J3 



1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



121 



tion to this climate, its early ripening, its numer- 

 ous clusters, and the remarkably delicate and sac- 

 charine character bf the fruit. In this latter re- 

 spect it is unequalled, unless it is by some of the 

 foreign varieties which must be raised under 

 glass. When the fruit is perfectly ripe, it is as 

 nearly translucent as the White Sweet-water, and 

 more sweet, as the Sweet-water has a slight wa- 

 tery taste. It ripens three weeks earlier than the 

 Isabella. In every respect but size, the Delaware 

 i3 A No. 1, for open air culture. Some have 

 thought it specially liable to mildew, but I do not 

 think they will entertain that opinion after they 

 have given it a fair trial and proper cultivation. 

 Its excelkut qualities are as yet but little known 

 in this section of the country. Prince says "it is 

 our highest flavored and most delicious hardy 

 grape." 



The Diana originated in Boston, and is of course 

 adapted to this latitude. It is a vigorous grower, 

 a good bearer, and extremely hardy. The bunch- 

 es are large, the flavor excellent, and the fruit can 

 be kept for use in the winter. 



The Hartford Prolific is a hardy and produc- 

 tive variety. The berry is large and round, black 

 and covered with bloom. It ripens at least two 

 weeks before the Isabella, and superior cultivation 

 will quite effectively prevent the fruit from falling 

 from the stem. When thoroughly ripened, it is 

 highly sacc*harine. 



The Concord, though hardy and prolific, is by 

 no means a grape of the first class. The fruit is 

 large and beautiful, but it has a thick skin, and 

 the pulp has considerable toughness and native 

 pungency. It is worthy, however, of a place in 

 our gardens. 



The Isabella, so well known among us, is an 

 excellent grape when it is well ripened. It has 

 lost the high standing which it held thirty or for- 

 ty years ago, before earlier varieties were intro- 

 duced. It does not usually ripen well oftener 

 than once in three or four years. 



The Catawba, the great wine grape of Ohio, 

 does not succeed so well in this climate. I have 

 raised a few specimens of this superior fruit, but 

 it is not equal to the Ohio grapes. Its great ex- 

 cellence, however, demands further trials. 



I have also several of Rogers' Hybrids and Al- 

 len's Hybrids, which may fruit the present season. 

 They are said to possess many excellent qualities 

 by those who have tested them. Col. Wilder be- 

 lieves that some of Rogers' Hybrids stand in the 

 very first class of hardy native grapes. 



What is the best method of pruning grape vines^ 



This depends very much upon the system which 

 is adopted for the growth of the vine, whether it 

 be the fan, the long cane, or the renewal system. 

 The details of pruning are so numerous and in- 

 tricate that they cannot be specified in this paper ; 

 but they can be found in any of the best books 

 on the culture of grapes. It is proper, however, 

 to say, in general, that the grape attempts more 

 than it can perform. The secret of proper prun- 

 ing, then, seems to consist in attention to these 

 three points : to keep up a sufficient number of 

 fruit-hearing canes, to keep them all within prop- 

 er limits and to keep the fruit properly thinned. 

 Peaches always bear fruit, if at all, upon the last 



J 'ear's shoots ; pears either upon those formed the 

 ast year or upon older wood ; but the grape, unlike 

 them both, bears only upon shoots of the current 



year, although those shoots may proceed from the 

 last year's wood, or from that which is much old- 

 er. There is always a contest going on between 

 the fruit and the tendrils. If the growth of the 

 vine is too rampant, many of the fruit blossoms 

 will be converted into tendrils, and long and use- 

 less wood will be produced rather than fruit. 

 Pruning, then, should be thoroughly performed, 

 not by using the knife, but by pinching off the 

 ends of the canes at least three times during the 

 months of August and September, that the vital 

 forces of the vine may be concentrated in the 

 fruit. This shoitening-in process will also make 

 much sounder wood for use in subsequent years. 

 A fiiiO sh i\v of blossom buds, on which the inex- 

 perienced cultivator relied in the spring for a large 

 quantity of fruit in the autumn, have often dis- 

 appointed him, because he was not aware of the 

 fact that fruit buds will often turn into tendrils, 

 if the ambitious canes are allowed to have their 

 own way. Like a great many "fast young men," 

 want of control works their ruin. The philoso- 

 phy of this is almost self-evident. The farther 

 the canes, in their excessive ambition, are allowed 

 to run, the more tendrils will be required to sup- 

 port them. If they are sufficiently headed in, so 

 many tendrils will not he needed, and the buds 

 from which they proceed, not wanted for tendrils, 

 will turn their attention to fruit-making. This 

 single fact of heiiding-iii several times during the 

 season, makes very much of the difference between 

 the wild and useless vines of our woods, and the 

 fine and delicate grapes of our gardens. In the 

 one case, by neglect, they run from year to year 

 into a knotted and tangled mass of mere vines 

 without fruit, or with a small amount of very in- 

 different fruit ; and in the other, by close prun- 

 ing, they are kept within reasonable bounds, and 

 the vital forces of the plant are directed to the 

 formation of those delicious grapes which adorn 

 our tables and contribute so largely to our health 

 and enjoyment. 



Where there is such a concentration of the 

 forces of the vine in the production of fruit, the 

 fruit itself may require, near the close of the sea- 

 son, to be thinned out several times. If this is 

 not done, the vine will be injured, if not destroyed, 

 by excessive bearing, and the fruit itself will be 

 comparatively insipid. All the defective berries, 

 and all the sin 111 grapes on the ends of the clus- 

 ters which will never come to maturity, should 

 be carefully removed. Sometimes, too, the quan- 

 tity of fruit is so enormous, that a third part, and 

 even two-thirds of the entire crop should be cut 

 out. It requires a pretty hard heart to destroy 

 so much tempting fruit, but the nece'ssity is im- 

 perative, and it must be done. This is one of the 

 few cases where a hard heart is at all useful. 



Wallham, Feb., 18(34. c. 



Remedy for Earache. — M. Duval says he has 

 found relief in severe earache, other means fail- 

 ing, from a mixture of equal parts of chloroform 

 and laudanum, a little being introduced on a piece 

 of cotton. The first effect is a sensation of cold, 

 then numbness, followed by a scarcely perceptible 

 pain and refreshing sleep. — Brit. Meal. Journal. 



Hail-stones sometimes fall with a velocity of 

 113 feet in a second, and rain at 43 feet in a sec- 

 ond. 



