1858 .- 
THE CULTIF A TOR 
223 
(Dpjeralwttg of ^g. jliftmou It. J5. patent 
The Mustang Grape. 
Mr. J. Eliot of Corsicana, Navarro county, Texas, 
says: “The Mustang is- probably the most prolific 
grape in the world. I have seen enough on a single 
vine to load a wagon. The branches from a single root 
sometimes spread over twenty yards in every direction, 
and are filled with large bunches of this dark red grape, 
which is about the size of the common cherry. Its ex¬ 
pressed juice is of a deep red color. I have no doubt 
that it would improve under cultivation, and become 
an extraordinary wine-producing grape. It remains 
on the vine about six weeks after maturing, and thus 
ample time is allowed for gathering. It ripens in Au¬ 
gust. It grows wild here, and is much relished. 
Wine Culture in tlie West. 
Professor G. C. Swallow, State Geologist of Missouri, 
says :: “ The extensive cultivation of the grape is a 
matter of the first importance to the country ; and 
there seems to be no doubt that it can be demonstrated 
to the satisfaction of all intelligent vine-dressers, that 
there are at least 20,000,000 acres of land in Missouri, 
Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, on which the vine 
will succeed as well as in France and Germany.” 
Mammoth Pears. 
Mr. Geo. W. Walling of Portland, Multnomah Co., 
Oregon Territory, on the 10th of November, 1857, for¬ 
warded to this office a remarkable pear, which, how¬ 
ever, was delayed in its transit, for two or three months, 
in California, and was consequently in a state of decay 
when received. Its larger circumference was twenty- 
one inches; zone, eighteen inches; weight, four pounds. 
Eleven pears from the same tree weighed 34 pounds, 
averaging 3 1-llth pounds each. Mr. Walling states, 
as to the origin of this tree, that “ the scion was taken 
from what was supposed to be a tree of the Pound, or 
English Bell variety, and grafted on a thorn bush in¬ 
digenous to the country, commonly called White-thorn, 
or rather into two thorn trees bowed together, both of 
which were active in producing the pears. The graft 
upon which the largest pear grew was of two years 
growth. The soil is made ground, and borders on the 
Williamette river, and may be denominated bottom 
land. I kept a half-barrel tub filled with water, im¬ 
mediately under the grafts, which start about four feet 
from the ground. The soil may be described as rich, 
deep and moist.” 
Exchange of Tree Seeds. 
The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. Vat- 
temare of Paris: “ I send you a case containing, 
among other things, a series of specimens, (451 in num¬ 
ber,) of seeds, &c., namely, seventy-five varieties of 
trees, shrubs, &c., growing in the provinces of Algiers, 
and collected at my request this year, by order of His 
Excellency Marshal Vaillant, Minister of War, for 
the express purpose of being presented to the Patent 
Office ; and a collection of three hundred and eighty- 
six specimens of the best and newest species of trees, 
shrubs, plants, flowers, &c., of every latitude, cultivat¬ 
ed at the Botanical garden here, and prepared by the 
Professors and Curators of the Museum of Natural 
History, to be presented to your establishment. Al¬ 
though these are given without condition, yet I know 
that both the Minister of War and the Professors would 
receive with great gratification, returns of a similar 
nature, particularly those mentioned in another por¬ 
tion of this letter. 
“ Would it not be possible for you to form in the 
Patent Office, a kind of depot of all the most impor¬ 
tant seeds of North America for international exchan¬ 
ges? Were this to be done, you could procure thus a 
great number of seeds, grains, cuttings, &c., not to be 
obtained otherwise except by exchange in return. 
These relations once established, would always continue, 
giving thus to the Patent Office an annual opportunity 
of displaying before the old world the specimens of the 
wonderful resources of your glorious country—sowing 
thus with the seeds, the influence which these would 
secure wherever they would be seen and cultivated. 
Think about this proposal—it is, I think, worth your 
attention. 
“ Meanwhile, should you want cuttings from the nur¬ 
sery of the Garden of the Luxemburg, vines, &c., 
from my knowledge of the favorable disposition of the 
government towards our system of exchange, I think 
I can assure you that anything of this kind you may 
ask will be cheerfully granted. 
“I will not close this letter without expressing to 
you the great gratification felt here by all the agricul¬ 
tural societies and farmers for your excellent and most 
important Agricultural Reports. They are indeed ren¬ 
dering immense service to the ggronomic world.” 
-- 
Recipes for Spruce Beer. 
Eds. Co. Gent. —A subscriber asks in no. 15, for a 
recipe for spruce beer. I enclose two for the benefit of 
inquirers. 
Put into a large kettle ten gallons of water, quarter 
of a pound of hops, and a teacupful of ginger. Boil 
them until the hops sink to the bottom. Then dip out 
a bucketful of the liquor, and stir into six quarts of 
molasses, and three ounces and a half of essence of 
spruce. When all is dissolved, mix it with the liquor 
in the kettle, strain it through a hair sieve into a cask, 
and stir well into it half a pint of good strong yeast. 
Let it ferment a day or two, then bung up the cask, 
and the beer may be bottled the next day. It will be 
fit for use in a week. 
For essence of spruce, two pounds of the outer green 
sprigs of spruce fir, (or hemlock) boiled ten minutes in 
the liquor, may be substituted. 
Another. —Boil a handful of hops (rather indefinite) 
in two and a half gallons of water, and when it is 
luke-warm, stir into it a tablespoonful of ground white 
ginger, a pint of molasses, a tablespoonful of essence 
of spruce, and half a pint of yeast. Mix all well to¬ 
gether in a stone jug, and let it ferment for a day and 
a half, or two days. Then put it into bottles, with 
three or four raisins in the bottom of each, to prevent 
any further fermentation. It will be fit for immediate 
use. 
Ginger Beer. 
The following is a very delicate, refreshing summer 
drink, much preferred by many to spruce beer, and 
more easily made: 
Break a pound and a half of best loaf-sugar, and 
mix with it three ounces of best white Jamaica gin¬ 
ger, broken as fine as possible, and the grated peel of 
two lemons. Put these ingredients into a large stone 
jar, and pour over them two gallons of boiling water. 
When it becomes milk-warm, strain it and add the 
juice of the lemons, and two large tablespoonfuls of 
yeast. Make this beer in the evening, and let it stand 
all night. Next morning bottle it in strong glass or 
stone bottles, tying down the corks with twine. It is 
better after standing a few days. J. I. C. West 
Philadelphia. 
