1862 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
them in the hot-bed itself and transplanted eaeh 
plant separately. I think ten days were gained 
in this way, and I mean to follow it every year.. 
Grape Vines. —And did you raise these little 
ones from.seed, father, just as you did the mel¬ 
ons? Ho, indeed. Over yonder, are several 
rows of vines raised from seed of the choicest 
varieties. They will bear fruit next year; yet I 
think, judging from the looks of the leaves, that 
the fruit of most will be poor. For, you must 
know, that the seeds of grapes do not produce 
vines exactly like their parents. These plants, 
on this side of the walk, were raised from cut¬ 
tings put into the ground this Spring; I dug 
trenches a foot deep, spread a little sand at the 
bottom, set in my cuttings in a slanting direc¬ 
tion, and covered them, leaving only one bud 
out of the ground. These plants are just like 
the parent vine from which the cions were cut. 
Those Quinces are large and beautiful; have 
you any secret process for beating your neigh¬ 
bors? Ho; I simply set out healthy plants in 
good soil; I keep the ground clean and well en¬ 
riched. A little salt is spread on the border 
once in two years, but I am not sure that it is of 
much importance. I thin out the old wood 
every year or two, and that is the whole secret. 
And so ended our little stroll for one day. 
Don’t you think, Mr. Editor, that we can our¬ 
selves get some good suggestions from our fam¬ 
ilies, while we also teach them valuable lessons 
in gardening ? So thinks A Reader. 
The Adirondac Grape—Interesting Report. 
This new grape has heretofore been shown 
at a few Horthern Agricultural Exhibitions, 
and lately at the meeting of the Amer. Pomologi- 
cali Society at Boston, and not a few have been 
incredulous as to the claims put forth in its fa¬ 
vor, especially as little has been known of its 
history or exact locality. Mr. Bailey of Platts- 
burg, who is as yet the only propagator, sent us 
a bluster of the fruit Oct. 1st, and we laid it be¬ 
fore the Fruit Growers’ Weekly Meeting, at the 
office of the American Agriculturist, Oct. 2d. It 
was pronounced .very fine, resembling the Isa¬ 
bella in size, and general appearance, but of a 
lighter color. It lias very little pulp, and a 
pleasant but not very high flavor. In these re¬ 
spects it so much resembles the foreign grapes, 
that many gentlemen half suspected it to be an 
exotic variety, and the fruit grown under pro¬ 
tection. To get at the truth of the matter, we 
proposed that the Society should send a compe¬ 
tent uninterested committee to Lake Champlain, 
to investigate the matter thoroughly, in part at 
our own expense. The idea was favorably re¬ 
ceived, a few public spirited gentlemen offering 
to contribute something toward the expense. 
The meeting unanimously selected Mr. A. S. 
Fuller as a. suitable person to go on the mission. 
Mr. F. started on the journey, traveled some 
300 miles, and returned in time to report at the 
meeting on Oct. 9th, as folftws : 
.1 went to Plattsburgh, but there learned that the origi¬ 
nal Adirondac vine was in the grounds of J. G. Wither- 
beeEsq., at Port Henry, in the town of Moriah, Essex Co., 
about 40 miles north of Whitehall, in latitude 44°. (Mr. 
W. not being a propagator of fruits, and not attaching 
much importance to the matter, sometime since agreed 
to furnish Mr. Bailey of Plattsburg with all the cuttings, 
except what he gave to his friends). The original vine 
stands about 10 rods up the slope, and about 50 feet above 
the waters of lake Champlain. The hills at the base of 
which the vine grows are some 200 feet High, and shelter 
it on all sides as well as it could be protected naturally, 
the valley opening only to the South. The soil is a deep 
sandy loam, intermingled with the disintegrated rock con¬ 
tinually washing down from the hills above. Mr. With- 
erbee says he first noticed tlie vine in 1852, and, supposing 
it to be a wilding, or an Isabella, .dug it up, as he sup¬ 
posed ; but the next season a sprout from the old root, or 
a seedling, came up in the same place, and this was al¬ 
lowed to grow. The following winter it killed to the 
ground, but the next season it made such a fine growth 
that he protected it at the approach of winter. The fol¬ 
lowing season it produced fruit which ripened some 
weeks before the Isabella standing in the same garden. 
This vine has been laid down and covered every winter 
since, and has never, failed to produce a good crop. 
The vine at the present time has three shoots from the 
ground each of which is about IX inches in diameter. 
They cover a treliis'some twelve feet high, and sixteen 
feet long. The vine can hot be said to be trained, al¬ 
though a part of the branches have been tied to the trellis. 
The leaves are now (Oct. 6th,) perfectly healthy, there , 
having been no frost to kill them, neither have they been 
■attacked by mildew. The Isabella and several other va¬ 
rieties in the same garden, are also perfectly healthy, and 
growing rapidly. The Isabellas are not yet ripe. The vine 
has every appearance of being an Isabella both in leaf 
and wood, with perhaps the exception of the aloe of the 
leaf overlapping more in the Adirondac than in the Isa¬ 
bella. The points of difference are: The earliness of 
ripening, and the larger size of the bunches and berries, 
and the lighter color of the fruit. The clusters are more 
compact, and-the berry is nearly round, while the Isabella 
is oblong. The quality of the fruit is very good, but not 
rich; pulp very tender, parting readily from the seed. 
The clusters of fruit presented herewith, I gathered from 
the vine myself; it will be seen that they correspond 
entirely With those shown at our meeting in the office of 
the American Agriculturist last week. I consider it a 
great acquisition. A. S. Fuller. 
An Improved Flower Pot. 
The accompanying sketch, represents the cross 
section of an improved flower pot, which has 
some manifest superiori¬ 
ty over those in common G 
, It has a broad base, 
and so stands firmly, 
even when filled with 
tall plants and when 
blown Upon by high 
winds. And besides, by 
the peculiar arrange¬ 
ment of its bottom, it is- 
proof against worms entering through the hole 
in the bottom, when placed on the ground, 
which is a great evil in the common flat-bot¬ 
tom pots. Where the pots are to be placed in 
the soil during the summer, the ordinary kind 
would be preferable for convenience in moving. 
How to Produce Double Flowers. 
A subscriber of Watertown, Wis., writes: In 
a former number of the Agriculturist, mention 
is made of fine specimens of balsams produced 
from seed several years old. The long keeping 
of the seed is one secret of success. Balsams 
are best when the seed is between 4 and 7 years 
old; stock-gillies, wall-flowers, etc., must be 
grown from seed at least 2 years old. Treat the 
annuals named in the very best manner; leave 
only a few seeds on each plant; sow them 
in the most fertile and best prepared ground; 
and yet they will deteriorate from year to year 
when grown from seed of the preceding year. 
The reason is obvious. The double flower is a 
monstrosity, is a disease; the essential organs 
of the flower, those which in the natural state 
of the plant should have produced the seed, are 
wanting, being converted into mere protecting 
organs, or leaves. But that monstrosity is just 
what we desire; and the best and surest way to 
continue it, in perennial and biennial plants, is to 
propagate by cuttings, layers, or grafting, in¬ 
stead of in the natural way, the parts so severed 
from the mother plant and brought to form a 
new plant retaining the desired double flowers. 
The Yuccas. 
He who wants to adorn his garden with some¬ 
thing really odd, should have one or two Yuccas. 
They are unlike almost everything else. The 
plant they most resemble is the old Century- 
plant. Mr. Downing suggests that the most ap¬ 
propriate place for them is near the dwelling, 
on account of then’ stiff, architectural expression. 
Set them in ornamental pots or vases, and place 
them bn the corners of a parapet or terrace. 
The foliage is bold and striking, and the flower- 
stalks, which shoot up some three or four feet, 
covered with creamy white blossoms, bell-shaped 
and pendulous, are exceedingly interesting. 
We recollect seeing, a few years ago, one va¬ 
riety of the Yucca growing wild on the shores 
of the St. Johns, Florida, where it is called by 
the inhabitants, “ Adam’s Thread and Heedles.” 
This name originates from the sharp points of 
the leaves, and the thready filaments hanging 
from either side. The common variety (, filamen- 
tosa) is hardy in the northern States, and will 
grow in almost any soil. As to exposure, it 
does best when partially protected by overhang¬ 
ing trees. If set in the open garden, it is well 
to put a rough box over it in winter, or to throw 
a few evergreen boughs around it. Yet this is 
not necessary. A new variety, the stricta, is said 
to be quite hardy and desirable. [The above is 
from an associate Editor of the Agriculturist. 
We have three Yuccas growing at as many 
points in an open, exposed lawn, and have given 
them no protection. They have flowered finely 
every year since setting out. The roots of har¬ 
dy Yuccas are now obtained quite cheaply at 
most of the leading commercial gardens.—O. J.] 
The Euonymus, 
This shrub is popularly known by several 
names, as spindle-tree, burning-bush, smoke- 
tree, strawberry-tree. There are several spe¬ 
cies-twelve in all, we believe—four of them 
native to this country, and six of them quite 
hardy. The English species has four varieties, 
of which the broad-leaved {R. latifolius ,) is the 
finest. These shrubs do not push out their 
leaves quite as early in Spring as the lilacs, but 
they hold their foliage later. Their flowers are 
but little showy, yet the fruit makes up all de¬ 
ficiency. This hangs in clusters of brilliant red, 
of the size of a' strawberry, (hence one of its 
names) and clings to the stems long after the 
leaves have fallen, even when covered with snow. 
Of the broad-leaved species, Loudon says: 
“This forms much the handsomest shrub, from 
its broad shining leaves, and its large, red, pen¬ 
dulous fruits with orange-colored seeds, which, 
when the capsules open, are suspended from 
their cells somewhat as magnolias hang from 
their stobiles.” The wood is handsome in win¬ 
ter, being of a dark, reddish green, and with 
long-pointed buds. It grows from eight to ten 
feet high in deep soils, and produces greenish 
white flowers in June and July. To attain per¬ 
fection, it should be planted in an open lawn, and 
be allowed to develop itself on every side. It 
should be in the smallest collection of shrubs. 
Preserving Carnation Blooms. —To do 
this, keep the stems well tied to stakes, and soon 
after the. bud expands, tie a soft string around 
the blossom to keep it from breaking down. 
Why might not rings of thin India rubber be 
made to slip over the opening buds, which would 
expand enough to admit the development of the 
flowers, and yet would prevent their breaking ? 
