1871 



THE POMOLOGIST AISTO GARDENER. 



169 



be liimDarir. 



Vineyard TTork for the MonHi(Jnly). 



By the Assoc lATE Editob. 

 There will be but little work to be (lone 



this 



month in the vineyard if the vines have been prop- 

 erly treated last month and previously, except an 

 occasional straggling shoot may require shortening- 

 iii, a renewing cane tying up, and a few new suckers 

 removed. This is the month of all others that we 

 should have tlic ground clean and free from weeds 

 and the vineyard in perfect order, as it is this month 

 that the seeds mature and the saccharine matter is 

 principally formed. 



Everything which tends toward a free circulation 

 of air and a high temperature adds to the quality 

 and aroma of your grajies. Therefore your vine- 

 yard should be perfectly surface-drained if in a 

 location subject to much rain, as nothing tends so 

 much to diminish the heat, and it requires for every 

 inch of rain absorbed an additional heat of 40 de- 

 grees to overcome the diminished temperature. 



Your grafts should still be attended to, and the 

 suckers removed. Sometimes they are very slow to 

 start, and require watching patiently. 



Keep your cuttings and layers clean. You may 

 also graft green shoots of the grape on current 

 year's growth, in the same manner other grafting is 

 done. If you wish to ship grapes, attend at once to 

 procuring the necessary boxes in good season. 



* » t 



A ivord more about " No. 13." 

 Bt Prof. James M.^thews, Iowa Aor'l CoLLEaE. 



Ed. Pomolooist : A day or two since I received 

 a copy of the " Oi'ope OulUiri.it" edited by George 

 Hussman, Esq., of Missouri, which contains an edi- 

 torial in reference to " No. 13 " grape, or rather the 

 one 1 obtained of Mr. Rogers, for that No. The ed- 

 itor says — " T/ie illitstration you r/nve is a perfect pic- 

 ture of a (jnod OoetJie" (which means Roger's Hy- 

 brid " No. 1,") "while the entire description. td.io corres- 

 pondt." 



As this question is being agitated considerably in 

 connection with my name, it may be proper that I 



r should give a word of explanation as to my agency 



|| in the matter. 



I have had no doubt for several years that the va- 

 riety I received from Mr. Rogers tor his " No. 13 " 

 is not the true one, and have so stated on all occa- 

 sions. For the mistake I am in no way responsible. 

 I ordered the true No. 13 of Mr. Rogers, together 

 with several numbers, about ten years ago, on his 

 recommendation. Not having the correspondence 

 before me now, 1 cannot state the precise date. In 

 the same package containing the "No. 13," was also 

 a plant of No. 1. They were put up separately, and 

 each distinctly labeled. I also received a list by 

 letter from him at the same time, corresponding 

 with these marks. Both vines fruited the next 

 year, each having a half dozen or more bunches of 

 very handsome fruit, and resembled each other, but 

 there was one marked and radical difference. The 

 No. 1 was delicious in flavor, the " No. 13 " was per- 

 fectly insipid and unfit to eat. With this funda- 

 mental difference, I never thought of ulentity. 



In writing to Mr. Hus.sman on some other mat- 

 ters that fiiU, I mentioned the fact of having such a 

 large and handsome grape, which for want of flavor 

 was worthless, and stated to him also, that it was 

 one of Mr. Roger's seedlings. He in reply, I very 

 well remember, advised me not to discard it on that 

 account, saying in substance, that "it sometimes oc- 

 curred that seedling grapes when first commencing 

 to bear were tasteless, but would after a year or two 

 improve in quality, and rank among the most valu- 

 able varieties." 



The next year this kind was very much improved 

 in quality, and in the following season I thought, 

 and still think it the best hardy grape I ever tasted. 

 About two years after this, perhaps in the fall of 

 1864, 1 first discovered by comparing this fruit with 

 the description of the true No. 13 in Mr. Rogers' 

 catalogue, that mine was not correct. I then had a 

 correspondence with Mr. Rogers on the subject, in 

 which I described the fruit as well as I could, and 

 he replied in substance, that he thought it might be 

 his No. 1. I then made as close a compari-son as 

 I could, and called the attention of others to Mr. 

 Rogers' suggestion. Among the number, I recol- 

 lect that Mr. Kimball, of Oskaloosa, who is a pretty 

 close observer, examined the fruit and vines in my 



