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December, 1889. 
but not in any instance the result of culture 
at the hand of man. The remarkably good 
quality of these selected wildings, and their 
acceptability in market, is most encourag- 
ing for this class of fruit. In vigor and 
hardiness they are far superior to any im- 
ported species, either from Europe or Asia, 
while in productiveness they are surely 
unsurpassed. There is no better field 
for experimenting and progressive hor- 
ticulturists than the improvement of 
these native plums. My own small expe- 
rience is that they are very readilv im- 
proved, some of the first seedings of my 
garden showing a marked advancement 
from the wild state. The wild plums of 
the Northeast are of no less merit than those 
of the West ; and the offer of premiums 
for them by the Montreal Horticultural 
Society brought out some very remarkable 
specimens, both as regards size and quality. 
They nearly all (at least the best ones) 
have the defect of a thin and fragile skin, 
and before they can be shipped successfully 
to distant markets this must be overcome. 
That does not seem to me a task of great 
difficulty. — T. H. Hoskins, M. D. 
Apples for Small Places. 
People with small places who desire a few 
apple trees that will bear when young and 
not occupy too much space often do not 
know what varieties to select. I can recom- 
mend the following : Yellow Transparent is 
a good, early apple and will well suit such 
places, care being taken to thin out the 
fruit. Duchess of Oldenburg, Graven- 
stein. Maiden’s Blush and Wealthy, for 
summer and early autumn succeeded by 
Smokehouse and Twenty Ounce later. 
These will give a good succession for a 
small place and it will generally be found 
desirable to have plenty of apples until 
winter and then to buy the winter-keeping 
sorts. Sweet apples are little in demand, for 
few people seem to know the excellence of 
properly baked sweet apples. The Early 
Bough is one of the best sweets and is a 
valuable sort.— Isaac Hicks, Queens Co., 
N. Y. 
December Doings. 
Many little things may be done in the 
orchard now which, though small in them- 
selves, will prevent much trouble hereafter. 
Water should not be permitted to stand 
around young trees but may be readily run 
off by making a few open drains around 
them. See that the soil is mounded up 
around the base of young trees, as we have 
directed in previous numbers, for protec- 
tion from mice as well as against the attacks 
of blizzards. This will not, however, pro- 
tect the trees from injury from rabbits 
which can easily knaw the bark above the 
the mound. They may be repelled by wash- 
ing the trunks of the trees with lime-wash 
in which fresh blood has been mixed, or 
rubbing the trees with cows liver. Tramp 
the snow firmly around young trees after 
every snowfall and so prevent mice from 
tunneling under it and getting at the tree. 
themMM 
Ur-. 
•VINEYAIUW 
The Vineyard In December. 
Now that the fruit has been gathered and 
the vines have done their service for the 
present some may think there is no more 
work to be done; but if they reflect upon 
the shortness of our springs, oftentimes they 
will do all the work possible among the 
vines during weather that will permit it. 
In northern latitudes the time to give the 
vineyard its last plowing has very likely 
passed; but here we usually have some mild, 
pleasant weather in December, and south- 
ward it is still oftener the case. All the 
vines can now be pruned, the wood that is 
to be saved cut into proper shape and size, 
tied in bunches of 200 each, and buried six 
inches deep in sand or mellow soil, with 
the butt ends uppermost, the soil well filled in 
around them to prevent air from getting in. 
In trimming the vines, some go along clip- 
ping off all the spare wood, old and young 
and have others follow, cutting loose the 
vines and tendrils that have caught to the 
wires; then if the wood is to make cuttings, 
the ■whole mass is carried into the house to 
be dressed. This plan I don't like as I con- 
sider that it makes too much trash and takes 
too much room. I prefer to go through the 
vineyard, cutting loose the vines from the 
trellis and the tendrils from the young canes, 
so as to have it in readiness for the pruning 
shears. I then cut all the wood that is want- 
ed for cuttings and place it in a pile, the 
refuse and old wood lying on the ground. 
In this way one can carry into the house a 
bundle of wood that will make a thousand 
cuttings which, when dressed and tied in 
bundles will leave but little trash to be car- 
ried out or to throw into the stove. The 
vineyard should then be cleared of all the 
trimmings, the old loose bark on the old 
vines carried out and burned; and if any of 
the posts have old bark on them that is 
loose, it should be taken off and also burn- 
ed. By doing this the insects will in a 
measure be destroyed, that otherwise would 
be there the next season to annoy us. 
If the rot has existed in the vineyard, it 
would be well to scrape the dried leaves to- 
gether with a hoe, and consign them to the 
fire. Then give the vineyard a good plow- 
ing (but not deep) throwing the earth to the 
vines. This is about the last work it needs, 
unless there are varieties that require protec- 
tion. All the hybrids need it in this lati- 
tude and north of this. The usual way is to 
run a furrow along the row as close as possi- 
ble, lay the vines in it, peg down if neces- 
sary and cover with a few inches of soil. Sim- 
ply pegging them to the ground and cover- 
ing with evergreen branches answers as good 
a purpose, and will not endanger the fruit 
buds, which sometimes suffer damage when 
we have a mild, wet winter. I have seen Her- 
bemont vines come out in the spring with 
the buds nearly all rotten, while those only 
laid down and covered with evergreen 
branches came out sound. 
I well remember in a friend’s garden, 
many years ago, that he laid down and cov- 
ered a few Catawba vines in a row. The 
following season the vines thus treated bore 
almost clean fruit while the exposed vines 
lost the entire crop with rot. This w r ould 
show that the vine has something to do 
with the disease, besides the spores in the 
atmosphere. 
The Downing grape, in all cases, must 
be protected for it is not only a hybrid, but 
three-fourths Vinifera, if I am not much 
mistaken. But it is such a grand grape that 
we may go to almost any amount of trouble 
to secure its fruit. Is this not Ricketts’ No. 
22 or 19, exhibited at St. Louis many years 
ago, afterwards named Storm King? To 
judge by the picture and the bunches I saw, 
and a berry which became detached that I 
ate, I should say it was. If so, it is not on- 
ly the largest out-door grape in bunch and 
berry that we have, but it is also of excel- 
lent quality. The foliage, however, is not 
what it might be, but for such a grape we 
can afford to put a canopy over the vines, 
sack the bunches, lay down and cover in 
winter, and indeed almost anything to 
save it. 
In laying down vines it is not necessary 
to have the main vine covered, but simply 
the bearing wood, as the old stem will bear 
a temperature that will kill every fruit bud. 
This is a fortunate feature, as the old vine is 
often stiff and could not be bent down. 
This is also the time to put down layers. 
Sometimes a vine is missing, in which case 
if the adjoining vine has a cane long enough 
to reach there, it should be reserved in 
pruning. Dig a trench deep enough to 
escape the plow, and lay in the cane, bring- 
ing the ends up where the vine is to be 
replaced and leave one or two buds on it at 
the end. 
If the laterals and eyes are cut out along 
the cane under ground, it will greatly fa- 
cilitate its rooting. In the following fall the 
cane can be cut off at the old vine, as the 
young one will be firmly established on its 
own basis. It is astonishing how such a 
layer will grow the first season, and if ex- 
amined under ground will be found to be 
rooted its entire length. 
In pruning it is best to leave considerable 
more wood to bear than necessary, to be on 
the safe side, as it is easy to take some more 
off in the spring, or to thin out the fruit if 
this be overlooked. In pruning the Con- 
cord family it is well to remember a hint 
I gave before about leaving the laterals 
with two or three eyes, as it is on them 
the largest bunches will be grown. The old 
maxim, “ Trim in the fall for wood, but 
for fruit, in spring” cuts no figure in my ex- 
perience. Vines with me nearly all bear 
too much fruit, and my pruning has nearly 
all been done in the fall for forty years. 
While trimming vines, if any grafting is 
to be done next spring, is well to select 
such wood as will be needed. Well matured, 
