HARDY FLOWERING SHRUBS, 
FRUIT FOR CERTAIN LOCALITIES. 
for pruning the vine, with a view of securing its 
fruitfulness, commences about the first of Novem¬ 
ber, or immediately after the leaves drop in the 
fall, and can be continued at convenience for three 
or lour months. Cutting in, as injudiciously prac¬ 
ticed by some, is usually performed when the fruit 
is swelling. With this process, then, we have, at 
this season of the year, nothing to do but record 
our protest against the practice, based upon our 
own personal experience for years, as well in the 
Western States as in California, and this experi¬ 
ence is endorsed by the oldest culturist of this 
State, and in a section that produces the largest and 
best grapes that have ever yet appeared in the 
market of San Francisco. All cultivators of the 
vine admit the necessity of an annual pruning. It 
is this that gives to the cultivated vine a produc¬ 
tiveness over the uncultivated wild grape vines, 
indigenous to our mountain gulches and ravines, 
for it is a well knowu fact that such wild vines 
subjected to a proper winter pruning are rendered 
fruitful, and this without any after cutting-in, or 
, shortening of the fruit-bearing branches, at the 
season of the swelling of the fruit. The proper 
into my hands, for propagation and sale on shares^ 
with the privilege of naming it. In the fall I ex¬ 
hibited the fruit before the Fruit Growers' Society 
No class of plants or trees are more useful than 
the Hardy Flowering Shrubs. Beautiful both in 
foliage and flower, growing with even less care 
than a currant bush should receive, they recom¬ 
mend themselves alike by their value and ease of 
culture to all lovers of the garden. Among them 
are numbered those old favorites, the Lilac , the 
Snow Fall and Syringa, and those exceedingly in¬ 
teresting families, the Spiras and Thorns. With 
annual and herbaceous flowers, skill and care is 
necessary to prevent the ground from being bare a 
part of the year, which is always unsightly in a 
flower garden ; and trees require a long time to 
obtain sufficient growth to afford shade or to please 
the eye with their beauty. In a year or two, how¬ 
ever, the hardy shrubs are in perfection,— they 
commence blooming with the first dawn of spring, 
when the Daphne, 
“ Though leafless, well attired and thick beset 
With blushing wreaths, investing every spray,” 
delights the lovers of flowers; and the frosts of 
autumn find the garden gay with the charming 
Altheas. 
Messrs. Editors :— I have no doubt when the 
Fruit Growers’ Society of Western New York was 
formed, its object was to disseminate knowl¬ 
edge to fruit growers. This has doubtless been 
accomplished in a good degree, but could not 
this Society be more useful to the public gene¬ 
rally, if it would recommend a list of fruits 
similar to the one recommended by the American 
Bornological Society, with this exception, that the 
list should be for Western New York only, while 
the American Bornological Society recommend one 
for the United States ? Now, it is evident that 
many fruits that succeed well in one locality, are 
worthless, or nearly so, in another. For instance, 
the Beurre d’ Aremberg Fear is recommended by 
the American Bornological Society for general cul¬ 
tivation. In this section it is worthless, or has 
proved so with me. Let us examine some of the 
lists of apples recommended by some of the West¬ 
ern States. We will commence with Ohio. The 
Cincinnati Horticultural Society furnishes the 
following list of apples for the vicinity of Cincin¬ 
nati, Ohio: 
For Ohio —Best Six Varieties .—Red Astrachan, 
Benoni, Maiden’s Blush, White Bippin, Winesap, 
Rawle’s Janet. 
Michigan —Best Six Varieties. — Early Harvest, 
Late Strawberry, Gravcnstein, Bellmont, Yellow 
Bellflower, Esopus Spitzenburgli. 
Illinois —Best Six Varieties. — Red June, Sum¬ 
mer Pennock, Snow, Domine, Wagencr, Willow 
Twig. 
Western New' York. —The following kinds re¬ 
ceived the highest vote at the meeting of the Fruit 
Growers’ Society at Rochester in January last:— 
Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Rus¬ 
set, King, (of Tompkins County,) Northern Spy, 
Twenty Ounce. 
From the above list of apples from four States, 
six each, we have in the aggregate tw r enty-four 
kinds — no two States recommending the same 
apple. Mr. Bateham, of Ohio, at the American 
Bornological Society’s meeting in New York, said 
many of the apples recommended on the list for 
general culture, were not adapted to a great portion 
of the country, particularly the West, and that 
planters were misled by it. Many of the winter 
sorts fail entirely in the West. Seven or eight va¬ 
rieties should be stricken from the list for general 
culture, and placed in the one for certain localities. 
It appears that certain fruits well adapted to New 
England States, do not succeed well here, and that 
some of our best fruits are worthless at the West. 
This being the case, is it not highly important that 
we have a list of fruits adapted to Western New 
York? and what Society is better qualified for this 
important work than the Fruit Growers of Western 
Few York. I throw out these hints, in hopes to 
hear from others on this important subject. 
Greece, N. Y., April, 1859. J. S. Clarke. 
mm 
of Western New York, and the Committee on Na¬ 
tive Fruit examined it, reported quite favorably in 
regard to its promising character, and honored me 
by naming it the King Grape. The vine grew in 
a poor, damp soil, among currant and gooseberry 
bushes, and shaded by trees and vines, and without 
pruning. The fruit, of course, w r as not what it 
would have been under more favorable circum¬ 
stances, but I have taken care of it the present sea¬ 
son, and hope to show fair specimens this summer. 
William King. 
The Apple Tree Bor.Er..—I see the Rural is truly 
the farmer's friend. Allow me to make an inquiry. 
Some years since I set out an orchard of which I 
thought not a little. It has commenced rewarding 
my labor, but I have discovered during the past winter 
and the present spring that an enemy was at work at 
my trees. What it is I know not. From the roots up¬ 
ward, from six inches to two feet, it looks as it would to 
take a knife and prick the bark parallel with the tree. 
There are holes as though a worm had eaten through the 
bark and sap wood, then eaten up and down two or 
three inches more, and then eaten out, the pulverized 
wood remaining in the hole caused by the worm. My ap¬ 
ple trees are all affected, except one, which the mice near¬ 
ly destroyed when they made such ravages among fruit 
trees. That tree appears to be thrifty, but all the rest 
are injured. My orchard is on dry land, being on the 
east side of a ridge of land running north and south, 
which is not springy. Part of it is gravel land, sub¬ 
soil, same; some is sandy, subsoil, same; and some is 
clay. The trees on the clay are the most injured ; those 
on the sand next; those on the gravel the least affected. 
The land was subsoiled when the trees were planted. 
My cherry and peach trees appear to be free from in¬ 
jury. There is no other young orchard in the neighbor¬ 
hood where I live. Will you, or some of your numerous 
correspondents, tell me the cause and cure, if any? 
Can my apple trees be saved ? I trim them yearly. I 
have raised corn and potatoes in my orchard, but it has 
been seeded to clover two years. Last fall I plowed 
and sowed to wheat, which looks fine. I put manure 
all over the lot previous to plowing. I think the land 
has been in good heart ever since I set my orchard. I 
would like to hear au opinion of my case. My trees are 
grafted fruit, purchased of Ellwangeb & Barry. —W. 
U., West Rush, N. Y., 1859, 
The insect that injured the apple trees was, un¬ 
doubtedly, the Apple Tree Borer, and it is one of 
the worst enemies against which our apple trees 
have to contend. It is quite common throughout 
the country, and the injury it does is often eharged 
to an unsuitableness of soil or climate, or the nur¬ 
seryman is blamed forselling unhealthy trees. The 
egg which produces the borer, is laid by a winged 
insect which makes its appearance every season in 
June, and flies only in the night. During June 
and July, the female beetle deposits her eggs, one 
at a place, upon the bark, generally where it is ten¬ 
der, near the surface of the earth. Sometimes, 
when they are very numerous, they deposit eggs 
higher up, particularly in the crotches formed by 
the lower limbs. From each of these eggs is hatch¬ 
ed a small maggot, of a white color, with a yellow 
tinge to its head. This maggot eats its way di¬ 
rectly downwards in the bark, producing a discol¬ 
oration where it is situated. If the outer dark 
colored surface of the bark be scraped off with a 
knife, the last of August or fore part of September, 
so as to expose the clean white bark beneath, as can 
easily be done without any injury to the tree, 
wherever there is a young worm it can readily be 
detected. A little blackish spot, rather larger than 
a kernel of wheat, will be discovered wherever an 
egg has been deposited, and by cutting slightly 
into the bark the worm will be found. It gradu¬ 
ally works its way onwards through the bark, 
increasing in size as it advances, until it reaches 
the sap-wood; here it takes up its abode, feeding 
upon and consuming the soft wood, thereby form¬ 
ing a smooth, round, flat cavity, the size of a dollar 
or larger, immediately under the bark. It keeps 
its burrow clean by pushing its excrement out of a 
small crevice or opening through the bark, which 
it makes at the lower part of its burrow, and if this 
orifice becomes clogged up it opens another. This 
excrement resembles new fine saw-dust, and ena¬ 
bles us readily to detect the presence of the worm 
by the little heap of this substance which is accu¬ 
mulated on the ground, commonly covering the hole 
out of which it is extruded, and by particles of it 
which adhere around the orifice where it is higher 
up, or in the fork of the tree; the outer surface of 
the bark also often becomes slightly depressed, or 
flattened, over this cavity. 
For a more full description of this insect aud its 
operation, we must refer to the Rural of January 
9th, 1858. 
The most efficient enemy of these borers is the 
common wood-pecker, so frequently seen in out; 
orchards. They should never be molested in their 
work. Various experiments for killing the worm 
have been proposed, such as plugging up the hole, 
thrusting a wire into it, &c., but the nature of the 
burrow which we have described, makes this very 
difficult. Perhaps there is no better way of dis¬ 
lodging the insect than by cutting him out with a 
strong knife. The wounds thus made will gene¬ 
rally heal readily, and it is much better than to 
allow the insect to continue in his course of mis¬ 
chief. Fitch recommends that the course of the 
burrow be ascertained by puncturing the bark 
with an awl, and then the bark at the top be cut 
away, so that scalding water can be poured from a 
Rochester, N. Y., April, 1859. 
STONES UNDER FRUIT TREES. 
The above caption in your issue of April 9th, 
served to remind me of an occurrence confirma¬ 
tory of “ H. S.’s” article. While on a visit at 
Cape Cod, a year or two since, my attention was 
called to an orchard of apple trees. The owner 
was a retired sea captain, who, in early life, plant¬ 
ed the trees, that he might eat of the fruit when on 
the “ retired list.” At the time of planting out the 
trees, he secured the services of an old Scotch 
gardener. The trees were heeled in, the location 
for planting staked out and then came the instruc¬ 
tions of the owner, as he was obliged to absent 
himself for awhile. 
“ If it takes you two days to plant each tree, I 
wish it well done.” The gardener went to work, 
digging large holes, sufficient to dump in loads of 
stones from a tip-cart, and on the return of the 
proprietor he had only set out four trees. Though 
he had done his work well, as the sequel will show, 
the captain thought he had played “ soldier,” and 
discharged him. The balance were set out as trees 
FIGURE 1 — DAPHNE MEZEUEON IN FLOWER. 
No fanciful arrangement of flower beds, even 
with nicely kept gravel walks and borders of box, 
is so heat and tasteful for the garden immediatclj 
in front of the house or around it, as a well kept 
plot of grass or lawn, with a few flowering shrubs 
in groups, particularly around the edges, and so 
arranged as to hide the fences and all unsightly 
objects. By a skilful arrangement of the shrubs a 
lawn fifty or a hundred feet square may be made to 
appear much larger than its real size. 
A BATCH OF CAKES, 
Eds. Rural: —Inclosed please find a few recipes, 
which I trust may be worthy of publication: 
Delicate Cake. —Take the whites of 16 eggs; 1 
lb. of flour, 1 lb. of pulverized sugar; % lb. butter; 
1 tablespoon vanilla; 1 teaspoon cream tartar; Fj 
teaspoon soda. Cream the butter and sugar to¬ 
gether, and put in the eggs with the flour. This 
will make a large cake. 
Sponge Cake. — Two tumblers of pulverized 
sugar; 2 do. of flour; 10 eggs. Beat the yolks with 
the sugar, then beat the whites to a stiff froth, and 
turn iu with the flour. 
Fruit Cake. —One lb. of sugar; 1 of butter ; 1 
of flour; 10 eggs ; 2 lbs. currants ; 3 lbs. raisins ; 
X oz. mace; % lb. citron; % teacup brandy; 1 
teacup molasses. 
Cup Cake. — One cup of sugar; 1 cup butter; 
2}-.< flour; 4 eggs; Fa cup buttermilk ; teaspoon 
saleratus. Add a few raisins. 
Cookies.— Four eggs; 1 cup of butter; 2 cups of 
sugar; 2 teaspoons of saleratus; a little nutmeg; 
flour enough to roll. Bake in a quick oven. 
Fried Cakes. —One cup of sugar; % cup of lard; 
1 teaspoon of salt mixed with the flour; 1 qt. but¬ 
termilk; 1 tablespoon saleratus; 2 eggs. Cinna¬ 
mon or spice to your taste. 
Corn Starch Pudding. —One quart of milk; 5 
teaspoons of starch wet up in milk; 3 eggs beat up 
and stirred in with the starch, and then stirred 
into the milk, boiling. Cook three minutes. 
Peggy A. 
TAKE CARE OF THE ORCHARD, 
Messrs. Eds. :—Among the numerous things to 
be done upon the farm during the busy season of 
spring, is the necessary care of orchards. The 
raising of fruit successfully requires care like any 
other crop upon the farm. Too many farmers neg- 
to the roots of the trees. If they are old, or not in 
a thriving condition, scrape the bark with a sharp 
hoe, wash them with lie, give them sufficient prun¬ 
ing, cut the limbs close down so that they can heal 
over, and your orchards will amply remunerate you 
for all your trouble aud expense, and make its 
owners proud of that property which previous to 
such care was comparatively worthless. Farmers, 
if you consult your interest as well as pride and 
fancy in this matter, you cannot fail to extend a 
portion of your time to so important an object.— 
Land can hardly be cropped to better advantage 
than that of the production of the best fruit. Make 
your orchards your hog pasture. The hogs will 
destroy those worthless, wormy apples which fall 
from the trees before maturity, and also work 
among the roots of the trees, which is much better 
than plowing. 
If wood-peckers attack your trees, spread graft¬ 
ing wax over the wounded parts, and they will 
cease from troubling them. Grafting wax is com¬ 
posed of five or six parts rosin, one part beeswax, 
and one part tallow, melted together and thoroughly 
stirred till cool. A good selection of fruit is as 
follows: 
For early use, Early Harvest, Sweet Bough, 
Washington, Golden Sweeting, Ladies Blush, Cab- 
bashee, Detroit Red, Autumn Bough, &c. 
For winter vse, Holland Bippin, Gilliflower, 
Ribstone Bippin, Beck’s Bleasant, Seeknofurther, 
Rhode Island Geening, Esopus Spitzenburgh, Eng¬ 
lish Russet, Baldwin, Swaar, Yellow Bellefleur, 
Roxbury Russet, Tallmon Sweeting, and Northern 
Spy. Nathan Siiotwell. 
Riba, Genesee Co., N. Y., 1S59. 
Side Hill, North East, 1S59. 
FIG. 2 — DAPHNE MEZEREON, LEAVES AND BERRIES. 
The Daphne Mezeron, or Pink Mezereon, is one 
of our prettiest very early flowering shrubs, and 
grows about four feet high. The pink flowers ap* 
appear before the leaves, in clusters all around 
the shoots of the previous year, as shown in the 
engraving — fig. 1. The flowers are followed by 
beautiful brilliant scarlet berries, the size and ap¬ 
pearance of which are shown in the engraving, 
(fig. 2,) so that the plant is as showy when covered 
with berries as when in blossom. It flowers early 
in April, its blossoms are sweet scented, and it is 
in all respects desirable, and worthy a place in every 
collection of shrubs. The Daphne thrives well in 
any good dry soil, but dislikes a wet position, and 
will soon show its dislike by becoming stunted and 
mossy. The fall would be the best time for trans¬ 
planting but those that plant in the spring should 
do so as early as possible. 
An Inquiry. —I would like to make a few inqui¬ 
ries through the columns of my esteemed visitor— 
the Rural. Will some one please inform me what 
is Madder Compound'? It is spoken of in several 
ofthe coloring recipes. I do not know, nor mother, 
and she is a very old lady, and has dyed often. I 
also noticed au inquiry for a good cement to mend 
glass or china, but have not seen it answered. Will 
some of the wise ones please answer and oblige?— 
Miss L., Porter Village, Mich., 1859. 
A Poultice for Felons, &c. — Take Castile soap 
and scrape a large or small quantity, according to 
the amount wanted, and simmer in new milk till it 
forms a paste as thick as cream, cool and apply. 
You will find this one of the best poultices for 
felons, or any kind of swelling that needs poultic¬ 
ing, and far superior to bread and milk. Try it, ye 
afflicted.—Miss L., Brick Cottage, Mich., 1859. 
PRUNING THE VINE. 
To Preserve Furs. — My better half wishes to 
inform the friends of the Rural that she has kept 
her furs perfectly safe through seventeen summers, 
simply by putting them into a tight linen bag, ty¬ 
ing up tight and hanging up in some dark, dry 
closet. Those who put up their furs safe in May 
will find them safe in November. — A. Choate, 
Perrytown, 0. IF., 1859. 
Eds. Rural :—Much has been written for your 
paper in regard to the cultivation of Grapes, and 
also the manner of pruning the vine, all of which I 
read with pleasure, as I am considerably interested 
in that branch of Horticulture. Of course I cannot 
subscribe to it all. Who could ? A few days since 
I received the California Culturist, published at 
San Francisco, which gives my views of pruning 
the vine, much better than anything else which I 
have read, a part of which I will give you for the 
benefit of your many readers. 
“ The proper pruning of the grapevine is a subject 
upon which a great diversity of opinion has ever 
existed, and yet there are certain general features 
or rules pertaining to the art of vine-dressing, that 
are to a great extent common to every system.— 
Pruning the vine is a very different process from 
cutting in or shortening the fruit-bearing shoots, 
and yet there are those who know, or make, no 
distinction between pruning the vine at a proper 
season, in order to produce fruitfulness, and a 
recommendation to be cautious how youcutback the 
bearing shoots of your grape vines, with a view of 
increasing the size of the fruit. A prevention of 
the elongation of a bearing shoot, and cutting it 
back, are two different things. The proper season 
Bartlett Pear on Gravelly Soil, &c. —Will the 
Bartlett Pear do well on gravel land if made very rich ? 
I want to set out two grape vines. Now, which would 
you advise, the Delaware, Diana, Hartford Prolific, or 
Northern Muscadine ? I want the best two of these 
four. Please answer a great admirer of your valuable 
paper. I have the Concord grape; it is good. And I 
have the Isabella ; it winter-kills, and when it does not 
it will not ripen before frost. I know ef quite a number 
of vines in Suflleld, but not of one that will ripen their 
fruit.—R. J., Suffield, Hartford Co., Ct., 1S59. 
The Bartlett pear, on its own roots, we think 
would succeed well on a gravelly soil. We have 
seen it flourishing under such circumstances, and 
also on a very sandy loam. On such soil, however, 
manure must be freely applied. This, if well-rot¬ 
ted, may be forked in, but if fresh, should be laid 
on the surface for a season, as a mulch, and then 
dug in. Old, rotten turf would make a superb 
dressing for such soils. Of the varieties of grapes 
mentioned, our choice would be Delaware and 
Hartford Prolific for your locality. Both would 
ripen, and we have no doubt would prove entirely 
hardy. 
THE KING GRAPE. 
A Remedy for Bronchitis. — Having seen it 
stated that dried mullen leaves smoked in a com¬ 
mon pipe would cure bronchitis, my wife concluded 
to test the matter, and after a few month’s use she 
thinks she is cured.—A. S. Cooks, Logansport, 
Ind., 1859. 
Messrs. Editors :—I wish to call the attention 
of your readers, now that the new grapes are cre¬ 
ating so much excitement, to the King Grape. It 
is a white grape, and a seedling, perfectly hardy, 
in every respect, early, and originated in the garden 
of Robert Weeder, of this city. The vine came 
up from self-sown seed, among some currant and 
gooseberry bushes, and remained where it came up 
until it bore fruit. Mr. Weeder has the Clinton, 
Sweetwater, and a number of other varieties grow¬ 
ing in his garden, and is in the habit of making 
wine and throwing the seeds into the garden.— 
From this seed it is supposed this grape originated. 
It bore for the first time in 1857, when the vine 
was three years old. In the summer of 1858, Mr. 
W. called my attention to it, when it was in fruit, 
and I then made an arrangement to take the vine 
Information Wanted. —My wife wishes to in¬ 
quire of some one who has had experience how to 
make soft or hard soap from potash. Babbitt’s 
directions are on cans, but she does not succeed 
very well with them.—0., Racine, 1F<*\, 1859. 
Acknowledgments. —We are indebted to many 
friends for Catalogues, &c. — to B. K. Bliss, of 
Springfield, Mass., for a package of his choicest 
1 lower Seeds, which we design shall bloom abun¬ 
dantly the present season —to E. D. Hallock, 
Seedsman of this city, for a fine collection of his 
best V egetable Seeds, which will speak well for 
themselves in a month or two, we have no doubt. 
Wood ashes and common salt, wet with water 
will stop the cracks of a stove; and prevent the 
smoke from escaping. 
Green should be the prevaling color of bed¬ 
hanging and window drapery. 
