1S67.] 
AMMRICAN AGRICUI/rURlST. 
869 
worth propagHling. The nearer a really good 
apple is crown lo the place of its origin, the 
iK'lter, ns a rule, it is. For instance, the Xew- 
town Pippin, once the best apple in our New 
York markets, originated on Long Island, and 
Avas chiefly cultivated there, and along the lower 
section of the Hudson River, and the contiguous 
parts of New Jerscy,and seldom grows anywhere 
else in perfection. It is now' the scarcest good 
apple to be found Avith us. It has been intro¬ 
duced, to be sure, and groAvs extensively, east, 
north, south, and Avest of us. In those distant 
localities it has ceased to be the NcAvtOAvn Pip¬ 
pin of Long Island, but is quite another thing, 
hardly to be recognized in either appearance or 
flavor, by those not intimately acquainted Avith 
its original character. So Avith the Swaar, of 
Ulster Co., N. Y., the Greening, of Rhode 
Island, the Ro.xbury Russet, the'Westfield Soek- 
no-further, of 3Iassachusett.s, and many other 
varieties Avhich originated and flourished in pe¬ 
culiar localities, and of great local excellence 
and fame. Still, there are many good varieties 
AA liich hold tlieir original qualities OA'er a Avide 
diA'ersity of soil, climate, and position. 
Thus it is that Ave have so many varieties, 
sundry of Avhich are favorites in separate mar¬ 
kets, each the best for a given locality, and 
worth veiy little, as profitable fruits for tbe cul¬ 
tivator, far beyond them. It becomes a matter 
of necessit)’, then, for the orchardist to knoAV 
AA’hat are the best apples for him to grow; and 
Avhen he ascertains such fact, to take his proper 
kinds, and cultivate them Avith all his might. 
Those who aspire to become orchardisls are 
prone to groAV too many A’arieties. Ten or a 
dozen, to range through the various seasons of 
ripening, are enough for the most ambitious 
cultiA'ators to plant. Two or three of early, 
three or four of autumn, and as many of the 
Avinter kinds, are suffleient, for the profit of any 
apple grower Avho rears them as a market crop, 
and if the bulk of his Avinter crop be confined 
to not more than Iaa-o varieties, all the better. 
For early apples, the season is short, and the 
market limited. One good SAveet, and another 
tart, is enough for the brief time they are in 
season. Tliree or four, from September until 
the mid<llfi of November, or the first of Decem¬ 
ber at latest—sweet and tart—AV'ill fill the range 
of demand, Avhen the Avinter kinds Avill come 
in use, from December until the next June or 
July; and half a dozen of the later varieties 
Avill fill the entire season. 
"Wc do not say Avhat these varieties should 
be, for the very reason Ave. have given, that 
soils, climates, and positions so differ as to make 
an apple Avldch is quite good for one locality, 
altogether an indifferent one for another. Find 
out a fcAVof the very best kinds for the place you 
occupA', and the market you are to sell in, and 
then confine your attention to them. A man 
with fifty things in his orchard, all good somc- 
vhere, Avill, perhaps, on trial, hardly find a dozen 
Avhich give him cither profit or s.atisfaction in 
their production, and at the end of a dozen or 
twenty years cultiA'ation, he has to re-graft three- 
fourths of them, and l>egin3 the world again in 
fruit growing—all too expensive, vexatious, and 
heart-breaking, to be borne Avilh cquanimitA. 
We might expand into several pages of these 
remarks, but hav'c not the space. "Wecan only 
throAV out hints for reflection. AVe started Avith 
Doctor AVarder’s book, and pronounce it a cap¬ 
ital one of Its kind, full of instruction to every 
one Avho Avants to know anything of apples, or 
apple groAving. He gives a list and description 
of apples, and of the best ones all over the 
United States, Avhere they originated, and 
Avhere they best groA\'. lie names some tAveh'e 
or fourteen hundred varieties. One quarter in 
number, of the best, Avould be quite enough, 
for hundreds of them have been thrown out by 
the groAvers, as not of much account, and it is 
useless to keep a further record of such any- 
Avhere. Yet he names a great many of unim¬ 
peachable excellence from AA’hich every one may 
select and apply to his oaa'u locality Avith success. 
AVe Avish to say more on this prolific subject, 
but must forbear, merely commending this book 
to every orchardist. Study it Avell, and closely. 
AA'e have no interest in it other than what 
relates to our brother orchardists, and the 
Avelfare of good apples. AVe are glad that it 
has been AA'ritten, and hail its appearance as an 
indication that its subject is draAving the atten¬ 
tion of our pomologists to a degree commen¬ 
surate AA’ith its great economical importance 
among our agricultural staples.” 
New Fruits and New Names. 
It seems a great pity that the introduction of 
neAV fruits, or at least fruits with neAV names, 
could not in some AA'ay be regulated. It Is, of 
course, a subject beyond the reach of any other 
laAV than that Avhich fruit growers make unto 
themselves. Each year brings such an addition 
to our “new fruits,” or rather new names, 
that one almost despairs of keeping pace Avith 
them. AYe are not to be supposed as deprecat¬ 
ing novelties, for aa’c like them, but AA'e do de¬ 
sire, and the public have a right to claim, that 
these new fruits have some qualities superior 
to old varieties. There is too much looseness 
in the AA’ay in Avhich varieties are introduced, 
and no nurseryman Avho is a true pomologist 
Avill put forth a variety that has not been thor¬ 
oughly tested, or Avhich has not been decided 
upon by some pomologist or pomological body 
competent to judge of its quality. 
Tliere is one practice tlurt seems to be increas¬ 
ing among introducers of neAV fruits, to Avhich 
Ave decidedly object, as tending to make confu¬ 
sion, and fill our books Avith useless synonyms. 
It is that of sending a fruit out under one name, 
and then changing it to another. A strawberry 
that has been offered as Abraham Lincoln, now 
comes to us as the President; a grape that AA'as 
exhibited as the Carpenter, is noAV known as 
the Out-Door Hamburgh, and Ave can call to 
mind other instances of the like. There should 
1)0 no change of name for any possible reason, 
save that the first one had already been given 
to another plant, to Avhich it belongs by right 
of priorit}'. Gentlemen fruit groAvers, give 
us as many good fruits as you can, but trouble 
us with as foAV useless names as possible. 
Guaud Agai^tst Fjaosts.— It usually is the 
case that after the first fcAV frosts avc have a 
long succession of golden autumn days, just 
made for ripening fruit and bringing out the 
late blooming floAvers. A A’cry slight covering 
Avill protect a plant, and those Avho have a 
choice grape or tomato that is late m lipening, 
or Dahlias or other plants that are just in the 
hight of their bloom, should have at hand some 
screen to protect them from the first fiosts. A 
sheet or other cloth put up tentwise, or stretch¬ 
ed in any AA'ay over the plant, Avill be all that is 
needed. In England the amateur fruit groAV- 
ers have regular fixtures, upon Avhich a cover¬ 
ing may be stretched when the trees are in 
flower, as well as when the fruit is ripening. 
Wine-Making" on the Small Scale. 
Those Avho wish to make wine in any consid¬ 
erable quantities, Avill, of course, study up the 
subject in books devoted to it. But there are 
many, Avho, having a few' grapes, Avould like to 
conA'ert them into wine for their oavu use, or to 
tost the Avine-making qualities of some particu¬ 
lar A'ariety. If the grapes contain sufficient 
sugar to make a goodAvine, the process requires 
but little care, as the wdne Avill make itself, but 
Avith grapes deficient in sugar the process be¬ 
comes less easy. The theory of Avine-making 
may be briefly summed up thus : Grape juice 
contains sugar; fermentation couA'erts this sugar 
into alcohol. If the amount of sugar and the 
resulting amount of alcohol be small, then fur¬ 
ther changes take place, and vinegar is the re¬ 
sult. If, on the other hand, the grape juice or 
must be naturally rich in sugar, so much alco¬ 
hol is produced that the liquid does not readily 
pass into vinegar—but remains as Avine—and if 
there is a very large amount of sugar, more 
than is converted into alcohol before fermen¬ 
tation ceases, there wd.ll be a SAveet Avine—a 
thing not at present likely to occur AA'ith us. 
The first requisite is good grapes. These must 
be as thoroughly ripened as possible. They 
are to be carefully freed from defective berries, 
removed from the stems and crushed. AVith 
small quantities this may be done Avith the hands, 
or with larger ones, in a barrel Avith a wooden 
pounder. The steps after this Avill depend upon 
the character of Avine desired. The juice may 
be at once pressed out and placed in the keg or 
demijohn in Avhich it is to ferment, or, if it be 
desired to extract color and aroma from the 
skins, then the impressed mass is put in a tub 
or other vessel, covered AA'ith a cloth over Avhich 
some boards are laid, and alloAved to ferment 
for tAvo or three days, or until the color of the 
skins is sufficiently extracted. At the end of 
this time, press out the must, and transfer it to 
the vessel in Avhich the fermentation is to be 
completed. This will take place in from ten days 
to several AA'eeks, according to the richness of 
the grape, and it will go on more or less rapid- 
13 ', according to the temperature of the room. 
A weak must Avill ferment readily at 60°, Avhile 
a heavier one Avill require a higher temperature. 
AYith rich grapes, the only thing necessary is 
to fill the vessel to the bung or mouth, allow¬ 
ing the froth to be thrown over. The loss must 
be supplied from must kept for the purpose. 
If the must is poor, it is better to close the ves¬ 
sel AA’ith a tight bung or cork, AA'ith an India 
rubber tube inserted in its center. This tube, 
Avhich may be a foot or tw’O long, should have 
its free end dip below the surface of Avater in a 
cup conveniently placed. As fermentation goes 
on, the liberated gas will bubble through the 
AA’ater, but no air can enter. 
AVhen fermentation is complete, which will 
be known by the liquid becoming quiet, the 
vessel is to he closed and allowed to remain 
until the wine becomes clear. It should then 
be carefully racked off, or transferred to an¬ 
other and perfectly SAveet and clean cask or 
vessel. Another fermentation, less violent than 
the first, Avill take place Avhen W’arm AA'eather 
returns, after which the Avine may be bottled. 
If sufficient care be used, these experiments 
may be made on a small scale, but they need 
careful Avatching. The best specimen of Amer¬ 
ican Avine Ave ever saAV was made from the Iona, 
by Doct. Grant, who used a demijohn for a 
cask, and his dining-room for a wine-cellar. 
The richer the must is in sugar, the more 
successful will these small operations prove. 
