62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
upright and handsome in growth, making a 
compact and elegant form, and producing 
abundantly a fruit of the largest size and very 
best quality, making it of the greatest value 
either for market or private use. The color of 
the fruit is clear bright red, shaded and mottled 
on amber yellow; juic\', sw T eet, and rich. 
Coe's Transparent. — This variety makes a 
tree of only medium size, rather spreading in 
form, of moderately rapid growth, resulting in 
hardiness. It comes early to maturity, and pro- 
duces abundantly a medium-sized fruit of a 
light amber-yellow color, mottled over with a 
bright clear red, very beautiful; the flesh is 
juicy, sweet, exceedingly rich and delicate, mak- 
ing it especially valuable for the table. 
Governor Wood. — This variety has, pei" 
haps, had as wide-spread and as good a reputa- 
tion as any cherry in the list of varieties, and 
when the tree is not overloaded with fruit, it 
deserves all that has been said. It lias, however, 
the fault some seasons of bearing more fruit 
than it can mature perfectly, except it be sup- 
plied with manure, as soapsuds, etc., while the 
fruit is growing. For a market variety it, like 
Coe's Transparent, is not fitted, as it is too tender 
for carriage any longdistance; but for private 
gardens it cannot well be dispensed with, on 
account of its great delicacy and richness. Its 
fruit is of large size, light yellow, mottled or 
marbled over with carmine-red ; flesh, half ten- 
der, juicy, sweet. 
Pontiac. — Among all the black cherries this, 
taken all in all, has no superior. The tree is a 
good grower, hardy, productive, and the fruit 
large„firm, rich, juicy, and sweet. In real rich- 
ness of flavor it is not, perhaps, equal to Black 
HawK, but the tree is so much superior in 
growth and productiveness as to make it much 
the more desirable. Superior as a market sort. 
Red Jacket. — Had we not this variety we 
should put Downer's Late in its place, but when 
Bed Jacket can be obtained, its great superi- 
ority in size and quality of fruit, coming at the 
same period, renders it more desirable, whether 
for market or table use. The trees are fine 
growers, becoming veiy large, spreading, up- 
right, very productive of a large-sized fruit, 
which is amber-yellow, overspread with pale 
red; flesh half tender, juicy, and good. 
Having thus named and remarked upon six 
of what are termed sweet cherries, I now come 
to a class that may be grown almost everywhere, 
in all soils and climates where the apple will 
succeed. These are generally classed as sour 
cherries, although, with one or two exceptions, 
they are not sour, but just pleasantly acid. The 
perfect hardiness of the trees makes them the 
most desirable, if but six varieties are to be 
grown. In naming and describing them I will 
take them more in the order of their value, in 
my opinion, than of their time of ripening. 
Louis Philippe.— This is a variety from 
France, and I think I was among the first to 
import it. The tree is upright, spreading in 
habit, growing to a large tree as it acquires age, 
open and regular in form, a vigorous, good 
grower, very productive of a large, roundish, 
dark red fruit, which has a tender, juicy flesh, 
and is of a mild acid. Valuable either for the 
table, for market, or canning. 
Early Bichmond. — Although some persons 
consider this identical with the Early May, I 
do not; I think the tree more drooping in habit. 
It is certainly a valuable sort, becoming fit to 
gather early for cooking purposes, but not really 
ripening until quite late. The flesh is reddish, 
and the stone adheres strongly to the stem. 
Archduke. — This, perhaps, should come 
next to Louis Philippe, and I place it third in 
the list only because of the cooking qualities of 
the Early Richmond. As a variety for table pur- 
poses this is superior, but for market the last 
named would be preferable. This is the best 
among the Duke varieties. Tree, very erect and 
upright in habit, quite hardy; an abundant bear- 
er, ripening early in July a large, dark, shining 
red fruit, with light red flesh, which adheres 
slightly to the stone, tender, sub-acid, and rich. 
Beine Hortense. — This is also a Duke in 
habit of tree, not as upright as the Archduke ; 
hardy, a moderate, regular bearer of large, 
roundish, compressed fruit ; color of a lively red, 
marbled on amber-yellow ; flesh, a pinkish-yel- 
low, of a sprightly mild acid; ripens quite late 
in July. 
Belle Magnifique. — This again has much 
of the habit in tree of the Dukes, and while 
young the trees are poor bearers and not more 
than moderately prolific. As they grow older, 
however, their productive habit is increased, 
and fruit may be gathered from them for many 
weeks in succession. The fruit is large, yellow, 
mostly covered with red, and with a yellowish- 
red, tender, mild acid flesh. 
Early May. — This variety, now generally 
cultivated in Illinois and other Western States, 
where many other sorts of more excellence 
have failed, I am disposed to regard as identical 
with Donna Maria of the French. It is very 
prolific of fruit, quite hardy in tree, more up- 
right iu growth than Early Richmond, or 
rather with not the same drooping, slender 
spray. Fruit, medium size, dark red, tender, 
juicy, rich, acid; good for cooking, and market. 
Seedlings. — During the past season I ex- 
amined the fruit of quite a number of seedlings 
grown by Mr. Charles Pease, near Cleveland, 
and among them selected the two described 
herewith as giving promise of value. Mr. Pease 
has designated them by letters of the alphabet, 
but will not attempt to propagate until another 
season of fruiting has passed, when, if they con- 
tinue as good as this season, they will be named. 
Pease's A. — Size, medium ; yellow, mottled 
over with red ; surface, smooth, even, regular, 
heart-shaped ; fruit borne usually a single cherry 
in a place, rarely in pairs; stem, slender, set iu 
a regular, even, round cavity of moderate depth ; 
flesh, yellow', half tender, juicy, rich, and sweet; 
pit, small ; leaf, long, acute, pointed, with sharp, 
irregular serratures; petiole, with two globose 
glands. Tree of growth like a Mazzard, large 
and strong. Bipe, July 15, '67. 
Pease's B.— Fruit, medium, long, compressed, 
heart-shaped, firm as any Bigarreau; dark rich 
red on yellow ground, a little marbled and 
dotted ; stem, slender, set in a deep, regular 
cavity ; flesh, yellow, firm, hard, juicy, and rich ; 
pit, small. A very valuable, late, market sort, 
neither this nor the preceding having rotted. 
Bipe, July 16, 1867. Leaf, with reddish petioles 
and two globose glands, broad oval-obovate, 
pointed, with sharp serratures. Fruit, singly 
and in pairs. A strong, vigorous, upright grower. 
The Miner Plum. — Some time ago we stated 
that this was an improved wild plum, an 
opinion founded upon specimens of the fruit 
and leaves kindly sent by friends at the West. 
Several, some of them interested iu its sale, and 
some not, write that this is a mistake, and that 
the Miner is a seedling of the European plum. 
As the two are so different, we cannot believe 
this without direct and positive testimony. A 
letter from " W. W.," Grant Co., Wis., says : 
"I have raised the Miner plum for five or six 
years ; I got it from Mr. Miner, in Grant Co., 
Wis., who bought his trees of a man in Illinois, 
who did not have any name for them, so they 
were called the Miner plum. The true name is 
Chickasaw plum. A Mr. Isabel], of Joe Davis 
Co., 111., has raised the same plum for more than 
twenty years. It ripens in October, is of a red 
color, is fleshy or hard for a wild plum, and re- 
sists the curculio. 1 consider it desirable on 
account of the lateness of its ripening, but I 
have wild plums that I think just as good." 
•-. — -»- .-.. 
A Chestnut Grafted upon an Oak. 
The Bevue Horticole for Dec. 16th gives an 
account of an instance of grafting of a chestnut 
upon an oak that would seem incredible were 
it not so well authenticated. The seeds of the 
European White Oak, (Quercus pedunculata,) 
were sown in place, and when the young oaks 
were four years old two of them were cut off at 
about 15 inches from the ground, and grafted 
with chestnut by the ordinary cleft method, and 
three others were budded the same year with 
chestnut. The budded ones failed, but the 
grafted ones succeeded ; one of these was broken 
off by the winds, but the other grew, and now 
stands in the botanical garden of Dijon, being 
over 30 years old. The chestnut at first out- 
grew the stock very rapidly, and made an en- 
largement at the point of union; this tendency 
was in good part overcome by making longitudi- 
nal incisions in the enlargement and the stock. 
The stock each year gives proof of its identity 
by throwing up a number of oak sprouts. The 
fruit does not perfect itself, though it sets abund- 
antly ; this is attributed to the use of a graft 
from an unproductive tree, rather than to any 
unfavorable influence of the stock. A detailed 
account of this very remarkable instance of 
grafting is published by J- B. Weber, head 
gardener to the botanical garden of Dijon. 
The Grape Vine— How it Grows and What 
to Do With it. — 1st Article. 
From time to time there have been given in 
these pages, articles upon different methods of 
pruning and training the vine. In view of the 
increasing interest in grape culture, on both the 
large and small scale, we believe we shall do 
our readers good service, and we know that we 
shall meet the expressed wishes of many of 
them, if we present the different systems of 
training in a series of connected articles. We 
do not do this with a view of superseding the 
many excellent treatises that there are upon the 
vine, but with the hope to meet the wants of 
the great number who do not care to make a 
special study of the subject, and who look to 
the Agriculturist to supply all needed informa- 
tion upon this, as upon all other, rural matters. 
It is easy enough to lay down rules for pruning, 
and to make figures to illustrate just wdiere to 
cut; if grape vines always grew just alike, and 
were turned out to pattern, there would be no 
difficulty. But the trouble is that the vine is a 
living thing; it may be weak, or vigorous, it may 
grow like the picture in the book, or it may 
forget to make buds just where the engraving 
shows it ought to have them, and then the 
routine operator is at fault. A successful grape 
grower once told us that his advice to a 
novice was to " buy a work on grape culture, 
and then go exactly opposite to its teachings," 
