338 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER. 



Nov. 



of the various kinds manufactured, the compara- 

 tive amount of the products, and the influence of 

 sugar upon the rice. Grasses as food for animals 

 was also discussed. Garden vegetables, berries, 

 fruits, and a large number of plants used as food 

 for man in various latitudes, were referred to, con- 

 cludirg with a brief but forcible eulogy upon the 

 dignity of labor. 



A vote of thanks of the Society was tendered to 

 the Dr. for his able address, and its publication 

 with the transactions ordered. 



The Society then adjourned to Friday evening, 

 which was its final session, and of which, as our 

 paper was "made up" last evening, we have no 

 report. 



We ought not to omit to mention in concluding 

 our report, that the oflBcers of the Society were in- 

 defatigable in their efforts to secure the success of 

 the fair, laboring diligently, early and late, both 

 l3efore and during its continuance. 



We had designed giving this week the list of 

 awards in full, but we find our space and time 

 both too limited. We shall publish the premium 

 list next week, or such portions of it as may be of 

 special interest to our readers in this section. — 

 Jtockford Register. 



From the Country Gentleman and Cultivator. 



The Delaware Grape. 



I see in the Country Gentleman, page 190, a 

 notice of the great discovery made out west in re- 

 lation to the productiveness of the Delaware grape. 

 Vines propagated from barren wood, it is asserted, 

 grow freely and abundantly, while those from non- 

 bearing shoots grow feebly and bear nothing. Two 

 or three witnesses are cited in favor of this singu- 

 lar position. Our western friends are very intelli- 

 gent and enterprising, but I think they sometimes 

 adopt rather queer notions. I remember at this 

 moment the universal denunciation of root-grafted 

 apple trc. s some years ago, as being poorer bearers 

 than budded ones, which most now deny, and not 

 as being less hardy in some localities, which was ' 

 always adinitted. After innumerable cases had ' 

 been cited,' and many specimens shown of young • 

 root-grafted trees bearing abundantly in the nur- j 

 sery row, the notion was genei-ally given up ; and I 

 should not be surprised if this Delaware grape 

 theory should share the same fate. The kind of 

 wood used for grafting, or the particular place on 

 the vine where it is cut, cannot alter the variety in 

 the slightest degree ; it is still the same Delaware 

 grapevine, a portion of the original plant extended 

 and multiplied. A change in the variety itself can 

 only be effected by new propagation from seed. 

 This is the universal law, admitted by all physiolo 

 gists. A feeble shoot may for a time make a feeble 

 vine, but a feeble vine rendered vigorous by prun- 

 ing and good culture, is better than another at first 

 vigorous, but rendered feeble by neglected manage- 

 ment. Now it so happens that some of the best 

 Delaware vines, and greatest bearers I have ever 

 known, were originally of these same plants, but 

 were recovered from the feeble condition by the 

 good treatment just spoken of. I have seen hun- 

 dreds of young, stunted and feeble fruit trees, by 

 judicious cutting back and enriching and cultiva- 

 tion, converted into fine orchards of thrifty, 

 healthy trees. And on the other hand, I have 

 known still larger numbers of thrifty trees from 



the nursery rows made feeble, stunted and unpro- 

 ductive by abusive management. I have been told 

 that young trees would continue to be heavy bear- 

 ers and small growers by propagating them from 

 bearing wood; but I found that it was the present 

 condition of the tree, and not the stick it was bud- 

 ded from, that told the whole story. A fruit bud 

 on a stunted shoot may be diflBcult to start after 

 inserting in the stock ; but after it has been once 

 started and becomes thrifty, the tree is as good as 

 any other thrifty one, and does not differ at all 

 from it. This, at least, is the result of considera- 

 ble experience. I was once told that shoots for 

 budding taken from different parts of the tree 

 would show themselves distinctly in the nursery 

 row, and accordingly I cut buds from the lower, 

 shorter, and more crooked shoots of the bearing 

 tree, and inserted them in one row of stocks, and 

 other buds from the tall, straight, thrifty shoots at 

 the top, and inserted them in another row. Not 

 the slighest difference could be observed in the 

 growth of the trees of these two adjacent rows. 

 The truth is there could be no change whatever 

 made in the character or identity of the variety 

 in thus simply extending it under merely casual 

 and temporary circumstances. The Irishman who 

 was accidentially born out of Ireland, indignantly 

 answered when his " patrickism " was denied, 

 " would you think I was a horse if I happened to 

 be born in a stable ? " Permanent changes in 

 varieties are not any easier made by mere local 

 accident. Pyrus. 



Fruit. 



In our ramble through the towns of Winnebago 

 and Seward, we noticed considerable fruit, although 

 many of the trees were comparatively young. 

 Where the orchards were cultivated and protected 

 by belts of timber, fruit seemed most abundant 

 When we say "cultivated," we mean that they 

 were planted to some hoed crop. We saw but two 

 young orchards that were sown to small grain or 

 grass, and we would advise their owners, (if they 

 see this paper), to put in the plow as soon as possi- 

 ble, and give a liberal top-dressing of well rotted 

 manure. No labor will pay so well, and make such 

 liberal return. To such of our farmers as have 

 been unfortunate in their selection of apple trees, 

 we say, attend the Horticultural fair and the eve- 

 ning discussions, and you will there learn some- 

 thing worth knowbg with regard to hardy trees, 

 and their proper management. Of pears, plums 

 and grapes, we saw little or none. Small fruits, 

 which as " Rural" says, are the fruits for us, should 

 also receive more attention. 



GBAPES. 



On Thursday last we saw a dozen vines of the 

 Delaware grapes, all of the same age, and receiving 

 the same treatment. Those that were "struck 

 from the single eye," showed little or no fruit, 

 while those raised from cuttings (by some believed 

 to be impracticable, if not impossible) were loaded 

 with fine compact bunches — unbelievers are refer- 

 red to Chas. Rosenstiel, of Freeport, HI. 



When the farms in the town recently visited by 

 us become a little older, the different branches of 

 husbandry will receive more attention. We saw 

 very little stock, compai atively, and were referred 



..^ . :ix.,^;^ 



