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fruit of great promise. No. 15, large and very fine. No. 22, high flavored and ripening quite early. These vines are just about as subject to mildew as Catawba and Isabella, are very much better here than when grown where they originated in this respect resembling the Concord and some other varieties. The Alvey proves to be a very sweet, tender skinned grape, and may be found of value for wine. It is not objectionable as a table grape.

Ives's Seedling proves very hardy and reliable, but not equal to Concord as a table grape. Said to be valuable as a wine grape.

MILDEW.

This is the great obstacle in the way of extended grape culture, and although the facts connected with its external appearance are very easily traced, the physiological condition of the plant when attacked, and the modus operandi of the progress of the disease, have given rise to much speculation, and some very strange fancies have been promulgated on the subject; but, unfortunately, none of them have proved to be of much advantage to the fruit grower. So far, the following points have been deduced from observation:

1. That mildew on the leaves of the grape is mainly the result of atmospheric influences.

2. The Peronospora, or mildew, that attacks the leaves on their under surface, is encouraged by the atmospherical conditions accompanying dull, clondy weather, with occasional showers; or when heavy dews are deposited in positions where the rays of the sun cannot penetrate, or, at least, where the moisture cannot readily be evaporated.

3. That, so far as is known, no peculiar constitution of soil, or mode of soil culture, has any influence in its prevention.

4. That, so far as known, no mode of pruning or training, except so far as they agree with the fifth paragraph, has any effect in warding off the disease. 5. That shelter and protection by covered trellises, or masses of foliage, will greatly modify, if not entirely prevent injury from mildew.

6. That varieties of grapes having downy foliage are much more liable to be attacked than those that are smooth or shining.

7. That all grapes having downy foliage are not equally sensitive to the conditions favorable to the fungoid development, but where a pubescent foliage and a smooth foliage are growing side by side, the former, even of the most robust variety, may be attacked while the latter may be exempt from injury.

8. That the appearance termed sun scald is simply the result of this mildew. 9. That timely and repeated applications of sulphur, dusted on the foliage, will check the growth of fungi.

Occasionally another form of mildew may be observed on the vine. This shows itself on the upper surface of the foliage, giving the leaves the appearance of having been dusted with flour; this belongs to the Erysiphe family of mildews, and, although very destructive, is not so fatal as the Peronospora.

This fleury looking substance can easily be removed by brushing the foliage; it is most frequently to be seen on foreign grapes, but may be observed on native varieties in seasons of extreme drought-dry weather seeming to favor the spread of this particular species. The young fruit and even young shoots are sometimes coated with this mildew. It retards growth and injures the plant attacked, so that it is easily destroyed by slight frosts. Sulphur will both prevent

and cure it.

CAUSES AFFECTING THE HARDINESS OF PLANTS.

The occasional destruction of fruit trees and vines during winter is one of the many annoyances experienced by the cultivator; and it is all the more perplexing when it is found that a plant will sometimes be destroyed by a less degree

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of cold than it previously endured without the slightest injury. The amount of cold that plants are capable of resisting is a question of much interest, more especially when we reflect that the power of resistance is dependent upon circumstances which are, to a certain extent, under control.

The necessity for protecting plants, even those of reputed hardiness, from the injurious effects of alternate freezing and thawing, is now admitted by the best cultivators, although it is not unusual to meet with those who pretend to place no value upon a plant that cannot "take care of itself;" as if it was not the province of man to assist nature in producing such results as he finds most profitable and useful. Those who "leave plants to nature," after placing them under artificial positions, only frame an excuse for ignorance or indolence.

It has never been shown that frost is beneficial to plants; but it is a growing and well-grounded opinion, founded upon experience and observation, that many , of the diseases of plants result from repeated injuries during severe frosts and extreme changes of temperature throughout the winter months. The exact manner in which plants are killed by cold has formed a subject of much speculation. The cominonly received opinion is, that frost acts mechanically upon vegetable tissue by expanding their fluids and bursting the cells or vessels in which they are enclosed. This explanation, however, is not sufficient to account for all the phenomena attending the death of plants from cold. Doubtless many plants, especially those of a very succulent nature, may be destroyed from the disruption of tissue by the expansion of the sap in freezing. But it is also well known that the extraction of moisture by evaporation, when in contact with a continual cold, dry atmosphere, very frequently proves fatal. Thus it is that many plants which do not seem to be injured in the slightest by a degree of cold sufficient to freeze the sap, are destroyed by the keen, dry winds of spring, even when the thermometer is above freezing; and hence it is that grapes, roses, raspberries, and other plants suffer more from March winds than they do from January frosts; and hence also the utility of protecting against this destructive evaporation. The effect of these drying winds is apparent in the shrivelled and dried appearance of the buds and bark; and although there is less likelihood of injury to thoroughly matured growths, yet it is in accordance both with theory and observation that plants whose juices are preserved by proper protection during winter will shoot forth more vigorously in spring, are more fruitful, and arrive earlier at maturity than those not sheltered from climatic extremes.

It cannot be too vividly impressed upon the mind of the cultivator that the ripening of the seasonal growth is the greatest desideratum. How much of the disappointment in fruit culture arises from excessive stimulation of shoots that never become mature, it would be no easy task to determine. We are convinced that the time is rapidly approaching when planting fruit trees and vines in highly enriched soil, and treating them with heavy dressings of nitrogenous manures, will be looked upon as conclusive evidence of unskilled culture. Not that all stimulation is unnecessary, but that the production of mere wood-growth and the production of fruit are distinct, and may be carried so far as to become antagonistic processes, and must be recognized before the highest excellence in fruit culture can be attained.

On the best means of prevention from the evil effects of freezing plants, the following remarks of Lindley are to the point: "The mechanical action of frost may, however, undoubtedly be guarded against to a great extent. It is well known that the same plant growing in a dry climate, or in a dry soil, or in a situation thoroughly drained from water during winter, will resist much more cold than if cultivated in a damp climate, or in wet soil, or in a place affected by water in winter. Whatever tends to render tissue moist, will increase its power of conducting heat, and consequently augment the susceptibility of plants to the influence of frost; and whatever tends to diminish their humidity, will also diminish their conducting power, and with it their susceptibility. This is

an invariable law, and must consequently be regarded as a fundamental principle in horticulture, upon attention to which all success in the adaptation of plants to a climate less warm than their own will essentially depend. The destructive effects of frosts upon the succulent parts of plants may thus be accounted for independently of the mechanical expansion of their parts; indeed, it is chiefly to that circumstance that the evil effects of cold in spring may be ascribed, for it has been found that trees contain nearly eight per cent. more of aqueous parts in March than at the end of January, and all experience shows that the cultivation of plants in situations where they are liable to be stimulated into growth and, consequently, to be filled with fluid by the warmth and brightness of a mild protracted autumn, exposes them to the same bad consequences as growing them in damp places, or where their wood is not ripened; that is to say, exhausted of superfluous moisture, and strengthened by the deposition of solid matter resulting from such exhaustion."

The ripening process consists in the slow but gradual and complete removal of watery matter, and the conversion of fluid organizable materials into the more solid substances which are necessary to form woody fibre; and its effects are not only seen in the power conferred of resisting cold, but also in providing an abundance of the secretions necessary to sustain the growth of the following spring, and produce the flower-buds upon which future hopes depend; for it is well known that flower-buds will not be produced unless the elements of growth have been maintained in due relative proportions.

We can thus partly see how far it is in our power to assist nature in supplying the requisites for perfect maturation of growth. The fruit grower will be careful to avoid planting in wet or highly enriched soil that would tend to encourage prolonged growth in the fall; he will see that his strawberry plants are not neglected during summer after the crop is gathered; that weeds are prevented from gaining a foothold; that the plants are thinned and fully exposed to sun and air, in order to perfect flower-buds for the following spring; that his raspberry plants have been divested of the old bearing wood, the young shoots thinned and disposed at proper distances so as to allow them a free enjoyment of light; that his grapevines have an abundance of healthy foliage, so as to ripen the young wood for his future crop; and that his peach trees are not suddenly denuded of their foliage, while it is as green and fresh as in the month of June.

When a fundamental principle is once determined and understood, operative details are suggested, and from them the best practical mode of application is readily deduced; for instance, many of the most beautiful evergreen ornamental trees, such as the Asiatic conifers as well as those from the western coast of this continent, cryptomerias and deodars, sequoias and taxodiums, have, in our moist fall growing weather, a tendency to make a luxuriant growth which never ripens, and, as a natural consequence, it is destroyed by winter cold. Now, if these growths are checked in September by judicious root-pruning, the wood will mature, shoots become hard and woody, and, instead of being unripe and filled with watery fluid, be solid and firm, and fully prepared to stand the extremes of our wintry climate. The whole subject of the acclimation of plants is based upon maturity of growth.

ROTATION OF CROPS

Among the essentials requisite to maintain a high degree of success in culti vation, a proper system of rotative cropping occupies a prominent place. The advantages of rotation in farm crops are well known; yet, in the garden, the practice is very common to grow the same kind of crops for years in the same spot of groun. It is, perhaps, within the bounds of possibility to pursue this course successfully, but to do so will require an annual return to the soil, in

some form, of the several ingredients extracted by the plants. Our knowledge of the application of science will not warrant much faith in this direction, even if chemists were decided as to exact respective amounts of the ingredients used by various crops. But allowing it to be practically attainable, and looking at it in the light of mere economy, a change of crop is every way desirable; since by proper care two dissimilar crops may be produced on the same ground in the same season; and, further, the operations necessary for the culture of one kind of crop are of a nature to form a good preparation for the succeeding one

Physiologists do not altogether coincide in their opinions with regard to the principles upon which the beneficial results attending systematic change of crops are based. Some support what may be termed the repletion or excretory theory, which proceeds on the supposition that the roots of all plants during their growth give out certain substances peculiar to themselves, which, in time, impregnate the soil to such an extent as to render it unfit for the growth of that particular plant, but has no deleterious effect upon the growth of a different family of plants, if, indeed, they are not rather to be considered as capable of promoting growth and acting as stimulants to such.

It is a well ascertained fact that certain if not all plants do impart to the soil, through their roots, a portion of their juices. The soil surrounding the roots of the oak tree has been found impregnated with tannin. The roots of the spurge laurel impart an acid, resinous matter. The poppy exudes a substance analogous to opium; the root of any plant growing in water will soon render it turbid, but the quantity of such matters hitherto detected has not been considered sufficiently important to account for the remarkable beneficial results which have followed a rotative system of cropping.

The above theory has been supported by very high authority, but it seems to be giving way to the following, viz: that although plants are made up of the same primary elements, yet different species require them in widely varying proportions, so that each plant has a characteristic formation peculiar to itself. It therefore follows, that if there is a lack in the supply of these peculiar ingredients of plant food, the plant will not be maintained in healthy grow h. From this it appears that the reason why a crop, if constantly grown upon the same spot of ground, shows a yearly loss in productiveness, does not arise from a repletion of any substance, but rather from exhaustion. In a practical view, it is evident, from either of the above theories, that a change of crop is requisite to successful cultivation.

In cultivating garden vegetables great facilities are presented for a frequent change of crop, and there is, also, a wide field for experiment in order to ascertain the kinds best suited to succeed one another in a regular system. For instance, it has been asserted that melons will produce best when grown on soil previously occupied by tomatoes. In general, long, tuberous, rooting plants, as carrots, beets, parsnips, &c., should be followed by those that root near the surface; plants that are cultivated for their seeds should be followed by those grown for their foliage. The seeds of all plants contain a larger amount of the mineral ingredients than their leaves, so that plants grown for their seeds will exhaust the inorganic matter of the soil to a greater degree than will be effected by plants grown only for the use of their leaves.

In the arrangement of crops in the field or garden, there are two methods that may be adopted, either of which will provide for rotation. In the first place a spot of ground is occupied wholly by one crop, and when that is removed its place is immediately occupied by another; or two or more crops are so planted on the same piece of ground that the one will be ready for removal before it interferes with the growth of the other. The first method may be illustrated by planting with early peas or potatoes, which will be removed in time for planting cabbages or celery, or sowing beets, turnips, or spinach. Early crops of carrots and beets will be removed in time for a planting of late dwarf beans. Many

modifications will be suggested in practice. Perhaps the most economical method, especially where ground is limited in quantity, is to grow several crops at the same time on the same piece. For instance, peas may be sown in March, in rows, six feet apart; in May a row of melons may be planted between the peas, the shade afforded by the peas will benefit the young melon plants, or, between the peas a row of dwarf beans may be planted, and when the peas are removed their place may be occupied by cabbages, and the beans be succeeded by a crop of turnips. It does not seem necessary to multiply examples, as those who are inclined, and will exercise due foresight, will suggest many expedients. Much variety can be produced in even a small garden by this method, and it affords great facilities for sheltering young and tender crops by those of more matured or robust growth. It may, however, be remarked, that although most plants are benefited by a little shade and shelter when young and delicate, it is highly injurious when long continued.

FOREIGN GRAPES IN GLASS STRUCTURES.

The simplicity and certainty with which the foreign grape can be produced in glazed houses is not generally known. Many amateurs, whose success with other fruits is quite satisfactory, feel doubtful of their ability to manage the exotic grapery.

To those whose only acquaintance with the subject is derived from perusing publications on the growth of this fruit, the supposition of inability is pardonable; for there is certainly much to appal the beginner, in perusing the various ideas of soil and border making, the conflicting opinions relative to watering, and the multitudinous, fussy details of management, which he will find in print. So much has been written of late years on this subject, that it would not now be referred to were it not with a hope that information might be imparted that would tend to dispel the idea of difficulty or mystery, in connexion with the culture of this, without exception, most economical of fruit productions. It is well known that, in favorable locations, the Chasselas, Black Hamburg, and many other of the varieties of the foreign grape will occasionally produce perfectly ripened fruit with no further care than that usually given to the Isabellas, or any other native variety. But although the result may occasionally be reached, it is well known that all attempts to cultivate the foreign grape in the open air, east of the Rocky mountains, have, sooner or later, proved abortive.

That these failures are attributable either to a deficiency of sunlight or to a deficiency of summer heat are questions easily answered; for we find that in the climate of Britain, where the dull, sunless days are more abundant, and the summer heat of less intensity and of shorter duration than with us, the Hamburg and other exotic grapes ripen yearly, trained on outside walls and trellises, and this in a climate where the heat is not sufficient to mature Indian corn, tomatoes, or even peaches, in common field culture as with us. Neither can it be supposed that our own summers are too hot, or our winters too cold, as it is well known that there is scarcely any plant that will withstand extremes of summer heat and winter cold so well as the grape, provided it maintains good health. But unfortunately, there are climatic conditions here during which the grape is rendered subject to the attack of fungoids, by which its growth is checked, the wood prevented from maturing, and a general debility engendered which enfeebles the plant to a degree that, sooner or later, ends in its total destruction. This tendency to mildew is, then, the only obstacle in the way of successful open air culture, in this section, of the best wine and table grapes of Europe; and is the only reason why glass structures have to be employed in their culture, where an artificial temperature, more in accordance with their requirements, may be maintained. The tendency to mildew in the foreign grape, having been found so great a barrier to its extended culture in the open air, recourse was

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