1808.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
187 
maimer shown last month. Shoots will, per¬ 
haps, start from the stem, for the vine produces 
adventitious buds, as they are called, i. e., buds 
out of the regular place. Shoots from these are 
sometimes useful to take the place of the 
regular ones that have been injured; but if 
all has gone well, these shoots are useless, and 
are to be rubbed off whenever they appear. 
Eipe Grapes for Wine Making. 
EXPERIMENTS AT KELLEY’S ISLAND. 
On the grape islands of Lake Erie, the ab¬ 
sence of autumn frosts allows the grapes to be 
left on the vines without injury until the latter 
part of November,'and it has been a question of 
some interest among grape growers and wine 
makers, how much, if anything, is gained in 
the value of Catawba grapes for wine making, 
by allowing them to remain on the vines from 
two to four weeks later than the best time for 
picking the fruits for market—for it is found that 
Catawbas, like others, are of better quality and 
more sprightly in flavor, before “dead ripe.” 
To decide this question, the Kelley’s Island 
Wine Company have made a series of careful 
experiments the past two years, the results of 
which are very interesting and conclusive. They 
are stated by Mr. Geo. C. Huntington, iii an 
essay on the climatology of the region, read be¬ 
fore the Lake Shore Grape Growers’ Association, 
at its annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, a few 
■weeks ago, which, in substance, is as follows : 
On the 22d of Oct., 186G, the Company com¬ 
menced buying grapes, and continued to buy 
daily until the 13th of Nov. The aggregate 
amount taken in was 103 tons, comprising 235 
different lots, each one of which was sampled 
by pressing the juice from a part of the lot, and 
testing the gravity of the must by Oeschle’s 
scale. The result showed a gradual gain in the 
weight of the must, until the close of the season. 
The time covered by this experiment, however, 
was short—the vintage commencing later and 
closing earlier than usual—so that the results 
obtained were not as marked as in ordinary 
seasons covering double the length of time. 
The past season, (1867,) the experiments were 
renewed under better circumstances, the vint¬ 
age commencing on the 15tli Oct., and continu¬ 
ing until the 29th Nov.—-just six weeks; during 
which time the Company bought 350 tons of 
grapes, comprising 691 different lots, every one 
of which was sampled and tested separately in 
the same manner as in the preceding year, 
with the following results by the must scale: 
Average of the whole691 lots.83.35 cleg. 
Average of 103 lots from 15th October to 19th of 
Nov., eutire receipts of 1st five clays..80.03 deg. 
Or 3.29 degrees below the average of the whole. 
Average of 81 lots taken after Nov. 15... .8S.13 deg. 
or 4.78 deg. above the average of the whole ; 
thus showing an improvement in the quality of 
the must, of 8.07 deg., as compared with that 
pressed before the 20th of October—or a frac¬ 
tion over 10 per cent. To compensate for 
the loss in gross weight, which must occur 
from leaving the grapes so long on the vines, 
the price paid by the company was graduated 
according to the gravity of the must—those 
picked after the 20th of October bringing an 
average of ten per cent more than those gathered 
previously: which was considered as more than 
equivalent to the loss in weight. M. B. B. 
---o»p>----- 
Tarragon.— This, the Estragon of the French, 
belongs to the same genus as the Wormwood; 
its botanical name is Artemisia Dracunculus. 
It is a perennial herbaceous plant, and having 
a more slender growth than Wormwood, and 
bright green leaves, the resemblance to it is not 
very manifest until it comes into flower. The 
foliage is very aromatic with a peculiar fragrance 
when bruised, somewhat like Anise. It is used 
as a seasoning, it being highly esteemed by 
many in salads and in pickles. The tender 
shoots and leaves are used in the green state, 
and it is put into the vinegar to make Tarragon 
Vinegar. The plant is hardy and will grow in 
almost any soil. The seeds are very scarce, but 
we presume plants may be had from the nur¬ 
series. It grows readily from divisions of the root. 
-s«-< 
Treatment of Crotched Trees. 
Young trees are sometimes so badly grown 
that a fork or crotch is formed, and they are, 
when old and laden with fruit, in danger of 
being injured by splitting. Last year we gave 
a method of treating such trees, which was to 
cut off one branch and straighten up the other. 
This of course could only be applied to very 
young trees. Mr. W. H. Barnes, of Iroquois 
Co., Ill., writes us, that he has come into the 
possession of an orchard, in which the trees 
forked very low, and that all danger from split¬ 
ting had been obviated by the twisting together 
of opposite branches—of course when quite 
young—as shown in the engraving. We give 
this, not as a practice to be generally commend¬ 
ed, but as an expedient that may be adopted 
with a badly trained tree that has become too 
large to be brought into proper shape. The 
same end may be obtained, as our correspond¬ 
ent suggests, by inarching branches to act as 
stays. It is a very easy matter, and altogether 
best, to properly train the young tree from the 
start with a well balanced head without a 
crotch, which is both unsightly and dangerous. 
-«_ —-- - 
About Annuals. 
Among those engaged in gardening, some 
consider annuals as a nuisance, while others 
would not willingly do without them. The 
number of “novelties” that appear every year 
with highly colored descriptions have so dis¬ 
appointed the purchasers that we do not won¬ 
der that they are tired of annuals. Yet with 
all this there is each year one or two added to 
the list of those that retain a hold on popular 
favor. Our advice to the novice, and those of 
limited means, always has been to let those bet¬ 
ter able try the “novelties” and stick to the 
old friends that have proved their worth. To 
the real lover of plants, there is a charm about 
planting the seeds, watching the first appear¬ 
ance of the plant, and caring for its future prog¬ 
ress, that make annuals very attractive. In 
sowing annuals, do not sow too early nor too 
deeply. Wait until the ground is dry and warm, 
and then sow thinly and cover lightly. The 
seeds of most are very small, and the young 
plant cannot force its way through a long dis¬ 
tance of heavy earth. We have on several 
occasions given lists of those annuals we con¬ 
sider most desirable; at the present time we 
will mention a few, suited to certain purposes. 
Certain kinds appear well only as specimen 
plants, grown singly, with ample room to de¬ 
velop, while others are most useful when plant¬ 
ed in masses. For beds in lawns, where the 
plants are grown closely, nothing gives a finer 
show than Drummond’s Phlox, which we now 
have in a great variety of shades. Then, what 
is gayer than a mass of Portulaccas ? And if one 
likes yellow, Tagetes signatapumila is as beauti¬ 
ful as a yellow flower can be. This is good in 
the mass, or fine as single specimens; the yellow 
of the flowers is so modified by the great abun¬ 
dance of finely cut foliage, that the effect is not 
glaring. One of the best of late introductions is 
the Double Zinnia, which may be used with good 
effect in masses or as single plants. The Netno- 
philas are all beautiful, and look fine in a 
bed, but the trouble with them is, they do not 
last long. The Dwarf Convolvulus is a favor¬ 
ite with us; the blue is superb, and it is a great 
bloomer. This list of plants for masses might 
be much extended, but we wish room to enum¬ 
erate the principal fragrant annuals. Among 
those prized for their fragrance, none is more 
valued than the homely Mignonette. There 
should always be a plenty of this, and of Sweet 
Peas and Candytuft; with these three and a 
little green, a pleasing bouquet can be made at 
any time. Sweet Alyssum, Erisymum, and all 
the Stocks, are fragrant, as are some of the 
Pinks. For ornamental foliage, we have among 
annuals, Perilla, Cannas, Amarantus tricolor 
and sanguineus, and the really elegant Ricinus, 
or Castor-Oil plant. The common kind is very 
showy, but some of the newer varieties, as the 
R. sanguineus are, when well grown, splendid. 
—- '«i Ol - ■ -- 
What Evergreens Shall We Plant? 
To the novice there is nothing more fascina¬ 
ting than a catalogue. Whether lie is to plant 
fruit or ornamental trees, he looks the list over 
and over, and is not so much in doubt as to what 
to take as to what he shall leave out. He usually 
orders a lot of unsuitable stuff; of course a ma¬ 
jority of the trees fail, and he at once sets the 
nurseryman down as a humbug. If all the beau¬ 
tiful evergreens were suited to all soils and cli¬ 
mates we could make a list of most charming 
trees, but knowing the uncertainty that attends 
the most beautiful of this family, we are obliged 
to leave out the “novelties” altogether in mak¬ 
ing a selection for the general public, and fall 
back upon the old and well-proven sorts. Mr. 
Hoopes, in his recently published Book of Ever¬ 
greens, gives the following good advice to 
novices, who had better leave Cryptomerias, 
Cunninghamias, Deodar Cedars, and such rare 
and tender plants, to those of more experience : 
“ To this class of planters we say, your first 
duty is to select such reliable kinds as the Nor¬ 
way Spruce, Hemlock Spruce, American Arbor 
Vitae, Austrian Pine, White Pine, Scotch Pine, 
etc., adding, as inclination tends, a few other 
really hardy and desirable well-known species.” 
His list contains all that we should advise those 
inexperienced in tree planting to try, except the 
Red Cedar, for the West. Far inland this tree 
grows with a luxuriance and grace that is a 
wonder to those who are familiar with the slow 
growing and rather formal tree of the East. 
