1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



419 



nearly escaped. Over-luxuriousness, from what- 

 ever cause, was highly favorable to the progress 

 of the disease, and vice versa. 



Mr. Marcy, in his address before the Hampden 

 Society, remarked, that "potatoes have been stim- 

 ulated to death. The potato rot, whether it be 

 an insect, or a fungus, or some internal organic 

 disposition to decay, is, we believe, due to artifi- 

 cial stimulating fertilizers. The best potatoes we 

 have seen this year, the cleanest, fah-est, the most 

 free from rot, the most perfect every way, were 

 raised on sandy soil, upon Avhich nothing but peat 

 had beey placed for several years." I. 



THS MONSTER PETRIFIED TREE OF 

 BLACK ROCK. 



Some doubts having been expressed as to the 

 truth of the discovery said to have been recently 

 made in the Black Rock region, of a petrified tree 

 of some seven or eight hundred feet long, J. E. 

 Stevens, the captain of the late silver prospecting 

 expedition in that region, and who fathered the 

 wonderful story, writes to the Marysville Demo- 

 crat on the subject. He says : 



"Our party of thirty-five men encamped at the 

 lower end of what we termed the Little Canon, 

 about three miles from which we found this fa- 

 mous petrification, and which is truly a great cu- 

 riosity and a wonder of the age sufficient to arouse 

 the credulity of those who passed through the 

 'High Rock Canon' in 1849. At a short distance 

 from this monster of a former age, it seemed to 

 us to be a well-defined line of drift-wood deposit- 

 ed along the line of high water mark of some an- 

 cient river, whose bed is now an elevated moun- 

 tain ridge ; but on closer inspection, we unani- 

 mously pronounced it one tree, as we found it 

 distinctly marked from the upturned roots to its 

 forks, and its two well defined forks to what was, 

 when standing, an altitude of 666 feet, or 2L'2 such 

 steps as a western frontier man takes when step- 

 ping ofi" his distance to shoot at a target, or any 

 man would take in pacing off a turnip patch. 



At about 400 feet from the roots, the tree is di- 

 vided into two parts, or forks, about equal in size, 

 and at 520 feet from the root, I took oft' a speci- 

 men from one of these forks, having on its sur- 

 face at the time the outer and inner bark of the 

 tree, and which specimen is now in the office of 

 Dr. Thompson, on D Street, between Third and 

 Fourth. From the curves of the lines of growth 

 we estimated the diameter of the branch from 

 which it was taken, to be from 8 to 12 feet, and 

 this, bear in mind, at a distance of 520 feet from 

 the root of the tree and only half the tree at 

 that. This estimate may be too high, or it may 

 be too low, but in the height of the tree, Ave can- 

 not be far at fault in saying that it measured 

 when standing some TOO or 800 feet in height." 



Capt. Stevens adds that J. B. Dorr, lumber 

 dealer, Capt. McKenzie, formerly of the steamer 

 Petaluma, and several other gentlemen of un- 

 doubted integrity, who reside at San Francisco, 

 will not only confirm the truth of the existence of 

 the petrified tree, but show specimens thereof. 



Useful Receipt. — The Scienfifc American 

 advises the ladies, when they wish to Avash fine 

 and elegant colors, to boil some bran in rain wa- 



ter, and use the liquid cold. Nothing, it is said, 

 can equal it for cleaning cloth, and for revivifying 

 effects upon colors. Try it, ladies. 



RAISING GRAPES BY HORSE-POWJ3R. 



We have been amused by the following state- 

 ment of a "clericus" correspondent of the Canadi- 

 an Agriculturist. The writer remarks that he had 

 been reading an English work on grape-growing, 

 in which "horse-power" Avas strongly recommend- 

 ed in the production of grapes, and that he fell 

 into the mistake, very common Avith amateurs and 

 novices in gardening — that because a little of a 

 thing is good, a great deal must be better ; and 

 that because an application Avas beneficial to a 

 heavy, cold clay soil, it must be equally so to a 

 light, dry soil. 



"Having selected a Avell sheltered spot, some 

 sixty by eighteen feet, it Avas dug perhaps thirty 

 inches deep. At the bottom Avere laid one hun- 

 dred and twenty bushels of bones, to obtain Avhich, 

 the boys Avith" laudable zeal scoured tAvo town- 

 ships. " On these Avere placed several horses, and 

 to keep them company, a prize bull and a span of 

 oxen. On these again were deposited road scrap- 

 ings, sand and black mould, fourteen inches in 

 depth. This having been levelled, all Avas ready 

 for planting. Such was Mr. Robert's prescription. 

 The vines Avere obtained. Black Hamburgs, Black 

 St. Peters, Zingindal, Royal Muscadine, Golden 

 Chasselas, Pitmaston, AVhite Cluster, Macready's 

 Early White, Red Frontignac and Tokay. They 

 grcAV the first season marvellously. By the au- 

 tumn, the canes Avere long and stout, and bid fair 

 to bear all that it Avas prudent to permit them to 

 do. The foUoAving season they Avere lifted, Avashed, 

 carefully and constantly pruned, thinned and 

 trained. They bore abundantly ; many beautiful 

 bunches, beautiful for size and color, rewarded 

 the expenditure of toil and expense. But the next 

 season, the third, in Avhich I looked for a large 

 and remunerating crop, Avhat came then ? Then 

 Avhen the roots had fairly reached the soddened 

 mass, and their tender extremities Avere scorched 

 and burnt, then mildeAV overspread them all. 

 There Avas no exceptions ; Isabellas and Cataw- 

 bas, and the little hardy black cluster, Avhich were 

 treated in the same manner, one and all, present- 

 ed a mass of blackened foliage and mildewed fruit. 

 This Avas raising grapes by horse-power with a 

 vengeance. I knoAv better noAv. No fresh horse 

 goes into my border now to force an unnatural 

 groAvth, and then to burn the delicate fibres just 

 as they stretch out to seize the proffered nourish- 

 ment. Not that the possession of one or many 

 such carcases is not desirable, but before applying 

 them, they should be covered Avith mould, and 

 suflered to decay ; such mould will, indeed, be 

 rich, and if applied to the plant in srnall quanti- 

 ties at a time, Avill nourish it and cherish it to its 

 heart's content. I tell you all this, dear reader, in 

 confidence. I have never told it before. I can- 

 not noAv wonder at the wry faces of those who be- 

 held my preparations, nor at their solemn assev- 

 erations, that they Avould never eat grapes raised 

 by such a method. Alas, they never had the 

 chance !" 



