NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB.-BLEEDING OF THE VINE. 
143 
by planting slips is too troublesome, and will not 
succeed, (c.) 
We are now, continued Dr. U., in the season of 
grape-vine pruning, which may be continued for a 
month. Spur-pruning, he said, is generally prac¬ 
tised in the city, but this will not do so well for 
the open vineyard. There we must cut away the 
old wood and bring in the new. By close pruning, 
we have less fruit, but more sugar, and are more 
sure of ripening the grapes. In France, he said 
the bleeding of the vine, by pruning, is injurious ; 
but not so in Germany and with us. 
(a) Kohlrabi ( Brassica oleracea caulo-rapci, of De 
Candolle), or turnip-stemmed cabbage, comprises 
numerous sub-varieties; but those regarded as the 
best suited for field-culture are the large red and 
green sorts. It is said to have been brought origi¬ 
nally from Siam, and is now much cultivated in 
Germany and the low countries, as well as in the 
north of France, where it is chiefly given to milch- 
cows, for which it appears to be well adapted on 
account of its possessing but little of the acridity or 
bitterness found in the turnip, which so often im- 
arts a disagreeable flavor to butter and milk. The 
ulbs, which weigh from five to fifteen pounds 
each, are more nutritious than the turnip; and be¬ 
ing of a close texture and less watery, they contain 
more food in the same space. They have a strong 
pow T er of resistance to putrefaction, and consequent 
endurance of frost and wet. They produce as high 
as 18 tons per acre, or about the same as the ruta¬ 
baga, or Swedish turnip; and the soil and culture 
that is suited to the one, are equally adapted to the 
other. They may be taken up in the fall before 
the closing of the ground, and stored like potatoes 
or turnips for winter use, or they may be suffered to 
remain in the ground until spring. 
(&) The genus to which this plant belongs con¬ 
sists of evergreen shrubs, with the habit of palm- 
trees, and are natives of America from Virginia to 
the straits of Magellan. They usually thrive in a 
deep sandy soil or sandy loam, that is rather dry, 
and even will prosper close by the sea. They may 
be propagated either by suckers, which are thrown 
up by the roots, or by the side-shoots that are occa¬ 
sionally produced on the stem; or they may be 
raised from seeds, sown immediately after gather¬ 
ing, which will come up in a month or six weeks. 
The leaves of most of the species afford a fibre 
when treated like the stalks of hemp or flax, and 
have long been used by the Indians, in the manu¬ 
facture of cordage, cloth, hammocks, or swinging 
beds. 
The Yucca gloriosa, commonly called “Adam’s 
Needle,” and the Yucca Jilamentosa, or the 
“ Thready Adam’s Needle,” are both natives from 
Virginia to Florida, and probably throughout the 
maritime parts of all the Southern States. Th'e Y. 
gloriosa, although somewhat tender, has long been 
cultivated in the gardens and hot-houses of Europe, 
as well as those of America, and is greatly esteem¬ 
ed as an ornamental plant. The stalk or stem rises 
to a height of two or three feet, and is clothed with 
leaves almost to the ground. The leaves, which are 
broad and stiff, but thin, are of a dark-green color, 
and end in a sharp, black spine. The flowers usu¬ 
ally grow in panicles on a slender stalk, which 
springs from the centre of the leaves. They are 
bell-shaped, and hang loosely downwards, with 
each petal white within, but marked on the exte¬ 
rior with a purple stripe. 
The Y. filamentosa grows to a height of five or 
six feet, with leaves and flower-stalk resembling 
those of the Y. gloriosa; but the leaves, which are 
obtuse, have no spines at their ends, and have long 
threads hanging down on their sides. The flowers 
are larger and whiter than those of the last-named 
species, and grow close to the stalk. 
(c) Had not these remarks by Dr. Underhill ap¬ 
plied directly to our article on the grape-vine in 
the February No., we should have been disposed 
to pass them in silence, as we often have done, as 
one of his well-intended, though “ random shots 
but as they have already been heralded to the 
world through several prints, we feel bound in 
duty, both to the public and ourselves, to set the 
matter right. In the first place our article was 
written with the utmost care, having been drawn 
from sources founded on long experience, and, as 
we supposed, could not admit of a doubt. Fur¬ 
thermore, w r -e have known from our boyhood that 
vines would grow from cuttings, in ordinary sea¬ 
sons, without any very extra care, which is fully 
corroborated by the following extract from a letter 
dated at Cincinnati, March 23d, 1847, from N. 
Longworth, Esq!; whose renown, as a wine-grower, 
is too well known to be repeated here:— 
“We usually plant cuttings, and it is invaria¬ 
bly done when the person buys them, as roots 
would be too dear, and in favorable seasons but 
little advantage is gained. We never take the 
trouble to water the cuttings. In favorable sea¬ 
sons, but few die.” 
IS BLEEDING, CAUSED BY PRUNING, INJU¬ 
RIOUS TO THE VINE'? 
That the bleeding of the vine is not so serious 
an event as is generally believed, is well known to 
practical men, and they are certainly right; for the 
rising sap of the vine consists mainly of water, 
carbonic acid, and ammonia, all derived from the 
soil, and therefore from a source of inexhaustible 
supply. If no other matters were present, the vine 
would be of the nature of a slender water-pipe, 
through which this fluid passes in its way to the 
leaves ; but it is not so. On the contrary, the rising 
sap also dissolves in its passage all soluble matters 
with which it is brought into contact, among which 
are, especially sugar and gum, the organizable mat¬ 
ters out of which the future leaves and fruit must 
be prepared. Now, a plant cannot obtain, these 
substances from the soil; they lie in its own tis¬ 
sues and there only; and it is obvious that if they 
are all washed out by the passage of an enormous 
quantity of watery matter through the plant, most 
of which is wasted, there can be no formation of 
leaves, flowers, and fruit. Theoretically, therefore, 
bleeding is a dangerous circumstance, and may be 
fatal. 
But in truth, Nature is so prodigal of all means 
or materials required for the security of life that 
exhaustion is by no means easy. Infinitely more 
of everything is provided than is really required, 
on purpose to compensate for accidents. A tree is 
