April and May 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



S9 



For the Wetstern Pomologist. 



"Will it Pay to Plant Vineyards ? 



Tlic questiou is becoming seriously agitated, 

 Will it pay to raise grapes except for private 

 use? Will it pay as a business? The rapid 

 increase of the number of vines, and the ex- 

 ceeding fruitfuluess of the same, the rapid 

 decline of the prices of grapes, naturally sug- 

 gest the above inquiiy. 



Yes, it will pay to plant vineyards and 

 raise grapes. Suppose the price of grapes 

 should come down to an average of Jive cents 

 per pound, and the yield of an acre should lie 

 placed at four tons, the yield per acre would 

 be four hundred dollars. But regarding one- 

 half of tliis an average yield, it gives us two 

 hundred dollars as the product of an acre. 

 T)ie grape crop in California has been sold 

 as low as one cent per pound, and yet we 

 believe it is a profitable crop to raise. What 

 is there in agricultural products that can 

 make so great a return ? 



The reduction in the price of grapes will 

 bring them within the reach of a vast multi- 

 tude who liave felt unable to u.se them at 

 former rates, so that the consumption will be 

 almost without limit, when it becomes em- 

 phatically the fruit of the people— as cheap 

 as wheat, or any other class of food. We 

 need not fear that the supply wiU exceed the 

 demand. 



We may or may not b'-lieve in making 

 wine from grapes, or cider from apples; but 

 it will be most extensively done when the 

 extent of the grape crop warrants it. When 

 we consider the exorbitant price of foreign 

 wines, and the immense amount consumed 

 in the United States, when we consider that 

 wine can be manufactured at one dollar per 

 gallon, and am be had without the suspicion 

 of aduUeratiim which attaches to all foreign 

 and high-priced wines, it cannot be doubted 

 that a largely increasing amount of tlie future 

 grape crop will be consumed in making wine. 



Allowing ten pounds of grapes for a gallon 

 of wine, and at the above estimated yield' 

 one acre would make eight hundred gallons 

 of wine, which, at one dollar per (jalXon, would 

 heeujM hvndred dollars per acre. 



Will not American wiue-making almost en- 

 tirely drive the foreign ar.d adulterated wines 

 from the market ? 



Wlien a vineyard is established and in 

 bearing, it requires no more care than an 

 acre of corn, and the outlay is comparatively 

 small. The pruning can be done in autumn 

 or winter, when time is not valuable. 'I he 

 kind of labor is not fatiguing, and i.s wonder- 

 fully adapted to aged and infirm men. We 

 .say, then, provide grapes in abundance. The 

 people will pay forand eat them. J. A. N. 



Floral Decorations. 



Flowers ik Winter. — An old friend of 

 ours, who has long since passed away to the 

 better land, used to say that whenever he saw 

 flowers blooming in winter, on the window 

 sill of a farm house, he always felt disposed 

 to call at the doi.r and have" a few words of 

 friendly talk with the inmates, because he 

 felt (juite sure that they must be the right 

 kind of people.— £5^;. 



"Make your home beautiful — bring to it flowers; 

 Plant them around you to bud and to bloom ; 

 Let them give life to your loneliest hours- 

 Let them bring life to enliven your gloom. " 



The outward beauty of home is in pleasant 

 grounds, walks, shrubbery, flowers, trees, and 

 whatsoever can render it agreeable to the eye, 

 and suggest happy and virtuous thoughts to the 

 mind. Of this kind of beauty we should have 

 much about our houses A vine arbor, a flower- 

 bed, a grass plat, a gravel walk, a shade tree, a 

 pleasant yard are easily had, especially by farm- 

 ers and villagers. No one with hands and health 

 should be without such adornments to his home. 

 These surroundings, clean and comfortable, bright- 

 ened by flowers, music, sunlight and soft gentle 

 words, are dreams of beauty that awaken some- 

 thing a Imost beatific in many a dreary cellar 

 and lonely garret, which will never entirely fade 

 from the memory, but will forever linger in the 

 mind and heart as reminiscenses of happy hours 

 at the "old homestead," and as oft recurring in- 

 centives to strive after a higher and holier life. 

 There has been of late a marked increase in the 

 use of flowers for social purposes. Every dinner 

 party or dancing party must now be graced with 

 these "stars of earth." At larger assemblies 

 there is always a lavish display of flowers, as if it 

 were designed to intoxicate the guests with de- 

 licious odors of innumerable blossoms. If we 

 visit a lady, flowers must precede our coming; if 

 we drive out with her, the odor of flowers must 

 sweeten the pleasure. Superb presentation 

 baskets and bouquets are seen in almost every 

 parlor, and are the horticultural compliments of 

 gentlemen to ladies Flowers are, of course, ex- 

 tensively used at weddings, but are employed 

 more liberally at funerals. Five hundred aoUars 

 are not unfrequently expended in crosses and 

 wreaths for those solemn occasions. Many of our 

 churches of late years have employed flowers ex- 

 tensively on occasions of religious festivals. A 

 child, even, can plant a flower seed or a shrub; 

 and, if properly taught and encouraged, will be 

 glad to engage in such pleasant labors. In the 

 morning and evening hours, how much mny be 

 done to beautify one's home. If every week adds 

 a little, and every year more, how much will be 

 done in and about one's dwelling to give it an air 

 of cheerful beauty. And of all beauty, that 

 which is natural is most to be admired — such as 

 grows, bears and blossoms. Give us, then, flowers 

 to help out more fully our inner enjoyments of 

 literary life and pleasure, and to raise our 

 thoughts mere fully from -'nature up to nature's 

 Uod." M O'Keefe. 



Horticulture and the Ornamentation 

 Tables and Dishes. 



of 



On this subject the American Agriculturist 

 throws out the following excellent suggestions : 



"Few are aware how thoroughly the eye and 

 palate are in sympathy, and in how great a meas- 

 ure the appefito is modified by the appearance of 

 our food The confectioners are aware of this 

 fact, and present their wares in tempting colors, 

 and most of us can recollect seeing an otherwise 

 good meal spoiled by being thrown upon the 

 dishes and set upon a soiled table-cloth. All will 

 admit that neatness and order are essential in the 

 arrangements of a table; these ars within the 

 reach of even the poorest. Beyond these there is 

 decoration, ornamentation of our tables for the 

 sole purpose of pleasing the eye, and this is some- 

 times carried to a great extent. We wore once 

 several days a guest at a house where the orna- 

 mentation was painfully elaborate, where each 

 day the butter was carved (not stamped) in some 

 new form, and a pie was a work of art which it 

 seemed a pity to destroy. Here the thing was 

 overdone and oppressive, and our renders can 

 make better use of their time than to devote it 



to anything elaborate. Still, we believe that 

 those of moderate means and in the humbler 

 spheres may with propriety give more attention 

 to the appearance of their tables and the looks 

 of the food upon them, the first great requisite of 

 neatness being complied with. There is no table 

 in the land, from the richest to the poorest, but 

 what would be more attractive for u bunch of 

 flowers These are decorations that are always 

 in place, and may be set in vases of silver or 

 crystal on the board of the millionaire, or occupy 

 a cracked tumbler by the side of Pat's pork and 

 potatoes. Besides flowers, green upon the table 

 is always pleasing. In the spring half of the 

 relish uf cresses and salads is due to their fresh 

 look, and the fact that they remind us that 

 winter has gone and the season of growth has 

 come Every garden should have its patch of 

 curled parsley, which will be found useful in 

 ornamenting many dishes, its fine rich green 

 giving an attractive appearance. Just notice the 

 difference in the appearance of a supper table, 

 where in one case the ragged remains of the roast 

 or boiled of a previous dinner are set on, and 

 where the same meat is nicely sliced and regular- 

 ly laid upon a dish and surrounded by a green 

 border of parsley. This kind of ornamentation 

 is unpretending and always in good taste. A 

 dish of spinach may be made to look really 

 beautiful by having the surface nicely smoothed 

 and then surrounded by a border of slices of hard 

 boiled eggs. Those who wish to attempt some- 

 thing elaborate, can use carrots and beets, these 

 are readily cut into stars, crescents, scrolls, etc , 

 by bending up a strip of sheet tin into the desired 

 sh:ipe and using it as a cutter. With these ma- 

 terials a very showy border may be placed around 

 a platter. Of course the extent to which dishes 

 may with good taste be ornamented, will depend 

 upon the occasion and the surroundings. It 

 should never be overdone. 



Making Flower Seeds Grow. 



Chas. D. Copeland, a horticulturist, furnishes 

 us with the following hints, for the inexperienced 

 in cultivating flowers. He says three things are 

 indispensable for success in growing flowers : 



1 The soil must be made mellow, and be pul- 

 verized as fine as possible, if naturally coarse and 

 lumpy; then small seeds should be covered very 

 thinly ; not more than one-eighth of an inch, by 

 sifting on line earth, and pressing it down gently 

 with a board or shingle. 



2. The bed must be kept moist, but not very 

 wet by sprinkling on water gently, toward 

 evening, every dry day, until the plants begin to 

 come up. 



3. The ground should be shaded in some way, 

 to prevent 'he hot sun from shining upon the bed, 

 until the plants are up, and have acquired a little 

 strength After that, they should enjoy the sun- 

 shine, more or less. And when about two inches 

 high, tbey should be thinned out, by transplant- 

 ing a part of them, insomuch, that they can grow 

 stocky and strong; in which case, the blosssoms 

 will be earlier and more perfect. Asa general 

 rule, sow seed about the time farmers plant their 

 corn. Still, they may be sown earlier, as tomatoes 

 and cabbages are, under glass, or in boxes in the 

 kitchen window, and thus be earlier in floweriuEr 



1^^ ^ 



■Winter-Blooming Pinks. 



Hero is a great addition to our house plants, 

 blooming from October to May. To manage them, 

 take cuttings in September or October, cutting 

 through a joint to insure striking, insert them in 

 pots of sandy loam, and put them into a cold 

 frame. Before winter sets in, remove them to the 

 green house or parlor window After the roots 

 have formed, pot them off into single pots. By 

 April, they will have made strong growth, when 

 the middle shoot should be cut back, which will 

 cause the plant to spread out at the base and be- 

 come bushy. 



This nipping back of the shoots is perhaps the 

 most important part of their treatment, the neg- 

 lect of which accounts for the scanty bloom seen 

 in some cases. When they have made a new 

 growth ol an inch or so, they should bo shifted to 

 six-inch pots, the soil being composed of woods 

 earth, sand, and old hot-bed manure. When all 

 danger of frost is over, the pots should be plunged 

 in the open garden. As the stems grow, break 

 off all but four, and tie these up to stakes By 

 September, flower buds will appear, when the 

 pots should be lilted and allowed to stand a week 

 or so in a half shaded place, prior to their re- 

 moval to the bouse. They will then bloom for 

 several months, and will repay all trouble by 

 their fragrance and perpetual flowering. — Rural 

 American. 



