150 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
eight feet high place five wires, and set the rows ten feet 
apart, and running norih and south if convenient. 
Grapes can be grown to advantage in the city. A 
vigorous vine can be carried up six or eight feet a 
year, without bearing until it reaches the top of the house, 
and there trained epon a trellis, and produce good fruit 
many years. Vines can also be trained upon brick walls, 
or in yards that have four hours of sun a day. It is not 
necessary that the sun shine on the ground where a vine 
is rooted, so that it reaches up to a sunny spot for leaves 
and ffuit. I have trained vines up a house side three 
stories high. 
All sides of a house may be used, but on the north side 
the fruit will not ripen well. A northeast exposure on the 
sea coast is not a good one for grapes. One objection to 
an eastern exposure is bright suns after frosts. Summer 
pruning is indispensable In the angle between the leaves 
two buds start, and if one is not plucked out it will pro- 
duce a shoot that will bear greea^rapes in the Fall. Care 
must be taken not to cut off the vines in the hard wood 
in the summer. The shoot must be stopped in the bud, 
by pinching, and not by cutting away hard wood. Vines 
never should be trimmed with ordinary shears, but by a 
very keen knife, with a smooih cut. 
The bunch next to the main stem covers the bud of the 
fruit-bearing branch for next year. In pruning in the 
fall all of the fruit-bearing arm is cutaway to one bud It 
is better to prune in November than later, on account of 
the exuding of the sap, which is considerable if pruning 
is done in JVlarch, which damages the vine more the 
second year than the present year. There are many ad- 
vantages in pruning in November, but if neglected then, it 
must not be neglected altogether, for upon that, and also 
plucking of all excess of fruit, depends the success of grape- 
growing 
The Delaware Grape. — The Doctor exhibited a paint- 
ing representing a Delaware vine in bearing, which was 
much admired, as he gave full explanations of the manner 
of treating the vine, to produce the growth and bearing it 
represented. 
Solon Robinson. — Upon this subject I will read a por- 
tion of a letter from a Rochester grape-grower, and indorse 
all it says of this best of all American grapes. The writer 
says : 
“We have been engaged in the cultivation of the grape 
for more than twenty years, and we can fully indorse 
your remarRs, by asserting that the Delaware is the best 
grape that we have ever seen for out-door culture in this 
latitude, because it possesses the following qualities : 
“1st Great Hardiness — It has been known^to stand un- 
injured where Labella, Clinton and Catawba have been 
killed to the ground. 
“2d Productiveness— It is a great bearer. The berries 
and bunches increase in size as the well cultivated vine 
grows older, and it probably will produce more pounds 
of fruit to the acre than any other sort that we know of 
“od. Earliness— It is said to ripen in Delaware, Ohio, 
about the middle of August, and in Western New York 
early in September. There is no other native grape, 
nearly as good, ripens so early, that we know of 
“4th. Quality is Best— Whenever and wherever com- 
pared with other varietiVs, Delaware bears off the palm. 
“Now, my dear sir, these grapes are so scarce for two 
reasons : 
“1st. The above-mentioned excellent qualities cause 
them to be in great demand, and prices rise in propor- 
tion. 
“2d. Those who have the genuine stock, find it is ex 
tremely difficult to multiply as fast as the vines could be 
sold at lauiie prices ” , 
Native Wines — Mr. Rockwell, of Ridgefield, Conn., 
exhibited a large numSer of samples of Connecticut-made 
wine, which were tested and several of them approved. 
To our notion, the fault of his manufacture is that he uses 
too much sugar. 
PEACH BORER— STRAWBERRIES— HYBRI- 
dizing, &;c. 
A very zealous and successful amateur of Charleston, 
S. C., “gives in his experience,” as follows: 
“Out of 12 finest varieties of Peach trees I planted two 
years (or more) ago, the borers mercilessly spared 
none! Dejected, but not disheartened, I procured a few 
of the “Amelia” and about the roots of five of them I 
placed pieces of the wood, and one dozen of the berries, 
(crushed) of the “Pride of India” or “China Berry” tree. 
The sixth and remaining tree, despite copious applica- 
tions of boiling water, died. Verdict, after a post mortem 
examination, “Ravages of the Borer.” The jive are now 
freighted with what (the dangers of a late frost excepted) 
will be fine fruit ! Is it necessary to speculate upon these 
facts I Will any one be so incredulous as to say that one 
out of six trees planted 10 feet apart is enough to satisfy 
the rapacity of the borers^ Perhaps xhQ race which in- 
habited that particular locality, like Eve of old, desired 
the “tree in the midst of the garden !” and, in order to be- 
lie my belief, and disappoint my expectations, refrained 
from disturbing five out of the six. Very probable. 
In the cultivation of Strawberries, I have tried six dif- 
ferent methods of manuring. That which produced the 
earliest and most luxuriant growth, largest and sweet- 
est berry (for you must know I believe strongly mjlavor 
produced by manure) was the barrel- made, vegetable 
manure, as follows; — I procured six whiskey barrels, and 
in these, to every bushel of vegetable matter, I put one 
pint of lime and ashes, until the barrel was within three 
inches of being filled. I then poured in boiling soapsuds, 
urine, and some night soil. I theji headed up the barrels 
and rolled them aside (this was in August) until Decem- 
ber, when I watered around each plant with the liquid, 
and forked in the solid matter. During our coldest nights 
in December and January, I did not cover the plants ; and 
have been eating ripe and luscious, Hautbois and Long- 
worth’s since the 10th of February ! These are facts. 
In the same spot of ground, the same varieties, treated, 
some without, and some with other manures, (Rhodes’ 
Superphosphate among the number) the plants have grown 
slowly, flowered and dropped their fruit. 1 have 2,000 
plants in all— 1,000 Longworth’s and 1,000 Hautbois. 
Toe Hautbois yield more fruit, but Longworih’s make 
the handsomest plants, and bear earliest— this is my ex- 
perience. 
“I have some new hybridized Seedling Roses (my first 
attempt) coming on finely. If I get anything new out of 
them I will apprize you. I look for something good frooa 
the old Cabbage and the Lamarque, also from Mad. 
Masson and the Lamarque. I have also the commoa 
Cherokee and Lion des Combats. I devoted much time to 
hybridizing last year. I planted the seeds early under 
glass, in thumb pots, and have them now in the ground. 
I have also grafted the White Muscat Grape on our com- 
mon Bullace. V. S. 
^^If “flowers are the alphabet of the angels” the little 
chernbs and seraphs will soon be able to study their letters 
from a new edition of the floral primmer, for this bland 
and delicious weathej^is starting every bud and swelling 
every sprig. % 
|^°How is it that trees can put on a new dress without 
opening their trunks 1 It^is becaause they leave ant their 
1 summer clothing. 
