa- .1 nomadic, W. 4 



actinia-, 2 mollusea, W. G 



vulva, 3 a^otfr—azotic, W. -6' 



s — gas, W 



W 



