some last year were four inches in diameter, 
sowed at ‘the rate of forty pounds to the 
acre at least, my laud is so rich.—O nion's. 
To raise ouion sets successfully you must 
have poor land and then sow the seeds very 
thickly. Sow in spring as soon as the 
ground is in a suitable condition to work 
easily, and pull the sets when they ripen off 
iu July or August. If your laud is too rich, 
secure a. piece of some neighbor, for there is 
doubtless poor laud to be found not far dis¬ 
tant. You certainly could not have sown 
the seed very thick if the onions reached 
the size of four inches in diameter. Ripe, 
small bulbs will keep as well as those of 
large size, only place them in a dry, cool 
place. Try again, and keep at it until you 
strike just the right spot, and then stick t<> it. 
It unquestionably occupies the same position 
among grapes that the Wilson does among 
strawberries. As Solon Robinson truly says, 
“Any one who has a few feet of earth, and 
sky over his head, can raise grapes if ho will 
plant ithe Concord.” The Delaware is un¬ 
doubtedly the best and most profitable fine- 
flavored variety. The Hartford is the best 
early grape. The Isabella, Catawba and 
Diana, for beeping, cannot tin my opinion) be 
excelled. When l And any better kinds ti>an 
the above, (all things considered,) 1 -hall cor 
taiuly cultivate them. 
Have had a very little experience with the 
Salem, and am so far pleased with it. It is a 
vigorous grower, and its slight foxy flavor 
Rpem« to me no particular objection for our 
market. 
I would not discourage any person from 
testing any of the new varieties, as they have 
opportunity. While it is to be expected the 
most of them will prove wort hless, or possess 
no sufficient advantage over the older kinds 
as to be substituted for them, yet if we by 
this means occasionally find areally valuable 
grape, it will richly repay us for all the time 
and money spent, provided, always, that we 
have not invested too heavily in these exper¬ 
iments. 1 see no other way to improve upon 
the really valuable varieties we now possess, 
except by this course. Were t to plant 1,000 
vines, they should be divided about as fol¬ 
lows ; 500 Concords; 100 each of t he Hart- 
fords, Delawares, and Isabellas ; 50 each of 
the Diana and Catawba ; about six of the 
Clinton, and the balance should be composed 
of the many new-fashioned kinds with high- 
sounding names. Should not entirely leave 
out that miserable excuse for a grape—the 
“Tallman.” 
THE CORELESS APPLE 
GRAPE CULTURE IN ONONDAGA CO., N. Y 
Onondaga Co., N. Y., Fruit Growers’ Ass’n 
how he grows grapes with success and the 
results of his experience, which we find 
reported in the Syracuse Standard. We 
extract as follows -. 
I should choose a dry, and rather poor soil 
for a vineyard ; with an incline sufficient to 
carry off heavy rains immediately. Level 
land will do, if dry, and not too rich. Grav¬ 
elly or stony land is doubtless best. In buy¬ 
ing plants, this fact should b© distinctly 
borne in mind That the best are none too 
good, and are in the end the cheapest. While 
it is true of all fruits, that none but the best 
plants should be set, il is particularly so with 
grapes. A weak plant Is a long time coming 
into bearing, and is very deal* 03 a gift. 
Better set one good, strong vine than a dozen 
I should always give layers 
old the preference. But good strong 
Lion, and will advertise liberally through the 
Columns of the Rural. Please send us a 
copy if you publish an article on the apple, 
and we will send you the price of the paper. 
—Yours, Merrill <fc Bun. 
Wk had begun to hope that this old, seed¬ 
less, coreless, blossomless,and withal, worth¬ 
less apple, had gone out of sight and mind. 
But it seems to have more, lives than a cat, 
and turns up from unexpected quarters pe¬ 
riodically, and after a brief celebrity fades 
out of sight. In 18(19 a Mr. Barrett of West 
Virginia, sent a half bushel of this same 
apple to the Farmers’ Club of this city, and 
one may find a report of the discussion 
which followed in the Rural New-Yorker, 
Nov. 27, page 761, of that year. Mr. Gree¬ 
ley, who being present on the occasion, was 
quite taken with this olaimed-to-be blossom¬ 
less apple ; for he said that apples failed at 
Chappaqna on account of the prevalence of 
cold north winds in spring, blighting our 
apples, and could w© secure varieties which 
produced fruit without blossoms, all this 
would be avoided and Westchester County 
become once more famous forits fine apples ! 
Mr. Fuller of the Rural New-Yorker 
showed Mr. Greeley and other members of 
the Club that the statement made in regard 
to these apples being produced without flow¬ 
ers was false ; for the samples shown, like 
the one Merrill Bros, have sent us, has 
upon it the shriveled calyx which is the base 
and outside envelope of the apple blossom. 
The tree bearing this fruit may not show any 
bright petalslike other varieties, these organs 
being partially or wholly abortive ; but the 
petals of a flower are no more essential to 
the production of fruit than a man’s wig is 
to the development of his brains. They ure 
ornamental and sometimes useful as envel¬ 
opes for protecting the organs within, but sel¬ 
dom positively essential ; for (here are hun¬ 
dreds of plants which produce fruit but have 
no petals. 
The second point to ba considered is the 
seedless character of this variety. The oruro 
of non-product ion of seed is doubtless owing 
to abortive or deformed pistils, just ae it is 
in seedless grapes and many of our highly 
improved sorts of apples ; for it hi not an 
uncommon thing to find pears or apples with 
false or no seeds at all. That the central 
organs or pistils in the Rose family ( Rostacm) 
of plant s are not necessary to the production 
of the fleshy envelope surrounding the seeds 
is wdU known, although positively indispen¬ 
sable to the production of perfect seed. 
Whether the deformed blossoms of the apple 
tree iu question possessed any perfect or 
imperfect stamens, would make no difference 
in the results, as their only office is to supply 
pollen for fertilizing the pistils ; and as these 
are doubtless deformed or entirely wanting, 
the former would be of no use. even if pres¬ 
ent and perfect. 
Having, we think, shown that neither petals 
tals, pistils or stamens are actually necessary 
to the production of a deformed apple like 
the one under consideration, we may go a 
step further and say that an apple is really 
born and well started in lift before one of 
these organs make its appeai*ance, even in 
the perfect blooming sorts. We generally look 
for perfect flowers upon trees producing per¬ 
fect fruit, and all departures therefrom are 
of court© deformities, adding nothing to their 
merits but usually detracting therefrom, as 
in this instance. 
The variety under consideration has a core, 
although called “ coreless hut it is not an 
open, hollow cavity, as in varieties bearing 
seeds. Neither is this sort a rarity of its 
kind, for similar varieties have been known 
for cent u ries, but non* 1 of them perhaps more 
worthless than this one from West Virginia. 
We hope our readers will extend to in 
CUCUMBER, DUKE OF EDINBURGH 
Tins is a now English cucumber which is 
very highly praised by those who have grown 
it. It is a fine pearl white spine. Color of 
fruit a beautiful rich green, which it retains 
to the last, and being a remarkably shy 
seeder, is consequently of a quality for table 
«J&-r2r 
inferior ones, 
one year 
vines can be grown in several different ways, i 
What is wanted is young plants with plenty j 
of small, fibrous roots. 
Clean cultivation is essential to success. 
No crop needs it more. It is Impossible to 
raise good grapes with grass and weeds 
covering the ground. I prefer to trim my 
vines soon after the fall of the leaf. This 
can be done, however, later, even in winter. 
When vines are frozen t hey arc liable to be 
broken, especially in laying down. The very 
best time lo bend a grape vine is when it is 
wet. 1 trim very close; two or three buds is 
enough t o leave each shoot. When trimmed, 
lay down and barely cover with earth, which 
is the best material for the purpose. Vines 
left up may do well, but to make all sure it 
is always advisable to cover. 
Soon as t he fruit sets in the spring, trim 
out all superfluous shoots, such as barren 
ones, where two or more shoots start from 
one hild ; leave only the strongest; break off 
all that spring up from the ground or start 
from old wood, and it is even advisable to 
sometimes thin out the fruit, but not gener¬ 
ally. 
I am not an advocate of summer pruning 
to any great extent. Would only head off 
the most vigorous shoots, just to keep them 
somewhere within bounds. 
Grapes ripen best near the ground, and T 
keep down as low as possible, without having 
them in danger of being spattered with dirt 
by the heavy rains. Five feet trellis is ldgh 
enough for most varieties. 1 think that the 
Catawba needs plenty of room to do well 
while tile Delaware does best when kept in a 
perpendicular position and not allowed lo 
grow over four feet high, (of course I mean 
keep the fruit down to that distance, the 
vines may grow as high as they will.) 
I am confident that applying manure to 
grapes is a very great mistake, as it has a 
tendency to make too much growth of soft, 
unripe wood, making the fruit later in ripen¬ 
ing, consequently moreliubleto be overtaken 
by frost. Manure- also renders the vine more 
liable to disease, and also greatly injures the 
flavor of the fruit. 
Perhaps it would be too much to say that 
no first quality of grapes were ever raised 
where manure had been freely used, but as 
for myself, I will say that 1 have never yet 
seen any line-flavored grape where sueh a 
course had been pursued. 
I have often been surprised at the slight 
demand for grapes in our city, and conse¬ 
quently low prices. But after looking over 
the markets and seeing what miserable, green 
trash was sold for grapes, the wonder ceases 
to be that they are bought so sparingly, but 
that they are bought at all. I will vein ure 
the assertion that a great majority of the 
grapes sold in our streets and groceries, are 
totally unfit to eat. I have attended fruit 
festivals held by several of our city churches, 
where all other kinds of fruits were really 
ripe and fine, but the grapes wei*e sour enough 
to set the “ children's teeth on edge” for four 
generations to come. 
As long as the marketing of unripe fruit is 
persisted in, just so long will there be a slight 
demand and correspondingly low prices. We 
are all too anxious to get into market first. 
It would be much better for all concerned if 
we would wait until we had something worth 
selling. 
I hardly dare say much as regards the best 
varieties to raise, well knowing that here we 
stand “on holy ground,” and that most grape 
growers are very ticklish on this subject. 
When taking into the account its hardiness, 
productiveness, and general adaptability to 
all soils, I unhesitatingly place the Concord 
at the head of the list as a market variety. 
JAPAN PEA AS A TABLE VEGETABLE 
In regard to the Japan pea as a table 
vegetable, opinions differ widely, one pro¬ 
nouncing it the best of all the pea or bean 
tribe, while another assures us that it is “ lit 
only for mules and swine.” Wo have grown 
it fur seven or eight years as a garden crop, 
and esteem it. one of the best vegetables we 
have. To our taste, no other pea or bean 
even approaches it in richness and delicacy 
of flavor and we believe It is as wholesome 
and nutritious as it is palatable. Tastes 
differ, however, and all do not like it. We 
have not tried it to any extent, as food for 
stock, but know that nudes and horses are 
very fond of the plant in its green state. 
The main difficulty with it, as an article of 
human diet, seems to be that it is hard to 
cook, and. when not properly cooked, doubt¬ 
less hard to cat. We use them both in the 
green and dry state. As green peas, they 
should be treated like Lima or Sieva beaus, 
except that they requirelonger boiling. When 
dry, they should be soaked over night, or at 
least twelve hours before commencing to 
cook them ; then boil in soft water till well 
done, or better ; after partially boiling, put 
them in a suitable deep pan, with u piece of 
meat, and hake iu a hot oven, after the 
manner of Yankee “ pork and beans.”— Ru¬ 
ral Carolinian. 
A PERPETUAL HOT BED 
ATNiederplanitz, near Zwiekan, in Saxony, 
a vast bed of coal has been burning for over 
three hundred years. The ground above 
tiiis subterranean bed of lire has become 
thoroughly warmed by this time, and an 
ingenious gardner has utilized it by planting 
that cannot be surpassed. Its average lengt h 
is BO to 56 inches, but it has been grown dur¬ 
ing the past season to the extraordinary 
lentil of 40 inches, being at the same time of 
the most beautiful proportions and quality. 
Mr. Abbott, the eminent English cucumber 
grower, writing of this says, “its robust 
habit and constitution surpasses all I have 
ever seen. It is also one of the most prolific 
sorts possible to grow, and cannot be exceed¬ 
ed by any sort out. Its size is most enor¬ 
mous, the longest fruit I grew was 3 feet 4 
inches in length. The calculated length of 
107 fruit grown by me was 284 feet (an aver¬ 
age of about 32 inches each). It is a splendid 
pearl white spine, color best green, which it 
retains to the last. It has been the wonder 
and admiration of all the gardeners who 
have seen it. + * * * I give this after 
twenty-one years’ successful cucumber grow¬ 
ing.” It is proper to say in this connection, 
that the RURAL New-Yorker does not know 
that seed can be obtained in this country. It 
is a new thing in England, and we give the 
accompanying illustration and the above 
description as a matter of horticultural news. 
upon it a large nursery garden. Here he 
raises tropical plants of all kinds, with exotic 
fruits, which flourish with a vigor and luxu- 
rience iu the open air that the best forcing 
houses could not insure. His specialty is 
pineapples, of which lie has n great variety. 
There arc subterranean fires in other parts 
of the world which have been utilized m a 
similar way. Would it not pay, in certain 
cases, to take a hint from these accidental 
examples of under ground heating, and warm 
large plots of soil by means of steam pipes, 
running under the surface t—Rural Caro¬ 
linian. 
We have a friend who long ago proposed 
to do the very thing suggested by our con¬ 
temporary in the last sentence. He has 
talked to us by the hour about it, but we 
have no knowledge that lu? has yet tried the 
experiment. Some one will yet do it when 
steam has become more generally a farm 
agent. 
ONION SETS, 
If I sow onion seed for sets, and pull them 
when they arc the proper size, and before 
they are ripe, will they keep as good until 
next spring, or will they keep at allf l have 
tried raising sets several times, but they 
always grow too large before they are ripe— 
Arlington Tomato.— An Ohioan who grew 
tlm tomato last year, says “ Il grows to a 
good size, very prolific, perfectly solid and 
delicious flavor. It excels in these partieu- 
ars any variety I have raised.” 
