1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
353 
polycephalum , or “ life-everlasting ” a common weed 
in pastures. Ac., in some places, but not a very perni¬ 
cious one that we are aware of.] 
Hay-Caps. —In answer to your inquiry as to a com¬ 
position for hay-caps, I consider from an experience of 
five years, any thing of the kind entirely useless. Wet 
the best muslin, Amoskeag or Lawrence Mill A, and a 
week’s rain will not go through it. Thin muslin will 
not do, and it must be yard-wide, as less than two 
yards square is too small. Do not buy cheap or small 
hay-caps. W. H. Denning. 
White Rye “Will some of your readers, who may 
have White Rye, clean and pure, drop me a line stating 
price per bushel 1 John A Robinson. Belcher, N. Y 
Potatoes fob Hogs. —Please inform me whether 
Irish potatoes are good to fatten hogs, and how they 
are best fed. Subscriber. • Turnwald, Ga. [Raw 
potatoes are only a moderately good feed for hogs— 
raw apples are somewhat better—but steamed pota¬ 
toes, mixed with corn meal, make a good food for fat¬ 
tening. The steaming will, however, only pay when 
done on a pretty large scale and with the best facili¬ 
ties] 
Concord Grape. —Will some of the growers of the 
Concord grape, having roots to sell by the hundred , at 
something less than multicaulis prices, inform the read¬ 
ers of the Co. Gent. ? This variety has now been cul¬ 
tivated long enough to be sold at a reasonable rate. 
W. Adrian, Mich. [The answer to this should come 
in the shape of an advertisement.] 
Indian Rice. —Professor Kennedy says that this 
article is purchased of the Indians clear, for one dol¬ 
lar a bushel. I should like to get some. I had a 
small quantity some years since, but learning that the 
Indians gathered it in their canoes, I suppose I sowed 
mine too far in the water of a small lake bordering my 
farm. I should probably know better if I had a sec¬ 
ond opportunity of trying it. w. t. l. 
- —— — m-m - m - — 
Chautauque County Fair. 
Fredonia, Sept. 27, 1858. 
Eds. Co. Gent. —Our County Fair came off Sept. 21st, 
221 and 23d, in our village. It has been a triumph, 
outstripping any former exhibition of the kind in our 
county. 
The weather was favorable, and our beautiful show 
grounds of about 18 acres, were literally alive on 
Wednesday and Thursday. The sobriety, good order, 
and good feeling, were subjects of remark by guests 
from abroad. Over 15,000 persons were on the grounds 
the last day. The entries were over 1,400. In 
horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, the dairy, 
floral hall, domestic manufactures, and vegetables, 
we were unsurpassed by any former exhibition. 
Mechanical and farm implements, together with fruits, 
(of which there is but little in our county this year,) 
there was not a usual display. 
The annual address was delivered by the Hon. A. 
B. Dickinson, and was listened to with deep interest 
by the vast multitude. It will afford subject for 
thought to the practical farmer, and serve to direct 
the inquiring mind into the path of knowledge. 
Our receipts were over $1800, and we shall pay over 
$1,000 in premiums. We are out of debt, and have 
funds on hand. Our next Fair is to be at Jamestown. 
A. F. Allen, Prest ; Sydney Jones, Sec., and Rich’d 
Baker, Treas., for 1859. A. S. Moss. 
Sterile Grapevine. 
Messrs. Editors —A few years ago I set out a 
grapevine. I have taken great pains with said vine 
from that time till the present, pruned it every fall, 
manured with old bones,, wash from the house, Ac., 
yet it has not born© a grape. It blows full, and then 
comes the blasting, and they are all gone. Now, 
Messrs. Editors, can you or any of your subscribers 
give me any information what to do ? Cut down, or 
try another year? Some say there is a male and fe¬ 
male root—one was destroyed in transplanting— there¬ 
fore the vine is worthless ; others that the vine would 
bear if a bud was inserted in the main vine, &e. Please 
give your opinion. H C. Burlington, Vt. 
The American grapes are often dioecious, or with 
staminate and pistillate flowers on distinct plants, but 
this remark does not apply to the cultivated sorts, 
which are chosen because they bear. A sterile vine 
cannot be propagated from a fertile one, by layer or 
cutting, but only by seed. If, therefore, our corres¬ 
pondent had mentioned the kind or variety of his vine, 
we might have been able to say whether the sterility 
was accidental or incurable. The dioecious character 
may be certainly determined by examining the flowers, 
but that will require another season. It is not proba¬ 
ble that the vine alluded to is of any value ; and we 
would therefore recommend replacing it with some 
early sort which will ripen well in Vermont, the Dela¬ 
ware for example ; or else graft it with some desirable 
grape. 
- m m • - 
Mulching. 
We observe on looking over the published proceed¬ 
ings of the American Pomological Society, that several 
members expressed their disappointment with the prac¬ 
tice of mulching. We are not at all surprised at this, 
but only that some bad not found it out sooner—as the 
operation is generally performed. We have seen many 
trees mulched, and nearly all with only a small cir¬ 
cle around the foot of the stem, covering perhaps but 
a twentieth part of the spread of the roots, which ex¬ 
tend over a surface about twenty times as great as 
most planters suppose. We have always maintained 
that the best mulch is mellow pulverized earth, for 
promoting the growth of the tree. Covering with straw, 
litter, &e., are, as a general rule, only to be recom¬ 
mended in such places as cannot be subjected to culti¬ 
vation conveniently, such as yards, gardens, Ac., but 
even here we could not advise it, unless widely spread 
and deeply applied about the trees. When there is any 
danger from mice, a mound must be first banked up 
about the trees, of clear earth, and the mulching 
spread at a short distance off; and unless intended for 
protection from winter, it should be carefully raked off 
in autumn, or it will invite the attacks of mice. 
We find that some other old errors were not wholly 
excluded from the discussions of that body,—as for 
example, “ mulching with a growing sod.” What sano 
man would mulch his potato and cabbage crop with a 
growing sod—or in other words set them in thick grass? 
If those members will ejo back a century or two, they 
will find that old Dr. Hales discovered the prodigious 
amount of moisture which grass constantly throws off 
into the air; and if they will ask any farmer, good or 
bad, he will tell them that a thick mat of grass among 
his corn crop is no help to it. The same rule will ap¬ 
ply to trees—they do not reverse the laws of fertility 
and growth. 
