f;.y. 
vAl 13 ; A rikwu 
PRUNING AND TRAINING THE VINE-No. I. 
On the first page of this number will be found 
an engraving showing a system of pruning and 
training tbe vine, called the Thomery system, 
from the name of the village near Paris where it 
has been practiced for more than a century, with 
results that have given it a world-wide celebrity. 
This system was designed for foreign grapes, 
which bear and in fact require closer pruning than 
our natives, for tbe production of good fruit. The 
object songht is to cover an entire trellis, of any 
required dimensions, uniformly with wood and 
frnit, in such a way as to produce the greatest Mm. -p, 
amount of tbe best quality, for a great number of If l \V\ *^v 
years—in fact, indefinitely, without injury to the II W S f) Uj 
vine. At Thomery tbe vines are trained to trel- JJ | 'ft $ ^ '$u 
lises screened by walls, only about eight feet in 1 \f) $ )} jj 
height, bnt we have seen in some of the cities of m j X^ y v 
Europe the entire front of tall city buildings cov- Jf\ Ij III if V 
ered with vines by the same system of training, & HA |L \\, 
and for this purpose it might be well adopted in Vb [L M j jj </i ^ v dj 
this country. Our barns may be covered with 1 m /L.-31L--SL. 
vines, by simply protecting the trunks, and the r i V W ~-~- 
branches be entirely out of the reach of cattle, -A', Jj]/ n) 
and the frnit secure from the poultry. For cover- ' 1 av J/J 
ing the fronts of buildings in cities it i3 admirably 
adapted. Dr. Ghaut, of whom we obtained en- 
gravings and descriptions, says:—“ I have, during _ j>~ ~ 
the past twelve years, on the south side of my ~ 
dwelling, trained vines that have borne profusely, --^ 
and ripened their frnit nearly or quite two weeks Figure » 
earlier than those in the gardeD, not more than one 
hundred feet distant. The bouse is on tbe line of C!Jes grow pairs or two shoots from one spur, net 
the street, and the border occupies the entire walk, a tN> v e the first good bud, and that will give two 
twelve feet in width. Before planting, the ground s ’°°®ts, ore, and the bearing-one, from the well- 
wa3 trenched three feet deep, and abundantly developed r ad, and the other from a bud scaroe'y 
enriched with stable manure and wood asbes visible on t e vine, and too small to be shown in 
thoroughly mingled with the soil or rather gravel. * ne engravis -. Tbe shoot from the latter will not 
Flagging was laid, and it has received no enrich- be certain to war fruit; at its base will be formed 
meat since, nor has any apparently been needed. a bu ^ ^ at will fruit, and then the shoots will be 
The lower fruit-bearing courses are about twelve established. 
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feet above the walk to avoid depredation. Aside 
from the great quantity of superior fruit yielded, 
To prune the double shoots, cut the upper one 
off by cutting the spur just above the origin of the 
we have been indebted to our vines for a most " 0 " er ^ oot > and tben cut lower shoot at two 
beautiful and delightfully cooliDg shade, for which, buds > b ? lhese “eans the spurs will at ways remain 
I think, no vine can excel the grape. The best short ' Thls p ' an is P erfectl ? adapted to renewal 
situation for the vine is often overlooked.” yearly, biennially, or triennially, as may be found 
The direct end to be aimed at we will suppose to ® x P edient > or to Bait th e views of tbe proprietor, 
he the covering a trellis, like that represented in 0 rcnevT 5 ear *7> double shoots should be always 
the plate, with beariDg-wood that will produce a S rown > aod the one from the a PPer bud only suf- 
crop of fruit like that shown at 4, (see plate,) on fe ™ d 10 produce the fruit - To r e°ew biennially, or 
first page. By this system, instead ofatlowiDga tn ^ nD ’ a ^7> S !0W alterna'ely as shown in plate, 
vine to bear at different elevations, the bearing- aod tbe method of P roceedin g « too obvious to 
wood is confined to tbe same elevation, which is a !e( l' J ‘ ,e emanation. By recurring to fig. 5, the 
great advantage, for it is dilBcult to make vines rnaQnsr oP cutting will be apparent. 
produce good bearing wood through a great per- . ’ 2l * eYer system is pursued in training tbe 
pendicular height. * vine must be commenced early, when the vine is 
yc-jug. It is almost impossible to bring an old 
|g | vine into any desired form. The first season only 
tt one shoot should be suffered to grow, and that 
jj 1 should be trained to an upright stake set into the 
J ground at the time of planting. Tbe tying should 
<7;, y ' be so frequently done as to keep the shoot always 
'Tx I! 7 upright. If suffered to bend over, tbe strength 
^ Wil1 g ° t0 tbe Pormation of secondary shoots that 
spring out in the axils of tbe leaves, at the 
|| /jfr junction of the footstalk of the leaf with tbe mam 
shoot, and are called laterals. (See Fig. 1, at s s.) 
AtA* These laterals should be all taken off atone leaf 
>&. S] ^ SCe aS soonss th *y bav e made a length of three 
leaves, as the strength that goes into them is 
‘S /f -As taken from the leeves of tbe main shoot while 
they give back but little to the formation of root 
i or to the general strength of tbe plant. 
At the time for pruning, which we will suppose 
tbe moDth of February for the present, this shoot 
should be cut back to the lowest well-developed 
bud, which will be near the ground, and the same 
course ot tying and removing laterals pursued as 
directed the previous y ear. If the vine is a very 
strong one, it will show bloom for three bunches 
of fruit, which may be suppressed or suffered to 
go on to maturity according to tbe strength of the 
vine. If tbe vine is of the strongest character, 
and of prolific habit, fruit may be had the first 
season and two sboots grown the second season, 
as will be hereafter shown ; but a strong one must 
be grown before attempting to grow two. A, 
figure 1, is a vine of odc upright shoot, as a 
strong vine Should be at tbe end of the second 
season; s, s is a lateral springing from the axil of 
a leaf that has been twice pinched at one leaf each 
time, first at s, and second at s’. Every bud on 
the shoot had a “ lateral” that received similar 
treatment, or perhaps that required pinching a 
third time, a, b, c, d, e, are the points at whichit 
may be cut to fit it for the Thomery system, as 
on first page; x and x are two shoots at the 
end of the third season, whose treatment has been 
Fir cue •" same as was that of A during the second 
KE season, x, x, represents the same shoots laid 
At one end of tee trellis (see first page) is a down for arms, four feet long each way from the 
strong post, around which wires are fastened. To standard; on the left but a portion of the arm is 
keep the post upright it must be braced, but the shown from deficiency of size of plate. On the left 
bracing is not shown. At the other end little below, two shoots, one double and one single of 
portions of wire are shown, designated by figs. 1 the lower course are shown, by dotted lines "row¬ 
an d 2 . The portions of the vine lymg along ( 2 ) and ing out of arm x, x. In like manner, arms might 
sustained in place by it are called arms. Those have been taken at b, c, d, or e, a 3 indicated by 
shoots fastened towards the tops to the wires (1) the taint lines showing where shoots might have 
are called the courses, (cordons,) and on 4 are seen been, instead of at a. 
properly loaded with fruit, but represented without For a siogle system only one pair of arms are 
the leaves, for when the leaves are in place, very taken from one vine ; at the height of b, another 
little of the fruit is visible. The figure 3 indicates pair are taken from another vine, and so on, as at 
the standards from which the arms are taken, c, and d, and e. The shoots spring from one bud 
The one nearest to the post and the fifth furnish on each side, and all of the other buds are rubbed 
arms ior the lower courses. The second and the og. If a double system is required, so that tbe 
sixth furnish aims for the upper courses. The standards may not be inconveniently near to each 
third and the seventh for second courses from the other, two sets of arms are taken ; we may suppose 
top. The fourth and eighth for the remaining one set at d, and another at e, or if desirable at a 
courses, which completes the system, which, when much greater height; but if at a greater elevation 
loaded with fruit, wfil all be like the one desig- than ate, another year will be required for the 
nated by 4. preparation of the cane for a standard. It may be 
It will be observed that the shoots upon the remarked that the long growth of one year is 
arms which constitute the courses are alternately called a shoot. If it is for the next season cut 
in pairs and single. In pruning, to make single short-that is, the length to one or two buds-it 
Figure 1. 
is taxied a spur; if the length of a foot or more, it 
is called a cane. Auer the second year the cane 
bfooroes a standard. (See pla*e on first page 
where the standards support the arms at different 
elevations, and tbe arms support the “cordons,” 
or courses, on which the frutt is borne.) Figs. 
2 and 8 are elegant methods of growing vines on 
stakes, and smiiabie for the garden. F*g. 4 is the 
German method of making bows, and is suitable 
Jor vineyard or garden, and Fig. o is a short spur 
and renewal plan, well adapted for gardens. At 
the stage shown in tbe plate, it i3 supposed to be 
fourteen years old. H, below, mmksthe third or 
perhaps the fourth year, and at H, above, each suc- 
oeediDg year is marked, adding a spur and two 
shootB on each side yearly, or rather each year 
adding a shoot on each side, and at the same time 
converting tbe previous year’s shoots into spurs, 
each bearing two shoots. Every sboot i 3 supposed 
to bear three bunches of grapes, and every shoot 
alternately by prnniDg becomes a spur, bearing 
two shoots, and every spur is alternately renewed, 
so that it may be called a biennial short spur 
renewal system. For the garden this is quite 
o?na«ie»taJ.^^nd in skillful bands will work 
adai'i-ably ■('«**leas simple than that shoi^o 
on first page, and if for want ef care or skill tbe 
lower spurs he lost, tbe loss may be considered 
final. 
IPMl 
Figure 5. 
Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 
A<1 systems suppose one upright shoot to be 
provided, as at A, to start from at the beginning 
of the third season, except in case of layers ot 
remarkable vigor, when the course of training 
may be commenced at the beginning of second 
season. 
---- 
Colose o Plates of Fruits and Flowers.— 
D. M. Dewey, ot this city has for several years 
been engaged in getting up colored plates of 
Frnits and Flowers, for the use of nurserymen 
and their agents. These plates are used to show 
the size, color, &c., of the different varieties of 
fruits, to those who wish to buy trees, for the 
purpose of aiding them in making their selec¬ 
tions. A bad representation of a fruit, like a bad 
portrait, is worthless, indeed worse than worth¬ 
less, a poor cancature, either deceiving or dis 
guBting those to whom they are exhibited, accord¬ 
ing to their knowledge of wbat a true representa¬ 
tion would be. Most of the colored plates given 
in horticultural journals in this country, or sold at 
tbe bookstores, are but miserable daubs, got up to 
sell, and though often soheted we have never 
been able conscientiously to say a word in their 
favor. To-day, Mr. Dewey exhibited to us 
a large collection got up for a nurseryman 
in Missouri, with which we were pleased, fur they 
exhibited a marked improvement. Some of the 
plates were very good. Mr. D., has now over 
three hundred different varieties, with which he 
can supply those who may wish to purchase. We 
are glad to notice an improvement in this depart¬ 
ment, where it was so much needed. 
About half the matter prepared and in type for 
this department we are compelled to omit, for 
want of room. 
inquiries emit 3.nstt)a:s. 
Altheas Freezing, & c .—Will yon please inform me 
how I snail preserve my allheas from freezing down 
every winter ? What kind of cans is best to preserve 
fruit? Can fruit, such as strawberries, be preserved in 
a fresh stare, or must they be eooked?— Jennie, Lysan- 
der, y. Y., 1859. 
Pruning late in the summer so as to check 
their growth, and ripen the wood, would per¬ 
haps effect tbe object. The only objection to this 
is, that the Althea blossoms late in the season. 
Immediately after the flowers begin to fail, prune 
np your plants pretty close, removing a good j 
portion of the present season’s growth. Covering 
with a few evergreen bushes, such as the Arbor 
Vita;, would afford abundant protection, and these 
may be so arranged as to look well in the garden. 
The double white variety is the most tender. The 
single varieties are generally more hardy, and not 
less beautiful. Almost any of the jars or cans 
that cap be readily sealed so as to exclude the air 
are good for preserving fruit, which must be 
heated to nearly the boiling point, and sealed 
when hot. Strawberries are somewhat difficult to 
preservers though they keep without “working,” 
they are apt to lose their flavor. 
Atple and CnERiiY Grafts.—W ill you please statp, 
through the columns of the Bubal, when is the beat 
time for cutting grafts of the apple, pear, plum and 
cherry, and how they should be preserved till set? 
Also, will cuttiDgs of grape vines grow if cut in the 
fall, and how should they be treated till spring?—S. 
Otsego, y. y„ Is59. 
Grafts and cuttings may be cut at any leisure 
time during the winter. Preserve them in dry 
sand in the cellar, or they may be buried in aDy 
dry, sandy situation. 
Season foe Planting Evergreen Hedges.— (S. 
M., Niles, Mich.) —The autumn will answer, if tbe 
next winter is favorable, but for several winters 
past fall planted evergreens have suffered terribly 
by the cold, dry winds, causing in many cases 
total destruction. Late spring planting, in our 
opinion, is the best. 
Apple Roots for Grafting—Grafting Paper. 
—(J. W. S., Little Valley, N. Y.) —The roots of 
old trees are not used by nurserymen. Obtain 
young seedlings, which can be had cheap of al¬ 
most any nurseryman. A thin Manilla paper is 
used for grafting paper. The grafting wax is 
heated and put on with a brush. When cold the 
paper i3 cut into strips fit for use. 
Rose Culture, &c.— (M. M., Tori .)—'The new 
roses are raised from seed, principally by French 
Florists. Phlox Drumrnon&ii is an annual, it is 
not worth while to try and keep it longer, than 
possible in the garden. The perennial Phloxes 
you can obtain in the spring of nurserymen, and 
Drummondii, if sown early in a warm situation, 
will be in flower late in June. Parsons on the 
Bose can be obtained at the bookstores for 75 cents. 
C. M. Saxton, N. Y., is publisher. 
Summer Bonchretien Pfa/..— (G. W. B.'* Lake¬ 
ville, N. Y.)— Is a very old variety, and is the 
common summer pear of Europe. The fruit is 
large, well-sbaped, though irregular; skin yellow, 
with an orange blush on the sunDy side; flesh 
yellow, coarse, very juicy and sweet, but with no 
flavor. Ripe here about first of September, some¬ 
times a little earlier. Liable to crack in some 
localities. 
How to Keep Onion “Sets.”— We have kept 1 
our onion seed, or sets, (as they are called here,) 
by simply putting them in a box, covering with 
straw and dirt, as we do our potatoes. They 1 
come out in good condition, if put up dry and 
taken out early in the Spring, as they are liable to 1 
sprout if left in the ground late.—C. G., Parle ' 
Co., Ind., 1859. i 
—- i 
Allen County (Ind.) Hort. Society.- Officers for 1 
the ensuing year: I 
President- J. D. G. Nelson. < 
Vice-Presidents —Thomas Covington, il. W. Hux- ' 
ford. c 
Treasurer—O. W. Jeffords. I 
Secretary— II. C. Grey. I 
This Society was organized the present season. ( 
Weekly meetings are held for the purpose of discussing - 
Horticultural matters. ^ 1 
I | \ 3f\j i 
Dwarf Prolific Okra. —Some six years ago, a 
lady fnend sent us a few seed of the dwarf okra, 
since which we have cultivated no other variety, 
and we are quite sure any one trying it will never 
plant any other kind. It grows only from two to 
three feet high, bears an immense long pod, and 
frnits from tbe ground to the end of each limb. 
We are surprised so little is known of it South. 
We sent a few seeds of it, a few years ago, to 
Messrs. J. M. Thorburn & Co., New York, and 
this season received an order from them to raise 
five bushels of seed expressly for them. The ad¬ 
vantage of the Dwarf Okra over the common 
kind is in the small quantity of wood fibre or 
stalk, and the great proportion of pods or fruit. 
Roasted okra seeds make a good substitute for 
coffee, and where the dwarf kind is cultivated 
expressly for seed, thirty or forty bushels may be 
raised from one acre.— Cotton Planter. 
Love of Gardening among the Poor. — The 
lower classes in our great cities, (says the Leisure 
Hour ,) have more affection for the garden and its 
floral produce than the class immediately above 
them. Perhaps the money-making habit is not 
favorable to the cultivation of simple tastes and 
the love of (in a pecuniary sense) the uuprofitably 
beautiful. However that may be, we know it is a 
fact that in many a trading house of no mean pre¬ 
tensions, the in-door garden is confined to the 
basement floor, and the flowers and greenery 
which are ignored and banished from the parlor 
and the drawing-room, will take refuge in the 
kitchen. The conservatory may be stored with 
old boxes and packing-cases, but Betty has a box 
of fragrant Mignonette in the scullery window, 
and a bouncing Geranium outside the sill of her 
bed-room. 
WASHING FLANNELS, &c. 
Eds. Rural New- Yorker :—I noticed an inquiry 
in relation to washing flannels, and as an answer, 
I send the following:—Make a hot suds with good 
soft soap, put in the flannels and let them lie a few 
minutes, then wash thoroughly with the hands.— 
Have ready some boiling water, (soft is best,) dis¬ 
solve a litt'e blueing, or indigo, and pour on it 
sufficent of the hot water to cover tbe goods, put 
them in and let them remain until cool enough to 
wriDg. Dry in the air, and iron when slightly 
damp. Iron on the right side. I have followed 
this mode for years, and it has never failed to 
make them appear like new, even when almost 
entirely worn out. 
Broiling Beefsteak.— Bruise till very tender, 
then put over a good bed of coals for a few min¬ 
utes. When cooked a little, take it off, dredge 
slightly with flour, and butter will finish the work- 
i^ot then add half a cup of cold coffee to the gravy, 
and you will, find a gravy good enough for any of 
your “leige lords.” 
Cream Cookies.— One cup of sugar; 1 of thick 
sour milk; 1 teaspoon saleraius; mix very soft 
and bake in a quick oven. 
I would also like to know through your columns 
how to color woolen goods a dark blue, (that will 
not fade,) also bow to color brown or drab? 
St. Joseph, Mich,, 1S59. M. E. Sterling. 
DYEING HATS AND FEATHERS. 
Lb Dye Straw Bonnets Blacks .—Suppose there are 
t>vo bonnets to dye, one leghorn and one straw. 
Put an ounce sulphate of iron into a vessel with 
two gallons of water; make tbe liquor boil; then 
put in the bonnets, and let them boil for one hour. 
Then take out the bonnets, and hang them on a 
peg to dry. When dry, rinse them in cold water. 
Thi3 part of the process of dyeiDg is called mor¬ 
danting, the liquor being termed the mordant. 
After the bonnets are thus mordanted, the mordant 
must be poured out of the boiling vessel, aod two 
gallons of clean wafer made to boil in its place; 
into that liquor put half a pound of gall nuts— 
broken—and half a pound of logwood, together 
with the bonnets, and allow the whole again to boil 
for one hour. Then take them out ot the hot 
liquor, and hang them to dry as before, when they 
will be of dusky brown-black color. Chip bonnets, 
as a rule, do not require so lODg a time as straw, 
because the chip takes the dye easier. The final 
process is to size or stiffen the bonnets, and put 
them into shape. Thi3 operation requires two 
ounces of best glue, put into two quarts of cold 
water overnight, and next day completely dis¬ 
solved by boiling. When the glue is melted, strain 
the liquor—then called size—into an earthen ves¬ 
sel. Info this put the bonnets one at a time, till 
thoroughly soaked. When the bonnets are taken 
out of the liquor all superfluous size must be 
sponged off. They are then brought into shape 
as they gradually dry, or they may be dried on a 
block. After this sizing process the color of the 
dye is improved, and becomes black as jet. 
To Clean and Re-Dip Black Feathers.— Feathers 
that have become rusty in color may thus be re¬ 
stored :—First, well wash the foathers in soap and 
water, using the best mottled soap, and the water 
scalding hot for tbe purpose; then thoroughly 
rinse in clean water and dry them. Next, take 
half an ounce of logwood, and bo’l in a quart of 
water. When scalding hot, put in the feathers, 
and there let them remain till the liquor is cold, 
after which rinse them in cold, clean water, and 
put them to dry. Finally, rub or brush over the 
feathers the smallest portion of oil, which simple 
operation brings out the glistening jet appearance 
in a remarkable manner. If you draw a Ion" 
strip of paper between the thumb and a blunt pen¬ 
knife blade, the paper will curl up. Feathers may 
be treated in the same way, using only such tender 
care as may be expected to be required in “ touch¬ 
ing a feather.”— Scientific American. 
MISS MARTTNEAU ON COOKERY. 
What is to be done, for cookiDg does not come 
by nature, nor even ordering a table liy observa¬ 
tion ? The art must be learnt, like other arts, by 
proper instruction. We want, and we must have, 
schools of domestic management, now that every 
home is not such a school. Mothers can at least 
teach their daughters to know one sort of meat 
from another, and one joint from another, and in 
a rougher or more thorough way, what to order 
in the everyday way and for guests. Thus much, 
theD, every girl should know, from childhood up¬ 
ward. A little practice of observation in the mar¬ 
kets would soon teach a willing learner to distin¬ 
guish prime articles from inferior kinds, and to 
know what fish, flesh, fowl, and fruits are in sea¬ 
son every month in the year. We have seen ladies 
buyiDg pork under a sweltering summer sun, and 
inquiring for geese in January to July, and taking 
up with skinny rabbits in May, and letting the 
season of mackerel, herrings, salmon, and all man¬ 
ner of fish pass over unused.— Once a Week. 
Boiling Potatoes. —The Irish method of boiling 
potatoes, for obvious reasons, ought to be as good 
as any. Here is the practice adopted by manv of 
that ilk, and not a few besides :—Clean wash the 
potatoes and leave the skin on; then briDg the 
water to a boil and throw them in. As soon as 
boiled soft enough for a fork to be easily thrust 
through them, dash some cold water into the pot, 
let the potatoes remain two minutes, and then pour 
off the water. This done, half remove the pot lid, 
and let the potatoes remain over a slow tire till the 
steam is evaporated; then peel and set them ou 
the table in an open dish. Potatoes of a good kind 
thus cooked, will always be sweet, dry, and mealy. 
A covered dish is bad for potatoes, as it keeps the 
steam in, and makes them soft and watery.— 
Conn. Homestead. 
