1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
437 
the nuts are always harvested before they are quite 
ripe, and left to mature on the voyage. Expert 
climbers ascend the trees and hack the fruit off 
with knives resembling bill-hooks. The nuts are 
then husked, and the little round eyes at the end 
daubed with pitch to close them. This is to keep 
the air from the nut, as _ 
one of the spots is so thin 
as to break readily, in 
which case the milk 
would escape and the 
nut spoil. This “ pitch¬ 
ing the eyes,” as it is 
called, is always the last 
operation performed be¬ 
fore the nuts go into the 
hold for their voyage to 
market. The pitch-pot 
is set out on deck, and 
as rapidly as the nuts are 
loaded on board from 
the big canoes, which 
bring them from the 
shore, the pitch is ap¬ 
plied and the nuts are 
passed below. Perhaps 
this will explain to many 
the mysterious spot of 
tar which is seen on 
every cocoanut sold here, Fi 8'- 4 -~ A cocoanut cargo for town. 
a spot, by the way, which we once heard a dealer 
assure an inquisitive customer was a “ trade-mark.” 
desired distance. This will cause the formation of 
fibrous roots near the tree. It will be safer to take 
two years for the operation, cutting half of the 
roots each year. Such trees may be removed in 
safety, especially if a good share of the top is re¬ 
moved at transplanting. Shrubs of various kinds 
How to Transplant Trees from Woods. 
Many think it cheaper and better to take up 
large trees from the woods, and transplant them 
to their grounds or to the road-side, than to buy 
nursery trees. As a rule, such trees die ; they 
fail because proper precautions have not been 
taken. In digging up the tree, all the roots out¬ 
side of a circle a few feet in diameter are cut off, 
and the tree is reset with its full head of branches. 
Whoever has seen trees in the forest that were up¬ 
turned by a tornado, must have been struck by the 
manner in which the roots run very near to the 
surface, and to a great distance. When the roots 
of these trees are cut off at two or three feet from 
the trunk, few or no fibrous or feeding roots are 
left; and if the mass of tops is left, the expansion 
of the buds in the spring will not be responded to 
by a supply of sap from the roots, and death must 
follow. If such trees have the tops completely 
removed, leaviug only a bare pole, they will usu¬ 
ally grow when transplanted. The tree is little 
more than an immense cutting ; but there are roots 
enough left to meet the demand of the few shoots 
that start from the top, and growth above and be¬ 
low ground are well balanced. We have seen 
maples, elms, and basswood trees, fifteen feet or 
more high, transplanted in this manner, without a 
■Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
require the same treatment. Many of our native 
shrubs are of great beauty, and desirable as orna¬ 
ments to the grounds. As ordinarily transplanted, 
they are rarely satisfactory. If the whole top of 
these shrubs, every branch, be removed, leaving 
only a stick with as much root as can be secured, 
success is quite certain. W T e have removed the 
Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) safely in this manner; 
the shrubs show no signs of their rough treatment. 
Preserving Grapes. 
Inquiry is frequently made of us as to the best 
method of preserving grapes, without indicating 
the variety. Grapes differ in their keeping quali¬ 
ties almost as much as do apples. While some 
last for only a week or 
two, others with a little 
care may be had in good 
condition until after the 
holidays, and we have 
known them to keep well 
until March or later. 
The most generally cul¬ 
tivated grape, the Con¬ 
cord, is the poorest 
keeper, and we have not 
heard of any successful 
attempts to preserve it 
long after it is gathered. 
The Diana. Catawba, Isa¬ 
bella, and Iona keep 
longest; the Delaware 
lasts for awhile, but not 
so long as the others. 
With more recent varie¬ 
ties, our friends must 
experiment; there is 
much need of informa¬ 
tion regarding the keep- 
Grapes, to keep well, 
Improved Blackberries. 
All of the popular cultivated Blackberries were 
originally found in a wild state. If any really ex¬ 
cellent variety has been raised by cultivators from 
j seeds, we are not aware of it. 
Almost every one who has in his 
youth gone “a blackberrying,” 
can recollect certain patches, or 
single bushes, which gave fruit far 
superior to others, and which, in 
memory, seem vastly better than 
any of the cultivated sorts. Those 
who know of such special wild 
bushes can easily bring them into 
cultivation, and enjoy their fruit 
without hunting for it. Take up the 
roots of such bushes this fall and 
cut all that are as large as a goose- 
quill, or larger, into pieces from 
one to three inches long. Take a 
ing qualities of these, 
must be thoroughly ripe ; some varieties color and 
are eatable some time before they are fully ripe. 
When the stem of the cluster loses its firmness, 
and the portion between the fruit and its point of 
attachment to the vine is limp and hangs down as if 
it were a string, the fruit may bo gathered. It is 
the practice of those who send fruit to market, to 
place it in small boxes, after it has been exposed 
to the air for a few days, to “ cure.” This renders 
the skin tough, and prevents it from cracking in 
handling and packing. The boxes are then kept 
at as low and as even a temperature as possible, 
without freezing. Large establishments have fruit 
houses, the walls of which are filled in with saw¬ 
dust, to prevent suddeu changes of temperature. 
Eig. 5. COCOANUT PLANTATION.— Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
failure. Some trees treated in this manner were 
planted in our neighborhood about ten years ago. 
They have now as fine heads as one would wish, 
and show no signs of former rough treatment. 
Trees in pastures, or on the edge of the woods, are 
better furnished with roots. These should be pre¬ 
pared for transplanting by digging down to the 
roots, and cutting off all that extend beyond the 
box of any kind, and, if the bottom is tight, bore 
several holes in it. Lay some straw over the holes, 
and over this an inch or so of soil; upon this place 
a layer of roots, then some soil, more roots, and so 
on until the box is full. Bury the box in a place 
where water will not stand, and cover it with 
enough earth to prevent freezing. Next spring 
the roots may be planted in nursery rows. 
For family use, the grapes may be laid in con¬ 
venient boxes, which should be covered, to pre¬ 
vent shrivelling from drying, and kept in a room 
that is not heated, or in a very dry, cool cellar. 
Grapes have been kept by packing them in stone 
jars and burying them below the reach of frost. 
In Europe the canes are cut with the fruit on them, 
and their lower ends placed in bottles of water. 
