132 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 
In our February number, we spoke of Dr. ce Under¬ 
wood’s” vineyards at Croton Point, Westchester county, 
N. Y. We should have said Dr. Underhill. 
We are happy to lay before our readers the following 
communication from Dr. Underhill: 
Messrs. Editors —I have occasionally written some 
articles for the Cultivator on the culture of the grape, 
but as some time has elapsed, since you last heard from 
me, you may have supposed I was taking a Rip Van 
Winkle sleep, and that you would rouse me by putting 
another in possession of my vineyards. If these were 
your views, I assure you you are mistaken. I require no i 
process of this kind to keep up a lively interest in the 
culture of the grape, though my engagements may pre¬ 
vent my communicating with the barometer of the agri¬ 
cultural and horticultural progress of this country, as of¬ 
ten as I could wish. 
The advantages that would be derived not only in an 
individual, but a national point of view, from a greatly 
increased culture of all our choice fruits, is not fuily ap¬ 
preciated. The large quantity of animal food consumed 
by all classes in this country, renders the antiseptic and 
diluent properties of fruits in temperate and tropical cli¬ 
mates, absolutely necessary to the promotion and preser¬ 
vation of health. The alarming increase of diseases of 
the heart, apoplexy, palsy, obstructions of the liver, lungs, 
and other vital organs, and the rapid progress and vio¬ 
lence of the inflammations consequent upon these obstruc¬ 
tions, are directly or indirectly connected with and de¬ 
pendent upon a plethoric or overloaded condition of the 
blood vessels; a state of the system, which a free use of 
ripe fruits and vegetables is best calculated to prevent and 
correct. The object to be obtained in this case, is too 
manifest and striking to require any enforcement from 
argument. Physicians, however they may differ in opin¬ 
ion on some subjects, agree on this, that the free use of 
good ripe fruits, such as the grape, the apple, peach, &c. 
&c., is well calculated to promote and preserve a healthy 
state of the human system. We have therefore not only 
pecuniary inducements to cover our fields and the banks 
of our rivers with the choicest fruits, to delight the eye 
and gratify the taste, but a far higher object, the promo¬ 
tion of the health and happiness of our fellow creatures. 
Notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made for 
a number of years past, to advance the culture of the 
grape and some other fruits, (and the success has been 
very encouraging,) there does not appear to be any proba¬ 
bility of overstocking the markets of the large cities on 
the seaboard, for a quarter of a century to come. Indeed, 
if still greater efforts are not made, and far more land 
employed than has been for these purposes for many 
years past, the growth of the cities will be greater than 
the growth of the fruit; added to which, rail-roads and 
steam have opened many new markets, and will continue 
to do so for years to come. 
The farmers in the interior and to the west, owing to 
their cheap alluvial soils, find it to their interest to sup¬ 
ply us with large quantities of grain and less perishable 
articles than fruits; and the owners of far more costly 
land near our large cities and rail-roads, would find it 
greatly to their advantage to turn their attention more to 
the productions of the garden, the vineyard and the or¬ 
chard, than they have heretofore done. The grape, from 
its arriving at the bearing state so soon, and continuing 
to produce a bountiful crop every year when well culti¬ 
vated, for an almost indefinite period of time, possesses 
advantages over every other fruit with which I am ac¬ 
quainted; and hence, of late I have given it a decided 
preference on my place at Croton Point. As fast as my 
peach orchards fail or show symptoms of decay, if the 
ground is suitable, I occupy it with the grape. A bank 
well covered with good plants of the Isabella grape, pro¬ 
perly and carefully cultivated, will, I am fully persua¬ 
ded, give larger and more certain dividends, in proportion 
to the amount of capital invested, than any other bank in 
the State. Then the enjoyment which the management 
of a vineyard will affoad, the general reader may have 
formed some idea of from the perusal of the pages of sa¬ 
cred and profane history, but can nmer r «lly realize till, 
while cutting the tender shoots with his own hand, he 
inhales the delightful perfume of the delicate blossom of 
the vine; and when at the wane of the season, he clips 
the large, well filled clusters from the branches, enrap¬ 
turing the eye, the taste, and the smell, then it is that he 
can comprehend the reason why the grape has been made 
the theme of the poet, philosopher and divine, in every 
age of the world. Yours truly, R. T. Underhill. 
New-York, Feb. 17, 1844. 
CHANGE OF FRUITS. 
“ I beg leave to state the result of an experiment made 
by myself, in order specially to test the correctness of 
this idea, (that the flowers of one tree are impregnated 
by the pollen of others, thereby producing all manner of 
fruit; but when a tree is isolated so that no such union 
takes place, the fruit will resemble the original. See 
Cult. vol. 10, page 87.) Some fourteen years ago, when 
about to emigrate from western Pennsylvania to this 
place, I procured some seeds from an apple-tree on my 
father’s farm, which stood entirely apart from other fruit 
trees, and about 60 rods from the orchard. As the pro¬ 
duce of these seeds, in due time, I planted in my orchard 
three trees, which have bore apples for several years 
jpast, and we find the fruit of each differing entirely, one 
from another, in size, color, taste, and time of ripening, 
and none of them have any resemblance to that of the 
parent tree. 
j I am unable to reconcile these facts with the view of 
your correspondent, in any other way than by supposing 
that the pollen from the trees in the orchard, had blown 
to the tree from which I obtained the seeds. Has the 
;opinion in question ever been confirmed by actual expe¬ 
riment, or is it founded on theory alone? 
Knox Co., Ohio. J. Crawford.” 
We believe the theory in question, originated with 
Mr. Knight of England, who made a vast number of ex¬ 
periments, to determine this and other uncertain points in 
vegetable physiology. Supposing the pollen that im 
pregnated the blossoms, to be in a great degree distribu¬ 
ted by bees or other insects, he covered some bunches of 
of apple blossoms with fine muslin, so that they must have 
been fertilized by the natural process, and these seeds 
produced fruit like the original tree, or with little differ- 
! ence. Other bunches he covered in a similar manner, 
and carefully opening the flowers, removed all the an¬ 
thers before the process of impregnation commenced, 
j At the proper time, the pollen from other flowers was 
'sprinkled over the pistils of the secluded blossoms, and 
the seeds from these, produced undoubted hybrids, the 
result of a cross-fertilization. 
Since the labors of Van Mons, Duquesne, &c. have 
!been made known, a different theory has become very 
!|prevalent, which is, “ that wild plants or fruits, while 
! | growing in their native wilds, are generally perpetuated 
I from generation to generation without change; but this 
{is not the case with the hybrids or cultivated varieties, 
however isolated, or far removed the tree may be which 
'produces the seeds, from any other of its species.” This 
theory supposes that all the improved or cultivated fruits 
are hybrids, and that there is in them a constant tendency 
to show more or less of the different varieties from which 
! in the course of years, they have originated. On this 
'theory, seeds from an isolated tree, would furnish no 
!guarantee that the fruit would be like the parent. The 
j student of nature will not fail to see in this theory a close 
analogy to facts known to exist in the hybridism or 
'changes of character in animals; and our correspondent 
will see that the question is one which must be considered 
open to further investigation. __ 
FHUIT TREES. 
The New-York True Sun says an orchard of only foui 
acres in Mannington, N. J., produced last year, 
360 bushels of apples, at 50 cts... $180 00 
30 barrels of cider at $1,50.. 45 00 
$225 00 
The same man had 12 acres of corn-product, 600 
bushels, at 37£ cts., $225. So that 4 acres of orcharding 
yield as much income as 12 acres of corn. 
