144r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
for pickles, for which it is prized by some. A 
correspondent, whose name we have mislaid, 
says: "The West India Burr Gherkin, or Oyster 
Gherkin, is easily raised. Plant in hills 3 or 4 
feet apart like other cucumbers, say twenty 
seeds in a hill, for the small black fleas are very 
fond of them; thin out to two plants. They 
are generally made into pickles, but are much 
better and more wholesome cooked. Cut in 
two and boil, and season a3 may be desired." 
The term Gherkin is properly applied to a small 
pickled cucumber. We know of an instance in 
which a farmer who wished to raise cucumbers 
for pickles sent to a seedsman for the seeds of 
Gherkins and received those of this plant He 
did not find out the mistake until his acre of 
plants began to bear this small, prickly fruit. 
The Grape Vine— How it Grows and What 
to Do with it.— 3d Article. 
In procuring vines it is best to get good one- 
year-old plan's — older plants, or layers, may be 
equally good in certain cases, but not generally 
so. The manner of planting is sufficiently de- 
scribed in Notes for the Month. The vin 
sists of a mass of roots attached to a gi 
less length of stem. If the variety is rare the 
stem will have but two or three buds, b it. ofti a 
it will be two or three feet long. If a long 
vine, cut it off to three buds before planting. 
The questions will be asked, " What for ? Why 
not let all the buds remain ? What is the use of 
rutting away so much vine?'' It does seem 
unnecessary to destroy such an amount of 
growth, and the questions are natural oni -. An 
answer to them is to answer the query of "Why 
prune at all?" Upon pruning, and pruning in- 
telligently, the whole success of vine growing 
depends. If a young vine, three, four, or more 
feet in length, were planted, and, as is often the 
case, left to itself, most of the buds would throw 
out shoots, the uppermost being the most vigor- 
ous. The next year nearly all of the buds on this 
■ . J. wo ild push, and another Bet ol 
v i uld ripen into canes. Each year, the upper- 
mo ' being the strongest, we should have 
the new growth farther and farther from the 
root. Il has already been shown that the fruit 
is produced only on the new shoots, and that 
after a shoot has ripened into a cane it pro luce ; 
no more fruit, though it bea^a buds which will 
give rise to fruit-bearing shoots. There is, then, 
in a vine left to itself, a yearly accumulation of 
unproductive and useless wood ; an annual in- 
crease in the distance between the fruit-bearing 
shoots and the root ; and where so many shoots 
have to be nourished, they will be weak, and the 
fruit, consequently, of inferior quality. There 
are other reasons for pruning, but these are 
sufficient. Compare a vine, tig. 5, which haa 
been allowed to grow upon a tree at will, with 
figure 6, a vine trained by one of the simple 
methods, and the difference will be manifest. 
To return to the treatment of 
the young vine at plaining, 
which was to be cut back to 
three buds. It is very im- 
portant to get the vine well 
established, with a good root 
and strong canes. Instead of 
allowing the young vine to 
produce several shoots, we 
leave but three binis, and 
when these have fairly started, 
rub off all but the strongest 
one. The object in leaving 
three buds is to guard against 
any accident. All the nutri- 
ment that would have gone 
into several buds is here di- 
rected to one, and the shoot 
will make a rapid growth, 
and at the cud of the sea- 
son will be from four to ten 
or more feet long. It will be 
just such a shoot as was de- 
scribed in February, but be- 
ing a young vine will have no fruit. It 
must be kept tied up to a stake as it grows. 
Laterals will be produced at each leaf, as de- 
scribed last month. These, if left, will produce 
a number of s : Whether they should 
be allowed to grow at will on a young vine, or 
be stopped in their growth, is a point upon which 
cultivators differ. Those who allow them to 
grow do so in the belief that the young plant 
needs all the leaves to ail in forming a strong 
cane and root, ■ who check their 
growth and thus diminish the leaf surface, 
claim that the remai become larger, 
more robust, and hence more capable of resist- 
ing disease, and though the number of leaves 
is less, a more efficient surface of foliage is ob- 
ed on the whole. Besides this the whole 
h of the cane ripens more thoroughly. 
In large vineyards perhaps t lie advantages 
gained by chec! ; the laterals, do not war- 
<T\ 
--1 \ l 'Vl-^ 
HE LATERAL. 
rant the expense, but otherwise we think it 
preferable to do so. The lateral was described 
last month, and for convenience we reproduce 
the figure here. This (fig. 7) shows a node with 
its leaf, dormant bud, and lateral. If the lateral 
were broken entirely off, the bud, which should 
have remained quiet, would push ; this is not 
only not desirable, but injurious to the future 
prospects of the vine. When the lateral has 
grown so long that two or three leaves are visi- 
ble, all but the lower one are to be removed by 
pinching off the tender shoot with the thumb and 
linger, as at a, in the figure. The leaf that is 
left will soon increase in size, and at its axil a 
bud will push, the growth from which is to be 
in turn pinched back to one leaf (see b in the 
figure) and should another growth start from 
t li Is, pinch it at c, and so on. Two or three 
pinchings arc all that is generally required. 
The whole care the first year is to secure a 
single cane as strong and well-ripened as possi- 
ble, Willi wellrdeveloped buds and a correspond- 
ingly well-ripened root. It will, of course, be 
understood that the ground is to be kept clean, 
and the surface open by cultivation. The young 
vine being in tlus condition, what is next to be 
done with it? When the leaves havo fallen, cut 
again down to three buds. Just, here is where the 
novice is apt to fail ; he has devoted all one sum- 
mer to his vine, it has a beautiful cane, perhaps 
eight or ten feet long, and why should it not 
be left to grow larger and finer another year, and, 
it may be,give some fruit ? It is a natural feeling, 
and it requires some faith to believe that good 
will come of thus destroying what has been 
produced with so much care. If one desires a 
good vine, no matter what is to be the future 
method of training, the second year must, like 
the fust, be given to the growth of a single cane. 
Therefore in the autumn down it goes to thri a 
buds, a shoot from one of which is trained and 
cared for, as already described, the next spring. 
This one shoot having all to itself the root that 
would otherwise have been shared I13' many 
shoots, will push wiih great vigor, and form a 
much finer cane than the year before, and the 
vine maybe considered as established, and a 
subject for any of the modes of training that wo 
may hereafter illustrate. It, however, the second 
\ e ;' grow th has been a weak one, the cutting 
back process must be repeated until a strong 
cane, a half inch in diameter, is obtained. 
About Lawns and Grass Plots. 
No matter how fine the trees and shrubs, or 
how beautiful the (lowers, these do not show half 
tin ir beauty unless set off by a carpet of gra?^. 
It is one of those embellishments that, are with- 
in reach of almost every one, an 1 coi 
more to the attractiveness of a place, lib it small 
or large, than anything else. Any well-kept 
surface of grass near the house is called a 
lawn, but those who do not like to be preten- 
tious call their smaller areas grass plots. Whether 
large or small, to be permanent and satisfactory 
the work must be done more thoroughly than 
it generally is. It is true that wo can point to 
some very tine examples, but much oftener the 
surface presents inequalities, the grass burns 
out in summer, and often unsightly weeds get 
such a foothold that the lawn, instead of being 
a pleasure, is a nuisance. There is an impres- 
sion that grass will grow anywhere and on 
any kind of soil, while the fact is that the land 
that is to bear grass that will be undisturbed 
for many years needs very thorough preparation. 
Draining is in most cases advisable, and deep 
working of the soil absolutely essential. Small 
places may he trenched, but larger ones are 
worked with the plow and subsoiler. An 
abundance of good manure should be applied, 
