1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
151 
same original plant, which cannot change its own 
being. ___ 
Insect injurious to the Grape-Vine. 
Chas. W. Mulford, of Rensselaerville, N. Y., has 
sent us some insects which he states are very destruc¬ 
tive to the grape-vine. He says:— a They commence 
their ravages in the spring, as soon as the grape buds 
begin to swell, eating a portion of each bud, and so 
maiming as to destroy its growth. They continue to 
destroy the buds as fast as they appear, till about the 
end of June, when they begin to disappear. My father 
has a vine which has borne upwards of two bushels of 
excellent Isabella grapes annually; but for the past 
two seasons it has not borne a single grape, and in¬ 
deed has not shown its leaves till July, from the fact 
that its buds are destroyed up to that time by the in¬ 
sect. After the leaves show themselves, they are 
much eaten throughout the season by a minute worm 
or slug, but whether this has any connection with the 
former insect, I have not'examined sufficiently to de¬ 
termine. 5 ’ 
The insect sent us is a species of beetle, of a 
greenish black color, about a fourth of an inch long 
and an eighth of an inch wide. Its name we have not 
ascertained. We have never known such an insect to 
prey on the vine, and cannot say whether the slug 
spoken of is the larva of this beetle or not. As to a 
remedy against their ravages,—our correspondent 
states that the beetles were found in great numbers 
among the dried leaves under the vines, and these 
might, of course, be destroyed by raking them up with 
the leaves and burning them. Syringing the vine with 
tobacco water, fumigation with tobacco or sulphur, scat¬ 
tering over the buds and leaves air-slacked lime or plas¬ 
ter, might destroy the slugs, and perhaps keep the 
bettles away. * 
Destruction of Fruit Buds by Frost. 
The destruction of the buds of peaches and other 
tender fruits frequently occurs in this latitude, under 
severe cold. It has been remarked in peach growing 
neighborhoods, that whenever the mercury falls below 
zero for several days, the fruit buds are killed. It is 
probable, however, that the precise degree of cold which 
is required to produce this effect is not generally known. 
It is generally supposed that the destruction depends 
somewhat on the continuance as well as on the degree 
of cold. For instance, it is thought that five nights 
with the mercury at zero may cause as much injury as 
would one night with the mercury at ten degrees be¬ 
low zero. 
C. H. Tomlinson, Esq., of Schenectady, has paid 
muce attention to this subject. The substance of his 
observations, as communicated to the writer in a late 
conversation, may be given as follows:—That when 
the mercury for only one night falls to zero, a few 
peach-buds will be killed; that when it falls to four or 
five degrees below zero for the same time, a larger 
proportion of the buds are killed; and when it falls as 
low as twelve to fifteen below, a C( clean sweep” is 
made of the buds of the peach, nectarine, apricot;, &e. 
The question has been raised whether, if the ground 
was prevented from freezing by snow, the same degree 
of cold would produce the same injury to the buds. 
Mr. Tomlinson has made some observations on this 
point. Several years ago there fell a deep snow before 
the ground was frozen at all, and where the snow re¬ 
mained undisturbed the ground did not freeze under it. 
Of course the roots of trees were in unfrozen ground. 
While this state of things existed, very cold weather 
occurred—-the mercury falling to ten degrees below 
zero. The usual consequences followed—the peach- 
bads were generally killed. In some instances the 
lower branches of the trees were buried in the snow, 
and on those branches the buds were saved, blossomed, 
and produced fruit the succeeding season. 
The morning of the 11th of January last was re¬ 
markably cold—the mercury, in this neighborhood, 
ranging from 18 to 23 degrees below zero. Mr. Tom¬ 
linson states, the fruit-buds of the trees above-men¬ 
tioned, around Schenectady, were all killed at that 
time. A good illustration of the appearance of peach- 
buds when killed by cold, will be found in the Cultiva¬ 
tor for 1846, page 183. * 
Singular Circumstance. 
At Wyalusing, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, many 
years ago, a thrifty young apple tree was innoculated 
with buds of the Golden Pippin—three branches, chang¬ 
ing the whole head. When the tree began to bear, it 
was found that one of the branches ripened its fruit in 
July, and the others in October—all Golden Pippins. 
Many persons applied for grafts of the early branch, 
but the owner discouraged them; supposing that the 
cause of this singular variation existed in some defect 
of the stock in that branch , and that grafts taken from 
it would possess no property different from the original 
Golden Pippin. However a son, having less faith in 
the stability of natural law, tried the experiment pri¬ 
vately, and on the third year brought in seven early 
Golden Pippins from the new graft. We now suppose 
that in this new way a new variety of early fruit is 
added to our stock as much superior to other early 
apples as the fall Golden Pippin surpasses'them. Sci¬ 
ons of this singular variety have been sent to Tharps 3 
Nursery, Binghampton, New-York, where inquirers 
may obtain it. C. F. Welles. Wyalusing , Penn. 
Culture of the Blackberry. 
Having seen an inquiry respecting the culture of the 
blackberry, I will send you the method which is prac¬ 
ticed by a friend of mine, who has a beautiful' hedge 
which produces a great abundance of this excellent 
fruit. 
The plants are set out in rows four or five feet apart, 
and are kept free Jfrom weeds and grass through the 
summer; in the fall these spaces are filled with leaves 
from the forest. The next spring a quantity of ashes 
is strewn between the rows—these with the leaves are 
all the means used to secure a beautiful harvest every 
season. W. H. West Bethel , Vt., March 28, 1848. 
The White Doyenne, or Virgalieu Pear in Ohio. 
C. Springer, well known as a cultivator of fruit in 
Muskingum County, Ohio, says, “ The White Doyenne 
pear is the only grafted variety, out of several kinds? 
planted eighteen years ago, that has sustained itself 
against the blight. It is a regular and plentiful bearer, 
and. among the very best of pears.” 
Profits of Floriculture.— M. P. Wilder, Presi¬ 
dent of the Mass. Hort. Society, raised two new vari¬ 
eties of the Camellia, of such unsurpassed beauty, that 
he sold the stock of these two seedlings to J. L. L. F. 
Warren, for one thousand dollars. They were taken 
to Europe, and sold for about fifty dollars a pair , to 
the amount of nearly three thousand dollars. This 
will not appear so extravagant, when it is remembered 
that by a few years’ increase, these purchasers may 
dispose of the increased stock at ordinary prices, and 
make a handsome profit on their purchases. 
Pears.— At the autumn exhibition of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Horticultural Society, R- Manning exhibited 
two hundred and fifty varieties of pears, and M. P. 
Wilder, the President of the Society, exhibited a hun¬ 
dred and fifty varieties. 
