SOUTHEKN CULTIVATOR. 
95 
feet from the ground, not only on account of the conveni- 
ence in picking the fruit, but also because the shape of 
the head and the shortening-in process of the branches is 
easier within control. The common practice of letting 
branches start at the height of six or seven feet is sanc- 
tioned neither by convenience or sound philosopy. With 
available climate and sudden alternations of heat and cold, 
wet and dry, the exposure of a naked trunk to such in- 
fluences often affects its thriftiness, producing blight and 
other diseases, and sometimes aesiroying life. This is 
particularly the case with cherry and pear trees. When 
the branches are low, they answer a valuable purpose in 
shading and protecting the trunk, and both on dwarf and 
standard trees in this respect, nature should be more 
closely follow'ed. An objection is made to it that the 
grass will not grow underneath — that the passage among 
the trees is interrupted. Things ought to be kept in their 
proper places. A lawn in front of the house should be 
reserved for shade, not fruit trees. There is always a 
separate vegetable garden, and there ought also to be a 
fruit garden, reserved exclusively for fruit trees. These 
require particular treatment and attention, such as plow'- 
ing up of the ground, which is impracticable in a lawn, 
but absolutely necessary for a thriving orchard — Farm 
Journal. 
Vegetable Growths of California. — An agricultur- 
al show has lately been held at Sacramento, at which the 
productions of the country were exhibited for prizes. The 
show of animals was I'emarkable only as giving evidence 
of considerable improvement in the breed of horses since 
the Americans have been in possession of the State. The 
exhibition of fruits and vegetables was really curious — the 
former from their variety and precocity, and the latter 
from their giganticsize. Pumpkins weighing 129 pounds, 
beet-root feet long, and a stalk of Indian corn 34 feet 
high, were among the “monsters” of the exhibition. 
The vegetables of California grow with a luxuriance un- 
equalled elsewhere, but they are deficient in flavor. It 
appears that peach and pear trees frequently produce a 
double crop in the same season. The productiveness of 
the strawberry plant is also very remarkable. 
NATIVE GRAPES. 
I appreciate the motives that induced many persons 
from different States to send me grafts of native and seed- 
ling grapes. Among them were grafts from California in 
sealed tin cans. They came late, and I expected to find 
the grafts dried and dead. They were as fresh as when 
cut from the vine, and some of them had young buds an 
inch long; some of the grafts have grown fifteen feet. My 
grafting was done earlier last spring than heretofore, and 
many did not grow. Three or four kinds did not live, 
that from their description promised to be fine wine 
grapes. It is not the best table grapes that make the best 
wine. The first object is to obtain grapes of fine aroma 
and flavor ; the second, much saccharine matter. 
The sweetness of the grape is no evidence of the 
quantity of sugar they contain. The Catawba is not a 
very sweet grape, as it contains more tartaric acid than 
usual. Yet it abounds in sugar, and its “must” weighs 
heavier than the most of wine grapes from Europe, and 
makes a stronger wine, and where casks are kept full and 
in cold cellars, will improve for five or six years, but can- 
not be sent in casks in warm weather a loiio- distance 
with safety. Bottled, it may be sent safely at all seasons, 
and kept for a century. The Madeira, Port, and Sherry 
wines, that, fully fermented, seldom weigh more than 
eight degrees, have brandy added, till they weigh from 
I eighteen to twenty- four degrees. To someof their “must,” 
in Madeira, they added one-third of brandy. The result 
I is no fermentation. The liquor is clear, sweet and pleas- 
ant to taste, and when shipping their wines, more or less 
of it is added, to give richness and flavor. 
I have, w'ithin a few days, received by express some 
grapes of a superior quality from Georgia. Florida and 
j South Carolina. Among them the Warren grape, which 
! has generally been represented to be the Herbemont. It 
I is a different grape. Bunch and grape larger and more 
! perfect. The grape is not ripe enough to judge of its 
j quality as a table grape, but I believe, as a table grape, it 
i will be superior to the Herbemont. 'I shall cheerfully pay 
I a high price to any person who will, by express, send me 
I from two quarts to a half bushel of native grapes, fully 
I ripe, if of fine aroma and flavor, to test their quality for 
I wine. Or, if prefeired, will send them the wine when 
made, if of value. 
The Fox grape has a strong aroma, but is of no value 
as wine or -a table grape. The skin is thick, and the 
pulp hard. If to make and drink the vdne of Scripture*is 
not to become a sin and a reproach, there are native 
grapes that will be worth millions of dollars; the seedling 
can be raised of greater value. We have a seedling of our 
Isabella, that, grown in the open ground, bears larger 
fruit than the largest grapes of Europe grown under glass. 
Ours is the region for grape culture and the manufacture 
of wine. The wine countries of Enrope have no native 
grapes. Our hills and valleys are covered with vines, 
producing hundreds of varieties ofgrapes. Yet our Solo- 
omons have told us that our soil and climate are not cal- 
culated lor the culture of the grape and the manufacture 
of wine. j 
I can pardon this opinion at the North, where they 
have the Fox and Frost grape only; but I now feel as- 
sured that I have on trial a few kinds of grapes belonging 
to a cold region — that in the Northern part of the State 
of New York and in Vermont, will be valuable for wine. 
I am not yet prepared to judge with certainty of the qual- 
ity of many kinds I have on hand. But I hope this fall 
to submit some wines made from the new* grapes, to a se- 
lect committee, that shall compare with the best wines of 
Europe of the same age. If our temperance men can bq 
induced to respect the doctrines of the Bible, and not in- 
terfere with the culture of the grape for pure wine, not 
many years will elapse till we can not only supply 
the United States with wine, but include all Europe. 
N. Longworth, in Chico.go Democrat. 
Cincinnati^ Sept. 18.5.5. ' 
— 
PLANT LICE ON GRAPE VniES. 
We make an extract from a paper by Mr. Tow.vsend 
Glover on the Plant Louse, published in the Agricultur- 
al Report of the Patent Office: 
The Plant Louse {Aphis) is very destructive to young 
shoots and leaves of grape vines, as they suck out the 
sap by means of a piercer or trunk, and thus enfeeble the 
system of the plant. 4'he natural history of'ihese insects is 
similar to that of the Cotton Louse. Their natural ene- 
mies also the same, as they are destroyed by the lady bird 
the lace-wing fly and syrfflius. I must, however, remark 
that the minute ichneumon fly which destroys the aphis 
on grape vines, differs essentially from that of the Cotton 
Louse, although its general form and habits are the same. 
•■■When the vines are in small gardens the best remedy 
to destroy this pest would be to syringe the plants thor- 
oughly, both on the upper and lower sides of the foliage, 
with a solution of whale oil soap. Dusting the leaves 
with lime has al.«:o been recommended ; and in a green 
house these lice can be destroyed by a thorough fumiga- 
tion with the smoke of tobacco.” 
