AUG 13 
§40 
a 
and finally the sudden and heavy freeze upon 
the night of the 4th of October, have all more 
or less affected the result. 
We may now consider if there are not some 
avoidable causes under our coutrol. During 
such severe droughts it would be well to look 
over the vines and cut off some of the fruit; 
for I observed that the vines carrying the 
greatest amount of fruit were the ones most 
injured. The greatest call upon the energies 
of the plant is to mature the seeds. I ob¬ 
served, also, that the varieties having the 
smallest seeds were the least injured. Young 
vines whose roots were yet near the surface 
suffered more than older ones. These should 
be set deeper or mulched, and it would be 
well to mulch all, old and young, or keep the 
soil frequently stirred, loose and friable. Let 
us next glance at the comparative hardiness 
of the different classes and their several varie 
ties. Undoubtedly our Vitis cordifolia grapes 
are most hardy with their sub class Vifcis ri- 
paria. There is little to choose between our 
Vitis Labrusca and Vitis aestivalis classes. 
They seem to have suffered about alike. Vitis 
vinifera uudoubtedly suffered most: nearly all 
vines of this clrss growing out of doors wore 
killed, as were some of all of our native classes; 
but mostly they were killed only to the 
ground; they are sprouting again. I was sur¬ 
prised to see some vines of (.he Lady and Moore’s 
Early entirely killed, and all that survived 
are growing feebly; neither of them seems 
vigorous enough. Worden and Concord are 
doing better; though some of them were killed 
back to the ground. Allen and other hybrids 
with foreign sorts, are, many of them, kilted 
entirely. Salem suffered much. Massasoit 
seems to bead the list for hardiness; Aga¬ 
wam not far behind. Adirondac, Iona, 
and most vines coming from the Southern 
type of our Labrusca grapes have suffered 
severely. Hurabollt seems to lead our .Esti 
valis vines for hardiness, but I suspect it is a 
hybrid between Ripariaand Labrusca. 
Of my own seedlings, Centennial tood 
about like Worden and Concord. One I have 
named Laura, a delicious black grape and a 
hybrid of native origin, comes out as well as 
Clinton. Our grape growers must not be too 
much discouraged and dig up their vines, as 
some of them threaten; the vines will most of 
them recover. We may never again have 
such a drought, so early a Pall freeze, and such 
a snowless W inter coming together. It would 
be a wise plan, next Pull, to cut down to the 
ground all old vines tnakiug a feeble growth 
now, and let a few vigorous canes sprout from 
the roots. This will usu ally restore their lost 
vigor. 
Watertown, N. Y. 
Slrlnnintltwrfll. 
FORESTRY NO. 10. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
Conservation of Forests. 
Part I. 
Definition and Scope. An Illustration from 
Practice. Supplementary Planting. 
. To some readers the word “Conservation” 
in this connection may seem to be rather 
pedantic; but you rimy be assured it is not 
intended to be so used, and its introduction 
here is excusable. Indeed conservation and 
conservancy have been very generally applied 
in a rather technical sense, as having a fuller 
siguilloance than their sy uony m, pi eservation, 
which is more familiar to most of us. 
Conservation is the special care and protec¬ 
tion of particular objects. We speak of the 
conservation of fish, game, forests, etc., as 
fostering and preserving them from inter¬ 
ference or destruction by any injurious in¬ 
fluences and agencies. Thus the conservation 
of forests not only iinp : ies the preservation 
of the trees already occupying the land, but it 
also implies the maintaining of a full succes¬ 
sion of trees to All up the interspaces, and to 
be ready to grow up and fill the woodland as 
the larger and riper trees are removed. In 
many cases the practice of conservation will 
be pursued by the judicious forester, but in 
some plantations this will not be practicable, 
as generally in the lands occupied by conifer¬ 
ous trees, designed for the production of 
dimension timbers (the Hochwald of Ger¬ 
many), which so fully occupy the soil as to 
prevent the development of a new growth of 
seedlings; but, even here, a succession of the 
same species may be insured by the judicious 
selection and reservation of seed-trees at the 
time of felling. These must remain long 
enough to furnish at least one full crop, 
which may then be left to nature, or its 
germination may be aided by some treatment 
of the surface soil, consisting ofteu of scratch¬ 
ing with hoe and mattock among the rocks, 
stones, andstumps. Upon the mountain-sides, 
or on more level and arable lands, furrows 
niay be opened at the season of ripening to 
receive the falling seeds and afford them a 
nidus more favorable for germination. Some 
prefer to gather the seeds and strew them 
artificially along these furrows, into which, 
indeed, the unopened cones themselves, when 
abundant, are sometimes east, and the separa¬ 
tion of the seed is left to natural agencies. 
Generally, however, the land is left fallow 
after the felling of the crop until the natural 
herbage of heath ard brackens comes, and 
these furnish shade for the seedlings which 
are then planted. 
The adoption of either of these different 
plans will necessarily depend upon the sur¬ 
rounding conditions as well as the particular 
system of forestry that is to be pursued, 
whether for high timbers for coppice woods or 
for mixed forests of deciduous trees, but it is 
particularly applicable to the last-named sys¬ 
tem. 
Conservation of the woodland may and of¬ 
ten does require the aid of supplementary 
plantiug or sowing of seeds; aud it involves 
the necessity of an intelligent acquaintance 
with the various species of trees, and their 
several adaptations to the different soils, as¬ 
pect and elevation of the land. It will require 
Buch kuowledge also to direct the thinning out 
and selection of the trees so as to preserve 
those which are most valuable aud best 
adapted to the land as well as those which are 
inferior, and can therefore be spared, whether 
young or old. 
In the management of our own woodlands, 
most of which have been so terribly despoiled 
by bad treatment, worse than neglect, espe¬ 
cially where, as is so often the case, they have 
been ruthlessly culled of their finest trees, 
without regard to their age, and then heavily 
tramped aud depastured by cattle, that have 
browsed away all the hopeful undergrowth 
in the vain delusion of obtaining pasturage— 
here, surely, is a field that may well be culti¬ 
vated by the forester who will undertake tbeir 
conservation. This article is attempted for 
the benefit of such as may hold au unprofita¬ 
ble piece of woodland of this character, and 
the recommendations are drawn chiefly from 
just such lands which have been under conser¬ 
vation for a few years, in the hope of re¬ 
storing them to a more profitable condition. 
A brief outline of their status eight years 
ago, and of the subsequent treatment, will 
now be rendered with a true account of suc¬ 
cesses and fail ures. Imagine a sadly culled 
wood, bearing about 30 origiual trees to the 
acre, full aged, aud with dying tops—ash, 
elm, sugar, hickory, beech and other 
genera. Except a few old Pawpaw bushes, and 
a scattering blackberry, there was no under¬ 
growth, but a starved sod of Blue Grass 
sparsely covered the surface. 
The first work of conservation was a fence 
that should rigidly exclude all cattle and 
swine, aud the next consisted in plowing 
parallel furrows at an average distance of five 
feet, in which small pits were dug and little 
trees of various kinds planted and left to their 
fate. In the more open and sunny places were 
evergreens; elsewhere deciduous species ware 
planted. The exclusion of cattle was followed 
by a luxuriant growth of herbaceous vegeta 
tion, to such an extent that even the Blue 
Grass over-topped and smothered many of the 
smaller Norway Spruce and Scotch Pines, as 
well as some of the deciduous trees. The Red 
Cedars held their own, as did tlje more ad¬ 
vanced evergreens, of two feet and upwards. 
The White Birch seedlings failed almost en¬ 
tirely, but this may have been owing to 
change of latitude: however, the Tulip Tree 
was no more successful. 
Meanwhile the majority of the original 
forest trees have wonderfully improved iu 
appearance, though some that were past re 
covery have been removed. A dense growth 
of young trees of all the species common to 
the region, aud some that were self-s*'wn 
from the cultivated trees on the farm, have 
sprung up over the whole surface aud with a 
considerable degree of uniformity, stauding 
about 2,000 to the acre. These are as thrifty 
as could be desired, and have received little 
care beyond the removal of inferior species 
and the annual cutting, at mid Summer, of 
rampant blackberry bushes, grapevines aud 
coarse, herbaceous weeds. Here is natural re¬ 
production combined with artificial plant¬ 
ing, and often interfering with the latter so as 
to need removal of the spontaneous growth, 
which is chiefly effected with a sharp knife 
and bill-hook: of these the White Elm ami the 
Hackberrv are the most numerous. Some 
larches, that were the starvelings of a neigh¬ 
boring plantation, were planted in pits on a 
hill-side, but these have failed, a result which 
might have been anticipated. The natural 
mulching of leaves and decaying herbage has 
all been retained upon the surface, and its 
effect upon the soil is manifested by its loose, 
porous condition, which, iu a good degree, re¬ 
tains the moisture that is precipitated upon 
it; though we have as yet no gushing springs 
bursting out from the hill-sides, the trees are 
maintained in a healthy condition even 
d uring the severe droughts of last year. 
ittisccllftmoiig. 
ILLINOIS NOTES ON SMALL FRUITS 
There is no doubt that the Cuthbert is 
much superior to other red raspberries on my 
grounds. The Gregg in a great degree sur¬ 
passes other Black-caps iu size and productive¬ 
ness, while Taylor’s Prolific Blackberry is bo 
far in advance of Snyder that no one who 
sees it would think Suyder worth raising. It 
is just as hardy as auy blackberry, but after 
au extraordinary hard Winter we have no 
blackberries of any kind. 
We are still waiting for the advent of the 
“ best strawberry.” One of my neighbors 
says Windsor Chief and Downer’s Prolific are 
bis most profitable berries; but I notice he is 
planting largely of Chas. Downing and 
Miner’s Prolific. Another thinks the Wilson 
still the best, but Chas. Downing seems to be 
the favorito for light soils. 
For my p"rt I have found Crescent and 
Downing, mixed, the most profitable of the 12 
varieties I have in bearing. The Mount Ver¬ 
non is soft and has a bad habit of leaving the 
hull on the stem, but it is a strong grower and 
gives a good crop of very large, sweet ber¬ 
ries. Capt. Jack promises more than it can 
do and lies too close to the ground. The 
berry passes for Wilson to those who must 
have Wilson for canning. Bid well also lies 
too flat on the grouud, but perhaps It will 
stand up better when it covers the ground. 
Manchester is getting a good stand for another 
year. I made a mistake in planting Bidwell 
with it. It will run all over the Bidwell and 
smother it. I shall put Miner with it, as the 
berries look alike and both ripen nearly 
together. Cetewayo and Garden I have dis¬ 
carded. They are no better than Sharpleas, 
Monarch or Boy den. Glendale iB of poor 
quality, but is good enough to keep on account 
of its size and firmness. g. w. 
Rock Falls, Ill. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
Weedy, Spindle-shank Horses. 
The English seem to be getting rather tired 
of these and the races of a single mile to one and 
a -half, theonly ones they are fit for, and they 
often break down even at these, making a de¬ 
plorable waste of horse flesh. But the fault is 
that of the breeders, for they stimulate their 
colts from birth with the richest of food, and 
begin to put them through a severe course of 
training at IS to 20 months of age, so as to 
bring them on to the course at two years old. 
Powerful, enduring horses cannot be reared 
ofteu by this method—they must have more 
time to mature. No horse should go into 
training, except of a light kind, till three 
years old at least, and it would be still better 
to wait till he was four. The famous Eaglish 
Eclipse and King Hero ! were not brought 
out till five years old. The American breed¬ 
ers of trotters are occasionally pursuing the 
same course as the above English breeders of 
tborough-breds, with the same losses and un¬ 
happy results of greatly injuring the colts for 
life—spoiling them for hardy roadsters, which 
gentlemen often want aud would pay a high 
price for for private driving if they were 
sound, strong and enduring. “a.” 
--»•» • 
The Bolmar Plume, 
T. D. C. Gainesville, Texas, in the Rural 
of July 29, inquires as to the Bolmar, or Bol- 
mar's Washington Plum. It is an old and 
fine variety which came up in the garden of a 
Mr. Bolmar, a merchant in Chatham Street, 
New York City, about the year 1218, 
If T. D. C.’s tree was grafted or budded the 
sprouts or suckers will not produce Bolmar 
plums, but will be the same as the stock upon 
which it was grafted. Charles Downing, 
What says Stockman?— Does “Stockman’ 
suppose that, as a rule, sheep or other stock 
shown at the fat stock exhibitions in England 
or Chicago are thereafter used for breeding 
purposes i 
Champaign, Ill. G. E. Morrow. 
- 4 -*-*- 
CATALOGUES, &C. 
The Elements of Forestry, by Franklin 
B. Hough, Ph. D., Chief of the Forestry 
Division of the U. 8. Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, etc., published by Robert Clarke & Co., 
Ciuciuuati, Ohio. This work of 381 pages, duo¬ 
decimo, is designed to afford information con¬ 
cerning the planting and care of forest trees 
for ornament or profit as well as to give in¬ 
struction in the creation aud care of wood¬ 
lands, with the view of securing the greatest 
benefit for the longest time, and it is particu¬ 
larly adapted to the wants and conditions of 
this country. The book is handsomely bound 
in cloth, printed on tinted paper and liberally 
illu trated. The following headings of Chapi¬ 
ters will give au idea of the scope aud value 
of the work: Definitions; Of Soils and their 
preparation; Effects of Slopie and Aspect; Of 
Climate and Metereological Influences; Re¬ 
production from Seed; Of the various modes 
of Propagation of Forest Trees; Planting; Of 
the Structure and Functions of the various 
parts of Growing Trees; General views i:i re 
gard to Forestry; Acts of Congress relating 
to Timber-Rights; European Plans of Forest 
Management; Ornamental Planting; Hedges, 
Screens and Shelter Belts; Cutting and Sea¬ 
soning of Wood; Defects in Timber; Fuel; 
Charcoal; Wood-Gas Forest Fires; Protection 
from other Injuries than Fires; Insect Ravages 
in Woodlands; Processes for Increasing the 
Durability of Timber, or for Improving its 
Quality; Resinous and other Products of Con¬ 
ifers; Use of Wood in the Manufacture of 
Papier; Tanning Materials; Description of 
Particular Species; The Conifers; Tree-Plant¬ 
ing in Kansas and Nebraska. 
Wallace’s American Trotting Register 
Vol. IV.—This fine national work is embrac 
ed in about 500 large octavo pages, printed on 
fine paper and hound in cloth in uniform style 
with the preceding volumes. It contains 
about 6,500 pedigrees, and the most elaborate 
tables of performances that have ever been 
published. The matter has been compressed 
into as small a space as good taste will admit 
in order to bring the cost of the book within 
the reach of all. The price of this volume is 
five dollars and postage, 25 cents To be had 
at the office of Wallace’s Monthly, 212 Broad- 
way, New York. This work is now published 
under the supervision of the National Asso¬ 
ciation of Trotting Horse Breeders, and this is 
the first volume in which the standard of ad¬ 
mission, as adopted by that association, is in¬ 
troduced. The standard rests upon the blood 
of the actual performers, on both sides of the 
line of descent. There is also a non-standard 
department for the preservation of the breed¬ 
ing of valuable progenitors and others not 
technically standard. 
Memoranda of the Origin, Plan and Re¬ 
sults of the Field and other Experiments 
conducted on the farm and in the laboratory 
of 8ir John Bennet Lawes, Bart., LL.D., 
F. R. S., at Rothamsted, Herts., England. 
Also, a statement of the present and previous 
cropping, etc., of the arable laud not under 
experiment. 
A Treatise on the Amount and Composi¬ 
tion of the Rain and Drainage Waters col¬ 
lected at Rothamsted,by J. B. Lawes, L.L D. 
F.R. 8., F.C.S.; J. H. Gilbert. Ph. D., F.R.s/, 
F.C.8., and R. Warrington, F.C.S. Part III.' 
London: William Clowes & Sons, Stamford 
Street and Charing Cross. 
G. H. & J. H, Hale, South Glastonbury, 
Ct. Price-list of Pot-grown and Layer straw¬ 
berry plants for the present season. Full 
lists, instructions and colored plate of the 
Manchester Strawberry—portrait of the Sou- 
hegan Raspberry, etc. Free. 
Catalogue of Norman French Horses. 
E. Dillon & Co., Bloomington, McLean Co. 
Ill. A beautifully illustrated and instructive 
catalogue of 75 pages. Sent free to all ap¬ 
plicants. 
General Herd Book of the Island of 
Guernsey. Part I. Thos. Manger Bichard 
publisher, Bordage Street, Guernsey. 
Peter Henderson’s Price-List of Pot- 
grown Strawberry plants and grape-vines. 
Nos. 35 and 37 Cortlandt street, N. Y. 
Catalogue of Coe College, Cedar Rapids 
Iowa, for 1881-2. 
-- — 
Dr. Caldwell writes in the N. Y. Tribune 
on the topic “ Manure or Tillage—Which ?” 
We cut the following out of the article:_ 
“The important part that tillage may be 
made to take in the production of a crop has 
been strikingly shown by the results of the 
Lois Weedon system of husbandry, whereby 
large yields of grain were produced without 
the use of any manure in a field of several 
acres with the wheat drilled in rows a foot 
apart, and with every alternate space of three 
feet left vacant, and entirely given up to most 
thorough til age each year in preparation for 
its three rows of wheat in the next year; and 
the wide spaces between the three rows of 
wheat in the other set of alternate strips per¬ 
mitted hand tillage of the soil there, also, 
throughout the season. Though each acre was 
really only half occupied by wheat, and even 
at that in rows a foot apart, the total yield 
per acre was fully up to the standard of a 
good yield under ordinary treatment with 
manure and much less tillage; aud this good 
yield held its own to the end, the last crop 
of twelve successive years being one of the 
best. There may have been something excep¬ 
tional in the capabilities of the Lois Weedon 
soil, or the tillage may have been more 
thorough than in other cases where attempts 
have been made to follow the same method 
