106 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Juke 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PLANTING THE APPLE TREE. 



A SONG, BY THE "PEASANT BARD." 

 I. 



We'll dig the turf, we'll turn the mold, 



Tho' nature hard has bound it ; 

 Make deep the bed, and let it hold 

 The stock, all mellow round it. 

 Cftorits : 

 We'll get the tree, Donald,— we'll plant it out well, 



And we'll have it hi care and in keeping; 

 And mark and remember the words 1 shall tell: — 

 'T will be growing when we shall be sleeping. 



II. 



A lifeless stick it may appear 

 When wintry blasts are blowing, 



But in the spring-time of the year 

 We'll see it live and growing. 



III. 



leaf 



The swelling bud and flushing 



Will beautify ere long; 

 And weary warblers, for relief, 



Perch here, and pour a song. 



IV. 



And years shall come, and years that go 



Its boughs to fruit shall wed,; 

 And mellow Autumn fill below 

 The table we have spread. 

 Chorus : 

 So set the tree, Donald,— we'll plant it out well, 



And we'll have it in care and in keeping ; 

 And mark and remember the words I shall tell: 

 'T will be growing when we shall be sleeping. 

 Gill, Muss. 



NEW BOOKS. 



The Grape Cultueist: A Treatise on the Cultivation of the 

 Nat ve Grape. By Andrew S. Fuller, Practical Horticultur- 

 ist, Brooklyn, N. Y. For sale by A. Williams & Co., Boston. 



The subjects discussed in this book are : Grow- 

 ing from Seed-; Propagation by single- Buds; 

 Cuttings of unripe Wood ; Propagating-Houses ; 

 Cuttings in open air ; Layering the Vine ; Graft- 

 ing the Grape ; Hybridizing and Crossing ; Trans- 

 planting ; Soil and Situation ; Stem Appendages ; 

 Planting the Vine ; Grape Trellises ; Time to 

 Prune, and Pruning and Training ; Garden Cul- 

 ture ; Miscellaneous ; Insects and Diseases ; De- 

 scription of Varieties and a Review of various 

 systems of Training. These several topics are fa- 

 miliarly discussed, with an ability evidently grow- 

 ing out of a practical acquaintance with the'whole 

 subject, and with such a clearness of expression, 

 strengthened by engraved illustrations, as to make 

 the way plain and easy to those who enter upon 

 the culture of the grape for the first time. 

 Theories are well enough in their place, but it is 

 always pleasant and safer to know whether the 

 author of the book is laying down theories or 

 facts. If we know they are theories, Ave are at 

 once on our guard and shape our operations ac- 

 cordingly ; but if well-tested facts, we unhesitat- 

 ingly proceed as if standing upon a sure basis. 



We are glad that the culture of the grape is at- 

 tracting so cnuch attention, and that so many per- 

 sons are venturing upon it in a small and careful 

 way. They will not find it a difficult work, unless 

 they attempt to do too much. The grapevine 

 does not require a very rich soil, but a sheltered, 

 wafm, and well drained one, where rude winds 

 will not thrash its foliage to pieces, nor standing 

 water drown its tender and succulent fibrous roots. 

 On a common soil, a little ashes, pounded bone 

 and charcoal added annually, together with occa- 

 sional watering from the sink spout in dry sea- 

 sons, will give the vine a wonderful growth in 

 wood and fruit. 



Some of the varieties recently introduced are 

 great accessions to the list. Mr. Bull has con- 

 ferred a signal blessing upon the race in the intro- 

 duction of his "Concord," which has been thor- 

 oughly tested, and stands high in the front ranks 

 of the best varieties in the country. He and oth- 

 ers are still striving for better ones than this, and 

 the labors of some will be eventually crowned with 

 success. 



If the inexperienced grape grower will call to 

 his aid some person who understands starting the 

 vine on its way for the first five or six feet of its 

 growth, and in pruning it once or twice, he will 

 find little to perplex him elsewhere. In these two 

 particulars a half hour's actual demonstration 

 would fix the whole thing indelibly in his mind. 



Mr. Fuller's book is an excellent one, and 

 will prove of much service to grape cultivators. 



NOVEL MODE OP GROWING SQUASHES. 

 An excellent method of growing squashes, mel- 

 ons and other such vegetables, where a person has- 

 but little room, and wishes to make the most of 

 it, — as a small city plat — is to plant them so that 

 they will run on a trellis. Set four upright stakes 

 or small posts, about two feet apart each way, in 

 the centre of which plant the melons, squash or 

 whatever else is wished. As the vines begin to 

 run, support them upon the trellis by nailing 

 across small slats of board, and when the melons 

 set and begin to form fruit, erect a shelf for it by 

 placing short pieces of boards across the slats pre- 

 viously nailed on. Pinch off the running shoots 

 of the vines so as not to have too heavy a growth, 

 and as they run higher, place additional slats for 

 the purpose of supporting them. There are two 

 advantages to this plan, and so far as we are ac- 

 quainted, no disadvantage; it economizes space 

 in the garden, and the fruit ripens earlier than 

 when upon the ground half covered with leaves. 

 Those of our readers who have small gardens 

 would do well to "make a note" of this plan and 

 give it a trial another season. — California Farmer. 



Nitrate of Soda. — It is said that watering 

 strawberries with water in which nitrate of soda 

 has been dissolved, to the amount of one ounce of 

 soda to a gallon of water, will help the plants to 

 produce a wonderful crop. 



