318 
SOUTHEKN CULTIVATOE. 
banking. Let the foundation of the banks be 12 or 18 
inches higher than the surrounding surface, on an ele- 
vation, where water will not settle, or stand. 
Egyptian and other Winter Oa/s, Rye, Barley, Clover, 
Lucerne, and other hardy grasses should be sown at once. 
Plow deep, pulverize finely and manure heavily for all 
these crops, if you desire proper remuneration for your 
labor. 
Hay. — Many varieties of native grass are yet worth 
gathering, to eke out scanty winter supplies. Pindar and 
Svjeet Potato vines are good fodder, when properly cured 
and stored away. 
Turnips. — It is late for field crops of Turnips ; but, if 
your early sowings have failed, try again now. We have 
known good crops made after the first of October. Bring 
your growing Turnips to a proper stand, and keep the 
ground clean and open. 
Pumpkins should be gathered as soon as ripe, and stored 
on well-aired scaffolds or tiers of rails, one above the 
other, so far apart that the layers of pumpkins cannot 
touch or rest upon each other. Put up in this way, with 
a slight covering or protection from frost they will keep 
nearly all winter. There should be a water tight roof 
over the scaffolds, and straw may be used as a protection 
from frost. Placed in a heap or pile, pumpkins soon decay 
and become worthless. Before feeding to your stock they 
should be boiled up with a sprinkling of meal or bran. 
Hedges of the Osage Orange, Cherokee and Macartney 
Rose, Honey Locust, Evergreen Thorn, {Cratcegns Pyra- 
eantha) Pyrus Japonica, &c., &c., may be set out the 
latter part of this month, or as soon as the leaves of de- 
ciduous trees fall. The proper preparation of the ground 
for Hedges will be treated of in our next. 
THE GARDEN. 
Sow Cabbage, Turnips, Parsnips, Lettuce, Carrots, 
Radishes, &c., &c. Haul plenty of manure on your gar- 
den, have it well spaded, burying under all enriching ani 
mal or vegetable matter. Transplant Brocoli, Cabbages, 
Celery, ^'Collards,^^ &c. Dress and manure your Aspara- 
gus beds, not forgetting to give them a liberal top-dressing 
of salt, before spring. Save all old bones, soap-suds, dead 
leaves, decaying vegetables, &c., &c., and make up into 
compost heaps for future use. Plow and subsoil your 
ground for the planting of young orchards, directions for 
which will be given our November number. 
THE STRAWBERRY PATCH. 
The best soil for this delicious fruit is a sandy or even 
a gravely loam, moist, and rich in vegetable manure. An 
excellent compost for an acre of ground would be GO 
bushels of leaf mould from the woods, 20 bushels of leach- 
ed ashes, 5 bushels lime, and 3 or 4 quarts of salt. Mix 
thoroughly, let it stand 2 or 3 days, scatter broadcast and 
plow in. Then harrow or rake the surface, making it fine 
and- set your plants in rows 3 feet apart, and 1 foot to 18 
inches in the row. After the plants become well rooted, 
cover the whole ground with partly decomposed leaves 
fro.m the forest, leaving nothing exposed but the leaves 
and fruit stalks of the plants. See “Notes on Strawber- 
ries,” in our August number. 
FINE APPLES AND PEARS. 
We are indebted to that very zealous pomologist, J. 
Van Buren, Esq., of Clarksville, Ga., for a box contain- 
ing the following and several other varieties of Apples : 
Southern. — Julien, first rate, ripens 1st to 15th of 
August. Habersham, good, ripe 15th to last of July. 
Toccoa, or Muskmelon, first rate, with a sprightly flavor, 
ripens middle to last of August. Chestatee, late, good 
keeper, cooking apple, ripens 1st to 15th September. 
Ray's Sweet, good, ripens 15th to last of August. The 
Cane Creek Sweet, Summer Sweet, and several other va- 
rieties, were so badly decayed that we were unable to form 
an opinion of their quality. 
Northern. — The following Northern varieties (and 
nearly all others from that region,) ripen prematurely in 
this climate, and will not keep any length of time. In- 
deed, many of them, with Mr. Van Buren and ourselves, 
roton the tree, and seldom producea perfect specimen: — 
Baldwin, Hubardston Nonsuch, Dutch Mignonne, Roxbury 
Russett, &c. 
From this it will appear plain to all intelligent Fruit 
Growers that, if we wish late keeping apples, we must 
plant our own native Southern Seedlings, such as the 
Shockley, Summer our , Cullasaga, Nickajack, &c., all of 
which have been figured and described in these pages by 
Mr, Van Buren. A few trees of those rare new sorts of 
apple may be obtained from that gentleman and others, 
who intend propagating largely to supply the demand 
next season. 
The box also contained a few Bartlett Pears, of fine 
size and delicious flavor. They were over ripe when re- 
ceived, but the melting, sugary richness was still there, 
and after the first taste, nothing could save the remainder 
from instant “destruction.” 
In regard to Fruit prospects in Habersham, Mr. Van 
Buren gives us the following cheering intelligence : 
“We are abound! ig in every species of fruit. Our trees 
are so tired with holding up such enormous loads that 
many of them are breaking down. Apples are in such 
clusters and so crowded that they are quarrelling and 
pushing one another off the trees ! 1 never saw so great 
a quantity, nor of so fine and fair quality as we have this 
season. 
“When the time arrives I will send you some speci- 
mens of our Winter fruit.” 
NATIVE GRAPES-LETTER FROM DR. McDONNALD. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — In your August num- 
ber I read the communication signed “J. S. G.” request- 
ing information with regard to the cultivation of the 
Grape and of the kinds best adapted to the South, with an 
editorial referring directly to me, rec|uesting that I would 
respond to the wishes of “our correspondent and many 
others who desire information on this subject.” I may not 
refuse the call, and will, with due brevity, afford all neces- 
sary information (omitting for the present the culture of 
the Grape). I v/ill confine my remarks to those species of 
the Grape which have been most generally under my ob- 
servation. This would be best understood by stating the 
kind cultivated in my vineyard, to wit : 
The Isabella, of which I have two or three varieties, 
