March 18. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
441 
with their roots outside ? Or, what would he thought 
of any gardener affirming that Sea kale, Asparagus, 
and such like, simply require lieat at the crown, and 
that the body of the roots needed it not? Or, how 
would Pines succeed if we could contrive to give them 
a hot atinosplicre, with the root kept as cool as possible? 
But it is needless to proceed farther ; it must be obvious 
to every imi)artial person tliat Nature has established a 
law in the vegetable kingdom, that the temperature of 
root and branch, as a relative matter, is a thing of the 
first importance. 
There is yet another phase in which to view the 
practice; it is this:—Is shading of the wood in itself 
alone considered a beneficial or injurious proceeding? 
This is somewhat untrodden ground at present; but, 
I with my usual temerity, I must enter the argument. J 
once transplanted a Peach-tree of about twelve years 
standing; one which presented training for ten feet by 
uine of wall. This tree was removed in the last week 
of January, and tlie moment it was planted a sheet of 
canvass was tacked before it, projecting some si.K inches 
from the wall. Tiiis canvass was not removed until the 
tree was expanding its blossoms, and which, owing to 
the check and shade, was later, by far, than others near 
it; probably about the second week in ?ilay. Never did 
a transplanted tree thrive better, and it produced nearly 
a full crop of fruit that very summer, and line fruit too. 
Now, I am persuaded, that much of the natural juices 
of trees are abstracted by intense solar light, with 
occasional high temperatures ; and that, although a well- 
established tree may endure this; nay, although it may, 
under certain circumstances, benefit by it, yet the case 
is very different with a removed tree. 
There can be little doubt that the practice of shading 
the mere wood of deciduous trees is a subject that has 
never yet received any attention worth noting; and I 
hereby invite the friends of progress in gardejung to 
try their hand, and report on the results. It is e.xtreinely 
probable that the vessels beneath the outer bark, not 
being distended in a sufficient degree with the rising 
sap, become constricted, and the tree by gardeners 
termed “hide-bound;” and thus, when the root action 
commences, the upward course is impeded, and the tree, 
of course, assumes a shrunken or withered appearance. 
Whilst on this subject, I may as well allude to 
2 '>yoteetion,'' as applied to fruit-trees; and, strange to 
say, the very same material which keeps out heat will 
also ward off keen frosts and withering winds. So it is 
not in changing the material, but in reversing the mode j 
j of applying it. It has been much disputed, whether i 
I this protection be not productive of more harm than 
I good, and this, too, by some practical men, from whom 
' I had e.xpected better things. The debating this reminds ■ 
. me about the fuss I had about me, a few years since, 
i when recommending guano-water. Several persons, at ^ 
' that time, applied to me for advice, as to whether it , 
would prove beneficial; my constant answer was. Yes— ' 
to everything that requires mauurial matter. This I | 
coupled with a caution as to its great strength, and the 
necessity for much dilution with water. In a year after, 
some parties came to me bemoaning the loss of some 
' pet plants, and declaring that they were assured guano 
I was injurious. 
Now, if any man fancies that his Apricots, or Peaches, 
i in blossom, would prefer enduring a thermometer, on 
some unlucky night, of 12° of frost to one only 4° or 
S'-’, I pity his judgment. I would hang anything up that 
would tlius reduce the severity of the night. But if any 
person do this, and suffer his covering to impede the 
solar heat and light, when requisite, and his crops fail, 
let him enter his failure in his note-book under the head 
neiiJect, not mistaken principles. 
For this reason, therefore, covering of all kinds 
I should, as far as possible, be movable, although I have 
proved, for years, that houghs of Spruce, &c., may be so 
fi.xed—when necessity compels their use—as to be of no 
damage. This consists, with me, in fastening a regular 
row along the top of tlie wall, causing them to project 
as a wide coping. With this I stick a few in, here and 
there, very thinly; not mere spray crow’ded together, but 
branches. The difference between this and the crowd¬ 
ing small spray is, that in the latter case there is about 
the buds an uniform gloom ; but in the case of branches 
stuck in thinly, the sun, as it ascends and passes the 
meridian, darts his rays boldly through in a changeable 
way. And over espaliers, or dw.arf standards, I have 
found it far better to stick in a few huge branches, 
rising above the tree, or bush, than to smother the buds 
with small spray close to them. 
On the whole, then, I boldly avow, that I advocate 
still, as warmly as ever, both retardation .and protection. 
I do not mean the retardation of free trade, and the 
protection of corn, for I am no great politician ; but as 
applying to the conservation of the delicate blossoms of 
our superior fruits, which, being of a somewhat lively 
temperament, are but too apt to be excited to pre¬ 
maturely unfold their treasures, just as silly bees are 
but too often tempted to have an hour’s rollick in a 
treacherous sunshine. R. Errtxgton. 
The Vineyards of California.— Mr. Buffum, in his 
speech in the California Assembly, wherein he pro]iosed 
to exempt California wine from the provisions of the 
prohibitory liquor law, gave the following interesting 
statistics concerning the culture of the vine in that 
State:—“In Los xVngelos county, the vineyard of Cali¬ 
fornia, there are already under cultivation as many 
acres covered with the vine as there are in the whole of 
the State of Ohio, the pioneer in the wine manufacture 
of the United States. In Los Angelos the num¬ 
ber of bearing vines amount to 800,01)0, the number 
of acres under grape culture is 1,500, the quantity of 
wine which can he made to the acre is 400 gallons, the 
amount of ca[)ital invested in the grape culture 1,000,000 
dollars, and the number of persons engaged in the 
various branches of the business is 4000. ’Thus, these 
1,500 acres only undergrape culture can produce 000,000 
gallons of wine annually, which, at two dollars per 
gallon, will yield in this single district the annual 
income of Tl,200,000. If there are in this State only 
250,000 acres of land which can be brought under grape 
culture, they would produce 100,000,000 of gallons of 
wine annually, which, at one dollar per gallon, would 
yield the enormous annual revenue of .£100,000,000.” 
DESULTORY GLEANINGS. 
Having spent a few hours at the west side of London 
when I inspected the heating apparatus of the Messrs. 
Weeks, I think 1 might draw on my memory for a 
few things that may be generally interesting. 
Form of Glass Roofs. —At the Messrs. Weeks’, and ! 
elsewhere, I saw great varieties of these, but mostly 
confined to the principle of opening and sliding sashes, 
and thus attended with the bulky and the expensive 
rafter. The dispensing with rafters, and substituting 
strong sash-bars with wide squares of glass, might be 
well worthy the attention of those prominent hothouse 
builders who keep specimens of houses on their pre¬ 
mises. 
Distance of Plants from the GLASS.^This matter j 
regulates the whole affair of platforms, stages, and : 
tables, inside of a glass-house. In a darkish lean-to ^ 
house, and where heat enough is applied to cause the 
plants to grow, they will be sure to come weak and i 
