1854 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
279 
climbing Nasturtium , (Tropeolum Lobfiianum,) a 
South American plant. It bears brilliant orange-scar- 
let flowers, which continue to appear in succession. It 
succeeds best where one-year plants are set out in open 
border early in summer. * * 
Mildew on Grapes. 
Messrs. Editors —Can you inform me why grape 
vines trained on the ground, are less liable to mildew 
than those trained on elevated frames 1 Is it the ni¬ 
tre gathering under them, (as under all buildings,) or 
is it something else 1 An aftswer is respectfully soli¬ 
cited as it may assist me in experiments I am now 
trying. L. 0. Cross. Sandy Hill, Washington Go. 
N. Y., July 15, 1854. 
The fact, above stated, is well known to the culti¬ 
vators of the foreign grape in open air, but they are 
. divided in opinion as to the cause—some ascribing it 
to the soil dashed by up rains, others to the mixture of 
the earth, others again to reflection, &c. A few vari¬ 
ed and repeated experiments, numerous enough to es¬ 
cape accidentals, would doubtless settle the point. 
White Raspberry. 
Does the white smooth-caned raspberry need cover¬ 
ing in winter ? C. N. B. 
If by the “ smooth-cane,” our correspondent means 
the raspberry known sometimes as the White Ameri- 
can ) —a yellow raspberry resembling the American 
Black, except in color, we can state that we have al¬ 
ways found it perfectly hardy. 
PROTECTING VINES FROM £ UGS. 
Messrs. Editors —Seeing an inquiry in your pe¬ 
riodical, how to keep bugs from vines, I will give my 
experience. 
First, I wait in spring until the ground is warm 
enough to promote vegetation, before planting, that 
there may be no stinting, taking good caro to have 
several broods of chickens out in season to attend to 
the plants as soon as they appear above ground. They 
are placed in the vine-yard with a hen to brood and 
call them in atjaight; and thus I make my bugs and 
worms a source of profit, and very conveniently as 
you would have been constrained to acknowledge if 
you had breakfasted with me on a broiled chicken 
taken from 150 I have on hand. This may come too 
late- for this season’s practice, but it is worth remem¬ 
bering till another year. A. Walker. Oswego, N, Y. 
STRIKING CUTTINGS. 
The following are half a dozen general rules relative 
to the selection and preparation of slips or cuttings. 
1st. Let all slips be cut off as near a joint as possible 
without injuring it. 2d. For autumn or winter make 
choice of well ripened firm wood. 3d. In spring or 
summer half ripened young shoots are best, as they 
strike quicker than old wood. 4th. All succulents, 
such as Cactuses, Geraniums, &c., should remain a few 
days to dry, until their wounds are closed up, b.efore 
they are potted. 5th. Never allow cuttings to remain 
in water ; if they cannot be planted immediately lay 
the ends in moist sand. 6th. In winter or summer al-' 
ways let a few of the leaves remain on evergreens. 
Gard's Chronicle. 
Gooseberry Mildew. 
When many remedies are proposed for an evil, it 
usually happens that the remedies are incomplete, and 
the evil serious and hard to remove. It is however 
desirable to obtain all the information at hand in such 
cases, and with this view, we copy the remedy for 
gooseberry mildew given in the American Agricultu¬ 
rist, adopted by R. T. Haines, .a skilful cultivator 
residing at Elizabethtown, N. J. 
The favorite variety we found cultivated here, is 
Woodward’s Whitesmith ; and we never saw bushes 
more loaded with fruit, ev.en in old England. It was 
also plump and fair, and, quite free from the mildew. 
Mr. Haines’ remedy for this, is to remove the earth 
from around the roots, thickly mulch with salt mea¬ 
dow hay, and then cover it with the earth. He has 
tried many other methods of keeping off the mildew, 
but this is the only one which has been generally suc¬ 
cessful. —«s>— 
Sowing Grass at Midsummer. 
Messrs. Eds. —Can you inform me whether, after 
the grass is off the ground, by sowing timothy or clo¬ 
ver seed soon after, the grass will be matured so as to 
be fit to cut next summer 1 In other words, can I cut 
the grass and make into hay next July, by putting in 
the seed this or next month 1 By giving information 
you will oblige. Peter Wilson. Versailles, N. Y. 
The great difficulty in sowing grass seed at the time 
named, is the uncertainty as to dry or moist weather. 
Clover and timothy, sowed late in summer, and har¬ 
rowed in, will do well, provided the weather at that 
time, and through autumn, happens to prove unusual^ 
ly and uniformly moist. If dry, the labor and seed 
will be lost. We have sown and harrowed in timothy, 
during the early part of moist autumns, and had a fine 
growth of meadow grass from it the next season, but 
not equal to second-year crops. We would not recom¬ 
mend the trial with clover, but think there is a reasona¬ 
ble prospect of success with timothy. Sown early in 
spring, on rich ground, and with triple the usual amount 
of both kinds of seed, we have obtained the same sea¬ 
son a crop of gra^s as large as many farmers do the 
second year with ordinary sowing. 
More about the Wheat Insect. 
The wheat crop in the north part of our state (Ohio) 
is effectually used up by an insect called the weevil, 
but I should think that it must be some other destroy¬ 
ing insect from the manner it attacks the wheat. It 
commences as soon as the head begins to form, and 
destroy it by .sucking up the juices, and not by eating 
the kernel. There is a lamentable ignorance existing 
among farmers in regard to the habits of the various 
flies, worms and insects they have to contend with in 
raising both wheat and corn, and which I for one would 
be very glad to remedy if I knew where to get a work 
of reliability on Entomology, and if you know of such 
a treatise you would confer a great favor on me and 
perhaps many others by recommending it in the Gen¬ 
tleman, with the address of seller, price, &c. Joseph 
S. Russell. Lyme, 0. 
