tho Concords tho Hartford Prolific. 1 ?, and Adi- 
rondaca, worn greatly Their superior;-’. There were 
vines, too,—some of the old whip-syllabub order, 
compounded of grftpe juice, sugar and whisky,— 
a little hotter than currant, gooseberry, elder- 
for they were all there 
CLEANING PIGS HEADS AND FEET. 
OUR CORRESPONDENTS. 
berry, or raspberry 
together for taste and competition; but the real 
wines—grape juice alone, by the side of them - 
showed their superiority altogether. Yet even 
there were Isabella and Catawba, fair of their 
kind, grown in deep valleys where the summer 
sun poured in upon them with a double-lens 
focus; but they were not what, our native wines 
should be, with body, and saccharine, and spirit 
enough in their native composition to keep them 
for years, and, like the foreign wines, still grow¬ 
ing better. 
There were samples of brandy, too — distilled 
from tho grape—which, had they only several 
years of age, instead of but one or two, would be 
infinitely better than nine-tenths of tho chemi¬ 
calized trash imported—some of it—and sold in 
our shops at five to ten dollars a gallon, and so 
pronounced by intelligent medical men who 
examined i(. 
Now these few, important facts, show progress. 
We have an extreme northern latitude for grape- 
growing and wine-making. Yet we can grow 
grapes which will ripen in ourciimate—in proper 
localities—to perfection, and make good wines 
and brandies of them. The grapes we have had 
to invent , or wo must Invent them. Every local¬ 
ity and every soil will not grow them. One 
tract of ground will grow them successfully, 
while another tract, not five miles away, will not 
It is just here as in Europe. 
Ens. Re it a i.: — The following inode of cleaning 
pigs heads and feet is good, being efficient, and 
saving time. It was recommended to me by a 
friend several years ago, and is worthy a place in 
your columns. Chop off the suout from the head 
and divide it into four pieces—after culling off 
the cheeks to salt,—saving Ibcm to bake with 
beans—wash all thoroughly and put into a suita¬ 
ble vessel, covering them with water in which a 
little salt has been dissolved merely sufficient to 
draw out the blood; lot them soak two days, 
changing the water each day. The third day 
take them from the water, scrape them well, but 
without attempting to remove the bristles. If 
they do not seem pretty dry after scraping, wipe 
| the skin side; then light a spirit lump and singe 
Off tho bristles in the flame. It. will take them off 
completely leaving them white and smooth after 
a slight scraping. An ordinary fluid lamp, with 
alcohol in it, may be used for singing tho bristles. 
Yours, -Mas. Jane 0ve 
A correspondent inquires if we indorse as 
truth all that is said by our correspondents, and 
recommend the practice of all their recommen¬ 
dations. To this we reply, that while our cor¬ 
respondents are practical men, and in most cases 
give the lessons they have learned by long and 
sometimes dear-bought experience, we cannot 
vouch for the truth of all we publish in this form, 
nor would we urge our readers to adopt our own 
opinions, or those of our correspondents, without 
careful trial. The horticulturist, above others, 
which proves good. Correspondents write over 
their own signatures, and of course are responsi¬ 
ble for what they say. When a course is urged 
that we think may prove injurious, we always 
give a caution. A few weeks since we published 
an article advising the value of salt as a manure. 
Knowing tins to be a dangerous article in the 
hands of the inexperienced, we advised care on 
this point In a more recent number we gave 
an article from W. R. Prince, on varieties of 
grapes. Mr. P., as is his custom, classed the 
Delaware among foreign, varieties, but stated 
that it would succeed os far north as Maine, if 
covered. There are not many who will agree 
with this classification, and as for hardiness, we 
know few native vines equal to the Delaware, 
but covering in the winter will do no hurt, and 
in fact is beneficial. In tho present number we 
give a remedy for the curculio, or a mode of 
driving them off by the use of lime; in this plan 
we have but little faith, yet our correspondent 
gives his experience, and as such we place it 
upon record, so that all can try it. Our mode is 
to shake the trees and kill the insects. This, if 
ivroN, Weedi/Nook, J863. 
Care of Boots. —I have had three pairs of 
boots for the last six years, and I think I shall 
not require any move for the next six to come. 
The reason 1 m, that 1 treat them in the following 
manner:—I put a pound each of tallow and 
resin in a pot on the (ire; when melted and 
mixed, I warm the boots and apply it hot with a 
painter’s brush, until neither the sole nor tho 
upper will soak any more. If it is desired that 
the boots should immediately take a polish, dis¬ 
solve an ounce of wax in a teuspoonl'ul of lamp¬ 
black. A day or two after the boots have been 
treated with the tallow and resin, rub over them 
this wax aud turpentine, but not before the fire. 
Thus the exterior will have a coat of wax alone, 
and shine like a mirror. Tallow or grease be¬ 
comes rancid, and rots the stitching and leather; 
but the resin gives it ati antiseptic quality, which 
preserves the whole. Boots anil shoes should he 
so large as to admit of wearing cork soles. Cork 
is so bad a conductor of beat, that with it in the 
boots the feet are always warm on the coldest 
stone floor .—Mechanical Magazine. 
grow them at. all 
The choicest grape and wines are those pro¬ 
duced in small districts where a peculiarity ol 
soil, position, and exposure perfects the fruit. 
Other localities, not so much favored, grow both 
inferior grapes and produce inferior wine. We 
have all this thing to (earn, and in frequent eases 
to go “through great tribulation” to find it out. 
We need not name localities most, favorable for 
the purpose. (1 rape-growers—and they only, 
will read and take any Interest in this paper- 
know, aud will discover, if they have not already 
discovered, such localities. L. F. Allen. 
Black Rock, Jim. 20, 18C.'l. 
mm/m 
ml 
G loss iso Linen.- Inquiry is frequently made 
respecting the mode of putting a gloss on linen 
collars aud shirt bosoms like that oti new linen. 
This gloss or enamel, as it is sometimes called, is 
produced mainly by friction with a warm iron, 
and may bo put ou linen by almost, any person. 
The linen to be glazed receives as much starch 
as it is possible to charge it with, then it. is dried. 
To each pound of starch a piece of sperm paraf¬ 
fine, or white wax, about the size of a walnut, is 
usually added. When ready to be ironed, tho 
linen is laid upon the table and moistened slightly 
on the surface with a clean wet cloth. It is then 
ironed in the usual way with a ilat-iron, and is 
ready for the glossin^opcrafion. For this pu rpose a 
peculiar heavy flat-iron, rounded at the bottom, 
and polished as bright as a mirror, is used. It is 
pressed firmly upon the linen with much force, 
and this frictional action puts on the gloss. “ El¬ 
bow grouse" is the principal secret connected 
with the art of glossing .—Scientific American. 
Saiv-Dcst. —Will it pay to draw sawdust,principally 
hemlock, one mile to put around old apple trees V—it. S. 
Hemlock saw dust is not of much account. No doubt 
you can find better manure quite as near. Muck, sods 
from the road side, &<•., you will bud far more valuable. 
In other 
localities, we presume it had not been well tested. 
Wo give the remarks made upon this variety, at 
the American Fomologic&l Society: 
Elliott —Largo and fine, but second-rate 
bearer. 
President —Handsome, aud as good as any¬ 
thing. The tree is an ugly, coarse-growing tret;, 
with me. I think Mr. Barry and Mr. Downing 
believe it to be the same as the Great Bigarreau. 
Barry —It is doubtful yet. 
Thomas- The Mezel, with] me, especially if 
cultivated as a dwarf, is an exceedingly good 
bearer. Tho present year 1 have had a yuung 
tree, five years old, with branches so heavily 
loaded that they lay npoii the ground. 
Barry—I t has always been with us a remark¬ 
able bearer. The great objection is awkwardness 
in the growth of tho tree. That can be remedied 
by pruning, Tho fruit sells for more thuu 
Tue largest black cherry we are acquainted setts, Kastem and Western Now York, 
with is the one of which we now give a very 
accurate engraviug. It is not yet much known, 
but when it becomes so will be very popular, 
especially for market purposes; tor it sells tor 
twice as much as cherries of ordinary size. In 
quality it is very good, aud though tome com¬ 
plain that it is not productive, wo have never 
seen a treo that did not bear a large crop. The 
tree is not a handsome grower, but any one with 
a little skill at pruning can soon remedy this 
defect in Us character, and make of it a very 
handsome tree. Those who grow the cherry lor 
market should obtain this variety. It cau now 
be obtained at most of the nurseries, we think. 
The specimens from which our engraving was 
copied were rather below the usual size, as tho 
tree bore an enormous crop. 
In the New Catalogue ol' Fruit of the Ameri¬ 
can Bornological Society, we see that it is recom¬ 
mended in the District of Columbia, Massachu- 
GRAFTING, ADVANTAGES AND MODE. 
Much has already been said to encourage the 
raising of fruit more extensively and to better 
advantage, yet there is a manifest lack of inter¬ 
est in some sections, among farmers, concerning 
this branch of agriculture. There are hundreds 
of old orchards scattered around, healing from 
nothing to a few bushels of sour, crabbed, defect¬ 
ive fruit to a tree, where a dozen selected, first- 
rate kinds, with good cultivation, would have 
furnished an abundant supply of tho finest fruit. 
To affect the change from sour, worthless fruit, 
to one of the best kind, is wonderful, and even 
now many of these old orchard!?, spoken of 
above, can be made to yield good selected fruit 
abundantly, by grafting and right management 
Any person of ordinary ingenuity cau set grafts 
so that they will live. It takes but a few mo¬ 
menta and a little patience to learn, and it is 
well wortli every farmer's while to know how to 
do his own grafting, and when thrifty trees are 
producing only sour, indifferent apples, by a 
little labor and good management, they may as 
well be made to bear Toinpkin's County Kings, 
Baldwins, or Rhode Island Greenings, and other 
choice varieties, as to be allowed to waste tbc 
soil. 
Grafting is effected in various ways, all Laving 
but one principle upon which success is based, 
that of a perfect union of the inner bark of the 
scion and stock. When tho continuity of the 
flow of the sap is broken by the scion being mis¬ 
placed, it is impossible to cause it to grow. Tho 
principal question, therefore, in grafting is, how 
can we best affect the continuity of the flow of 
sap from the stock iuto the scion? Answer, by 
cleft grafting, as a general system, and by hav¬ 
ing the scions in the best possible condition, and 
doing the work in the beat possible manner. It 
is essential that the stocks should be healthy and 
vigorous. Grafting may be attended to from the 
time the buds begin to swell till the trees are in 
lull bloom. Undoubtedly, the best time to set 
them to have them attain the greatest growth, is 
when tile leaves are nearly ready to burst forth, 
but it may be commenced earlier and continued 
later than tho above time. 
After the scion is properly inserted, it is neces¬ 
sary that the pressure against it by the stock 
in order to render the 
How I Hkadxdtuk C'oiici.i.fO.—Ihnvo two plum trees, 
right feet apart, one the Jefferson, the other the Mngnntu 
Tlotium. Thu 1 utter hu been old enough to bear for teu 
years but never ripened a plutu, and the former just com¬ 
mended to bear. After tho plums were large enough I 
took a pole 15 feet long, tho top bent over a little; I tied 
an old tiil stove to it and sifted the trees with lime a num 
her of times The result was, I had to tie up the trees to 
keep them from breaking, and other trees of the name 
kind that, were not treated ro did not ripen a plum, id tho* 
but a few rods apart.—It. S. 
How to Prevent Niikki- 11aiik ivo Tukkh,— In the Ku 
a At. of Dec. 20, J. S, (!., of Florence, Erie county, Ohio, 
makes the above inquiry. I will give my experience.— 
Eight years ago I. set out a young orchard, and the rabbits 
destroyed BOinO of my trees l took old refuse - "ling, 6 
or8 inches wide, It^ feet long, and put three around simUl 
trees, and tho larger ones four. A shingle nail, top and 
bottom, secured them, and the work was done. It effect- 
ually kept the rabbits arid mice away for four years. I have 
pastured will! sheep, and shall continue to do so. My pas¬ 
ture improves every year, and all briars and bushes are 
kept dowu, and my trees grow finely. It will not cost 
over five cents a year for each tree. Try it.—R. S. 
About Oath. —Please Insert the following in 
your paper for the benefit of Mrs. It. Smith. 
Probably your cats have died of a cat disease, 
Ruch as has prevailed to a great extent, (luring 
the last year, in tho Western town where I live. 
A month ago I lost one of my lino cats that had 
all of tho symptoms you describe. About a 
week ago tho other began to eougli, aud 1 fed 
her on soli food and she soon got well. One of 
my neighbors had a kitten that was so far gone 
with the disease Unit it could not eat or drink, 
and it was forced to swallow sail and water , 
which cured it. That is the best remedy i know; 
do not let it be too strong, and it must be cold. 
The best preventive of this disease is to give cats 
fresh beef with a pinch of salt rubbed on it, two 
or three times a week, and corned beef and fresh 
milk, and let them have free access to the open 
air and catnip. I hope you will succeed in rais¬ 
ing cats, for I think with my mother, that no 
I home is complete without, them.— A Subscriber. 
of his neighbors; and again, he says ho has 1,000 
vines, planted at the same time be planted his 
fruit trees, (three years ago,) when, if he was 
required to take his oath, he would not suy he 
set over 000 of them, and instead of getting them 
from Rochester, as ho would have his readers 
Infer, be got them at a nursery in Grimsby. 1 
have no personal feeling in the matter; on tho 
contrary, I esteem Mr. K. as a neighbor and 
friend, nor would I eradicate the impression that 
Grimsby, C. W., is as good a fruit country as 
Rochester, N. Y., for I believe it is; but when a 
person writes an [article for a paper, even if it 
should be a puff of Pure and Unadulterated 
Wine which he may have for Halo, 1 like to see 
him stick to the facts in the case, 
Grimsby, C. W. 
fall, and before vegetation commences in the 
spring, but the danger lies in the manner in 
which they are kept, after cutting, till used. 
There are various ways of preserving them, but 
the principle arrived at, is to keep them suffi¬ 
ciently moist that they will not lose any of tbeir 
vitality, and not so wet as to produce premature 
decay. Probably there is nothing better than 
moist sand ill which to bury them, to be kept 
where the moisture will be uniform till wanted 
ScionB should always be 
gvodirulturttl gat *$ 
Nkw Amaka.ntuitb. (Amaranlhus melancholicut niber.) ' 
—A new variety of the common amaranthua has been in¬ 
troduced from Japan by Monra. V hitcii, similar, but 
morn distinct than tint well-known anil pretty A. tricolor. 
Mr. 15 k at on, who has grown it, thus alludes to it.:—“ So 
far a* I can judge of its habit aud growth, it will take the 
place of I’crilla in many eases, and very likely will bo har¬ 
dier than that popular plant, as some plants here seem to 
stand t he cold winds very well, though only recently plant 
ed. But ii is mostly in the color erf the. foliage that its 
merits especially lie, and this is not easy to explain; hut 
those who have seen tho Virginia creeper when at its best, 
will have a good idea of the rich hue the plant presents. 
The brightness of ils coloring I expect will continue du¬ 
ring the entire summer, as the oldest leaves have not that 
sombre hue the Perilla has very late in the. season. It is, 
however, too early to prognosticate ivhat. ils appearance so 
late in the season may lie, hut at the present (August) it 
seems all that can he wished for; and to those that have 
not yet made it* acquaintance I would strongly advise 
them fit do so, and to judge for themselves.”— Ilovty's 
Magazine. 
to insert in the stocks, 
selected from the growth of the previous year, 
and from healthy, bearing trees. Much may be 
gained by selecting from trees that bear tho most 
fruit, both in odd and even years, and tho 
favorite and best to keep. Apples of the 
same kind, will be on some trees early and 
small, and bear only once in three or four 
years by the same treatment. Scions should 
be of firm, well-ripened wood, ami if the 
A. M. Smith. 
GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING, 
How to Make Fine Vinegar. — Seeing an 
inquiry in your valuable paper, a few weeks ago, 
for a recipe for making vinegar, I send you mine, 
which we think excellent. UisHolvu one pound of 
coarse brown sugar in a gallon of soft water, (but 
do not boil it.) Then add one quart of good 
whisky; work it with a little good yeast spread 
ou white paper. Put it in a cask, and expose it 
to the sun, with the neck of a clear glass bottle 
inserted in tho bung-hole, it will soon become 
fine vinegar, tit for pickling or any other purpose. 
Will some of your numerous readers please 
inform me, through the Rural, how to make 
snow custard? and oblige — C. V. Woodward, 
Lobo, V. W., 18G3. 
making purposes. Half a dozen years ago, one 
could scarce find on our show tables at the dif¬ 
ferent fruit exhibitions any but unripe Catawbas 
and Isabellas, with an occasional Clinton, Diana, 
or Delaware, thrown in by way of variety, and 
dubious of public favor at that. They were told 
better by some blunt, plain-Kpokou people, who 
got little for their volunteered opinions but con¬ 
tradictions and sour looks from tho contributors; 
sour, oven, us the grapes they had on show'. 
Men exhibited wines, too, made of their grapes; 
but on close questioning by Examining Commit¬ 
tees, the. wines were only cordials, made up of 
grape juice, sugar and alcohol, with no keeping 
qualities; and,compared with real wines, the pure 
juice of the grape—poor stuff enough. Yet, 
after a while, the grapes, aud the wine made 
from them, told their own story. They would 
not sell, nor pay, in market A change has been 
gradually coming over the grape-growers, and 
one need only to have witnessed tho wonderful 
grape exhibition at the New York State Show at 
Rochester iast October, to be convinced of its 
extent aud thorough progress. Such a show of 
out-door grown grapes was probably never be¬ 
fore made in the United States. Isabellas and 
Catawbas were there, to be sure, and in high per¬ 
fection, grown in peculiar localities and favora- 
Pi.antB ok the Amook Rkgio.v. —Some of the Araoor 
plants surprisingly resemble some of the species of tho 
eastern parts of the United States; a similarity already 
pointed out in the Japan Flora, and even in that of Daou- 
ria. A recent and more thorough examination lnw hith¬ 
erto, however, shown unquestionably cither a specific iiif- 
ferenoo between the Asiatic plants and their representa¬ 
tives In America, or, where identical, an unbroken lino of 
their geographical distribution. This last statement is, 
we suspect, to he taken with some reserve, now that Llr. 
Asa Gray lias ascertained beyond all question that the 
I’ngania ophioylosxnides and Malaxis lili/olia of the Uni¬ 
ted States occur in Japan without the slightest difference 
of structure.— Gardener's Chronicle. 
should be quite forcible 
contact of the two inner barks firm, that the sap 
meets with no obstruction in ascending into the 
scion, 
If the stock bo an inch or more in diam¬ 
eter, the natural pressure of the stock will be 
sufficient: but if the stock be small, artificial 
must be re¬ 
WHAT IS PURE, UNADULTERATED WINE? 
A Swiss Soup.—B oil three pounds of pota¬ 
toes, mash them well, and add slowly some good 
broth, sufficient for the tureen. Let these boil 
together, thou add some spinach, a little parsley, 
lemon, thyme and sago, all chopped very fine. 
Boil together five minutes; pepper and salt to 
taste. Just before taking it off the fire to serve, 
add two we 11-beaten eggs. 
means, by the use of bandages, 
sorted to. 
The next important desideratum is to ex¬ 
clude light and air from the cleft, which 
is done by using grafting wax. An excellent 
wax is made as follows:—One pint linseed oil, 
six pounds rosin, and one of beeswax, and these 
ingredients, af ter being melted and well incor¬ 
porated together, may bo applied directly to the 
cleft aud top of the stock, with a brush, while 
the wax is in a melted state. The wax, after 
cooling, should be firmly pressed around the 
cleft, and around every place where there is the 
least possibility of air being admitted. In graft¬ 
ing trees that have attained considerable size, I 
would be two or three years in doing it. It is 
injurious to large trees to lose all, or nearly all, 
their tops at once, as there is danger, when too 
much of the top is removed, of losing the tree. 
Scions for grafting may bo cut after the leaves 
Mignonette —May In* grown into pretty objects by 
keeping all tlie side* slioota pinched off, and encouraging 
the central or leading one fi) grow. Whenever any flower 
buds appear, they should ho pinched off, also. The load¬ 
ing stem should be trained up to a light stake nntil it lias 
reached any desired height, when it may tie suffered to 
bloom, 
of this volume of the Rural. Ijto informs your 
readers that he has 800 gallons of beautiful,pure, 
and unadulterated wine, of bis own growing; and 
he informs me that his wine is made of one gallon 
of water to one of grape juice, and three pounds of 
sugar. Now, Mr. Kitchen, or I, don’t under¬ 
stand what pure, unadulterated wine Is, and as 
he made some other crooked statements in his 
article, I did not know but he might possibly bo 
mistaken in this matter, so I thought I would 
refer it to the Rural. 
The crooked statements referred to are that 
Mr. Kitchen says his wine is of his own grow¬ 
ing, when he bought a good share of his grapes ble exposures; but the Delawares, the Dianas, 
Soda Crackers.— Tho following recipe for 
soda crackers, (in answer to an inquiry some 
time ago,) has been mislaid:—Four teacups of 
flour; 3 do. of water; 1 of butter, rubbed into the 
dry flour; 4 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar; 2 of 
soda. Salt to the taste. Roll very thin. 
Horticultural Books, like Geographies and Maps, 
soon become obsolete; and it is in Periodicals alone that 
we have to look for all the recent improvements and in¬ 
ventions. 
[gPKtUAL NOT1CB, ] 
Am. is Wkll that Ends Well.— Thus exclaim many 
thousands after trying the celebrated Chemical SaleralM 
of DbLand & Co. They say it works like a charm, and 
they always have nice light bread, biscuit, cakes, &c. It 
never fails. 
Gourds. —The culture of gourds is becoming very pop¬ 
ular in Europe, especially in England. There it is a good 
deal of trouble to grow them, but in this country we can 
obtain them with ease. 
