1884 .] 
the AMERICAN garden. 
2S 
TTJBEEOUS-SOOTED ftEAPE-VIlfES, 
There seems to he Uttle doubt that the 
tuberous vines recently discovered in the 
French colony of Cochin China are, if not 
Identical, very nearly allied to those found a 
few yea,rs ago in Soudan in Africa. Both 
have thick, tuberous roots, from which the 
stems are thrown up annually, dying down 
in winter, or the dry season. 
Last summer we received, via California, 
a few seeds of the Cochin China kind. 
These were sown in pots in a frame, and 
required a long time and very high tempera¬ 
ture to make them germinate. Finally, we 
succeeded in raising half a dozen plants, 
but they did not grow over three to four 
inches in height, producing three to four 
glossy leaves of about the shape and appear¬ 
ance of the Clinton Grape, when 
suddenly they damped off udthout 
any apparent cause. The bulbs 
produced are so minute that we 
have but little hope to be able to 
preserve them in a condition to 
start again in spring. Yet we shall 
give them all possible care, as few 
now plants have excited our curi¬ 
osity as much as these singular 
vines. If any of our readers have 
had experience with them, we 
should be very glad to learn the 
results. 
It is doubtful whether they can 
bo cultivated anywhere in the 
United States, except perhaps in 
Florida; but for warmer climates 
they may yet become of great im¬ 
portance. In its native country 
the vigor of the plant seems almost 
incredible. ^Ir. M. Martin, the dis¬ 
coverer, says: 
“ I found these vines for the 
first time in the forests of Mais. 
Some of them attained a height 
of fifty feet, and were completely 
covered with Grapes from top to 
bottom. A single vine will yield 
two hundred pounds of Grapes— 
not in a general way, of course; 
but I have found plants which 
gave that amoimt; and some of the 
bunches weighed eight pounds.” 
Our illustration,—for which we 
are indebted to the London Gar¬ 
den ,— reduced to about one-third 
of the natm’al size, shows well the 
general habit of the bunches. 
The berries are of the size of 
our medium Grapes, and are foimd both red 
and white. The white are said to bo “ soft 
and of agreeable flavor,” the red “rough.” 
But their principal value will be for wine- 
maldug. So far, wine has only been made 
from them in a crude manner, and this is 
described as “of fine color, but gi’een, and 
of but one degree lighter than that made 
from cultivated Grapes.” 
FEUIT TBEES BY THE LINE FENCE. 
Although the laws on this subject vary 
somewhat in different States, the following, 
according to a prominent lawyer of this city, 
covers the main points : 
If the stem or trunk of the tree grows so 
close to the line that part of its actual body 
extends into the land of each, neither owner 
can out it down without the consent of the 
other, and the fruit is tobe equitably divided. 
If the stem of the tree stands wholly within 
the boundary line of one owner, he owns the 
whole of the tree with its products, although 
the roots and bj-aiiches extend into the prop¬ 
erty of another. The law gives the land- 
owner on whose soil the tree stands the 
right to cut it down, and to pluck all the 
fridt fi’om it while it stands. 
In New-Yoiic State the courts have decided 
that trespass or assault would lie by the 
owner of the laud over which its branches 
extend, if he prevented the owner of the 
tiee, by personal violence, from reaching 
over and iiicldng the fruit growing upon these 
branches while standing on the fence divid¬ 
ing the lands. The owner of the land over 
which the branches extend may lop the 
branches close to his line. He may also dig 
down and cut the roots square with his line. 
FRUIT OF THE TUBEROUS-ROOTED GRAPE-VINE. 
(" Onc-lldrd natural she.) 
OSOHAED NOTES. 
Ten years ago I thought spring the only 
proper season for pruning, but now I am 
just as firmly convinced that fall or winter 
is as good. Each year I do less and less 
pruning, because I prune the young tree 
mercilessly when I transplant it from the 
nursery to the orchard, and as a result 
find very little after-pruning necessary. I 
think this is an important point in orchard¬ 
ing, more so than is generally supposed. 
Shaping the top when transplanting, avoids 
the cutting of limbs when they have become 
large, and the consequent formation of large 
scars; and at the time of transplanting, and 
for some time afterward, the roots are not 
capable of nourishing a top as large as 
when growing in the nursery. The tops of 
trees planted in the spring should receive 
their final shaping in the fall. After that, 
all that I do is to cut out “ water shoots,” 
dead limbs, and limbs that interfere with 
one another. 
I use for covering soars a wax made of 
tallow, resin, and beeswax. But I have 
found paint as good as any wax. I use lin¬ 
seed oil and mineral paint, which is cheap. 
Make the paint very thick, and give the soars 
two heavy coats. 
Another error which I firmly believed in 
was that the ground of a young orchard 
should be cultivated, and while my Apple 
and Peach orchards were young, I kept the 
ground in hoed crops. But when the trees 
grew larger, and cast so much shade that 
good crops could not be grown on a consid¬ 
erable part of the land, I sowed both or¬ 
chards in grass and clover, and in grass 
and clover they have remained imto this 
day. A few trees die out each 
year, and I immediately grub them 
up, and supply their places with 
trees fi-om the nursery. It thus 
happens that I have trees of all 
ages less than thirty years grow¬ 
ing in the orchards, and I am cer¬ 
tain they are fully as thrifty and 
healthy now among the grass as 
the young trees were when the 
ground was cultivated. 
I still think, however, that it is 
better to cultivate the land of an 
orchard than to neglect it alto¬ 
gether. But I make a hog pastm'o 
of my orchards, because I have 
found doing so beneficial to both 
orchards and hogs. The enemies 
of the trees seem no more numer¬ 
ous now than when the ground was 
stirred. I do not allow the grass 
to grow within a couple of feet of 
the trunks of the trees. 
In quite a number of places, es¬ 
pecially on the prairies, the rabbits 
occasion the orchardist consider¬ 
able trouble, expense, and vexa¬ 
tious delay, by girdling the young 
trees. They confine their depre¬ 
dations on the yoimg orchard to 
tho winter months, when gi’een 
vegetable food is scarce, and they 
are always the worst when snow 
is on the ground, as then they find 
it quite troublesome to get clover. 
For years I tried every preventive 
I heard of, but found none valua¬ 
ble, and had about come to the 
conclusion that the only really 
efflcaeious preventive was a vigor¬ 
ous and incessant use of the shot-gun, when 
some one told me to smear the trunks of the 
young trees with hog’s liver, as far up 
as the rabbits could reach. I have faith¬ 
fully tested this for several years now, and 
can say that a rabbit will not touch a 
tree that has been coated with it. I have 
not tried other liver, but suppose the liver 
of cattle or sheep would answer equally as 
well. 
I am not certain but anything greasy or 
smelling of blood would answer. I wash the 
liver off the next spring with soap-suds 
saved from washing, using an old broom, 
and scrubbing the trunks and larger limbs 
thoroughly. But then I would do this 
whether there was liver on the trees or not. 
The keeping the trunks of fruit trees clean 
promotes their health, and is a good prevent¬ 
ive against the depredations of many injmi- 
ous insects. John M. Stahl. 
