282 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



bella and other sorts, including the Sweet Water, all of which were 

 ripe at the same time, which was the last of September. The situa- 

 tion is about twenty or thirty feet above the level of the water, surround- 

 ing on all sides but the south, by a hill perhaps one hundred feet high. 

 Tiie soil is decomposed rock, in which vines grow luxuriantly ; and owing 

 to the peculiarly sheltered situation, the fruit ripens as early as it would 

 two or three degrees further south. The vine shows very slight difiFerence, 

 if any, from the Isabella. I do consider it a good grape, though not a 

 great acquisition until it is proved that it will ripen well in all situations. 

 I never said or wrote that I thought it a great acquisition, though I have 

 seen it stated in print that I did say so. We have yet no evidence that 

 the Adirondac will ripen earlier or be any better here than the Isabella, 

 My young vine, for which I paid five dollars, has not made' any remarkable 

 growth this year, and shows nothing different from the Isabella. As to qual- 

 ity, although the Adirondac is considered a good table grape, in my opin- 

 ion it does not come within gunshot of the Delaware. It is a good table 

 grape because it is mild, and not sour ; it has no other marked character, 



Mr. Carpenter said he should be very nmch disappointed if the Adirondac 

 does not take a very high stand, since it has been almost universally pro- 

 nounced excellent by those who have tried it. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller thought we ought to be very careful how we puff any sort 

 until we are able to speak of it as we can of the Delaware, and say, I 

 know it is good. I have heard a great many worthless grapes puffed be- 

 fore now. There is Underbill's Saratoga Seedling, a poor, worthless sort, 

 sent out with a picture of a bunch of Dianas, to make it sell under false 

 representations. Where is the much-puffed Rebecca ? It may grow here 

 and there in the garden ; it is good for nothing in the field. The To Kalon, 

 which was sold at five dollars a vine, has gone to the shades ; ditto of the 

 Logan. I have bought at high prices and tried all the new sorts, but be- 

 gin to think it time to stop. I am willing to encourage all new varieties, 

 but do not think it necessary to invest any man with a crown because he 

 has succeeded in producing a new grape, which may be good in his own 

 garden, and nowhere else. 



The Subsoil Plow for Corn. 



Mr. Benton Aldrich writes from Waneka, Dunn Co., Wis. : " You said, 

 if I remember correctly, that you subsoiled between the rows after the corn 

 was a foot high. What size of plow did jou use for that ? I wish to add 

 a word of testimony to the value of the Reports of the Club. My neigh- 

 bors' corn was very much injured by the July frosts, 13th, while mine es- 

 caped through superior cultivation, the knowledge of which I obtain 

 from your Club reports." 



Mr. Solon Robinson answers, the smallest size of Mape's Subsoil Lifter. 

 It is wrought iron and steel, costfi about seven dollars, and is easily 

 operated by one horse. What he says in regard to the escape of his corn 

 from frost, has been proved in many other cases. Crops grown upon well 

 drained land, upon deeply plowed land, or when the crop had received 



