Editors' Letter- Box. 319 



E. G. B., Boston, Mass. — i. The Delaware Grape is so capricious, that no 

 positive answer can be given to your first inquiry. Buy good strong vines with 

 plenty of roots ; see them taken up yourself; plant in a rich, well-drained soil ; 

 and, by giving an annual dressing of rotten manure, you will have all the chances 

 of success in your favor. 



2. No advantage that we know of is gained by uncovering buried vines of 

 the lona or any other variety very early. We always postpone taking up our 

 own vines just as long as we can, and not run the risk of injuring the swollen 

 buds. 



3. The frost of the i8th of September, 1868, injured grape-clusters that were 

 exposed on the upper parts of trellises ; but, in cases where the grapes were 

 where they should be, — viz., at the bottom of the vine, — they generally escaped. 



4. Perfectly practicable ; but straw-matting is better and warmer. 



5. Winter-apples may be gathered about the 15th of October. Put them at 

 once in barrels, and set the barrels in an open shed. 



6. A potato-grower of great experience tells us that the 12th of April is the 

 very earliest that he dares to plant potatoes in this latitude ; and then the severe 

 frosts of May often injure the tops. 



7. The Early Rose Potato, according to present indications, bids fair to be 

 one of the very best and earliest kinds. We are going to plant the Harrison 

 and Goodrich for market next year. 



8. Onions will do well in light, sandy soil liberally manured ; and they will 

 }iot do well in any soil without abundance of fertilizing material. 



T. T. S., Dansville, N.Y. — The parasite on the pear-stock you sent us is a 

 species of cuscuta or dodder. 



A. F. W., Baltimore, Md. — Sweet-potatoes are occasionally raised here at 

 the North for market, and frequently grown in private gardens as a matter of 

 curiosity. We raised a few this year, but did not set out our plants until 'the 

 loth of June, and they did not come to much. 



We believe that sweet-potatoes are raised in Kingston, Mass., with some 

 degree of success ; but. wherever raised at the North, their flavor is apt to be 

 inferior to that of the Southern-grown ones. 



They are raised on ridges in light sandy soil with an abundance of manure. 



A. P. F., Worcester, Mass. — It is as easy to raise seedling geraniums of 

 pelargoniums as it is to raise white beans. Plant the seeds in the house in light 

 rich soil. Put them in endwise, with about an eighth of an inch of earth over thenv 

 Keep the soil moderately damp and warm, but not too wet ; and the seeds will 

 begin to come up in about a month. 



Construction Account. — A span-roof, curvilinear greenhouse costs more 

 that a lean-to, but, in appearance, is far handsomer. Read Mr. Lord's articles, 

 now publishing in " The Journal of Horticulture," if you wish new and good 

 ideas on sreenhouse-building. 



