The idea that grapes requires the sun all day 
long in order to ripen them is a mistake. We 
have seen them run along under the eaves of a 
building where the sun scarcely reached them, 
aud they ripened well. The. idea that, grapes will 
ripen better by pulling otf the leaves that cover 
them, we regard as a great, mistake. We want to 
see every dwelling house in the State adorned 
with a grape vine. Get a Delaware grape and set 
it ont as well in the fall as iu spring .—Maine 
Farmer. 
de Jersey, Seekel, Beurre Bose, Sheldon, Beurrc 
Anjou. Some of the above varieties will not 
succeed well on the quince stock nnlcss double 
worked. 
space three fdet wide, and arc light, only weigh¬ 
ing about nine pounds when made of pine, and 
Die corners and the tops rounded as I make 
them. You can omit the binge, if you see fit. 
Another form is given by Mr. Wm. Brooks, 
of Genesee Co., N. Y. lie says :—My invention 
consists of the upright post A, tig. 2, which is 
firmly fixed to the solid stand, or loot, B. There 
is much finer in theory than in practice. Our 
opinion is if you want standards set them in the 
beginning, and it you plant dwarfs, prune and 
treat them according to their character, and not 
afterwards strive to change it. 
Mr. T. G. Yeomans, who is one of the most 
successful growers of dwarf pears in Western 
New York, furnished the Rural an article on 
pruning the dwarf pear tree, which we will 
incorporate here with illustrations as an answer 
to the third question of our correspondent. 
For transplanting, let a tree be two years old 
from the bud, well cut back at one year old, and 
with six to nine main branches, which form the 
frame-work, or foundation, winch is to give form 
and character to the future tree, with proper 
care and management. 
EQETIGi:LTt:aiL 
GRAPE CULTURE ON THE ISLANDS OF 
LAKE ERIE. 
As many of the 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker 
Rural readers are interested in grape culture, 
I thought I would give you a few items con¬ 
nected with grape matters on the islands of Lake 
Erie. 
The crop for 1805 has been an uncommon large 
one, and has agreeably disappointed many. From 
Sonth Bass Island alone there has been shipped 
over 600,000 pounds of grapes for wine-making, 
chiefly to Cincinnati aud St. Louis; and about 
330,000 pounds have been made into wine on the 
island, and fully 30,000 pounds have been con¬ 
sumed there—making in all nearly one million 
pounds of fruit from less than 200 acres of land. 
A large portion of the vines are young, hearing 
for the first time this season. This island is 
peculiarly adapted to grape growing. The soil 
is a limestone formation, and naturally under¬ 
drained. The island has been almost covered 
with wild grape vines, many of them yet re¬ 
maining. A large, area is being planted each 
year, and the whole of this, as well us the 
adjacent islands, will in a few years be covered 
with vineyards. We have a group of nine or ten 
DWARF PEARS IN ENGLAND 
With regard to pears on the quince stock, I 
must make some observations. They require a 
light soil and cool subsoil. If land is strong it 
must be made light. They require biennial 
removal, if the garden is small, not otherwise, 
renewal of the soil, and root-pruning. They also 
require to be planted up to, but not. above the 
poiut. of union. The soil Bhould not touch the 
junction of the bud with the stock, or the budded 
part will root into the soil and destroy the effect 
of the stock, which should not bo. If they are 
grafted high, earth should be raised like a mole¬ 
hill to the point of uuion. They require pinch¬ 
ing rather than pruning. I keep mine like 
shrubby Calceolarias, with their shoots pinched 
to three leaves in July, If large pyramids are 
required, the leader, of course, must be allowed 
to go up. If the pyramids are too large to he re¬ 
moved biennially, they may be root-pruned in 
loco , 1U a radius of 13 to 86 inches, according to 
the bulk aud height of tree. Root-pruning is not 
sufficiently practiced .—Cottage Gardener. 
Figure 1. Figure 2. 
are two pair of mortises cut through this post, 
the mortises in each pair being at right angles 
to each oilier. The slats S, S, slide loosely and 
longitudinally through these mortises, and on 
them the elothcs are hung. Four small wire 
Staples should be inserted in and around the 
post, near the top part of it, and at equal dis* 
Directly under each of these 
lances apart, 
staples, a shallow mortise should be cut in the 
stand, to receive the end of the slats S, 8, which 
are taken out of the mortises in the post when 
t he bai'B are not in use, and passed through the 
staples before mentioned, the ends being inserted 
iu the mortises in the stand, ns shown in figure 3. 
purposes. N o variety would be more appropuue 
in such a place than the American White Elm. 
Its hardiness, and rapid, 1 usurious growth raises it 
to a lofty and majestic tree sooner, perhaps, than 
any other variety we could name. Its giant 
limbs spread gracefully aud widely, so that in 
course of time the rows would intermingle their 
branches, shutting out the sunshine from under¬ 
neath, and giving a solemn and reverential effect 
to the approach to the abode of the dead. 
As an avenue tree wc think the Elm stands 
pre-eminently foremost. The bold, graceful, 
outward sweep of its branches from the massive, 
columnar trunk, and the symmetrical mass of 
dense foliage, affording a cool and widely ex¬ 
tended shade, are scarcely rivaled by any other 
tree in our forests. It is extensively planted 
along the highways of France and Germany, aud 
in botli New and Old England one may see long 
avenues ol' full grown Elms of such perfect form 
that they seem but the type of that wonderful 
architecture of the Gothic Cathedrals. 
The White Elm is very generally distributed 
throughout the United States and Canadas. It 
reaches a height of 80 feet in good soils, und in 
peculiarly favorable locations 100, with a diame¬ 
ter of four to six tcct. There are several other 
varieties, but us shade trees they are less valuable 
than the one we have mentioned. 
Hardly second in preference for an avenue, 
roadside, or park tree, stands the Tulip, or 
Whitewood. In every respect this Is one of the 
most desirable of shade trees in all places where 
it is proper to have those of the largest growth. 
Yet seldom does a farmer plant one; rarely, com¬ 
pared with other varieties, do we see them in a 
village or city. Its wood is more valuable than 
the pine, and it, is as rapid a grower. It is indig¬ 
enous to a large part of our country, and there 
is probably no tree which would pay better than 
the Whitewood if planted largely for the produc¬ 
tion of timber. Its natural tendency is to pro¬ 
duce a lofty, regular, straight trunk, free from 
branches and knots to a great height. We have 
seen many specimens of this tree with trunks as 
perfect to the eye in form und proportions, as 
any column that ever sculptor chiselled from 
marble. It is the loftiest and stateliest tree east 
of the Rocky Mountains, and specimens have 
been measured nearly 150 feet in height and 
eight in diameter. While the tree is young its 
bark is extremely smooth and presents a curious 
mottled appearance, but when advanced to 
greater age it becomes thick and furrowed. 
The folliage is rich and shining. The flowers, 
shaped like a large tulip, and slightly ordorous, 
appear in June. The leaves are bitter and not 
liable to be infested with vermin. It is a clean 
tree. The seed ripens in October, and grows 
readily. The wood is valuable and is used for a 
variety of purposes. It forms the best of siding 
for buildings, and carriage aud turniture makers 
consume great quantities. It is well adapted for 
roadside shade, and making plantations and 
belts of timber iu many parts of the West for 
shelter and profit. 
FUNGUS SPOTS ON PEARS, 
FIG. 1.—DWARF FEAR TWO TEARS UKJJ. 
The annexed cut, figure 1, will illustrate a 
two year old tree, as above described, its lower 
brauches about one foot from the ground, and 
its upper branches being the strongest and most 
upright, and those below less vigorous and more 
horizontal. 
I speak of this more particularly for the. reason 
that all the cuts which I have noticed in works 
on Pomology, and in agricultural papers, repre¬ 
sent a two year old tree, with brauches much 
the longest, and strongest, at the bottom; and 
diminishing in vigor toward the top, except, 
perhaps, the center top brauch; while all expe¬ 
rience illustrates the principle that, the sap flows 
most freely aud readily to the upper branches, 
giving them vigor, strength and uprightness to 
the diminution of the same characteristics in 
those below. 
The dotted lines indicate where the branches 
should be cut back at the time of planting. 
In cutting a tree, with branches formed as 
above described, let the leader be cut down 
within four t.»six inches of the place w^ore the 
one year old tree was cut off, and just above a 
good bud on the side of the tree over the pre¬ 
vious year’s cut, thus keeping the leader in a 
perpendicular position oyer the original trunk 
or bottom of the tree. 
If the side branches are too horizontal, an 
upper bud is left, for its extension; if too upright, 
a lower bud is left. Side direction may be given, 
if desirable, to fill wide spaces, in the same way. 
Cut the other branches at such a distance from 
the trunk, that the ends of all of them would 
form a pyramid, the base of which should not be 
over twelve to sixteen inches in diameter, and 
in smallish trees much less; thus the lowest 
branches will he left the longest; the object of 
which is to check the natural flow of sap to the 
upper branches, and induce it to flow more 
forcibly to the lower ones, increasing the vigor 
and force of the latter as mneb as possible, which 
must he done at that time or never. 
These spots have undoubtedly originated in 
the growth beneath I lie real cuticle, of a minute 
brown parasitic fungus, Cladosporium dendrl- 
cum, which lias destroyed the vitality of the sub¬ 
jacent tissue, but has not sufficient vigor of 
growth or greediness of moisture to make it 
penetrate deeply into the fruit. Where moist 
decay has supervened, it is apparently due to 
other fungi which have accompanied or replaced 
the Cladosporium. This mould has of late years 
been a dreadful pest both to pears and apples, iu 
some eases being virulent enough to destroy or 
greatly impair the young shoots, and its growth 
beneath the cuticle makes it almost impossible 
to apply a romedy. Alter a time, indeed, the 
cuticle hursts, to allow the fertile threads to 
break out into the air and bear fruit, but the mis¬ 
chief is then already done, and it is notorious 
that even were the habit different, dark threaded 
ftmgi are far less destructible than those which 
r are colorless.—J/. */. I/., m Gardener'9 Monthly. 
To Make Pop-Corn Balls.— Parch the. com 
in a kettle. While it Is hot pour in some mo¬ 
lasses of good quality. Keep it on the tire and 
stir briskly. The heat will evaporate the water, 
and partially change the molasses into candy. 
After stirring five or ten minutes, take the com 
off the lire, and as it cools form it into balls with 
the hands. Have ready some corn parched in 
the usual way, and roll tho warm hall iu it. 
This will make the outside of tho hall white aud 
clean to handle. It is better not to add auythiug 
to color them. w. 
Steaks Sautes. —The steak was prepared by 
cutting up the meat In pieces of the size that is 
usually placed on a person’s plate when at table; 
these pieces being made very tender by pounding. 
It is then placed in a pan with a.,little melted 
butter, where it remains until it is nicely brown¬ 
ed on both sides, and a little piece of butter iB 
added for each steak, and some parsley, after 
being chopped, it is spriukied over tho whole. 
This dish should be sent to the table with fried 
potatoes, and watercress placed around the edge 
of the dish. 
CLIMBING FERNS AND LYCOPODIUMS, 
The climbing ferns of the genus Lygodiutn are 
the loveliest of tho whole of this interesting tribe 
of plants, only excepting the elegant. Gleichcnim. 
It happens most fortunately that they are very 
easily cultivated, and, with moderate care, soon 
make line specimens. Wo have tho Lygodium 
scandaix iu a vase covered with a glass lantern, 
one side of which! is completely covered with a 
screen of its exquisitely beautiful fronds, by 
being trained up on copper wires; and we have 
had L. palmalum on the back wall of a common 
green house, where it was kept constantly shaded 
by large-leaved plants trained to the rafters, aud 
it covered the wall almost as densely as ivy. A 
mixture of tufty loam, tufty peat, rotton cocoa- 
nut dust, aud silver sand, equal parts, will grow 
any of them to perfection, with moderate 
warmth, shade and moisture, L. palmatum Is the 
most hardy; L. Japouteum does well in Wardian 
cases.— Gardener's Weekly. 
PRUNING THE ISABELLA GRAPE 
The Importance of allowing more mom for 
the Isabella and other strong growing varieties, 
than is generally given them, which we have 
urged on former occasions, we find to he cor¬ 
roborated by the results of experiments. At the 
autumn meeting of the Fruit Growers’ Society of 
Western New York, one of the most skillful and 
successful cultivators, and who had the best Isa¬ 
bellas on exhibition, said that he would not. think 
of allowing less space for each plant than fifteen 
feet square, whlch would be equal to 325 square 
feet of surface. When the viueB are young, they 
do not of course need so much room; and this 
has led many cultivators to adopt the opinion 
inadvertently, that they do not require it after¬ 
wards. 
During a recent visit to the grounds of J. E. 
Williams of Aurora, Cayuga Lake, he showed us 
the mode he had adopted for training his Isabella 
vines. They had at first grown to the top of a 
tall trellis, from which poiut they had been ex¬ 
tended more than twenty feet in an upward 
inclined direction, and attached to a row of trees 
—the place where they were fastened to the trees 
being about twenty lcet from the ground. Ho finds 
this extention to improve the quality and ripen¬ 
ing of the grapes, and stated that the only well 
matured fruit ol this variety in that place grew on 
these vines. Vineyards of considerable extent in 
the neighborhood, which had been freely cut 
back and allowed only a limited space, ripened 
their hcinches badly. His Catawbaa, the vines of 
which were 80 feet long on a trellis, were also 
well ripened. The vine* of both these varieties 
were of considerable age, being two inches or 
more in diameter at the buee .—Country Gent. 
How to Boil Potatoeb.— A correspondent of 
the Germantown Telegraph gives the following 
instructions how to boil potatoes so as to make 
them dry and mealy:—“Let them be put luto 
cold water in a covered vessel, and boiled rapidly 
until nearly done, then pour off the water, and 
sprinkle a small quantity of salt over the pota¬ 
toes, put ou the cover so as to leave a small opcu 
space for the steam to escape, and leave the ves¬ 
sel over the fire for a lew minutes, and the pota¬ 
toes will be done.” 
Ohaqb Oiunoe Seed, Jfcc.—I would like to inquire, 
through the Rural, who has Osage Orange Seed fur 
sale, ns I wish to purchase enough seed to raise 
plants sufficient to set a mile. Will some one tell 
me, through the Rural, when to plant the seed, and 
how, by experience, is Hu- best way to net the plants, 
and how much I -hull want ir good, und with 
proper mnuagenient, to raise plants mi (Hdent to set 
one mile?- L., Atttca, Seneca Vo., Ohio. 
CLOTHES BARS, 
FIG, 2.— DWARF PEAR THREE TEARS. 
Figure 2 represents a three year old tree after 
it has been pruned at two years old, and made 
the third year’s growth, and showing whore it 
should be cut back at that time. All subsequent 
pruning will become easy to any one who has 
attended to these directions thus far—observing 
the same principles, thinning out or cutting 
back any secondary, or other branches, as shall 
seem to be necessary to admit light and air, or 
give vigor or symmetry of form to the tree, but 
as the greatest force of sap will flow to the 
central and upright branches, they will need to 
be cut back most, retaining as near as may be 
the pyramid form; ever bearing in mind this 
fact, that no one prunes too much; and, after 
having pruned well and gathered rich harvests of 
luscious pears, if you still wish to grow them 
larger and belter than ever before, prune a little 
closer, and that result will certainly be attained, 
and the vigor, beauty and longevity of your trees 
will be increased thereby. 
It is impossible to state positively what ten 
varieties of summer and autumn pears are most 
desirable. Varieties that are highly successful 
in some localities are only tolerably so in others. 
Our correspondent should read the reports of 
Horticultural Societies in his State, and observe 
what varieties succeed well in his locality. 
Without claiming the following list as the beet, 
wc consider them all good in Western New York: 
Duchesse de Angouleme, Rostiezer, Bartlett, 
Belle Lucrative, Flemish Beauty, Louise Bonne 
To Make Leather Varnish. —To 1 quart of 
strong alcohol add y$ pound of gum shellac, 1 oz. 
rosin, and }£ oz. camphor. Set in a warm place 
with frequent stirring for several days, or until 
all is dissolved; then add 5 ozs. lamp-black 
mixed with a little alcohol, and it is ready for 
use, and as good as the best. 11 too thick, thin 
with alcohol. 
A CHAPTER ON DWARF PEARS, 
SET OUT A GRAPE VINE 
A Pennsylvania correspondent propounds 
the following questions respecting dwarf pears: 
“ What Is the object of Close trimming the awarf 
pear?” 
“ Will It do to let them grow as standards ? ” 
“If close trimmiDg is necessary, -will you give some 
rules? ” 
“ What ten varieties of summer and fall pears arc 
most desirable?” 
We will answer these questions in order. The 
object of dose pruning the dwarf pear is to get 
a good base, tp give the top a proper form and 
Now is a good time to prepare a spot for a 
grape vine. Many persons are deterred from 
anything of the kind by the great parade made by 
some piersons iu preparing the ground.' Now 
take your shovel, dig out two or three wheel¬ 
barrow loads of earth und mix in with the return¬ 
ed soil, two wheelbarrow loads of manure, and 
you will have a nice bed for setting out your 
plant. Wc Ought to have mentioned, as of the 
greatest, importance, the right selection of a spot. 
Open garden culture will hardly do in Maine for 
most kinds ol grapes. Watch the effect of the 
frost on the lee side of your dwellings and see 
where it keeps off the longest, and there plant 
your vines. In most parts of Maine, an easterly 
or southeasterly exposure is the beet. We have 
a Diana which ripened well the 10th of October, 
and the frost had not struck it the 7th of October, 
when wc took it down for protection for winter. 
It was not struck the last year, till the first of 
November. It is in the comer of the L and 
house on the easterly side, where it has about 
two aud a half hours of the sun in the morning. 
A row of shrubbery is in front of it a distance of 
ten feet, which may have an Influence in protect¬ 
ing it from the frost. We have noticed in our 
vicinity the White Sweet Water, growing iu the 
same position and ripening nearly every year. 
Farmer’s Fruit Cake. —Soak 3 cups of dried 
apples over night in warm water; chop (slight¬ 
ly) in the morning and then simmer 2 hours in 
2 cups of molasses. Add 8 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 
1 cup of sweet milk, three-fourths of a cup of 
butter 1 tj teaspoonfuls of soda, flour to make a 
rather thick batter; spice to suit the taste. 
■Bake in a quick oven. 
confine it close to the ground. The tendency of 
the sap is always to the highest limbs, and to the 
extremities of these. Hence the upper part of 
the tree will always grow most vigorously. If 
no pruning is done the lower part of the tree 
will grow thin, the upper part will gain the 
ascendency, and the tree will become misshapen, 
top-heavy and liable to blow over. Close prun¬ 
ing ueed not diminish the ultimate size of the 
tree, but it reduces the head to proper shape, and 
keeps it close to the roots. 
It win not do to let dwarf peare grow as 
standards, unless, after a time, the pear stock 
sends ont roots above its juncture with the 
quince. In effect this changes the character of 
the tree from a dwarf to a standard, and it might 
then be treated as such. This change, however, 
Fried Cakes.— One teacup of thick 60 ur 
cream, 3 teueups of butter or sour milk, 2 tca- 
spoonfoU of soda, a teaspoonl’ul of salt, aud 1 
teacup of sugar; mix well. Roll half an inch 
thick; cut in strips, twist and fry in hot lard 
until done; season with ground cinnamon or 
spice. The cakes will be the better for standing 
an hour two after they are infixed, before fryiug. 
Onion Pickle.—I n November, take well dried 'J 
onions, of a good shape, (small and round, peel j 
them und throw them Into salt aud water. Let a. 
them remain there a few days ; drain them, put I 
them iu a jar and pour over them spiced vinegar. A 
by using a six-cigLtb bead plane* lour ot tuc rous 
to be*two iuches shot ter than the other ten. 
They can be fastened at the end by driving in a 
brad, or small nail. They can be opened and 
closed at pleasure. They will stand in any small 
