iSRS'.K® 
"^f 
134 
more quickly than if worked on a pear stock, it will be 
much shorter lived. In all propagation of this kind, the 
stock should be worked as low as possible, and some 
have preferred grafting directly upon the root. Pears suc¬ 
ceed best on free or wild pear stocks, producing durable 
trees, and fruit of superior quality. They will also suc¬ 
ceed on stocks of the crab apple, quince, or thorn. 
ROSE BUGS ON THE GRAPE. 
Messrs. Editors— I have on my farm about 1000 grape 
vines of different kinds, which were set out last year by 
the gentleman who then owned the place. Though still 
so small, (from having been cut down,) as to require 
nothing more than poles the present year, they promised 
to yield abundantly until the rose-bugs made their ap¬ 
pearance, when I discovered that they attacked them so 
greedily, that unless I found some means of stopping 
them, my hopes of a crop would be destroyed. At first 
I tried going through and picking them off every morn¬ 
ing, but soon found this to avail little against the myriads 
of enemies. When I received the June number of the 
Cultivator, I found in it the notice of the discovery that 
whale oil soap was an effectual remedy against these dis¬ 
gusting insects. I accordingly procured a jar of it, and 
a syringe, but did not find it to answer the purpose, how¬ 
ever strong it was mixed. A few of the insects on 
which I tried it died, but most of them recovered, and 
the moment the leaves were dry, they were again cover¬ 
ed with bugs. However, I did not regret procuring the 
soap, for I found it perfectly effectual in destroying cat- 
terpillars, red spiders and other insects. The rose-bugs 
have now mostly disappeared, and at least three-fourths 
of my grapes have diappeared also. Now I expect my 
vines to be large enough to yield abundantly next year, 
and I am anxious to learn some means of saving them. 
If I were to plant roses about my grapes, would they 
prove sufficiently attractive to draw the bugs from the 
grapes ? I have thought this probable, from the fact 
that one of my neighbors has a grape-vine in his yard, 
which has abundance of roses near it, and his grapes 
have been untouched. If you can give me any informa¬ 
tion on the subject, you will greatly oblige your constant 
reader. H. W. S. C. 
Burlington, N. J., June 24, 1842. 
We are unable to answer the request of our friend sa¬ 
tisfactorily; and hope some of our subscribers acquainted 
with the culture of this fruit, will favor us with the re¬ 
sults of their experience in the matter. The rose is 
doubtless the favorite food of the bug alluded to, and it 
vyas for the purpose of destroying him on this shrub, 
that Mr. Haggerston invented the remedy of whale oil 
soap, and which has been entirely successful in multi¬ 
tudes of instances. Is it not possible that a strong decoc¬ 
tion of Hellebore would be as fatal to these insects as it 
is known to be to most worms and catterpillars ? But 
we leave the subject to our correspondents. 
RHUBARB. 
Messrs. Editors —I see published in the April num¬ 
ber of the Cultivator for the present year, an account of 
the proceeds of the “ Retreat Garden.” The article that 
attracted my attention most was that of “ Rhubarb, 300 
lbs Is it Rheum •palmatum that is spoken of ? Was it 
raised at the garden for medical purposes, or for the ta¬ 
ble ? How is it cultivated and manufactured for medical 
use, and how for the table ? How long is it in coming 
to perfection, and is it reared from the seed or the root ? 
A Reader of the Cultivator. 
Croleys, Arkansas, 1842. 
The Rhubarb mentioned in the article alluded to by 
our correspondent, we presume was the Rheum rhapon- 
ticum, and not the Rheum palmatum; and that it was 
raised not for medical but table use. For a longtime 
it was supposed there was but one kind of Rhubarb, and 
all are now used for medicinal purposes, but the Palmatum 
is rather the most efficacious. The Rhubarb plants of all 
the varieties, may be grown from the seeds or the roots. 
A root of four years old, will afford twenty or thirty 
eyes, each one of which will produce a plant, half an 
inch of the old root being sufficient to ensure germina¬ 
tion. In Tartary and China, where Rheum palmatum 
is extensively grown for medicine, the plants are allow¬ 
ed to grow until the fourth year, when the roots are ta¬ 
ken up, cleaned, sliced across, and the pieces laid on 
long tables, where they are frequently turned for a few 
days. They are then hung on cords, so as not to touch 
each other, and dried in the shade. When fit for market 
they have lost about seven-eighths of their weight. If 
cultivated for the table the stems (which are the parts 
wanted,) should not be cut away until the second or third 
year, or until offsets have begun to form, and never too 
closely, for though the plant may live, the vigor will 
be lost. There are at the present time, a great variety 
of hybrids, originated from the several kinds of Rheum, 
which for culinary purposes, are vastly superior to the 
old kinds. We have one of these hybrid varieties, 
grown from seeds sown two years since, which has the 
present season thrown out stems of more than twelve 
inches in length, and four and three-quarter inches in 
circumference, and these large stems in several instances 
have been broken down by the vast leaves they were 
obliged to support. 
Ross’ Phenix Strawberry _A notice of this new 
and valuable seedling strawberry, with an engraving, 
will appear in the next number of the Cultivator. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
CAST IRON FOUNTAIN.—(Fig. 78.) 
Having been furnished with an engraving of the Foun¬ 
tain (fig. 78,) for which a gold medal was awarded to 
Mr. D. L. Farnham, of New-York, at the last Fair of 
the American Institute, we copy the description of it 
from the report of the committee on Garden Ornaments, 
of which Alex Walsh, Esq. of Lansingburgh, was 
chairman:—“This superb article might truly be said to 
form the climax of garden ornaments. It was got up by 
Mr. D. L. Farnham, of New-York, in a style which 
would do honor to any country, and displaying a taste and 
skill which richly entitles them to patronage. It con¬ 
sists of an extensive and lovely basin of clear water, in 
which gold fish were sporting over a bottom embedded 
with shells and aquatic plants, and surrounded by four 
Tritons sitting on the edge, each throwing up a jet of 
water like a burnished silver wire, to the height of six 
or eight feet, and meeting another jet from the center, 
the whole falling into a little basin, which forms the cap 
of a highly ornamental column of three or four feet high, 
from which it trickled over the edge, falling down on 
three female figures of great beauty, which surrounded 
the sides of the column, and thence returned into the 
fountain. A few tasteful gardens scattered about the 
country, each exhibiting such a fountain, would do much 
towards awakening a better taste in rural matters. Where 
there is a small stream of water near a garden, especially 
if any part of the stream is above the garden level, the 
cost of such a fountain will be but trifling, and even 
where the water must be supplied by artificial power, 
there are abundant ways and means to facilitate the pro¬ 
curing a cheap supply.” 
THE AMERICAN ALOE. 
Messrs. Editors —Please add to past favors, by an 
insertion of the subjoined; it is from my book of ex¬ 
tracts and occasional remark: “ The Horticultural Gar¬ 
land, or a Boquct of useful and amusing trifles,” principal¬ 
ly relative to the garden: and oblige yours, &c. 
Magnolia. 
The Great American Aloe— Agave Americana. 
The flowering of this valuable plant, used to be con¬ 
sidered as a very rare occurrence, and as not taking place 
till it attained the age of one hundred years: but the spe¬ 
cimens being now numerous, the delay in flowering is 
found not to be fact. 
The height of the leaves of the Agave are from 4 to 
6 feet, with its branches extending about the same cir¬ 
cumference; the leaves are a foot wide and from 8 to 10 
inches thick; the edges are prickly, and the points are arm¬ 
ed with very strong spires, and bend towards Ihe ground. 
This plant bears some resemblance to the pine apple 
in its leaves, only they are thicker, stiffer, and less nu¬ 
merous : The outside leaves stand around in a star, or 
crown; and the middle consists of a thick spire of leaves, 
so firmly twisted together, that the edge of the one im¬ 
presses, the other with a seal. 
The flowering-stem rises from the centre of the tuft 
of leaves from 30 to 40 feet: branches that bear the in¬ 
dividual clusters of flowers come off very gracefully in 
double curves, which have the bend downwards near the 
stalk, and upwards near the flowers. The appearance 
not unlike that of a majestic candlestick, with successive 
branches, for a great portion of its height, and tall as 
the stem is, the form of the leaves give it the appearance 
of great stability. The plant is a native of tropical 
America, but it abounds in the dry and warm places of 
the south of Europe, along the sandy shores of the Me¬ 
diterranean, and esppecially in the south of Portugal, 
and in the dry districts on the confines of Spain. 
Like most plants which grow in very hot and dry pla¬ 
ces, the rind, or epidermis, of the leaves resists pow¬ 
erfully the action of heat, so that the interior of the 
leaves is very juicy. The juice contains a good deal 
both of alkali and oil, (the ingredients of which soap is 
composed,) so that in some places of the peninsula, it is 
used as a substitute for soap; the pulp forming a lather 
with water. Cattle are also fed on the sliced or bruised 
leaves, at those seasons when the pastures are burnt up 
by the drouth. So that it is a useful plant, even in 
those parts of Europe, where the vegetation of more 
temperate climes is apt to fail. 
In Mexico, it is far more useful; and is, indeed one of 
the most valuable products of the soil,answering some of 
the purposes which are answered by rye in the north of 
Europe, barley in the middle latitudes, and the vine to¬ 
wards the south. The wines and spirits of the country 
are prepared from it. Its leaves make excellent cord¬ 
age and its roots supply a brown sugar called dulce. 
(fcl? 3 There is one of these plants in the green-house 
of Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of this city, which 
is expected to flower in the course of this month. We 
hope to be able to give a correct drawing of it, as it ap¬ 
pears when in full bloom, in the next No. of the Culti¬ 
vator. —Eds. 
Silk Culture in ibe Hnitet) States. 
THE SILK CULTURE. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —The vast importanceof 
the silk growing business in this countiy, cannot fail to 
awaken deep interest in the mind of every one who pos¬ 
sesses a spark of patriotism, and is acquainted with the 
subject; and that subject having for several years occu¬ 
pied a considerable portion of my attention, I feel im¬ 
pelled by a sense of duty, and no less by natural incli¬ 
nation, to offer a few remarks on it, through your widely 
circulating paper, which privilege you will possibly 
grant, on the score that this is the first time I have trou¬ 
bled you. 
There is, perhaps, no other branch of rural industry 
which has proved so infallible a source of national wealth 
as silk growing; and there was never before a time and 
place where it was introduced under such a concurrence 
of favorable circumstances, as meet to invite its intro¬ 
duction into this country at the present time. 
The immediate success, however, of this vast, but not 
difficult undertaking, depends almost entirely on the plan 
adopted, or rather on the course pursued at the com¬ 
mencement. A large fleet starting together for a foreign 
port, if they pursue with unity of purpose and of action, 
the most judicious course, will probably arrive toge¬ 
ther, in due season, at the point of destination. But if 
each takes the course which uninstructed fancy may dic¬ 
tate, some of them may attain that point some time or 
other, and some, probably never. Thus, in the silk bu¬ 
siness, though it must ultimately succeed, at some period 
or other, its benefits to the nation at the present crisis of 
pecuniary, or rather impecuniary embarrassment, de¬ 
pend entirely upon the correctness of its first operations. 
That the United States will arrive at the summit of 
perfection in manufacturing silk, I have no doubt, but 
like all other great operations of a similar nature, it will 
be by slow degrees at first, but progressing with constant 
acceleration, will in some few years enable us to bid de¬ 
fiance and a final adieu to the silk looms of Europe and 
Asia. 
But however desirable this result, and whatever na¬ 
tional benefits may be derived from the manufacture of 
silk, the present policy urged by the strongest dictates of 
common sense, is to apply our united efforts to the grow¬ 
ing and preparing raw silk for exportation. 
This embraces two distinct branches, growing the co¬ 
coons and reeling. The first naturally belongs to agri¬ 
culture; and requires no more skill than growing a crop 
of turneps or potatoes. It requires no capital, and may 
be commenced and successfully pursued by the poorest 
family, and is by far the most profitable branch connect¬ 
ed with the silk business. But reeling not only requires 
skill and judgment, and a greater degree of expertness 
and dexterity of the eye and fingers, than almost any 
other manual operation, but it also requires specific in¬ 
structions to prepare the silk in such manner as to com¬ 
mand a sale in the European markets. 
In this state of things, if we wish to take the path that 
leads, if not to immediate national wealth, at least to 
speedy relief from national as well as individual embar¬ 
rassments, it lies open and plain before us. Let every 
family, and every individual, who can feel any confidence 
in the business, (and they must be ignorant of it, or very 
stupid who cannot,) grow as many cocoons as they can, 
without derangement to other necessary concerns. As 
soon as it can be effected, let filatures be established in 
such number and in such situations, as to furnish conve¬ 
nient markets, where all the cocoons can find sale at their 
fair value. These filatures must be furnished with skill¬ 
ful reelers, who will instruct others as business increases; 
and the silk thus reeled, when prepared in such manner 
as to meet the approbation of the European manufactu¬ 
rers, will be purchased by them with avidity, and bring 
a return of wealth, not in bank rags and lamp black, but 
in gold and silver. As new reelers become instructed, 
many will return to their homes and produce domestic 
reeled silk, perhaps equally marketable with that reeled 
