THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Sonppernong;—the Winter or Frost Grape is 
V. cordifoliathe Northern Fox Grape is Y. 
Labrusca, the parent of the Concord, Catawaba, 
etc. ;—the Summer Grape is V. aestivalis. The 
thousands of varieties of Grapes cultivated in 
Europe are thought to have originated from 
Vitis vinifera. 
Grape Selection.— The editor of the Ger¬ 
mantown Telegraph recommends, 1. Tele¬ 
graph; 2. Concord; 8- Hartford; 4. Clinton; 
5. Salem ; 6. Groveling. He says : " Salem has 
proved with us to be excellent—we think it the 
best out-door Grape, it having but little pulp ; 
Rogers’ 21 also bears abundantly, and will be¬ 
come popular. No. 32 iB a beautiful pink Grape, 
almost transparent, an abundant bearer and 
very good in quality. There are new varieties 
“ in the market,” but we advise our friends to 
keep them at a distance for the present. Clin¬ 
ton. in the foregoing list, is only for wine, and 
is probably the very best for that purpose in 
this section.” 
“Star" Grapes.— In the transactions of the 
Am. Pom. Soc’y there are few varieties of GrapeB 
that receive double stars. Agawam (Rogers’ No. 
15) is double starred by Maine, Wis., W. Va. and 
Ky. Catawba by Ohio, Tenn. Concord by N. 
H., Mass., Conn., N. Y., Mich., Wis., Oregon, 
Penn.. N. J., Md., 0., W. Ya., Ky., Tenn., Ills., 
Iowa, Mo., Neb., Has., 8. C. t Ala., Fla. leve¬ 
ling by Oregon and Florida. Delaware by Me., 
N. H., Mass., Conn., N. Y., Mich., WiB., Md,, 
Va., O., W. Va., Ky., Tenn., Ills.. Iowa, Mo., 
Neb., Kas., S. C., Ala., Fla. Hartford Prolific 
by N. H., Vt., R. I-, Conn., N- Y., Mich, Wis., 
Md., Ya., O., W. Ya., Tenn., Iowa, Neb., Ga. 
and Fla. Ives by Ky., Tenn., Ills., Iowa, S. 0., 
Ga. and Ala. Massasoit (Rogers’ No. 3) by Pa. 
Martha by Fla. Maxatawuey by Tenn., S. O., 
Ga. Norton's Virginia by Ya., 0., W- Va., Ky., 
Mo. Salem by Maine and W. Ya. Bouppernong 
by S. C., Ga., Ala., Fla. Wilder (Rogers’ No. 4) 
by Me., N. Y., Wis., W. Ya. 
Horticultural, 
A VERMONT ‘‘FRUIT JUBILEE.” 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Last week, in acceptance of an invitation 
from the Secretary of our Board of Agriculture, 
I attended the fruit fair iu Grand Isle. Per¬ 
haps many of the readers of the Rural do not 
know where “Grand Isle” is, or which Grand 
Isle is meant, since there are several of them. 
It is Dot the Grand Isle of Niagara River, into 
which Major Noah proposed to gather the Jews 
so long ago, but the Grand Isle of Lake Cham¬ 
plain, an island some ten miles long and four 
wide, divided into two towns, South Hero aud 
Grand Isle, and constituting with neighboring 
smaller islands, the fruit garden of Vermont, 
where, in 45° north latitude, the Pear and the 
Grape, and all the tender Apples thrive as well 
as about New York, while on the same line east 
or west of the lake, after leaving the immediate 
shore, only the hardiest Apples can be grown, 
aud even the hardiest Pears are counted an im¬ 
possibility. 
The people of Grand Isle are well-to-do, slow 
and easy, extremely hospitable, generally well 
educated and fond of reading, but, like most 
people whose lines have .fallen In pleasant 
places, they have not had the reputation of be¬ 
ing very progressive. Only recently have they 
thought of exhibiting tueir products, as the 
farmers of the mainland are wont to do, in fairs 
or expositions. But the idea being once started, 
three or four years since, such sneoess has at¬ 
tended the project as to fairly surprise those 
who took part regarding the magnitude of their 
resources. 1 feel sure that besides the im¬ 
mediate pleasure of such gatherings, the inform¬ 
ation gaiued and the neighborly feeliug fostered, 
that a direct profit will be realized by the dittu- 
sion given to the knowledge of the great quan¬ 
tities of fruit now grown, and the vastly greater 
quantities that might be grown upon this and 
the neighboring islands, aud that we shall not 
long hear of the bushels of luscious pears and 
glorious apples rotting down for lack of buyers, 
while half the people of Vermont do not see a 
pen - from one year'B end to another’s, aud many 
are deprived of a sufficiency of apples for home 
consumption. 
Lake Champlain lies in the low valley that is 
practically an extension of that of the lower 
Hudson, northward to Montreal. The surface 
of the lake is less thau 100 feet above the sea. It 
is frozen but few months in winter, even the 
coldest. Last winter it was not passable by 
teams at all. The effect of this lowness of level 
and openness to the south wmdd, together with 
the protection afforded by the waters of the 
lake, gives to Grand Isle its exceptional climate, 
aud, with its rich limestone soil, insures its su¬ 
periority as a fruit-growing region over all the 
territory surrounding it. 
The meeting referred to was held in the neigh¬ 
boring churches of the Methodists and Congre- 
gationalists; the former being occupied, both 
below aud above, with pomological aud floral ex¬ 
hibits, while the latter was used for the meetings 
held under the auspices of the State Board of 
Agriculture. Three days were thus spent in prac¬ 
tical addresses and discussions, as well as in the 
inspection of fruits, the comparison of varieties 
and the rectification of names. The attendance 
was largo, being gathered not only from the 
islands, bnt from the mainland ; though the 
Dumber of visitors from the latter was greatly 
lessened by the high winds that prevailed, ar¬ 
resting travel by water, and preventing the ex¬ 
pected visit of Mr. P. Barry, of Rochester, 
whose presence and address were warmly looked 
for. In a previous year, friend John J. Thomas 
received a hearty welcome at one of these meet¬ 
ings, and all the leading pomologists and florists 
are so well-known there, and so highly respected, 
that their visits will always be an ovation. 
As the varieties of fruit grown upon Grand 
Isle are substantially tbe same as those of cen¬ 
tral New York and the Hudson Valley, I can 
offer you nothing of uovelty iu describing them. 
But for size, perfection and beauty of color, the 
fruits of Grand Isle seem to fully equal the 
fruit of the Centennial or of the shows of the 
American Pomological Society. I advise all in¬ 
terested in fruit-growing, and those who seek 
recreation during the summer and fall months, 
that Lake Champlain and its island afford them 
a field well worthy of exploration and study. 
—-- -- 
NOTES PROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
EXPERIMENTS FROM WHICH NOTHING CAN BE LEARNT. 
NO. I. 
Upon a little hilly part of these grounds, 
which has not, that we can learn, been cultivated 
iu fifty years, we dug six holeB one foot square, 
pulverizing the earth and leveling the surface as 
if it were a flower-pot. On the 18th April we 
planted three kernels of ooru, top-dressing each 
square with different fertilizers as will be seen in 
tbe following table which also shows the weight 
of the corn and of the laavoR and stalks pro¬ 
duced : 
Plot I. Nitrate of soda. „ Com.... 2 oz, 
Stalks and leaves 2 
•• n. Dissolved Boue-black, Corn,... 3 * 
8talks and leaves 5 
“III. Muriate of Potash Corn... lft.2 
Stalks and leaves l 12 
“ Ilia. Sulphate of Potash None 
“ 1Y. Nitrate of Soda 1 Corn 3 “ 
Dis. Bone-black j „ , , „ 
Stalks and leaves 2 
“ V. Dis. Bone-black 7 Corn .. 12 " 
Muriate of Potash? „ 
Stalks and leaves 1 lb. 0 
“ VI. Nitrate Of Soda J 
Dis. Bone-black r flora - • • • 12 >f 
Muriate ol Potash) Fodder. llb.O 
'• VII. No manure. _ „ Corn.... 2 
Stalks and leaves 4 
We are not aware that anything can be learnt 
from the above or Bimilar experiments conducted 
in so small a way. 
NO. II. 
On June 2. we washed ten flower pots (four- 
inch) thoroughly and filled them with clean 
coarse Band. In these (half an inch deep) were 
planted Radish seeds. Each pot was manured 
differently and the sand kept constantly wet. 
All of them were well drained. 
Pot. 1. Nitrate Soda; would not germinate. 
Three seeds were tried. 
2. Nitrate of Potash. Boots, tops and 
radish weighed when taken out of 
the sautl...'<>?• 8". 
" 3. Dis, Bone-black, weight. 1 12 
“ 4. Bone (flour) .....1 8 
“ 6. ,Sulphate ol POtWb. Dul not ger¬ 
minate. Three seeds howu. „ 
“ 6. Nitrate of Soda. Lit*. Bone-black. ...2 4 
“ 7. Dis, Bone-black. M innate of Potash. 1 6 
" 8. Dis, Bone-black. Mm lute, of Potash. 
Nitrate of 8oda.......-. •••••••«v 4 
" 9. Bone (flour). Huh Potash. Nitrate 
of Soda. Dis Boue-black. Muriate of f< u 
Potash....0 7 „ 
“ 0. Water only. 0 12 
The following is the composition of the ash of 
the cultivated Radish: 
Boot. 
.21.98 
Leaves. 
6.05 
.3.76 
15.60 
.8.75 
27 09 
Magnesia.. 
..3,68 
.1.16 
7.08 
8.73 
PhoBpboric acid.... 
Hulpuurio acid. 
13.08 
9.64 
8.22 
Chlorine. 
. 4.09 
6.16 
It will be seen that the proportion of phos- 
phorio acid is very large, as compared with 
other roots. 
From the composition of the ash we should 
have looked for the largest plants and roots in 
No. 8 or 9, rather than in No. 6, 8 or 4. 
If from this experiment we learn anything, it 
is that the Radish will do well enough in any 
soil provided it be light aud kept well watered. 
-- 
GOOSEBERRIES IN CALIFORNIA. 
The Gooseberry, although a favorite fruit with 
Californians, is cultivated less and less exten¬ 
sively every season, ou account of its falling a 
prey to its deadly enemy—mildew. The plants 
require a peculiar soil, climate and cultivation 
to grow successfully and free from this peat. 
When well cared for, however, or when planted 
iu a locality where they grow well, there is no 
more profitable or certain crop. Tbe Downing 
and Houghton Seedling are the only varieties 
worthy of culture, being profitable, a sure crop, 
and in every way superior. Several English va¬ 
rieties have been tried here, but have given very 
little or no satisfaction. W. O. L. Drew. 
El Dorado Co., Cal. 
-- 
THE WILD-GOOSE PLUM. 
Several years ago an article appeared in the 
Rural, describing in favorable terms the Wild- 
Goose Plum. I invested in that kind of plum 
tree to the extent of $90, and looking for fruit 
on it has been a wild-gooBe chase ever since; 
aud now I am convinced that it has no connec¬ 
tion with the goose that laid the golden eggs. 
Last year, I got from it ten plums and, although 
they were nice, nine dollars apiece was rather a 
steep price to pay for them. E - B - 
M lddletown, N. Y. 
ILrbori cultural. 
TREE PLANTING. 
“All the world aud his wife” should plant 
vines, shrubs, ornamental, shade, and fruit- 
bearing trees, for oomfort, for profit, for health, 
and in the interest of good morals. Every one 
loves fruit, yet how comparatively few grow it. 
As the season for planting is upon us, aud that 
very many be encouraged to set out trees, &c. I 
propose briefly to describe the best method of 
tree-planting, so that all may live and thrive. 
After staking off the ground, dig the holes at 
least 30 inches square, and 20 inches in depth, 
throwing the top soil in a pile, scattering the 
sub-soil, and making the bottom mellow with 
the pick. Fill to the depth of 12 inches with 
inverted 6ods, well rotted manure (old), or 
weeds, and tread them down well. Next, of the 
top-soil make a mound whose top shall be an 
inch below the surface and six inches at the 
sides. On the center of this hillock place the 
tree, the roots of which should radiate in an 
easy and natural manner down the sides of the 
moiiud. Hold t he tree in its place, working well 
round the roots the earth which an assistant is 
shaking from bis spade. After the hole is filled, 
press the earth round tbe tree with the feet, 
and finish by throwing over the spot some loose 
soil. It is well, too, to mulch young trees; 
which can be done with almost anything. If you 
have plenty of stoneB, pile them round the trees. 
They will keep the stems erect, and the ground 
moist and soft. 
Set peach trees that are one year old; trim 
them up to a “ bare pole," and cut them back to 
two feet from the ground, so that the trees may 
branch low. Set other trees when two years old, 
trimmiug off tho branches. It is desirable to 
have the trees straight in the rows. This car» 
be effected, very nicely, by using the old-fash¬ 
ioned “tree planter,” which any person can 
make as follows: take a board, Bay five feet 
long and six inchos wide; saw a notch on one 
side, midway between the two ends, and near 
each end bore a hole with an auger. Now, be¬ 
fore you remove the stake where the tree is to 
stand, preparatory to digging the hole, bring 
this notch to it, at the same time thrusting 
down two stakes, one at eaoh end; remove 
the planter, letting these end stakes remain. 
When ready to set the tree, replace the plauter 
in the same position as at first; place the tree 
in the notch, and proceed. 
In closing, I may remark that the four rea¬ 
sons I have mentioned above for tree-planting 
must commend themselves to every reader. 
Good fruit commends itself. Eat freely of it, 
you will be healthy and can “ throw physic to 
the dogs.” RaiBe it and it will pay you from 100 
to 500 per cent profit. Grow it that your chil¬ 
dren may have their fill, and not be tempted to 
steal from the neighbors. The poet saith, “ A 
thing of beauty is a joy forever.” And cer¬ 
tainly vigorous and fruitful trees are a joy and 
a benefaction! G. F. Needham. 
District of Columbia. 
-»- 
Large Leaf of Tulip Tree.— Mr. E. V. Teas, 
of Dnnreitb, Ind., knowing that the Rural is an 
admirer of the handsomest of lawn trees, the 
Liriodendron tuhpifera, sends us the measure¬ 
ment of a leaf he lately plucked from a fine speci¬ 
men. The dimensions were: width, 16)^ inches ; 
length, 11% inches, including 3% inches of stem. 
Jloruulttttal. 
BULBS AND PLANTING THEM. 
TO. FALCONER. 
I can give no new information on this Bubjeot. 
This is planting time, however, and the sooner 
the bulbs are put in the ground the bettor for 
therasBlves. We had a glorious and varied dis¬ 
play last spring, and are planting many more 
genera, species and varieties this fall. As differ¬ 
ent diseases require different cures, so different 
oircumstances require different praotiee; there¬ 
fore, I will relate last spring's lessonB, and leave 
the rest to yourselves. 
Crocuses bloomed early and copiously when 
planted at tho base of tbe south-front walls, and 
most charmingly when studded all over sunny 
banks, on grass lawns, and under trees. As 
borders to bods, too, we used them, planting 
them deeply, so that we might plant a row of 
summer-flowering plants over them without 
hurting them. Some that wore iu the way, we 
lifted, transplanted for the summer months in 
an outrof-tho-way place, and now we replant 
them (fine bulbs, too,) in their former place. 
Some tufts of CrocuseB were grown in the rock¬ 
eries and, in common with other inmates, had a 
winter mulching. They oame up weaker and 
less satisfactory than those that wore not 
mulched at all, and where the leaves got a little 
bleached by the mulching, they were visibly in¬ 
jured. Crocuses planted among bushes, in 
shady places where the frost waB firm till the 
end of March, did not begin to blossom till those 
on sunny banks bad about finished. When 
grass-mowing begins, no respect is paid to cro¬ 
cus leaves, but the roots don’t seem to take it 
badly, but come up next year as bright as ever. 
Plant Crocuses two inches deep, is often advised ; 
I say four to six inches. In shallow planting, 
frost throws them out of the ground, Biimmer 
sun parches them, and fall rainB prematurely 
start them, and thns lay them liable to injury 
from keen frosts. 
Snowdrops behaved, in every particular, as 
Crocuses did. But instead of planting them so 
scatteringly as Crocuses, I would advise to plant 
them in little clamps, and keep them more about 
the borders, rockeries, shrubberies, or half-wild 
places. There is a pretty double-flowering kind, 
also the Crimean Snowdrop, which is larger than 
the common one. 
Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalia), a little 
yellow flower of the crowfoot family, loves a 
nook about the front of a shrubbery, where it 
will remain undisturbed year after year. 
ERYTHHONIUM8, too, both American aud Eu¬ 
ropean kinds, delight in a similar place, and 
good soil, with lots of leaf mold in it. 
The European Dog-tooth Violet’B roots, im¬ 
ported like other bulbs in a dry state, Mr. Wool- 
son, of Passaic, N. J., told me did not bloom 
with him; now, our experience is quite the con¬ 
trary. We imported some roots from Holland 
last fall; they were done up in paper bags like 
Crocuses, Hyacinths, or DaffodilH, and they 
bloomed out splendidly the succeeding spring 
Jonquils, Daffodils, and most kinds of Nar- 
oissus we find quite hardy and satisfactory, pro¬ 
viding we can stay them from growing prema¬ 
turely in the fall; bat, in fact, the commoner 
kinds will take care of themselves. Plant six to 
eight inches deep, sevoral in a clump, in places 
where they are not likely to be disturbed ; and, 
as the dumps get crowded in after years, lift, 
make three or four clumps out of one, aud re¬ 
plant. 
Fritillarlas there are many kinds of, not¬ 
ably different varieties of Crown Imperial and 
Guinea-hen Flowers, which may bo planted, two 
or three roots together, in the borders. And 
there are some recently introduced beauties of 
the same genus, as F. pudica from Utah. It is 
a tiny fellow, with nodding golden blossoms; 
hardy as a Croous, multiplien freely from bulb- 
lets and seeds, and blooms contemporaneously 
with Snowdrops. 
Squills there are various kinds of, par¬ 
ticularly Scilla Sibii’ica, aouena, aud bicolor, 
whose blue flowers are very pretty. They bloom 
a few weeks later than Snowdrops, and require 
the same treatment. 
Irises, Persian, Spanish, and other bulbous 
sorts, should now be planted. Put a piece of 
board or mulching over them, but take care in 
Bpring, as their leaves show up early and may bo 
damaged by bleaching. 
Hyacinths bloom in April and May, and are 
better suited for annual than permanent plant¬ 
ing. They and Tulips, which bloom a little 
later, should occupy the conspicuous flower 
beds. About the middle of May, when they are 
done blooming, they may be lifted to make room 
for summer stuff, and planted in some out-of- 
the-way place till next fall. Grape Hyaci.'tliB 
(Muscari) are lovely things, with small heads of 
blue flowers. They should be planted like 
Snowdrops. 
In the case of permanently planted bulbs, 
shallow planting I have found to be a great 
error. I know an instance in Massachusetts 
where, in ’76-’77 Crocuses wore planted two 
inches deep, as per directions, and, iu the spring, 
the bulbs might be raked off tho ground like 
horse-chestnuts or beech nuts in fail. And where 
Crocuses. SnowdropB, aud Daffodils are natural¬ 
ized about pleasure grouuds, aH is the oaHe in 
many old European gardens, I have dug them 
four to twelve inches deep. Bulbs so very uear 
the surface pf tho ground, cannot make fine 
bulbs for next year’s use, neither will they mul¬ 
tiply so fast; on the contrary, they degenerate. 
Botanic Gardens Cambridge, Mass. 
---- 
HARDY BULBS. 
Snowdrop is the first of hardy bulbs to blos¬ 
som in the spring. The double ones are much 
the best. They should be set in clumps of a 
dozen or so, an inch apart and two inches deep. 
They are perfectly hardy, take up bat little room 
and bloom before tho snow is gone. 
The Crocus is not far behind the Snowdrop in 
blossoming. I have had both iu blossom with a 
large snow drift not two feet from them. The 
Croous is more showy, however ; the flowers 
are larger and are of different colors white, 
blue, striped and yellow. 
The Hyacinth comes next. We can hardly 
do without a few of them, for fragrance. The 
baibs aie larger and need setting at least four 
