March 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



41 



in dead of winter, and the fruit hanging 

 withered and sour. Amid all this desolation 

 " No. 13" stood up uuscatlied; we were un- 

 able to discover any defect, except in the 

 time of ripening, which was at least two 

 weela later than iu ordinary seasons. In 

 bulk and weight of fruit to the vine, of pimi- 

 lar i-ize and age, it compared as about three 

 to two over Concord. 



Tlic color of the berry in the shade, when 

 ripe, is a wliitish green, and wlicre exposed, 

 a dark, ricli amber ; skiu exceedingly thin, 

 and parts freely and clearly from the pulp. 

 During the three j'ears of our acquaintance 

 with this grape, we have made some experi- 

 ments with it. In comparison with Concord, 

 Delaware, Crevelling, and .several of Rogers' 

 Hybrids, it has proved mucli the best keeper. 

 "We have also succeeded in making from it 



Specimens of raisins that, to the eye, can 

 scarcely be distinguislied from an ordinary 

 article of commerce. It seems to possess in 

 a remarkable degree, the principle of self- 

 preservation. 



The question naturally arises, why has not 

 Mr. Mathews propagated this grape largely, 

 and disseminated the plants generally 

 throughout the State? And, we think, we 

 have more tlian once suggested our views to 

 him on tliis subject. He has, however, per- 

 sisted in his refusal to press it upon public 

 attention, until thoroughly and satisfactorily 

 tested by himself, and until it shall have 

 been recommended by other horticulturists 

 in the State. Consequently he has only 

 parted with plants to a few friends, on his 

 own private recommendation, until last fall, 

 since which lie has sold a few hundred vines 



to persons, most of whom have seen and 

 tasted for themselves. 



As we intend, through the columns of the 

 PoMOLOGisT, to recommend from time to 

 time such fruits, and none others, than those 

 we believe to be among the best from a 

 thorough acquaintance, we feel no hesitation 

 after three years trial of " No. 13," in recom- 

 mending it f(jr public favor, firmly believing 

 that if it succeeds as well in other portions 

 of the West, as in the Central portions of 

 Iowa, where it has been so fully tried, and 

 where we have watched it with so much in- 

 terest, it will prove the greatest acquisition 

 in the grajje line yet introduced west of the 

 Mississippi — a conclusion we have by no 

 means been hasty iu arriving at. 



LiLruM BrrLBS. — It may be that some o 

 our readers have not obtained and planted 

 bulbs of the choice lilies during the past fall, 

 and yet they may feel a desire to have them 

 iu flower the coming summer. To such we 

 say, obtain the bulbs as soon as you can, and 

 pot them in a soil composed of two-thirds 

 sharp sand. Place them in a warm, dry cel- 

 lar until March, and then bring them up into 

 a cold frame or the window of a common liv. 

 iug room ; water just enough to keep them 

 moist, not at any time wet or dry, and as soon 

 as they begin to grow, give them a position 

 in a spent hot-bed frame, plunging the pot. 

 Wlien the weather gets warm out of doors, 

 the bulbs may be turned carefully out of the 

 pots into the open ground, being careful not 

 to loosen the soil among the roots. The 

 blooms will be much better than will those 

 which are not planted until the frost leaves 

 the ground in the spring. — Rural New Yorker. 



Cheap Hot-Bed Covers.— One of the 

 best materials for covering frames besides 

 glass, is common white muslin, coated with 

 tlie following composition : — ^Take one quart 

 of linseed oil, one ounce of sugar of lead, 

 and three ounces of resin. Pulverize the 

 sugar of lead in a little oil, then add it to the 

 otiier material-!. Put all into an iron kettle, 

 and heat it until the resin is dissolved, and 

 tlie otlier ingredients are thoroughly mixed; 

 stretch the muslin upon the frames, and 

 apply while hot. Frames prepared in this 

 manner will last several years, if kept under 

 covered when not in use. 



— The Orleans American states that there 

 have been sold from thi^ county of Orleans, 

 N. Y., this season 218,i)U barrels of apples. 

 This is in addition to those m:i<'r into cider 

 or reserved for home co' .-nniption. The 

 lirice averaged between ?^~ to and $3 80 per 

 barrel, delivered at the >\rare-house3 ; conse- 

 quently there was nearly six hundred thou- 

 sand dollars received by the farmers of 

 Orleans county, for apples the present sea- 

 son. 



♦*-♦ 



— Niagiira county has shipped 210,402 bar- 

 rels of apples, mostly to the eastern markets, 

 during the season. "The average price was 

 |2 90 per barrel, the amount realized being 



$010,65. 



«-•-• 



White water-lilies are like beautiful 

 thoughts, rocked on the swells of a pure 

 bosom. 



