AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
343 
Portkultral gqmrtmeitt. 
NEW-ROCHELLE BLACKBERRIES. 
Mr. Isaac Rosevelt, of Pelham, Westchester 
county, has just sent us a basket of these most 
luscious and magnificent berries, many of which 
are over three inches in circumference, and we 
should say the average is nearly two and a half 
inches. Those fully ripe are very sweet, and 
dissolve in the mouth almost like sugar. The 
seeds are so few and small, that one scarcely 
tastes them, and there is nothing of that hard 
core in this variety, which characterize even the 
best ripened common blackberries. 
Mr. Rosevelt has a fine large nursery, we 
understand, and we intend to make him a visit 
soon, and will then give further details respect¬ 
ing these berries and other things. 
Mr. R. says the New-Rochelle Blackberry re¬ 
quires a deep, rich, and rather moist soil to 
grow them in the greatest perfection. 
- 1 • •- 
VINE DISEASE. 
We have just had an opportunity of examin¬ 
ing two Vine Houses which we think throw 
some light on the subject of the disease which 
has lately been so prevelant in some parts of 
England. Tne Vines in the two houses are 
of the various sorts, principally, however, Sweet¬ 
water and Black Hamburgh, and the one some 
weeks later than the other. Not the slightest 
trace of disease is visible on any of the vines 
trained to the roof of the house, except perhaps 
a slight pallid tint about the young laterals, 
to which, however, much importance cannot be 
attached ; the leaves on other parts of the trees 
are quite as they should be, and the grapes 
themselves without spot or blemish. In one of 
the houses, however, were about a dozen pots, 
containing Black Hamburgh and Sweetwater 
Vines, every one of which exhibited leaves cov¬ 
ered on the under side with little green pustules. 
As the whole of the Vines planted in the bor¬ 
der were healthy, it became a matter of interest 
to ascertain the state of the soil and roots in 
the pots, and on examination they proved to be 
badly drained ; a large portion of the roots, in¬ 
deed, were dead, in consequence of some former 
drought; the new roots were unhealthy, and 
the soil, though not absolutely waterlogged, in 
an unfavorable condition. What, therefore we 
have suspected all along, seems to be verified, 
that in all those cases in which the leaves are 
deformed with pustules the root is the seat of 
evil, and that the remedy must be applied there. 
The next point was to examine the structure 
of the excresences on the leaves, which was im¬ 
possible in the shrivelled, bruised specimens 
previously submitted .to inspection, and in every 
case it appeared that they were due to an hyper¬ 
trophy of the epidermal cells of the under sur¬ 
face, at the expense of the spongy tissue above, 
by means of which the air is admitted into im¬ 
mediate contact with the walls, and is thus ena¬ 
bled to act upon the fluid which they enclose. 
The effect, therefore, must be, where the warts 
are in great abundance, to prevent the proper 
aeration of the juices, which in consequence, re¬ 
turn in an unhealthy condition, and are unable 
to supply the exigencies of the fruit, which very 
naturally contracts disease, and ultimately de¬ 
cays. The cells of which the warts are compos¬ 
ed contain only a few scattered grains of chlo- 
ophyl, and have apparently a very low degree of 
vitality, so that they soon become brown, and 
thus cause the spotted appearance which defaces 
the beauty of the foliage. It is not pretended 
that the spots upon the berries themselves are 
at all of the same nature as those upon the 
leaves, but l’ather that they are due to natural 
decay induced by the depraved state of the 
juices arising from the disease, which is so evi¬ 
dent upon the foliage. 
The spot in Geranium is, we doubt not, a 
case of quiet a similar character, though we 
have not at present accurately compared the 
two maladies and the disease so prevalent in pear 
leaves may belong to the same category, though 
itis often accompanied by a minute Acarus; for 
it is possible that the Acarus may simply take 
up his abode in the pustules and not be charge¬ 
able with their first origin. It is not asserted 
to what particular condition of the roots the evil 
may be due, whether to the former drought, 
which caused many of the roots to perish, or to 
the subsequent ill-drained condition of the soil 
when charged with water, or to marked alter¬ 
nations of drought and moisture ; but now that 
the probable origin of the evil has been pointed 
out, it would perhaps not be difficult, where 
there are sufficient opportunities of making ex¬ 
periments, to acquire some certain information 
on the subject.— M.J. B, in Gardeners' Chron¬ 
icle. 
GOOSEBERRIY CATERPILLAR AND GREEN¬ 
FLIES. 
The extensive Gooseberry and Currant plan¬ 
tations of this neighborhood, (Pershore,) are 
greatly injured by caterpillars and green-flies. 
White hellebore proves a valuable remedy for 
the former, but we can discover none for the 
latter. I have tried nearly every recommenda¬ 
tion made in your back numbers for their des¬ 
truction, without practical benefit, and I should 
feel greatly obliged if you could give me any 
advice for the management of 60 or 70 acres of 
young bushes now suffering from their attack. 
A single washing or fumigation might be adopted, 
if there were any certainty of its being success¬ 
ful ; but there seems no hope of this being the 
case, and repeated applications would be too te¬ 
dious and expensive in so large a plantation. 
[Repeated syringing with tobacco-water and 
clear water, is certainly beneficial.] Taking off 
the shoots most infested with the fly and throw¬ 
ing them on the ground or burning them, has 
little effect in retarding their progress now they 
are strongly established. Would it be effectual 
if vigorously adopted when they first appear? 
[Nipping off the young shoots infested is cer¬ 
tainly a very serviceable remedy, especially if 
applied early.] Is the first brood of the season 
hatched on the trees from eggs deposited on the 
branches or buds the previous autumn, or do 
the flies mostly or even occasionally come from 
a distance? If the former, I would not object 
to washing the bushes, when leafless, with a 
composition to destroy the eggs, if any such be 
known as perfectly effectual; otherwise, I 
should prefer running the chance of the season. 
There are no other gardens near me, but of 
course there are brambles in the hedges, so my 
position is not perfectly isolated, but nearly so. 
[We do not think washing the naked branches 
in the winter would be a sure preventive, the 
eggs being so minute would, doubtless, for the 
most part escape the application, even if it were 
certain that the early broods are not the pro- 
gency of flies brought from other wild plants.] 
When the remainder of my land is planted, and 
the present trees more crown, any remedial 
measure will be more difficult and costly than 
now, and I would cheerfully encounter consid¬ 
erable expense, if future safety could be secured. 
If the fly comes- from a distance, I fear winter 
washing will have little effect. Can I with ad¬ 
vantage encourage the lady-bird or any other 
insect, or even bird, that will feed upon the 
aphis, and not injure the fruit? [Encourage 
the lady-birds and the Syrphidae as much as 
possible. It is certain that the inclement wea¬ 
ther has not only retarded the appearance of 
these beneficial insects, but has been eminently 
favorable to the development of the aphides. 
The fly-catcher, hedge-sparrow, and even the 
common sparrow, should also be encouraged.] 
My bushes have not grown very vigorously, 
partly owing I suppose to the soil being an im¬ 
poverished loam or marl, scarcely rich enough 
for them, although Apple, Pear, Plum, and 
Quince trees and Strawberries flourish in it 
most satisfactorily, and partly from their hav¬ 
ing had their leaves stripped off last year by the 
caterpillars. The ground is also exposed to the 
east. May either of these circumstances ac¬ 
count for the fly being stronger on my planta¬ 
tion than on those which are older, more vigor¬ 
ous, and more sheltered ? [It is certain, and at 
the same time remarkable, that cold east winds 
and exposure to the east, which are so detri¬ 
mental to most insects, seem especially favor¬ 
able to the development of aphides. We have 
a bed of Chrysanthemums at the present time 
in an exposed situation, sadly infested, while 
another bed sheltered by walls and trees is quite 
free from them.] Would the application of 
soot, guano, or any other portable manure tend 
to diminish the green-fly? and is it probable the 
bushes may be free from fly in more favorable 
seasons, if I do not adopt any of the expensive 
expedients alluded to ; or must I consider it an 
evil which will increase if not vigorously and 
immediately encountered? R. Varden. [We 
think, on the whole, that nipping off the young 
shoots, and the application of liquid manure to 
force forward the vegetation as much as possi¬ 
ble during the present season, will be the most 
likely means to benefit your trees. The season 
so far has been most anomalous, and cannot be 
regarded as affording a precedent for future op¬ 
erations. The trees in question are in general 
so little subject to the attacks of aphides that 
we would rather look on the present visitation 
as an exceptional one, not likely to occur again. 
— IF., in Gardeners' Chronicle. 
-- 
Strawberry Culture. —The first year’s pro¬ 
duce of strawberry plants from runners of the 
preceding season is generally considered of lit¬ 
tle account; but, with attention to certain points 
of treatment, I have reason to believe that it 
may be made nearly equal to the average pro¬ 
duce of the second year. I observed lately in 
the grounds of a market-gardener a bed of 
Keens’ Seedlings, which he informed me wei’e 
from runners of last year planted out at the end 
of summer. They were bearing plentifully, 
though perhaps not carrying so heavy a crop as 
a neighboring bed two years old, nor were the 
plants, of course, so large and stocky. I have 
myself some plants of another kind, the Rose- 
berry, from runners of last year, which have six 
and eight fruit stems or trusses; and the aggre¬ 
gate amount of fruits borne on these plants is 
quite equal to that on any of the plants from 
which they were made, now two years old. The 
course I adopted in making these plants was 
this: In June last year I laid down such run¬ 
ners as I wished to make fresh plants from, re¬ 
moving all others as they were thrown out, 
whether from the parent plants or from the 
rooted runners. In September the now rooted 
plants were detatched from the old ones, and 
removed with a ball of earth to the place where 
they have since remained. The removal might, 
I presume, be as advantageously made at a later 
period — say in October or November—if the 
ground they are intended to be placed in should 
happen to be occupied at an earlier time with 
other crops. By paying attention to laying 
down a limited number of runners early, and 
concentrating the energies of the parent plant 
in causing them to form their roots, I consider 
that the constitutional maturity and bearing 
power of the new plants are materially for¬ 
warded, so as to enable them to produce a fair 
crop the next season, instead of having the 
ground almost uselessly occupied for a whole 
year with immature and imperfectly bearing 
plants, as must necessarily be the case when 
the beds are made in spring.— J. H. IT., in Gar¬ 
dener's Chronicle , July 7. 
Close by Everywhere. —Speaking of rail- 
x'oad facilities, a writer in?the Independent says : 
“ It makes but little matter now where a man 
lives. He is close by everywhere,” 
