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Among gooseberries, I can recommend the American and Houghton's seedling as the best bearers. They are free from mildew and blight, to which the white Smith, though a fine, large berry, is liable.

I suppose, from the best information, that the Missouri mammoth is the best blackberry.

The best raspberry I have tried is the perpetual. It is a large black berry, resembling the common wild raspberry in flavor.

As to strawberries, I find little difference between three varieties. Wilson's seedlings, triomphe de gand, and a variety received from Horace Greeley, but whose name I have forgotten.

G. W. Vaughan.-Grapes are not extensively cultivated here. The Concord, Isabella, Catawba and large English are among the best. Gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and currants are more cultivated. The English gooseberry, Lawton blackberry and Wilson strawberry are among the best.

J. G. Swann.-Gooseberries and currants-common kind. Produce well.

J. Balsiger.-Small fruits I have not yet planted largely, only for family use. They generally do very well with me. Grape vines grow vigorously. Catawba and Isabella rotting badly every season, but Hartford prolific, Concord, Delaware and Norton's Virginia doing well, as far as I can judge. I am trying other kinds, but cannot yet report about them.

Currants bring abundant crops every year, at least the red Dutch. I have commenced trying some new kinds also.

The Houghton seedling gooseberry, the only one I have cultivated with success, bears abundantly. The quality is not very high, but it is good for pies, hardy and healthy. Tried English kinds, but they never bore a single fruit, and died, killed by mildew.

I have planted the Lawton or New Rochelle blackberry; it promises well.

Of raspberries, I have the Kirtland, the Philadelphia and the Brinkle's orange, in bearing, and I am well satisfied with them; they, except the Brinkle, which needs covering in winter, being hardy, of good quality and productive. An objection to the Kirtland might be, that it suckers very much. I have also the Doolittle on trial. Of strawberries, we planted the Wilson, the agriculturist and the triomphe de gand, all of good quality and productive, but the Wilson dying out after every full crop. All have suffered badly from the drought last summer.

All these small fruits prosper best if planted in deeply worked and rich land. For grapes I prepare the soil by several plowings from 15 to 18 inches deep, and manure, when not rich enough, with ashes, rotten sods, bones, leaf mould and such like. For the other fruits of this class, I dig trenches, 2 or 3 feet wide and 2 spades deep, and mix the earth, when throwing it in again, well with rotten manure, and set the young plants in this enriched soil, at a distance of 4 to 5 feet. The rows of small fruit are in my peach orchard, at about 10 feet from the trees, alternating with the rows of peach trees. They ought to be kept clean of weeds. Blackberries and raspberries pinched in in summer, the old wood after bearing, and the superfluous shoots cut off, leaving only 3 or 4 of the strongest stalks. Currants and gooseberries ought also to be thinned, and the old wood of more than three years of age retrenched. I surface manure the plants nearly every fall or winter abundantly. They did not suffer perceptibly from any disease or from insects, excepting the rot in the Catawba and Isabella grapes. Some grape berries have been stung by some

kind of curculio, who laid his eggs in them, which produced a worm that spoiled the fruit. There were some leaf rollers on my grape vines which I destroyed; the so much dreaded thrips I have not yet observed. I have found, but rarely, the spotted pelidnota on the vines, but it had not injured them perceptibly. The currant leaves were attacked on the under side by a kind of black or gray aphis, which caused them to curl up more or less.

T. Engelmann.—I have 14 acres in grape vines, nine of them already in bearing. I selected the land of my farm with reference to raising grapes and making wine. The hill sites were covered with wild grapes, which fact seemed to encourage enter prise and promise success. In 1851 I had one acre of ground, with a southern aspect, trenched with the spade two feet deep, at a cost of $130, and planted with Catawba vines 5 to 6 feet distant. The Catawba was at that time the only grape known or recommended as a wine grape. I enlarged my vineyard every year until in 1857 it embraced six acres. The rows ran east and west, and the vines were trained to stakes. The results of the first few years after the vines came in bearing more than realized my most sanguine expectations; the vines were thrifty and healthy, and the fruit, and the wine made from it, satisfactory in quantity and superior in quality, and found a ready sale to the wholesale wine merchant at $3 per gallon. If we bear in mind that at that time wheat was $1 per bushel, wages from $8 to $12 a month, and other commodities or necessaries of life in proportion, we can form a correct estimate of the profits realized from my vineyard. In 1858 the diseases to which the grape vines are liable, made their appearance and were very destructive, and remained so until 1865 unabated. In 1865 about half a crop of good grapes was obtained; the vintage of 1866 was still better, and that of 1867 was superior in quantity and quality. I obtained from my six acres of Catawba vineyard 1500 gallons select quality of wine, and 1200 gallons by the second picking, of very good quality. In 1864 I had changed the rows in my vineyard from east and west to north and south, and I do not know whether the better crops obtained in the three next following years is owing to this change or to unknown atmospheric influences.

In the meantime the market has also experienced a change. It is flooded with imported and imitation wines, and native wines are not in demand. My vintages of 1866 and 1867 remain unsold in my cellar, although I offer them freely at $1 50 to $2 per gallon. If we take in consideration that wheat at present is $2 50 a bushel; wages, exclusive of board, from $20 to $40 a month, and almost all other commodities in proportion, we can make a correct estimate of the reduction in the price of wine.

My best vintages were in 1857 and 1867. They averaged 450 gallons to the acre. The average yield during the thirteen years that my vineyard has been in bearing, is not more than 110 gallons per acre; which, at $1 75 per gallon, would make $192 50 gross proceeds per acre.

The cost of production, according to present rates, would sum up as follows:

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This estimate, however, I do not consider as reliable. Its fallacy will be detected in the many failures which I have experienced, and which I hope shall in future be avoided. The grape diseases may disappear, or we may find a remedy or preventive for them; or we will plant varieties less subject to them than the Catawba, and in this way secure more regular and remunerating crops. The price of wine may also come up again to a higher figure in consequence of failures in the wine-growing countries of Europe, or in consequence of the imposition of a higher tariff, or increased costs of importation.

Of the many other varieties of grapes which of late years have been recommended for general cultivation, a few only have been extensively planted: The Norton, the Concord, Herbemont, and Clinton. Of these I consider the Norton as the most valuable; it is nearly free from disease, and its wine is of superior quality. It is a good bearer, yet the berries being small and not very juicy, 200 gallons per acre may be considered a very good yield; it is the largest yield which I have obtained from this grape. The Concord is not so healthy as the Norton, yet it soon recovers from the effects of the diseases, and ripens an abundant crop of large and showy fruit to perfection. It is very productive, and will make between 600 and 800 gallons of wine per acre. The wine is, however, of inferior quality, and the grape will soon be discarded in the list of wine grapes, while it may continue to be valued as a dessert or market grape. The Herbemont is, in my estimation, as a wine and dessert grape, superior to all others; but it is tender, requiring protection in winter, and is liable to disease, especially to mildew, and I am doubtful if extensive planting of this delicious fruit would be profitable. The Clinton, generally considered the healthiest of all grape vines, will not succeed here. Either the soil, the situation, or the local atmosphere, do not agree with it. In three successive seasons it has dropped its leaves prematurely, and ripened its fruit but imperfectly.

G. C. Eisenmeyer.-The Concord, Norton, Virginia seedling, Herbemont, Hartford prolific, and Clinton grapes are the only valuable varieties successfully culti vated. The modus operandi of planting and pruning is described in too many books and papers to admit of a description here. However, I will say that I plow about 15 to 18 inches deep, with a plow constructed for that purpose; plant in the fall if possible, 6 to 8 feet apart; use a small stake the first and second years to tie the young vines to; after that set posts in the ground 20 feet apart, and then stretch No. 10 or 11 wire 18 to 20 inches apart along said posts, to which two vines are tied, partly perpendicular and partly bowed, as the canes may be long or short. Pruning should be commenced as soon as the leaves drop off the vines in the fall, and continued through the winter and spring till completed.

J. Barber. Of grapes, I find the Concord to be the best, so far as my experience has gone. The yield is enormous, and it is less liable to disease. The Catawba is good, but it rots badly. Hartford prolific and Delaware not yet in bearing. Concord and Hartford prolific are planted in rows six feet apart, and eight feet in the row. Pruning is done in fall and early winter, in order to save the wood for cuttings.

Currants

Currants: Mostly red Dutch. Gooseberries: Houghton's seedling. have not yielded very heavy crops, but the gooseberries bear enormously. They are planted in rows four feet each way. Have not cultivated blackberries. Wild ones are numerous, of which I have marketed several hundred bushels, realizing remunerative prices. Have several varieties of strawberries. As yet the Wilson is the most profitable for market. Jucunda or Knox's, 700 fruited with me last year (1867)

and is very promising. For all the small fruits I trench plow deeply and set in spring. Marketing is mostly done in shallow drawers, holding a half bushel.

J. Warder. The small fruits flourish well with us-the strawberry in particular. We have two varieties, the Albany and neck pine. The latter requires less sugar, and will bear neglect better than any variety we have tried. Have tried the Isabella and Catawba grapes; the Catawba is too apt to rot.

14. WOODLANDS AND TIMBER PLANTATIONS.-Experience in forestry: in management of woodlands, or in growing timber trees from seeds or young trees: value as a crop and as shelter for crops and animals ?

E. Moss. By keeping out fires our woodlands seem to extend. The soft maple is planted in groves, somewhat, to good acceptance.

M. A. McConnell-Woodlands can be grown, and almost all kinds of timber, with care, and are very necessary for the protection of animals.

D. C. Scofield.-Woodlands: 1st. By woodlands, I mean all lands which have on them a growth of natural forest, either large or small; and I will embrace in this definition all lands from which the timber has been cut and taken away, and has not been subjected to the "grubbing and annihilating process."

2d. Certain varieties of timber when cut away have a tendency to sprout and reproduce another forest. Such is especially the tendency of the oak and hickory, of which our prairie groves and forests are composed. A second forest may be secured, of great profit to the owner and the country, by fencing immediately on the removal of the timber, and protecting from cattle and fires a few years; when, without further care or expense, a valuable crop of young timber is the result. A considerable portion of the eastern States are supplied with fuel and timber from forests of second growth, and already thousands of cords of wood which have grown within the last thirty years in our prairie groves, are sold in our markets,

3d. These timber lands should be perpetuated. Inducemets should be extended in the form of exemption from taxation, or some other way, to all who will thus protect and perpetuate timber land,

Timber plantations: By this we understand, timber planted and cultivated as any other farm crop. That this may be done with great success and profit is already demonstrated in Europe, and to some extent in America.

The pine and the larch, it is said, grow equally well on poor and rich soils. My experience is on rich prairie soil. In 1856 I broke new prairie, and in 1857-8 imported from European nurseries and set on the now well subdued grounds several varieties of tree plants. The evergreens consisted of Weymouth (or white) Scotch and black Austrian pines, Norway spruce and European silver fir. The deciduous trees were European mountain ash, *Tyrolese larch, and Scotch elm. About the same time I planted seeds of American white ash, white and red elm, silver or soft maple, black walnut, rock or sugar maple, and horse chestnut. The two latter grow exceedingly slow from seed on prairie soil, and should be planted on timber land in a high state of cultivation.

There are two varieties of Larch cultivated in European nurseries: one known as "Tyrolese," which was introduced into Scotland in the year 1738, and was found in the Tyrolese Mountains, a portion of the Alps. It is upright and beautifully symmetrical in its form, while that known as "European" is wild and irregular in its habit, resembling the American Larch (or Tamarack), a native of some of our swamps.

I also imported from American forests the American balsam and arbor vitæ. The European silver fir was too tender for the climate and proved nearly a total failure. All the rest have proved to be hardy here, and have made satisfactory growth. The larch, black walnut, silver maple, American white ash, Weymouth, Scotch and black Austrian pines, and Norway spruce, I planted in forest belts, and all have made satisfactory growth, except where the black walnut was planted among other trees. It should be planted in separate plantations.

Since the importations and planting of 1857-8, I have imported for trial, the Cembra (or Swiss Stone) Pine Corsican, Maratime, Mountain and Mungho Pines, none of which do I regard as valuable for forest culture, but only for ornamental plantations. Any of the American varieties of deciduous trees that I have mentioned, may be raised from the seed by the farmer, as readily as corn; but the larch and evergreen varieties require skill, which but few possess, to raise them from the seed in this climate, and then only on light, sandy soils, and partially shaded during the first year. The Tyrolese larch may be successfully transplanted from the seed-bed at two years old, into nursery rows, and should remain there under good culture two years, when it is suitable for the forest plantation. There they should be set three feet apart each way, in rows, and in five or six years onehalf should be taken out for hop poles, grape stakes or trellises, etc. In twelve years one-half the residue may be taken for fence posts, leaving the rest to grow six feet apart. At twenty years old, one-half the balance may be taken for railroad ties, fence posts, and spars, leaving 605 trees to the acre, to grow on ten years more, or until the plantation is thirty years old. Then one-half of the balance is removed, leaving 302 trees per acre, many of which will be two feet in diameter and sixty feet in height.

This is the method of forest culture in Europe, which I learned from a private correspondence with one of the most intelligent nurserymen and foresters in Scotland. He also adds his testimony in reference to the strength and durability of the larch. He says it is the most durable timber in Europe, exceeding that of the red cedar, and has the greatest elastic strength of any known timber.

The Weymouth or White Pine, which exceeds in value all the known varieties of pine, for both civil and naval architecture, stands foremost in value of all the evergreen tribe, and is not excelled by any in beauty or rapid growth. It is among evergreens what the larch is among deciduous trees. These two varieties of timber compare, in commercial value, for forest culture in this country, above all other varieties, as five to one, and should be planted by acres on every farm, not only in the prairie, but in all the States of the Union, Both the Tyrolese larch and Weymouth pine will acquire a diameter of from two to three feet, and a height of from sixty to eighty feet in less than fifty years. The pine is not valuable until large enough for sawing timber, while the larch is valuable as soon as large enough for hop poles. It is asserted, on high authority, that small poles of the larch have stood for hops and grapes several generations, and yet show no signs of decay. Pines should be set in the forest plantation twelve feet apart, and the rows filled up between, at three feet apart, with larch. These should be successively removed, as when the whole plantation is of larch, until the pine alone is left. It is necessary, in order to secure the most perfect forest, to follow as nearly as possible, nature's method, by planting closely, which tends to send the growth upward and divest the trunk of limbs.

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