1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
365 
fig. 3, upon Ike sides,) and a hole beneath the 
knives to allow the cut cabbage to drop through. 
A suitable notch is cut in the ledges to allow 
of fastening in the knives, which are fixed 
at the desired angle 
by means of wood- 
en plugs or wedges. 
The corn knives, 
figure 2, are 3 | s of 
an inch thick on the 
back, and are pre- 
ferred to a piece of 
scythe,as they do not 
bend. Fig. 3 gives 
the complete ma- 
chine in perspective; 
A is a box, upon 
each side of which 
are the slats, b, b. It 
will be seen by the 
examination of the 11 - L-sram wwh knives. 
end view of fig. 3, that the parts b, b, belong to 
the box, and those marked c, d, are attached to 
the frame. This box enables one to hold the 
cabbage firmly, and should run freely backward 
and forward.'' It 
i is well, though our 
correspondent does 
not mention it, to 
have a wooden follower to fit the box, and thus 
avoid all danger to the hands when the cabbage 
is pressed down. The box should be of the 
size to hold a large cabbage, and the frame 
Fie 
■i. — CORN-KNIFE. 
Fig. 3. — MACHINE COMPLETE. 
long enough to go across a barrel or tub. 
For making the kraut, select the most solid 
and perfect heads, and after splitting them, re- 
move the stalks and the green leaves. They are 
then passed over the knives and cut fine. A 
tight barrel, perfectly clean, is then lined with 
cabbage leaves at the bottom, and a little way up 
1he sides. A layer of about three inches of the 
slitted cabbage is then put in and pressed with 
the hand, and about four tablespoon fills of salt 
arc sprinkled over it. After four layers are put 
ill and salted in this way, it is pressed down with 
a wooden rammer as closely as it can be packed. 
Then follow four more layers and a ramming, 
and so on until the barrel is nearly full. It 
should be pounded so hard that the juice of the 
cabbage and the melting salt, will appear on 
top. Cover with cabbage leaves and with a 
board or follower, and press down with a heavy 
stone. Set the barrel away to ferment, and in 
about three weeks remove the top scum and 
brine, and add enough water to keep the kraut 
covered. In four weeks it will be fit for use. 
It needs a little looking to occasionally, and will 
keep good for a year or more. The taste is a 
little peculiar at first, but is much relished by 
people who have become accustomed to it. 
Notes on Grapes and Grape Culture. 
These notes are written just at the close of a 
season, which, at the East, has been an unprec- 
cdentedly rainy one. This unusually humid state 
of the atmosphere and soaked condition of the 
soil has not only had the effect to retard ripen- 
ing, but it has given every advantage to rot, 
mildew, and some kinds of insects. Fortunate- 
ly this moist condition has not extended far in- 
land, and whatever of ill may befall the crops 
there will not be entirely due to this cause. 
"We hear of disastrous rot to the Catawba, and 
to a considerable extent to the Concord, while 
the Delaware promises better than it has for 
several years. A letter from Hammondsport 
informs us that the prospect for the grape crop 
is unusually fine at that point, and no com- 
plaint is made of rot. It is worth while to con- 
sider if this exemption is not due to the re- 
markable natural drainage of the land at 
Hammondsport. A loose soil of indefinite 
depth, intersected every few rods by deep 
ravines, presents natural advantages rarely to 
be found. It is, however, too early to judge 
of the general grape crop, as we usually hear of 
the failures sooner than we do of the successes. 
In looking over a file of letters, all asking 
questions upon some points in grape culture, 
we find that the majority of them indicate that 
the writer has an insufficient knowledge of the 
way in which a vine grows and bears its fruit. 
It is impossible for us to give space to answer 
these individual cases. Every one who has 
vines should have one of the many excellent 
works now before the public. There is scarce- 
ly any one of them that does not set forth the 
essential principles of vine pruning, though 
some do it more in detail than others. To one 
fond of horticulture, we can conceive no more 
interesting amusement than the systematic 
training of a few vines by different methods. 
T wo correspondents have vines that have blos- 
somed for two or more years, but have failed to 
bear fruit. As we are not given the names of 
the varieties, we infer that some peddler has 
imposed upon them some of our wild vines, 
which are very often infertile. The shortest 
way is to dig up the barren vines and put 
good ones in their places. "We have often re- 
ferred to the dangerous practice of over-bearing, 
and repeat the caution in view of a letter now 
before us in which the writer boasts that some 
of his vines, two years planted, have sixty 
bunches of fruit upon them. "What wonder 
would it be if we should hear next year that 
these vines are poor growers and poor hearers? 
Grapes are too often prematurely picked ; 
they should be left on the vine until thoroughly 
ripe. The coloring alone should not be relied 
upon, as many kinds become colored before they 
are within a week or two of perfect ripeness. 
The taste must aid the eye in this matter, and 
each variety should be left upon the vine until 
it has acquired the sweetness and flavor and 
tenderness of pulp belonging to it — characters 
which will differ in degree according to the 
quality of the grape. Fruit for wine-making 
should be left on the vines as long as it is safe 
to do so, on account of frosts. 
Preserving grapes in winter is a point asked 
about by many. The grapes must be well 
ripened and laid for a week or two in a cool 
room. They should not be allowed to shrivel, 
but only to part with a share of their moisture. 
The skin becomes lough, and they are then 
ready to pack in small boxes holding five or 
ten lbs. The room in which they are kept 
should be at a low and uniform temperature, as 
low as may be, without danger of freezing. 
Grape packers have houses for the purpose, built 
like an ice-house, with double walls filled with 
some non-conducting materials. Some varieties 
will not keep at all, while the Catawba, Diana, 
Iona, and Isabella, (if well ripened), may be 
kept for several months in excellent condition. 
To inquirers about raisin grapes, we reply, 
that we have not as yet any native grape 
that may be profitably made into raisins. 
Packing Nursery Trees. 
I 
In the best nurseries the trees are packed in 
boxes instead of in bales, in the old way. Mr. 
J. W. Haggard sends us a model of a contriv- 
ance for facilitating packing. It consists of a 
standard, fig. 1, which has an iron foot 
to go under the box, and at the upper 
end a slot is cut, through the sides of 
which passes an iron pin which can be 
moved higher or lower as needed. This 
standard is placed near one of the cross 
cleats of the box, the trees put in, and 
Fig. 1. then pressed down by a long lever which 
hooks under the pin in the standard, as shown 
in figure 2. A smaller lever is attached to the 
long one, and has a curved end. By pressing- 
Fig. 2. — LEVER FOR PACKING TREES. 
down on this, its curved end will crowd against 
the sides of the box and bring them together, 
so that the cleats on which the cover is to 
be nailed can be fastened in place. Mr. H. 
states that he finds this a great improvement 
over the usual method of bringing the sides of 
the box in place by means of a screw clamp 
A Group of Orchids, 
Many who look at the engraving on the next 
page will probably think that the artist has in- 
dulged in caricature, and attempted to present a 
group of flowers as unlike flowers as he could, 
and has even tried to make some of them as- 
sume the shape of insects. But this is no fancy 
sketch. It is a copy of a faithful painting, made 
by the well known artist Hayes, and could we 
give the colors as well as the forms, the picture 
would be still more striking. Most of the flow- 
ers, if not all, from which Mr. Hayes made' 
his studies, were from the Orchid House of our 
friend I. Buchanan, at Astoria, Long Island. 
For the Orchis family, or Orchids, (here is no 
popular name, though, as many of them grow 
upon limbs of trees, and will flourish without 
any connection with the earth, they are often 
called air-plants — a name which is not distinc- 
tive enough, as other plants live in the same 
manner, and many of the Orchids arc terrestrial. 
Orchis, the genus which gives its name to the 
family, retains its ancient Greek name. The 
family contains some four hundred genera, and 
numbers its species by thousands. In the North- 
ern States we have about fifty species, all of 
them terrestrial ; some of these are o( great 
beauty, such as the Showy Lady's Slipper, figur- 
ed in July last. The warm, moist regions of the 
East and West Indies, and the dense forests of 
Central and South America furnish the species 
that are so prized in cultivation, and which as- 
tonish us with the brilliant color and strange 
shapes of their flowers, and often delight us 
with the delicacy of their odor. Some of our 
own orchids are found in cultivation in Europe, 
but wc have seldom seen them in collections 
here. Our Arethusa fodbosa and Calopogon pul- 
.■//. II US arc ready beautiful, as are all the Oypri- 
■pediums. Several of the Platantherasxcn showy. 
It would require too much of a botanical de- 
scription, to show the peculiarities that distiu- 
