THE CULTIVATOR. 
Inquiries and Answers. 
Colored Prints of Fruits. —Where can I get 
twenty or thirty colored plates of leading varieties of 
the apple and pear? u. m. [Procure “The Fruits of 
America, by C. M. Hovey, containing colored plates of 
the choicest varieties cultivated in the United States.” 
Two vols. of this work, have been completed, contain¬ 
ing 48 plates each, delineating 96 varieties of fruits— 
price, extra binding, $30. If you do not wish the full 
work, you can probably get a portion of it in numbers 
—four plates to a number, at $1 each. Address Hovey 
& Co., Merchant’s Row, Boston. 
Grapes from Seed—Childs’ Superb Grape.— 
Will you inform me through the columns of the Coun¬ 
try Gentleman, the mode of propagating grapes from 
seed, and also of the merits of “ Childs’ Superb Grape?” 
R. V. B. Buffalo. [Wash the pulp and plant the seeds 
the same as apple seeds, in a good rich mould. We 
have never had an opportunity of examining Childs’ 
Superb grape but once; it is a very large, fine, and 
light colored variety, raised at Utica, doubtless from 
seeds of some exotic variety, as it possesses the foreign 
characteristics. We are informed that it has been 
grown without glass, but we should think its foreign 
peculiarities would require glass for its permanent suc¬ 
cess.] — 
Yellow Locust. —I have just sown a piece of land 
with Yellow Locust. I planted the seeds in rows, cov¬ 
ering them but very lightly; the seeds were planted 
Oct. 24, and were not scalded. I could not find any 
one who knew what time of year they should be sown, 
and having a few acres more which I wish to put to 
the same use, if you will tell me token to sow the seeds, 
as well as give me any other advice, you will oblige 
S. L. S. Guilford Center , Vt. [The seeds already 
planted will not probably grow. They must not only 
be scalded, but swollen. In pouring hot water on a 
quart of the seeds, and allowing those to cool and stand 
several hours, only a part will swell—these must be 
picked out and planted an inch deep—deeper in light soil, 
shallower in heavy soil. The rest are successively sub¬ 
jected to the same process, till all are swollen. They 
must be prepared and planted in spring, and would 
probably decay if done in autumn. Those not swollen 
remain in the soil without change for many years ] 
Inquiry. —A friend having a valuable mare, which, 
from some cause, is entirely useless, wishes to know 
what ails her, and how to remedy the ailment. She 
has lost the proper use of her hind legs. The difficul¬ 
ty seems to be principally situated about the loins. 
Will you or some of your correspondents answer this ? 
J. E. W. New Ross , Ind ., Nov. 14, 1857. 
Sugar from Chinese Sugar Cane. —I planted about 
fifteen rods of ground with Chinese sugar cane, about 
the middle of May. It has proved better than I an¬ 
ticipated. I have made almost a barrel of most ex¬ 
cellent syrup. Will you, or some one, inform me how 
it can be made into sugar? A. Raymond. Conn. 
[Sugar, it is said, has been made from it, but we have 
seen no reliable directions for accomplishing the object. 
It was stated last spring, by an Illinois correspondent 
of this paper, that Mr. Wm. H. Belcher, the principal 
of a large sugar-refining establishment at St. Louis, 
was making preparations to test the question as to 
whether marketable sugar could be made from the 
Chinese sugar cane ; and it would appear from a letter 
from Mr. Belcher, recently published in the western pa¬ 
pers,that he “ has not succeeded in granulating it,” and 
“ very much fears that it will prove a failure so far as 
sugar making is concerned.” Mr Belcher adds—“ A 
Louisiana sugar planter made this season, some seven¬ 
ty-five barrels of the Chinese cane syrup. I have seen 
his report; he could not granulate; and some barrels 
of this syrup from Louisiana came to the market. The 
color was good, but the taste slightly acid—not so 
sweet as the syrup or molasses of the sugar cane—and 
I am under the impression that it would ferment rapid¬ 
ly in warm weather.” 
Easter Beurre and Clairgeau Pears. —Is the 
Easter Beurre pear worth cultivating to any extent 
on the pear stock ? Is Beurre Clairgeau hardy and 
productive on the pear root? Wm. McKinley. [The 
Easter Beurre is best on quince stock—we would not 
recommend it grown on the pear. We think experi¬ 
ence is not yet sufficient to determine the value of the 
Clairgeau on pear, but would like the experience of 
our correspondents ] - 
Leather Chips as a Manure—Peabody’s Straw¬ 
berry, &c.—Will you please inform me through the 
columns of the Country Gentleman, whether clippings 
of leather, the refuse of shoemakers’ and harness ma¬ 
ker’s shops, are of any valuers a manure, and if so, 
how they should be used ? Also where plants of Pea¬ 
body’s new strawberry may be had, and whether Brir.k- 
le’s Orange Raspberry will stand the winter in New- 
Jersey without protection? A. R. Red Bank, New- 
Jersey. [We know of no experiment that has been 
made with the clippings of leather as a manure. 
Skins, before tanning, would form one of the most pow¬ 
erful fertilizers, but their change from an easily decay¬ 
ing and soluble animal substance to an insoluble com¬ 
pound with tannic acid, giving them their value by 
rendering them impermeable to water, must necessari¬ 
ly greatly reduce their value as a manure. Still, if 
plowed into the soil, the slow decomposition of the 
clippings may be of some value to growing plants dur¬ 
ing a term of years. 
Peabody’s Strawberry is offered for sale by J. M. 
Thorburn & Co., of New-York. Brinckle’s Orange 
Raspberry will prove perfectly hardy in Eew-Jersey.] 
Transplanting Tulip Trees. —Can I safely trans¬ 
plant, with a ball of frozen earth, a tulip tree, 20 feet 
high and 6 inches in diameter ? and how large must the 
ball of earth be ? T. M. N. Spuyten Buyvil, N. Y. 
[The tulip tree has long roots, with few fibres, and 
is therefore unusually difficult to transplant. If the 
above is a tree from the woods, the removal would 
probably result in failure—at best it would check the 
growth much for several years. If a cultivated tree, 
the risk would be less—but in either case, it would be 
better in every respect to take younger trees.] 
Mowing Machines —I would like to be informed 
through the columns of the Co. GeDt., or otherwise, 
whose mowing machines, at the trial at Syracuse, drew 
the several prizes. Also, how or where I may get in¬ 
formation of all the particulars of all the different ma¬ 
chines, as to draft, side-draft, difference of construc- 
I tion, prices, &c. I had supposed that perhaps the 
I judges or others might publish, or cause to be publish- 
