1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
36S 
posed, but this is in no way injurious. Some 
prefer to cover them up at once by plowing a 
furrow, shoveling it out wide enough to receive, 
the heads of the cabbages, then turning the soil 
in on the heads, and so continuing until beds of 
sis or eight feet are thus formed. This plan is 
rather more expeditious than the former, but it 
has the disadvantage of compelling them to be 
covered up at once by soil, while tlie other plan 
delays it two or three weeks later, and it is of 
the utmost importance in preserving vegetables 
that the operation (particularly the final cover- 
ing) be delayed as late in the season as frost will 
permit. Generally more is lost by beginning 
too soon than delaying too late. — Onions, we 
find, are best preserved in a barn or stable loft, 
in layers of from 8 to 10 inches deep, covered 
up with about a foot of liay or .straw on the ap- 
proach of severe frosts. The great point to be 
attained is a low temperature and a dry atmo- 
sphere ; they will bear 20 degrees of frost with- 
out injur}', provided they are not moved while 
frozen, but they will not stand a reduction of tem- 
perature much lower than this without injury. 
•-• — ««■ — •-• 
Notes on Grapes and Grape Culture. 
The date at which we write is too early to 
allow us to say what is tlie result this )-ear with 
the newer varieties of grapes. We lioped to 
have met at the gathering of the American 
Pomological Association, at St. Louis, cultiva- 
tors from every section of the country, and thus 
arrive at something like an " average verdict" 
upon the numerous grapes that are still on their 
probation. The unfortunate postponement of 
that meeting is a great disappointment to us, 
and will prove a serious detriment to the cause 
of horticulture in general, and to grape culture 
in i^articular. People are sufficiently waked up 
to the importance of planting vines, and the 
■universal question is, " what shall I plant ? " 
And we are no nearer a satisfactory answer than 
we were five years ago. The Hon. Horace 
Greeley, noticing during a recent trip in New 
England, the general failure of the large fruits, 
comes out with a strong appeal to the people to 
plant vines, and concludes it in the following 
characteristically practical waj' : 
" I hope our Agricultural Societies and Farm- 
ers' Clubs will devise and adopt fit measures to 
stimulate the planting of the Vine ; meantime, 
I, as a mere beginning, will pay a premium of 
$200 to the first, and $100 to the second town- 
ship of not less than 100 houses, whose three 
principal officers shall certify to me that every 
dwelUng in that township has not less than two 
well planted, thrifty Vines." 
Doubtless many townships will take steps to 
obtain these premiums, and we shall have nu- 
merous applications for advice as to what to plant. 
Here is just the trouble and the point upon 
which people honestly differ. The only two 
varieties that we are able, with our present 
knowledge, to suggest for planting anywhere 
and eveiywhere with a fair prospect of fruit, are 
the Hartford Prolific and Concord. While we 
are well aware that neither of these can rank as 
first class grapes, they will, as a general thing, 
give fruit, and are more commonly free from dis- 
ease — thougfi not absolutely exempt — than most 
other sorts. We have many much better grapes 
than these, that in certain places are about all 
that can be desired, and we should be glad if we 
could recommend every one to plant them 
largely without previously testing them. The 
experience of one or two years in a few locali- 
ties should not make or mar the reputation of 
any variety. We recently saw the Creveling, 
a variety with a generally excellent reputation, 
almost killed with mildew, while .along side, the 
Adirondac, a variety often badly mildewed, was 
freer from it than any other in a quite large col- 
lection. We ask one cultivator about his grapes, 
and he tells us that his Concords are doing well, 
but his lona's are badly mildewed ; and another, 
in reply to the same query, says he has some 
mildew, but the lona the least affected of any. 
In respect to the qu.ality of the fruit of the lead- 
ing varieties now before the public, we are well 
enough satisfied,but with regard to their hardiness 
and freedom from rot and mildew, we are in as 
much uncertainty as ever. Now, will our grape 
growing readers help us to do what the Pomo- 
logical Association ought to have done : give 
some grape statistics ? We would like brief re- 
ports from all parts of the country, giving the 
behavior of the different varieties, age of 
vine, time of ripening, freedom from mildew, 
rot, sun scald, and hardiness of vine. The soil 
and exposure of the vineyard should also be 
stated. If a sufficient number of these reports 
are received, they will be tabulated, and will 
probably show results both interesting and useful. 
Small Fruits— New Raspberries. 
It may appear to some that we devote an un- 
due space to the culture of small fruits ; but 
such have little conception of the great impor- 
tance of this interest. Those who grow tlieir 
broad fields of grain, no doubt look upon the 
growing of berries as small business, but a visit 
to an)' of the small fruit regions would convince 
them that " man does not live by bread alone," 
but uses a great deal of fruit with it, and that 
often times, these potterers with small fruits, 
realize more ready money from a few acres than 
does the proprietor of an extensive farm. 
Many an occupant of a place of a few acres 
near our country towns can pay a good part of 
his rent by attention to the culture of small 
fmits. This is one reason why we desire to keep 
the readers of the Agriculturist informed of all 
the new varieties that appear worthy of trial. 
The great trouble with the raspberry has been 
want of hardiness, and cultivators are now en- 
deavoring to produce varieties that shall com- 
bine good quality with productiveness and 
hardiness. We gave in August an account of 
the Philadelphia Raspberry, and now give brief 
descriptions of two others, which are likely to 
attract some attention. The descriptions are 
given from Fuller's Small Fruit Culturist, in ad- 
vance of the appearance of that work. 
TnoRTTLESs Black-cap. — Canes strong, very 
erect, and more branching than other varieties 
of this class, reddish purple, smooth and thorn- 
less. Leaves medium sized, occasionally with a 
very small prickle on the petiole. Fruit large, 
shaped like the common Black-cap, black, sweet, 
and rich ; ripens a week earlier than the Doo- 
little. An accidental seedling of the common 
Black-cap, which originated in the gardens of 
Mrs. Davison, Erie Co., N. T., and sent out by 
Joseph Clinton, Angola, N. Y. It is exceeding- 
I3' productive, and would be a valuable addition 
to our list of varieties, even if it had no other 
merit than that of being thornless. 
Clakk. — Canes strong, erect; spines stout, 
numerous at the base of the canes, but scattered 
above, white, with the tips slightly colored. 
Leaves large, coarsely and unevenly serrate, 
wavy when young, but becoming flat and 
smooth with age, deep shining green above and 
silvery white on the under surface. Fruit large, 
regularly obtuse conical, separating freely from 
the receptacle, moderately firm ; grains medium 
in size, of a light crimson color ; flavor very 
sweet and rich. This variety — a very pro- 
ductive and hardy one, for one of its class — 
originated with E. E. Clark, of New Haven, 
Conn. ; it promises to be one of the veiy best 
for family use, and also an excellent market 
berry, where the distance is not very great. 
« ■ ^a^ ' « 
Heeling-in Trees. 
The nursery man hccls-in his trees or "kj's 
them in by the heels" as soon as they are dug, 
provided there is to be any considerable interval 
between the taking up and the packing. It is 
something which may be practiced to advantage 
by the purchaser of trees wlienever they are re- 
ceived from the nursei^y, and cannot be set im- 
medi.ately they arrive. Indeed, if trees are 
needed for planting next spring, it is much bet- 
ter to purchase them this autumn, and carefully 
heel them in for the winter. There are several 
good reasons for purchasing trees in the fall. 
The work at the nursery is much less hurried, 
the stock of varieties has not become reduced, 
the risks of transportation are much less, and in 
spring the trees will be on hand just when they 
are needed. The operation, to be successful, 
needs only a little care. A trench is to be open- 
ed, in a well drained place, wide enough to ad- 
mit the roots, and deep enough to set the tree 
lower than it stood before. The trees are plac- 
ed in an inclined position, to prevent the tops 
from being too much exposed to the winds, 
and they are set in close together, the roots 
being spread and carefully covered as the work 
progresses, allowing no vacant spaces. The 
earth is then banked up over the roots to the 
depth of a foot, trodden hard, and smoothed of? 
to shed rain. Tender varieties of trees may 
have their tops covered with evergreen boughs. 
« < M«» •-» 
The Tritomas, 
These showy autumnal plants, now coming 
into blossom, deserve repeated and unstinted 
commendation. Their long, lance-shaped leaves 
look attractive during the early summer, and 
hardly need the addition of flowers. But when 
August and September come, the early variety 
{Trifoma glancescens) sends up its blooming 
stalks, from two to four feet long, and eight or 
ten from a single root, crowned with spikes of 
orange-crimson blossoms which are truly gor- 
geous. In September and October, the later 
sorts (T. scrotina) follow, keeping up a constant 
and brilliant succession of blooms. A figure 
was given in November, 1864, of T. Umria, 
from which most of the garden varieties have 
been obtained. 
It is truly remarkable, how independent and 
almost regardless of frost these plants are. 
Cold weather, which blackens the dahlia and 
kills down a multitude of other flowers, only 
seems to give these a new start. In England 
they keep on blooming up to Christmas. And 
in our country, medium sized plants may be 
taken up in August and potted, when, if watered 
and shaded a few days, they will go on grow- 
ing, and will flower in the house till into De- 
cember. This we know from experience. 
Some persons winter their jilants in the cel- 
lar, like cannas and dahlias. But this is un- 
necessary trouble. Bend down the stalks on 
the setting in of winter, lay over them a few 
inches of leaves or other garden refuse, then 
cover the whole with a roofing of sods, laid up 
