faults the grape has. I presume you may 
have heard of them many times, years ago, 
hut I wish to bring them before your grape 
growing readers. I am certain that with 
proper care they can be raised in Pennsyl¬ 
vania, New Jersey and Delaware; also in 
the southern part of New York State, and 
such latitudes. 
I drank of a bottle of Scuppernong wine, 
which was made by Ex-Gov. Bragg of this 
city ; it was seven years old at the time, and a 
finer or more delicious wine from native 
grapes in these United States, I never tasted. 
I want my Northern friends (as I am a 
“ carpet-bagger ”) to try this grape. Many 
varieties will he thrown away there to give 
place to Scupperuongs when it is grown 
there with them. W. Wallace. 
Raleigh, N. C., 1870. 
We have received a box of Scuppernongs 
from our correspondent (we suppose,) and 
after thanking him for sending them, we 
must he permitted to say that we think it, 
so tar as flavor and quality either for eating 
or wine, is concerned, an inferior grape. The 
grapes reached us without a stem among 
them—much as if they had been a box of 
gooseberries. Our information is that it 
drops badly from the stem. We are aston¬ 
ished that this grape has such a reputation 
South when t here are so many better ones 
which will doubtless thrive as well there. 
We have no faith in it whatever for North¬ 
ern cultivation. Its quality is not good 
enough—not ns good as Concord in any re¬ 
spect—even if it would thrive as well. 
prices ruled low. Although this berry is 
not very popular in our market, the demand 
for it is largely on the increase, and I think 
will soon become a general favorite among 
the poorer classes, ns the demand for them 
this season was principally therefrom. 
Red raspberries were scarce, and when re¬ 
ceived in good order sold for remunerative 
prices. 
Blackberries were abundant the whole 
season, and considering the quantity thrown 
on our market, did well; but at the close of 
dicated by the even numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8, are 
the renewal canes designed for fruiting the 
next season. As the shoots push out from 
the upright canes, they are trained obliquely 
or horizontally on the wires, as their prox¬ 
imity to the wire makes it most convenient; 
and as they push out from buds extending 
from the bottom to the top of the cane, it. 
follows that the fruit will he generally dis¬ 
tributed over the whole trellis. Besides, 
each cane being trained in the same direc¬ 
tion, all will admit of a uniform treatment. 
humtrtr 
THE BERRY TRADE OF 1870. 
THE AMERICAN GRAPE VINE: 
Observations as to Its Treatment 
in American Vineyards. 
BY EDWIN M. UNDERHILL. 
[Concluded from page 268 last No.] 
Mr. Byington assumes that the function 
of growth should be allowed to recommence 
in the spring with the vino in nearly the 
same condition it was in at the close of the 
previous year, when the balance between 
root and vine had been fully established. 
As vines are ordinarily pruned, but few buds 
are left to receive the sup which flows from 
what is perhaps a large and vigorous root. 
When vegetation commences, nature com¬ 
prehends the fact of the disturbance of her 
economy, and she stimulates the green shoots 
into an inordinate growth that the balance 
may be as soon as possible restored. A too 
rapid growth is the cause of weakness in 
vegetable no less than in animal physiology. 
With a weakness in the shoots, there is ft 
corresponding lack of vital strength in the 
blossom, and lienee “ blasting” of the fruit 
in its inclpiency, or the “ sloughing” of the 
berries when it is farther advanced, is liable 
to occur. 
Assuming these facts, Mr. Byington 
makes a radical innovation upon all the 
previous practices of our vine dressers. His 
pruning, during the fall or winter, is but a 
partial performance, lie removes only a 
small portion of the wood, and that only 
because it enables him to proceed with the 
real work of pruning at a later day with 
greater ease. Hence, when spring comes, 
and its warmth quickens dormant vegeta¬ 
tion into life, the sap, elaborated by a large 
• root, is received by many and not by a few 
swelling buds. The shoots put forth with 
nothing to stimulate them to an undue rapid 
growth, and as nature has been allowed to 
proceed with her functions regularly, strong 
shoots of a moderate growth are found in 
place of weak shoots of a rank growth, 
which are likely to result from close prun¬ 
ing. Leaves unfold and little clusters 
of incipient grapes appear on the green 
wood. The size and general appearance of 
the vine enables the skilled vine-dresser to 
determine how much fruit it will successful¬ 
ly ripen; and, as with the amount of wood 
left, there is likely to be too much fruit, en¬ 
tire canes with the young shoots and leaves 
and undeveloped fruit are cut from the vine, 
until there is left on the wires the amount of 
wood which experience has shown to he 
suited to the strength of the root. Then 
the remaining canes are relieved, with the 
shears, of their superincumbent shoots, and 
afterwards the excess of fruit clusters is re¬ 
moved from the weaker shoots, which are 
allowed to bear. In this way the vine¬ 
dresser Is able to keep the amount, of fruit 
within the productive power of the vine, 
whereas, it the vines are pruned before veg¬ 
etation commences In the spring, and from 
any cause the fruiting shoots set hut a lim¬ 
ited crop, there is no means of increasing 
the product; and the tendency of the close 
pruning is to make the vine a “shy bearer.” 
The product of Mr. Byington’s vineyard, 
thus treated, hits been uniform, and each 
year has been enormous. I do not think 1 
am out of the way when 1 state that the 
average yield of his vines has been fully four 
tons to the acre; whereas, under the ordi¬ 
nary treatment of close planting, low train¬ 
ing and short pruning, the average produc¬ 
tion of most of our well-cultivated vine¬ 
yards has not equaled two tons. And 
another fact which leads me to believe in 
the correctness of his views as to the time 
for, and the method of pruning, is that his 
vines have been very generally exempt from 
disease and the tendency of the fruit to 
“ blast ” or “ slough.” 
In training his vines, Mr. Byington ar¬ 
ranges his canes, as far as may lie, in con¬ 
formity with the fan system, his aim being 
to have the load of fruit evenly distributed 
over the trellis. But this, as 1 have pre¬ 
viously stated, is attended with some diffi¬ 
culty, because of the want of a uniform di¬ 
rection given to each bearing cane, and 
hence the advisability of adapting the per¬ 
manent horizontal arm with upright canes, 
already referred to, and which is admirably 
adapted to a uniform treatment of the shoots 
and canes and to the successful application 
of Mr. Byington’s method of pruning. 
From the arms alternate upright shoots 
grow each year to form the eauc-s which are 
to hear the fruit the following season. The 
system can be easily comprehended by a 
reference to the accompanying illustration, 
which represents a vine denuded of its 
foliage and spread on a trellis twelve feet 
long and six feet high. 
The vino has been trained with the hori¬ 
zontal arms, a, a, secured to the lower wire. 
; From these the upright canes, numbered 
fc. from 1 to 8, have grown and been secured to 
v the three wires above. The canes indicated 
l by the. odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, are the bear- 
^ mg caues of the current season. Those in- 
Turs has been a peculiar one. Those 
from Virginia, as a general thing, have ar¬ 
rived in poor condition, and sold at low fig¬ 
ures. If 1 mistake not, only about four ship¬ 
ments from Norfolk, of large quantities, sold 
at remunerative figures; the larger portion 
An Englishman on Ami'i'icim Bluckbcrrien. 
\V r . Robinson, an English author of some 
repute, is in this country, and talks in tlie 
London Field of what he saw at the break¬ 
fast table of the New Yolk Hotel:—“One 
morning, just after my arrival, I sat opposite 
to a young gentleman who did abundant 
justice to the carte —that is to say, he con¬ 
sumed, without enumerating the more insig¬ 
nificant items, several dishes known to the 
Britisher as both substantial and good, (in¬ 
cluding a beef steak, which antiquated no¬ 
tions in the Old World might consider rath¬ 
er a heavy and satisfying thing in itself) and 
some not recognizable by the recently landed 
Briton. 1 am not sure whether it was the 
tenth or eleventh dish the waiter bore to¬ 
wards him that seemed to me to contain 
much-wrinkled prunes. Rather heavy and 
gluc-like to finish up with on sueli a hot 
morning, thought, I; but soon I saw with 
pleasure that they were black berries of Broh- 
diugnagian proportions—for such they would 
seem to one only acquainted with our poor 
little berries which bear that name. And 
never have 1 tasted a more desirable addi¬ 
tion to our fruits, or one in which the juices 
were better combined to refresh and satisfy, 
without in the least cloying the palate. Su¬ 
gar seems to be used with them ; to me they 
seem to be more agreeable without it, and 
lliey may be eat en in puris nalnralibus better 
than any small fruit I know of—being with¬ 
out, the acidity of the currant, the rough and 
thick skin of the gooseberry, the flatness and 
uncertainty of the raspberry, and superior to 
the gooseberry, except when in its best con¬ 
dition, while every particle can he agreeably 
consumed. The American cultivated black¬ 
berries are quite distinct specifically, from 
the poor nmwkish-flavored European black¬ 
berry.” 
And now as to the manner of pruning: 
After the leaves have fallen, cut oil’ a portion 
of the ripened wood growing from the canes 
1, 3, 5 and 7, al the points indicated by the 
small cross marks, which will leave several 
buds on each of the remaining parts. This will 
relieve the caues of their tangled wood and 
leave only tlie uprights secured to the wire, 
to he easily disengaged when the remainder 
of the pruning is to be done in summer. 
With the canes 1, 3, 5, and 7, and portions 
of the wood growing therefrom remaining 
on the wires, the proportions between root 
and vine which have been established during 
the season have not been seriously disturbed ; 
and with thu flowing of the sap the follow¬ 
ing spring the buds hurst and each shoot 
makes a normal, healthy growth. Tlio 
critical period, from the movement of the 
sap to tlie appearance of die fruit, clusters 
having passed, die canes 1, 3, 5 and 7 are 
cut olT near their liases, at the points indi¬ 
cated by the large cross marks, and one of 
the shoots on each spur is to he allowed to 
grow for a renewal cane, to hear the fruit 
the succeeding year. Then the shoots and 
fruit are thinned from the canes 2, 4, G and 
8, to prevent them overbearing, and thence¬ 
forward the vines proceed with their growth. 
At the close of the season the condition of 
the canes is reversed, those with even num¬ 
bers presenting the appearance of those with 
odd numbers on the illustration, and vice 
verm. 
It will lie observed that on No. 8, one of 
the renewal canes, laterals are represented 
us growing from most of the buds, and that 
the fruiting shoots on No. 7 have grown 
from such laterals, they having been cut 
hack at pruning. These variations from tlie 
appearance of the other caues, from 1 to G 
Inclusive are designed to illustrate the man¬ 
ner of growing the fruiting shoots from lat¬ 
erals, which, with some varieties, has pro¬ 
duced excellent results. The method of 
treatment, is simple. When the renewal 
cane No. 8 has gone above the upper wire, 
the top is pinched otf. This results in start¬ 
ing tlie laterals into growth, which, in the fall, 
ripen with the cane, as shown in No. 8. 
The laterals are pruned beyond the second 
hud, and in the summer the weakest shoot, 
grow iitg from the lateral should lie rubbed otf. 
In this method of training, the distance 
between the upright canes will be varied 
accordingly as the vine planted is of a lank 
or short growth. IT the former, they may 
require two leet. distunee, while with the 
Delaware a foot may he ample. 
From my experience and observation Urns 
far, 1 am confident that with the method of 
training I have here advocated, Mr. Bytng- 
ton’s system of pruning can lie more easily 
carried out. And if there he any who doubt 
that vines 1 Hus pruned will prosper, a pil¬ 
grimage to Naples Valley will satisfy the 
most incredulous. 
Brocton, N. Y., 1870. 
arbentr 
GARDEN NOTES 
The Cherry Tomato. 
Among the many ornamental varieties of 
the tomato, the “ Cherry ” is probably one 
of the veiy best. Tlie plants grow luxuriant¬ 
ly, nntl if provided with trellises, or neatly 
tied to stakes, they will reach five to eight 
feet in height, and when covered in autumn 
with bright yellow'fruit of the size shown in 
our illustration, they are an ornament 
worthy of a prominent place in every gar¬ 
den. This tomato is as readily grown from 
Beed ns the larger sorts, but it is not con¬ 
sidered of much value, except for ornamental 
purposes, although it might be used, when 
green, for pickles. 
Sowing Parsnip Seed in the Fnll. 
G. S. F. asks if it is any advantage to 
sow parsnip seed in the fall? We do not 
know that it Is any advantage, but should 
not hesitate to sow seed just before the 
ground freezes—though not early enough in 
the fall for it to sprout. If it is not sowed 
in the fall, as above, it should be put in tdo 
ground as soon as it can he got in, m the 
spring—tlie earlier the better. For the 
parsnip requires a long season and there 
should be no time wasted. 
Beettf Not Secdiusr. 
Robert save that he planted Mangel 
Wurzels last spring for seed, and they put 
out leaves, but no fruit stems, and he wants 
to know what is the matter. We certainly 
cannot tell, but suggest that in cutting on 
the tops in the fall, they were cut too close. 
It may be that the roots were injured during 
winter, and they were not sufficiently strong 
THE SCUPPERNONG GRAPE 
I see in the Rural New-Yorker an 
article “Among the Grapes,” by Frank 
A mon. Well, now, it, suits mo exactly 
with hut one exception, and that is, he 
, has not the deliewus, sparkling sweet and 
a juicy native grape here called the “ Scup- 
' penning.” I have eaten many grapes in 
the East., West, North and South, lml of 
all for mild, juicy sweetness give me the 
“ Sparkling Scuppernong." 
As a wine grape it must be and is exceed¬ 
ingly profitable, both on account of its be¬ 
ing a larje hearing grape, and such an unu¬ 
sually juicy, large berry when ripe. It is a 
greenish white grape; it lms its faults, one 
of which is small clusters, and ripens so 
few at a time, though this might be reme¬ 
died much by proper cultivation and prun¬ 
ing, both of which it does not get here in 
hardly an instance. 
People here think and act by grapes and 
all fruits about as they do by their small, 
poor, degenerate stock of all kinds, that is, 
let it all have its own way, grow itself, feed 
itself, prune itself, increase itself, (by in-and- 
in breeding of stock) live itself, and die the 
same if there is life enough in it to make a 
die of. 
I will pack a small box of “ Scupper¬ 
nongs ” and send you soon, so you may see 
and know for yourself of the merits or 
CHERRY TOMATO. 
There was another hindrance to getting 
high prices, and that was tlie general ripen¬ 
ing of the crop throughout the country at 
tlie same time, so that on the first of June 
we had berries from all sections where they 
are grown for the market; and yet hard 
fruit sold well, but the larger part being 
poor, made tlie sales average very low. 
The New Jersey crop was as large as 
usual, hut not so generally sent to this market 
as in former years. The Long Island, Staten 
Island and River crops were also good, and 
sold at fair prices. 
Black raspberries were vi ry plenty, and 
Trnininii Gvnpe Vines on Trees. 
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Ga¬ 
zette says il has been his practice for the 
last twenty-five years to let grape vines “ run 
just wlu re they like, and climb higher and 
more higher still, if they please; and 1 
always have an abundant yield of grapes, 
notwithstanding Dr. Warder’s opinion to 
the contrary. I must confess that 1 feel con¬ 
siderably elated when I contrast my vines 
with those on the vine-clad hills around 
Cincinnati. "Whilst on one of my vines 
there will lie thousands of bunches of grapes, 
without five minutes’ labor in a year, those 
little pipe-stem vines, tied to stakes, and re¬ 
quiring constant care, only produce a few 
bunches." 
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