18 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
however, the snow prevents the frost from pen¬ 
etrating to a great depth — especially in the 
wooded liiils, which are the fountain-heads of 
springs and streams — and by gradual melting 
keeps up a supply of water for man and beast. 
Snow is an excellent protector of tender veg¬ 
etation. Even in northern latitudes, there is a 
multitude of half-tender indigenous plants which 
require more or less covering in Winter. Nature 
provides for them most 'wisely. She hangs over 
them the branches of neighboring trees and 
bushes, gathers about their roots a many-folded 
blanket of dry leaves, and, last of all, spreads 
over them a fleecy mantle of snow. With this 
covering, they pass through the severest Winter 
safely; while, if they were transplanted to ex¬ 
posed situations, they would die at once. But 
besides, our gardens and fields are stocked with 
plants and grains which are the natives of warm¬ 
er climates, and need protection still more. 
Sweep off the snow from our wheat fields and 
meadows, and at least a portion of the crop 
would be winter-killed. Some of the choicest 
herbaceous plants in our gardens, brought from 
milder regions, will pass unhurt through our 
severest Winters, if only covered with snow. 
So also of many tender shrubs. With their 
branches fastened to the ground so as to be cov¬ 
ered by snow, they hybernate in Canada about 
as well as at the tropics. We have seen the 
English Yew, several feet high, come out in 
Spring well browned above the snow-line, while 
all below was as green as emerald. The Japan 
Quince, by no means a tender shrub, the Deut- 
zias, many of the Spiraeas, Forsythia viridissima, 
the Scarlet-flowering Currants, etc., frequent¬ 
ly lose their flower buds, if not their branches 
above the snow, while all underneath is unharm¬ 
ed. The buds of peach-trees are often killed in 
severe Winters, but if a few branches happen to 
get bent under the snow, they produce a splen¬ 
did show of fruit. Scientific travelers in Siberia 
have recorded instances in which, with the 
temperature of the air over the snow at 72° 
below zero, that underneath was 29° above ze¬ 
ro, showing a difference of 100°. Dr. Kane, 
in his “ Artie Expedition,” mentions finding un¬ 
der the snow, at latitude 78°, “ the andromeda 
in full flower, and saxifrages and corices green 
under the dried tufts of last year.” * “Here, 
too, were the cilene and cerathrium, as well as 
the characteristic flower-growths of later Sum¬ 
mer. The poppy and sorrel, •were already re¬ 
cognizable.” “Few of us at home,” he 
continues, “ can realize the protecting value of 
this warm coverlet of snow. No eider-down in 
the cradle of an infant is tucked in more kindly 
than the sleeping dress of Winter about this 
feeble flower-life.” 
When the snow falls early in Winter and re¬ 
mains until Spring, the ground is seldom frozen 
at all. And if it becomes frozen a few inches 
deep before the snow fails, the heat of the sub¬ 
soil thaws out the frost above it, and the super¬ 
incumbent snow prevents another freezing, so 
that in Spring the ground is soft and ready for 
the plow and spade many days sooner than if it 
had remained exposed to the full force of Winter. 
The aid which the snow renders the farmer 
in clearing up swamps, and getting out muck in 
Winter, and in hauling lumber and wood to 
market; the peculiar brilliancy of the snowy 
landscape lighted up by the sun ; the sport of 
sliding down hill for the boys, and of sleigh¬ 
riding for children of larger growth, are consid¬ 
erations not to be omitted in numbering up the 
uses of snow. But of these and other things we 
lave not time or space now to speak. 
A Fomologieal Puzzle. 
There was recently exhibit¬ 
ed in a show window in this 
City a narrow necked bottle 
containing a large sized 
pear, a drawing of which is 
here given. It attracted 
much attention and ‘ how it 
was got in there’ puzzled 
most spectators as much as 
the apple dumpling did King 
George—the monarch is said 
to have thought the presence 
of the apple in the enclosing 
crust, nothing less than 
witch-work. The explana¬ 
tion of the pear “ puzzle ” is quite easy. After 
the fruit had fairly set, the bottle was slipped 
over the pear, and properly secured to the 
branches, so that the wind should not disturb 
the specimen. The glass covering rather stim¬ 
ulated than retarded the growth, and ultimately 
the pear nearty filled the bottle. 
Other fruits as apples, grapes, etc., also veg¬ 
etables, melons, and whatever may please the 
fancy, can be treated in like manner. Where a 
grape vine is trained upon a tree, a bunch of 
grapes and a pear or other fruit could thus be 
bottled together. 
After the fruit is ripe and separated from the 
branch, it may be preserved for years by filling 
the bottle with diluted alcohol, or even common 
whiskey. The process is of no great practical 
value, but will furnish a pleasing ornamental 
curiosity. 
Items from the Holy Land. 
In a very excellent book lately published, 
entitled “ The Land df the Book,” we find 
several things of interest to agriculturists. We 
notice, for example, (vol. I, p. 524,) that the 
mildew now prevails in that Land, which is the 
birth-place of the olive and the vine. The 
author says: “ I have heard it said that the 
blight, which has nearly destroyed the grapes 
all over the country for the last few years, and 
which has ruined the vineyards through the 
south of Europe, has also attacked the olives 
this year * * * The olive dries up without de¬ 
veloping, and falls off; but there is none of that 
whitish mould, nor that offensive smell of cor¬ 
ruption which the grape-blight occasions. The 
vineyards in this region are utterly ruined, and 
the people have cut them down and sowed the 
land with grain. This great calamity acts very 
mysteriously. The vines blossom and the young 
grapes- set as usual, but, soon after, a silvery 
gray mould spreads over them, and as they en¬ 
large, they corrupt, and with a very peculiar 
and offensive odor. There is this, also, strange 
about it: one year it attacks the vines raised on 
poles and running on trees, while those lying on 
the ground escape; the next year it is the re¬ 
verse. Some vineyards exposed to the winds 
are wholly destroyed ; others sheltered from 
them arc uninjured. And again this is reversed. 
1 titlierto, no explanation has appeared to ac¬ 
count for the calamity itself or for its eccen¬ 
tricities.” 
Here is another item from the 2d vol. p. 232. 
The writer is traveling near Mt. Carmel, and 
says : The pastures on either side are extremely 
rich, and when I passed along this river bank in 
February, it was all glowing and blushing with 
an infinite number and variety of flowers, send- 
[ January, 
ing up incense to the sides, and offering theii 
honeyed cups to millions of bees. I saw here 
a flower altogether new to me : the stem re 
sembled a strong, rank pea but the flowers hung 
in pendant clusters like hops. The upper part 
was a light bronze color dashed with purple, the 
rest pure white. I could get no name for it.” 
A most remarkable flower, we should say, 
judging from the description; and we should 
advise our enterprising nurserymen to send for 
it through their foreign agents. We put down 
our name in advance, for one specimen. 
A Dish of Apples—Good Sorts. 
Yes, Betsey, bring up a dish of good apples: 
some neighbors have happened in, this evening, 
and what can be better to set before them. 
The man was right in what he said to Betsey; 
nothing is better to an unperverted taste than a 
tender, juicy, mild and spicy apple. It refresh¬ 
es one’s spirits, gratifies the appetite, quenches 
thirst, and furnishes healthy food. There was 
something more than a joke in the advice of Dr. 
Johnson to one of his friends: “If possible,” 
said he, “ have a good orchard. I know a cler¬ 
gyman of small income, who brought up a fami¬ 
ly very respectably, which he chiefly fed on 
apple-dumplings!” Few things will do more 
to promote the health of a family, than to fur¬ 
nish them daily and for the year through, with 
a plenty of good ripe apples. They may be 
eaten both cooked and uncooked. They pro¬ 
mote good digestion, and carry off many humors 
which would otherwise accumulate in the sys¬ 
tem, to its serious injury. Was it not some hap¬ 
py experience of the healthfulness of apples, 
that led certain of the ancients to imagine that 
this fruit possessed the power of conferring im¬ 
mortality, and “ was watched over by the god¬ 
dess Idrena, and kept for the special dessert of 
the gods who felt themselves growing old?” 
But we have no special frith in heathen fables. 
We prefer to dwell upon visions of baked ap¬ 
ples, fried apples, apple-butter, apple-pie, ap¬ 
ple-sauce, apple-tarts, and apple-jelly. 
The value of fruit as food for stock, is too 
well known to need enlarging upon. Here is a 
single sentence from the Transactions of the 
N. Y. State Agricultural Society, which cov¬ 
ers nearly the whole ground: “ Aside from its 
edible uses to man, the apple is an important 
and economical food for most kinds of farm 
stock. Milch cows thrive upon it, when fed in 
moderate quantities, and it adds to the quantity 
and quality of their milk. It is also an excel¬ 
lent food in making beef. Horses eat it. readily: 
for them it is a succulent ahd healthy food. Sheep, 
swine, and geese, will fatten altogether on good 
apples; and for all kinds of poultry tliey are 
nutritious food.” 
Not live least important consideration is the 
value of the apple as a market fruit. It usually 
commands a ready sale, and is more easily 
raised than perhaps any other crop. A farmer 
can not make a wiser investment than to devote 
a portion of his land to an orchard. Let him 
choose the most suitable soil and exposure, and 
select the best varieties. Good apples cost no 
more to raise, than poor worthless wildings. 
To aid the inexperienced in making up a 
list of unimpeachably good varieties, we insert 
an assortment of those which are admitted by 
general consent to rank among the very best 
in quality; we give ten sorts for each season: 
srarxiEU APPLES. 
lied Astrachan, Sweet Bough, Early Harvest, 
