in its prominent buds and elegantly □- 
leaves, of a most promising hybrid. The 
wood, the form of the buds and foliage, very 
strongly resemble the foreign varieties. The 
application of my test, however, indicated 
that the fruit would be of the character of 
our wild forest grapes. I need hardly say 
waited its bearing with some anxiety—for 
every appearance of the vine was adverse to 
my prediction. But, as in every other case, 
the correctness of my discovery was tri¬ 
ll mplmntly established. It bore a very small, 
black grape, nearly all skins and seeds, and 
of a sour and acrid character, wholly' un¬ 
eatable. 
Repeated and unvarying tests of a similar 
character have so far convinced me of its 
entire, correctness, I do not hesitate to an¬ 
nounce that, in the. taste or flavor of the 
green tendrils of the vim may be found a 
true index of the character of its fruit. 
Although this is something that cannot be 
I exactly defined, or accurately described, it 
may be acquired by any one with a nice, 
I discriminating taste. Go into a green house 
S where foreign grapes are growing, and taste 
nf the Muscat flavored varieties, 
to the same thing; for instance, there, is a 
large preponderance of Bartletts, and when 
the crop is ripe for market there is such a 
glut that prices go down to a low figure. 
And the Bartlett comes at a time when 
there is plenty of other fruit that must be 
worked off immediately. Better lengthen 
the pear season by the cultivation of moi e 
of the Buerre d’Anjou, Duchesse, Flemish 
Beautv. &e.. so as not to have all your eggs 
disease. That complete success in mis tmca¬ 
tion will be ultimately reached, if indeed it 
has not already been attained, I have no 
reasonable doubt. And an experience of 
near tweuty years, in experimenting upon 
the capabilities and possibilities of improve¬ 
ment of the American grape, by hybridizing, 
forms the ground of this confidence. 
The one point which 1 consider as import¬ 
ant above all others, in this pursuit, is the 
fact, which I reganl as fully established, 
that a hybrid or cross between a hardy na¬ 
tive and a tender exotic grape may have 
the hardiness of constitution and vigorous, 
healthv foliage of the native, while the fruit 
may possess the delicacy and excellence of 
tb° foreign parent. I have seen grapes ol 
this character, both from Mr. Ricketts of 
Newburgh, and Mr. Underhill of Croton 
Point ; and I have myself grown hybridized 
seedlings from Concord, and other hardy 
native grapes, which retain all the vigor of 
growth, and very nearly the hardiness and 
health of foliage of the Concord, and pro 
GNAWED APPLE TREES 
1 would like to know what to do with 
apple trees from which the rabbit* have 
gnawed the bark off one side. Can any 
thing be done to save the trees ? We have a 
great many trees damaged by rabbit*. 
S W. A. M. 
One way to remedy such a state ol tilings 
is to take fresh cow manure and cover the 
wounded part thickly and completely with 
it, and wrap around it a thick canvas to 
keep the manure in.plaee. If the wound is 
made close to the base of the tree, pile earth 
up about the tree so as to cover the wound. 
Adam Detshkr, Tuckerton, Pa., sent us last 
year his plan, which 
we republish for 
our readers’ benefit. SSjjSH 
He says “ When 
a tree is entirely 
girdled, 1 cut out on jK? 
either side of the mi In* Ml 
stock fixed upon a M / t$g 
space large enough / Ml 
to admit in a limb |f / Hi 
from half an inch to H _ 
two inches in diam- H | | jjifl 
eter, according t o » f ' , l t2a 
the size of the tree, ^ , RS 
fitting in the parts H || B 
of the tree to meet H U 9$ 
the bark both above M h t | J j IM 
and b e low the vA at' l j Im 
wound ; t hen with WjV V H 
nails suitieiently yv 
large 1 nail the limb 
into the tree stock, 
fastening it secure- BgPrwiww 
ly, U B i U g t w o or 
more nails, placing 
three or four of these limb-jointers upon 
each otlipr, according to its size. When this 
is done, T bank up with soil sufficient to 
cover the connection*, which will be all suf¬ 
ficient. In ease the wounds should be too 
high for banking, a mixture of clay and cow 
dung can be used, being held in place by a 
canvas covering securely'nailed to the tree. 
This syst em can be used up to the middle of 
July.” The accompanying illustration bet¬ 
ter shows hoW lie does the work. 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES 
and very delicate manipulation are neces¬ 
sary. The bud must be opened prematurely 
and all the anthers removed from the grape- 
blossoms before the pollen-cells have buret. 
The incipient cluster, thus prepared, should 
be enveloped in an oil-silk covering to pie 
vent the embryo grape from being impieg- 
nated either by the agency of insects, or by 
pollen floating in the air. Pollen, from what¬ 
ever variety it is desired to impregnate the 
parent grape, should then be carefully ap¬ 
plied to t he prepared bunch, and the silken 
envelope retained until the growing berries 
indicate that the process is complete. Seeds 
saved from these grapes will produce plants, 
some of which will resemble the foreign, and 
some the native parent. Those only, whose 
habit of growth and foliage resemble the 
native parent, should be saved-as my expe¬ 
rience has Shown that the more nearly these 
seedling's follow the foreign kinds in foliage, 
the more they are subject to mildew ami ">( 
and are consequently of little value for gen¬ 
eral use. Many of the hybrid seedlings will 
be found with thick, strong foliage, m text¬ 
ure and character like our natives, mid it is 
among these we must look for grapes of the 
greatest value, hardy, healthy and bearing 
fruit of improved quality. 
TO DISCOVER THE QUALITY Of SEEDLINGS. 
In this connection, 1 wish to make public a 
discovery, which 1 believe to be entirely new, 
and which \ think will be of great value to 
all experimenters in growing hybrid and 
seedling grapes. It is a method by which 
the future character of the fruit of a grape- 
oeediitig can be determined in the first year 
of its growth—years before it can be brought 
into bearing. To illustrate this-.-I had 
tlmee vines selected from a lot of seedlings 
grown from Delaware, crossed with Grizzly 
Frontisn&c. Three years before they came 
The limits of this paper will not permit me 
to enlarge upon the subject.of vine-culture. 
1 will, however, venture to express my dis¬ 
approval of cramped space and close pruning 
of the vine, especially during its summer 
growth The American vine and the Amer¬ 
ican people are not, unlike in this respect. 
They require room to spread themselves, 
and do not thrive under restraint. Give the 
vine plenty of ground-room that its roots 
may have ample space in which to obtain 
the sustenance requisite to the production 
and maturity of its burden of fruit, and it 
will require a corresponding space above 
ground upon stakes or trellis for the accom¬ 
modation of its luxurious growth and abund¬ 
ant fruit and foliage. A certain natural 
equilibrium exists between the roots and 
upper growth of the vine, which cannot be 
disturbed to any considerable extent, espe¬ 
cially during the growing season, without 
serious iniury. To illustrate this:-! have 
planted a voung and healthy vine, with 
smooth and perfect roots, in early spring. 
When it had made a growth of two or three 
feet I have cut it back to a single bud and 
leaf’at its base. After this, the plant remains 
apparently dormant for ten days or longer, 
when the bud slowly swells and breaks ; and 
if it is a hardy and vigorous variety, is soon 
making a new growth, hut with less than its 
former strength. When it lias again attained 
a similar growth, I have again shortened it 
to one bud and leaf above the former cut, A 
longer period of rest now ensues, followed 
usually by a weak and spindling growth of a 
few inches, with scarce vigor to ripen a bud 
or two at its base before the autumn frosts 
have destroyed its foliage. Now, if we take 
n n this vine, we shall find that all the new 
GRAPES -VARIETIES, CULTURE, ETC 
LETTERS FROM TOWARDS SUNSET 
It is doubtless idle to expect that any one 
variety of remarkable excllence will ever be 
found, which will be suited to all localities 
in OUT widespread and varied country. Per 
haps the nearest approach t o tins, yet dis¬ 
covered, exists in that hardy child of Massa¬ 
chusetts, tlie. Concord. From her descend¬ 
ants, produced by a judicious crossing with 
the finer foreign varieties, we may confidently 
expect the most valuable and important 
results. Next, although inferior in quality 
may be named t he scarcely less rugged Hart¬ 
ford Prolific, from Connecticut. In the same 
<dass may be found the Ives, from Ohio ; 
Martha and Telegraph, from Pennsylvania; 
the Belvidere, from Illinois. In the way of 
improvement in this class of hardy natii cs, I 
will mention a new variety, from Zanesville, 
named Lady, specimens of which are, for 
the first time, ou the tables of the Society. 
It is a pure Concord seedling ; and in habit 
shrubs shows a lively tint, a* i lie sun wakens 
the juices into active life. We had no 
peaches last year, and the trees are well 
rested. Every little sprig is alive with 
fruit buds and promises to do its level best 
to make up for lost time. In consequence of 
the death of my predecessor at the Ever¬ 
greens early last spring, nothing was done 
last season in the wav of pruning, and you 
had better believe I have had a job on my 
hands ! My arms ache every night us I 
come in with saw and pruning-shears from 
my day’s work in the orchard and at the 
overgrown Osage hedges. 
Speaking of killing an Osage hedge, your 
correspondent R, R. Macomber, in Rural 
of Feb. 21, says “ Turn a furrow away 
from the hedge,” &c. I would like to see 
the team that would turn a furrow away 
from my hedge, that is 20 feet high and the 
trees 4 to 8 inches in diameter. It would 
take a team to work a cable ou a capstan to 
haul a coulter through the roots ! 
The young canes of raspberries and black¬ 
berries are alive to the tips, and since we- 
have weathered the winter, the only “dead, 
point of danger” now before us, in the way 
of a full crop of fruit, is what may come at. 
the time of blossoming, when we sometimes 
get a cold and wet north-easter, which de¬ 
stroys the pollen on the cherry, or a dry, 
nipping frost, which kills the peach and 
pear. 
Last fall some of my orchard trees were 
infested with colonies of red-headed worms, 
something like the tent caterpihar, only 
they did not dwell in tents (I presume Mr. 
Fuller knows them just ns well as he knows 
liis children !), which, if not. molested, would 
eat trees are; but 1 did not give them a 
chance to provide for a posterity, as 1 made 
clean work with every mother's son and 
daughter ot them, and now I find but few 
cocoons or insects’ eggs of any kind upon 
my f mit trees. 
Pear growing is becoming quite a Bensation 
in this region, but too many cultivators run 
Wine from the Elvira Grape has been 
tested by Mr. Samuel Miller, Bhilfton, 
Mo., who presumes “ that it will be equa . i 
not superior, to the Taylor, its parent, which 
is saying a good deal in its favor. 
