SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
To US, it was a lesson without labor or cost. It taught 
us that the practice so universally adopted of manuring 
fruit trees for a little distance, just around the body of the 
tree, could never meet their demands for food. A few 
feeders may remain, to be sure, scattered along the roots 
which are yearly increasing in size, but the body of them 
are yearly pushing away in search of a greater amount 
of food. Fully to subserve the purpose then for which 
manure is applied to fruit trees, the mass of it must annu- 
ally be placed further from the trunk of the tree for keep- 
ing up with the circle of feeders to gratify their demands. 
The observation teaches another fact. A preparation of 
ground to receive a tree, for a few feet square does not 
fully answer their demands. It may do well to give them 
a start, but when they get to the end of this starting point, 
disease and dwarfishness will follow. The man who 
plants an orchard of any kind of fruit, must give all the 
soil an ample preparation, or his success cannot be com 
plete. 
The root is the most important part of a tree. If they 
can spread and extend themselves, the trunk and branches 
will follow, of course, and in due time the fruit will ap- 
pear. 
Again, the power of a tree to resist winds denends 
much upon the strength and circuit of its roots. If they 
are fine and far-spreading, but little danger will arise from 
stormy gales, I am often pleased to see the Horticultur- 
ist going to the root of the matter. — Horticulturist. 
MISSISSIPPI WINES. 
Col. J. J. Williams— Sir :—l have just finished 
pressing my crop of Catawba Grapes, and have cellered 
five hundred and fifty gallons strained must, of which I 
expect to make five hundred gallons of wine. Had I been 
able to save my whole crop, I would easily have made 
one thousand gallons wine, but unfortunately for me, my 
press gave way the first day I used it, and I could not ob- 
tain another for ten days, during which time it rained 
several days and destroyed half my crop. If I live anoth- 
er year, I will know how to prepare for saving a grape 
crop. 
Mine was probably the largest crop ever raised on the 
same quantity of land, about three quarters of an acre, 
and lam satisfied that if I had been well prepared, and it 
had not rained, I would have made at the rate of twelve 
hundred and fifty gallons of strained must to the acre. 
I have half an acre more of vines, which will yield half 
a crop next year if the season is favorable. 
My barrels of fermenting must is in a cellar about 12 
feet deep, and seems to be doing well. I shall rack it off 
when the weather gets cool. 
Respectfully, J. B. Hancock. 
Marion, Miss., Aug., 1858. 
THE HOO SUNG. 
Under the above name I have cultivated, for some 
time, a plant, which I think worthy of being generally 
known. It is a native of China, and through the kind- 
ness of one of my friends (J. B. Garber, of Columbia, 
Pa.,) I obtained the seed. 
He represented it to me as an excellent substitutes for 
the asparagus, and I find it really worthy of all the praise 
bestowed upon it. It is a species of lettuce, and can be 
used as such when young. But its chief merit is in its 
being an admirable substitute for asparagus. When the 
plants are nearly ready to flower, the stalk is quite ten- 
der, and from a half to three-fourths of an inch in diame- 
ter, and, on strong soil, sometimes three feet high. It 
may be cut up and cooked in the same way as asparagus. 
The culture is the same in all respects as lettuce. Time 
of sowing, from the middle of April to the first of June. 
(In a Southern latitude, from February to May.) The 
23 
soil cannot be too strong — the richer the better. Sov/ 
quite thin, or the stalks will be small. It will yield ten 
times more on the same space of ground than asparagus, 
as it grows as well as if it w’as a native of the soil. 
Willis Dennis, 
[In Northern Farmer. 
Applebachville, Bucks Co,, Pa. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — I have given the Hoo 
Sung a fair triaj, and can say that it possesses all the qual- 
ities claimed for it — indeed, I will go a little further, and 
say, that to my taste it is superior to the asparagus. I 
have a small quantity of the seed on sale, at the South- 
ern Seed Store. See advertisement. V. LaTaste. 
VICTORIA REGIA — GIGANTIC EIXY. 
‘^A few days ago 1 went to see a remarkable plant in 
one of the private green houses in Philadelphia, and I 
must really give you description of it. 
“It grows in water five feet deep, and at a temperature of 
90°. Each leaf is nearly as large as a moderate sized 
dining-table, perfectly round, of a bright green color on 
top, while underneath is of a brilliant red. Unlike the 
generality of leaves, it has no veins, and is so smooth as 
to feel like satin. The bottom is divided into numerous 
little cells, nearly an inch in depth, these cells being al- 
ways filled with air, it is impossible to press the leaf down, 
and the gardener said it was capable of bearing great 
weights. As an instance, he related an anecdote of a child 
who had been placed on one of these leaves to be saved 
from drowning, and had been carried in safety across the 
river. On hearing this wonderful story, a friend and I 
proposed to try the experiment, and to mount a leaf, too. 
This quite startled the gardener, who never having seen 
the attempt made, was afraid of our getting wet, but we 
would not be dissuaded. And, wonder of wonders, I found 
myself standing with nothing between the water and me 
but a leaf. I could carce credit my owm senses for a time, 
until, by placing more of my weight on one side than on 
the other, I had a sensible demonstration of my predica- 
ment by getting my feet wet. 
Now, that it is all over, it seems more marvelous than 
ever. I have often read of such things in fairy legends, 
but the idea that it could be done by human beings never 
flashed across my brain. But I have been so minute in 
describing the leaf, that I had nearly forgotten the flower, 
I which is about as large as a common sized bason ; the 
outer petals are white; next comes a pale pink, which 
gradually deepens, until at the centre it is a deep rose 
color ; and there the petals form a crown. 
This singular plant is a native of Brazil, chiefly found 
in the river Amazon ; and it was taken to England in the 
early part of the reign of Queen Victoria, thereby obtain- 
ing the name of Victoria Regia. — Extract of a Utter from 
Philadelphia. 
The Tomato — Its Properties. — Dr. Bennett, a profes- 
sor of some celebrity, considers it an invaluable article of 
diet, and ascribes to it very important medical properties : 
1. That the tomato is one of the most powerful 
aperients of the Materia Medica, and that in all those af- 
fections of the liver and organs where calomel is indis- 
pensable, it is probably the most effective and least harm- 
ful remedial agent known to the profession. 
2 That a chemical extract pill can be obtained from it 
which will altogether supercede the use of calomel in the 
cure of disease. 
3. That he has successfully treated diarrhoea with this 
article alone. 
4. That when used as an article of diet, it is almost a 
sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and indigestion. 
5. That the citizens in ordinary should make use of it 
either raw, cooked, or in the form of a catsup, with their 
daily food, as it is a most healthy article. — Repository. 
