m. 144.] 629 



A very important point in the management of all varieties of 

 grape, is the mode and season for pruning. No general system 

 or rule will suit. Experience must be the guide as to what will 

 answer best in different climates, soils, and situations. A method 

 which will do well in the north, may be destructive to the plant 

 in the south. 



Jujube Plum, (Zizyphus sativa,) a small tree or thorny shrub, 

 from the south of France, bearing a reddish plum, about the 

 size of olives, of an oval shape, and sweet, clammy taste, includ- 

 ing a hard oblong stone, pointed at both ends. From this fruit 

 is made the " Jujube paste " of the shops. In Italy and Spain, it 

 is served up at the table in deserts during the winter season, as a 

 dry sweet meat. These seeds have piincipally been distributed 

 in the middle and southern states. 



Pistachio JYtd, (Pistacia vera,) an extremely interesting tree, 

 has been imported, not merely on account of its ornamental 

 character, but because it is useful and produces agreeable nuts. 

 For this twofold reason, a quantity of them has been imported 

 from the southern part of Europe, and widely distributed through- 

 out the middle and southern sections of the Union. In favorable 

 situations, it will attain a height of fifteen or twenty feet, and fre- 

 quently while yet a mere shrub of five of six years standing, will 

 bear. Its branches spread out widely, without being numerous, 

 and the trunk is covered with a grayish-colored bark. The inflo- 

 rescence takes place about April or May. The male flowers, 

 which appear first, shoot from the side of the branches in loose 

 panicles, and are of a greenish tint. The female flowers put forth 

 in clusters, in the same manner. 



As the pistachio tree is dioecious, it is necessary to plant male 

 and female trees together, or they will not produce. The nuts 

 are of an oval form, about the size of an olive, slightly furrowed, 

 and (if a reddish color, containing, an oily kernel of a mild and 

 agreeable flavor. It is a native of Persia, Syria, Arabia, and Bar- 

 bary, and is supposed to have been introduced into Italy in the 

 second century, by the Emperor Vitellius, whence it was carried 

 into France, in the southern parts of which it is so far naturalized 



