18G7.] 
AMKKIO AN AGrRlC U RT U lilST. 
11 1 
village ill the country had such an association. 
Every fruit grower has his peculiar experience 
and difficulties, and it would he a great help to 
him to have easy access to the experience of his 
fellow workers. I-i such an association nuicli 
knowledge would be thrown into common 
block, and made available for all. It only needs 
about a dozen men or women in a village, with 
a decided taste for horticulture, to start such a 
society, and to make it go. A room for meet¬ 
ings, and the e.xhibition of fruits, flowers, and 
vegetables, will be the largest item of expense. 
AVc think it e.xceedingly desirable that there 
should be weekly free exhibitions, at least during 
the summer and fall, where the members could 
show their best products in their greatest per¬ 
fection. Tiiesc would attract attention, excite 
interest, and spread the knowledge of new hor¬ 
ticultural products in the community. In the 
winter, a course of lectures in the cities would 
be very desirable. Such a society, once organ¬ 
ized, would almost take care ot itself. 
it. It remained in bloom from June to October, 
and was in all respects satisfactory. There was 
no day in which there was not a profusion of 
modest mauve-colored flowers. The past sea¬ 
son has, however, been an unusually moist one, 
and we cannot infer from this year's experience 
what it would do in our very dry summers. 
Gen. Negley, of Pittsburgh, informs us that he 
has been much pleased with this violet, while 
Peter Henderson, of New Jersey, does not give 
it high praise. The individual flowers do not 
amount to much, though we figure one that our 
readers may see Avhat they are like. The great 
merit of the jilant is its free blooming character, 
and the modest tone of its flowers. 
Notes on Grapes and Grape Culture. 
A “New” Old Violet.— cornuto.) 
It is curious to see how fashions rule in flori¬ 
culture as well as in other matters. Over three- 
(piaiters of a century ago, the old Botanical 
^ilagazine figured an unpretending looking violet, 
from the Pyrenees,— Viula cornukf. For the 
past two or three years the advertising columns 
of the English horticultural papers have been 
eloqueut iu the praise of this old plant, each ^ 
■VIOL.V CORNUTA. 
seedsman claiming that his was the “Original 
Jacobs ” Knowing that, in the words of the ad¬ 
vertisers, “no place could be complete” with¬ 
out a bed of this plant, we tried it this summer, 
and, much to our surprise, were pleased with 
In our visits to numerous vinoj’ards, East and 
West, such a mass of notes has accumulated that 
we are obliged to omit those relating to the less 
known and less promising varieties, andjfive 
only such as will interest the general cultivator. 
CreceUiiff .—We hear uniformly good accounts 
of this wherever it has fruited. Mr. Knox had 
a very large crop ready for market early in Sep¬ 
tember. The finest specimens were at the vine¬ 
yard of Mr. E. B. Mason, Webster Grove, :Mo., 
Avhere the bunches were more compact than wa 
have seen them elsewhere. Mr. Ilusmann pre¬ 
dicts that the Creveling will be one of our lead¬ 
ing wine grapes. It is certainly one of the best, 
healthiest, and most prolific, early varieties. 
Norton s Vi)yinuf.—Th\s is pre¬ 
eminently the red wine grape of all 
those that have been fully tested, 
though it requires a long season to 
perfect it, and it will be limited to 
particular localities. Vine healthy, 
bears abundantly, but not so great 
a weight of fruit as some others. 
Mr. llommel, of Hermann, had 
particularly fine specimens. The 
fruit sold last year in St. I.ouis at 
22k els. per lb. for Avine-making. 
C!/)ithin)i((.—h\ general appear¬ 
ance this resembles Norton, but the 
berry is larger and mol? .juicy. 
Good judges consider that it makes 
a better wine than that variety. 
Ives' Perhaps no grape 
at present excites more attention 
than this. It originated Avith iMr 
Ives, an amateur, iu Cincinnati, 
some thirty years ago. Col War¬ 
ing, of Indian Hill, cultivated the 
vine for fifteen years, allowing the 
grapes to be picked before they 
were ripe. By accident a bunch 
Avas alloAved to remain until fully 
matured, and it so commended it¬ 
self to him that he commenced 
propagating it, and soon establish¬ 
ed a vineyard. Since it became 
well known, it has spread Avith re¬ 
markable rapidity, and a great 
number of acres liaA'e been planted 
Avith it. The vine propagates eas¬ 
ily, is hardy, healthy, and very pro¬ 
ductive. The grape has some re¬ 
semblance to the Isabella, when ful¬ 
ly ripe is intensely sweet, and some¬ 
what foxy. Though a recent Avriter has expressed 
his doubts about its making wine, the Ohio peo¬ 
ple think differently, and esteem it highly as a 
wine grape. We asked an old German vigneron 
if he were to plant a vineyard of a hundred 
acres Avhat A'inos^ie should set, and he replied 
“2o acres each of Delaware and Nortwn’s Vir¬ 
ginia, and the rest iu Ives’ Seedling.” 
Martha .—We saAV this in bearing at both 
Pittsburgh and Hermann. In growth and 
healthfulness of foliage it much resembles the 
Concord, of Avhich it is a seedling. It appears 
to be a good bearer; bunch medium or small, 
berry medium, round, pale yellow, intensely 
SAveet and rather foxy. 
lioyos' Xo. 4. — Those Avho have experiment¬ 
ed Avith the Bogers’ Hybrids seem to be settling 
upon a few numbers as being desirable vari¬ 
eties, and Avherc a preference is expressed for a 
single number, in the majority of cases it is 
for No. 4. It is a large black berry, and makes 
a good sized bunch; sweet, and of very good 
quality. Should it proA'e healtliy and hardy 
over a Avide range of country, it Avill become a 
formidable rival to the noAV popular Concord, 
as it is a more showy and a better fruit. 
/(„i(,._This year, the record of this, the best 
of our native grapes, is all favorable. Except 
in some localities, Avhere from the excessive 
rains, grapes have generally failed, the Iona has 
done Avell. The poorest specimens Ave have 
seen Avere in ^Missouri. In our talks with Avest- 
ern grape groAvers Ave found that* plantations of 
young vines had generally done avcH, and Ave 
cheerfully accord to Doct. Grant great praise 
for this contribution to American grapes. We 
once told him that it Avas erpial to the best Ca- 
taAvba Ave ever saAV. AVe uoav say that it is bet¬ 
ter than the best CataAvba, as Ave have (Avithout 
his knoAvledge,) tried them side by side,—the 
only lest that any native grape need fear is a 
comparison Avith a Avell-ripened CatuAvba. As 
to the vine, previous years have given an ad¬ 
verse report. This year the roiiorts are mucii 
better. Our position has ahvays been that the, 
standing of any fruit should not be goAeined 
by its success or failure in a single locality. 
Coaconl— This has generally done Avell, and 
AvhileAve cannot put it in the list of best grapes, 
it has a hardiness and prolific character that 
entitle it to commendation. If one Avishes to 
raise grapes by the ton, the Concord Avill moic 
generally give the Aveight than any other that 
we knoAV of. On a given space of ground, one 
can almost as surely calculate on a certain yield 
of Concord grapes as he can of a yield of corn. 
Concords at five cents a pound Avill pay. 
Propagating the Blackreruy and Basp- 
beury.— Those Avho Avish to increase their stock 
of plants can do it much more raiiidly by mak¬ 
ing root cuttings than by Availing for the natural 
formation of suckers, and besides obtain much 
better plants. In February (page Cl) of the 
present volume Ave gave a detailed account of 
the manner of preparing the roots, and uoav 
Avish to call timely attention to that article, as 
the present is the proper season to preiiare for a 
stock of young plants next spring. So valuable 
Avas tlie information contained in this article 
considered by the owner of a iicaa' laspbciiy, 
that he sent Mr. Fuller a liundred dollars’ Avorth 
of his plants as an acknoAvledgment of the 
benefit ho had derived from it. 
The Peacu and its A'auieties. — It Avas 
only a few vears ago tliat horticulturists were 
brought to admit that the Nectarine was only a 
variety of the peach. AI. Carricre, editor of 
the Eevue Ilorticole, had already suggested that 
the Almond Avas also a A'aricty of the peach, 
and he now states that there are specimens at the 
Paris Museum Avhich pro^'c this to be the fact. 
