Grape Culture; another row of vines are placed bunch of fruit; is spoken of as a fair table-grape, three feet apart, and trained according to the old but promising well for wine. From Dr. Jackson's "single cane renewal" of the books; and several analysis, I am inclined to the opinion that it may vines are allowed to ramble pretty much as they prove worthy of general cultivation for wine purplease; the principal care being to keep up a good poses; but it must show greater bearing qualities stock of bearing wood. than as yet with me, or it will be passed to the rear. Thus much for the trellises, and training, and now for a few notes upon the different varieties of grape. Allen's Hybrid.-A pot vine of 1861; now making a fair growth, of very handsome wood; expect it will prove worthy of general cultivation a little further south-and perhaps here. August Pioneer.-A layer of 1861; has made a vigorous growth; said to be a desirable, hardy fruit, but I doubt if it comes quite up,to its ministerial recommendation. Blood's Black.-A layer of 1861; fair grower. Black Seedling.-Strong grower; promises well for a wilding seedling. Clark's Seedling.-A layer of 1861; has not grown well with me; one died, and this one started late, and grows feebly-probably was layered from the last year's wood; is well spoken of by those who ought to speak truly. Clinton.-Öne of the feeblest growers I have; layers of 1860, planted 1861, have made but little wood, and show no signs of fruit; expect it to be desirable in New England as a wine grape. Canadian Chief.-A pot vine of 1861; feeble growth; do not expect much from either vine or fruit, though, from its origin, and handsome bunches, I wish it may prove desirable. Cuyahoga.-A pot vine of 1861; feeble; expect it to prove desirable. Canby's August.-A layer of 1861; feeble growth, and very small foliage. Concord.-Vines of one to five years old; strong growers; out of thirty-three have not lost one; layers of 1859, planted 1861, show a goodly number of handsome bunches; stands very near the head of the list of desirable out-door grapes for this latitude. One row of twenty-seven vines is trained according to Bright's method-i. e., each vine is allowed to grow but one cane, which is fruited one year, and then cut down, and next year a new cane is grown, to fruit the year after. In this way a crop is grown every other year. By cutting down every other vine each fall, I have a fruiting cane every four feet. This is a very simple method, and will return good crops, but it costs more to stock a vineyard than by most other methods. The Concord thus far behaves admirably under this discipline. Delaware.-Pot vines of 1860, planted 1861, made a feeble growth the first year, (one-half of them dying outright,) but this year will give single canes of four to six feet of good wood. Very hard to propagate, either from eyes or layers. For quality of fruit, and hardiness, this stands at the head of the list of out-door grapes, but I expect it will soon be eclipsed by a larger variety. Thus far I find it rather a troublesome vine to train, on account of its disposition to send out numerous laterals. But as at present advised, I consider it the leading grape, for vineyard or garden. It leaves little to be desired, except size, and that I shall doubtless secure ere long. Dracut Amber.-Three year old layer when planted, 1861; made rather poor growth last year; this year growing finely, but only set one feeble Diana.-One vine five years old, planted 1860, made good growth, but shows only a few very poor bunches of fruit; find it slow getting layers from it. Of fifteen purchased layers of 1860 planted in 1861, only five survived, and they have not yet shown much vigor; of some eight or ten planted this year, all have made a moderate growth. Late and uneven ripening are serious objections to this otherwise desirable grape. Early Isabella.-Said to be a seedling of the old variety, but two weeks earlier. Appears and grows much like the original, and a specimen of fruit on layer of 1861 throws a doubt on its early ripening. Empire.-Layer of 1861; a very vigorous grower; smooth leaf, and badly eaten by insects, and so far as present appearances indicate, it is too succulent and tender for this latitude. Early Hudson.-Layer of 1861; strong growth, and looks promising. Franklin.-Layer of 1861; a fair growth. Garrigues.-Layer of 1861; a very vigorous grower; looks well. Granite State.-A very strong grower; fairsized bunches, but berries now twice the size of either Concord, or Hartford Prolific. Said to be a fair table grape; not yet proved for wine; ripens 1st to 10th September. Hartford Prolific.-Of twenty layers of 1860, planted 1861, every one made a very vigorous growth, and several ripened a specimen of fruit; propagates early; vines this year have double the fruit of Concords one year older; evidently a great bearer. Is a fair table grape, and analysis speaks well for its wine-making qualities. Deserves more attention here at the north-east. Isabella.-More mildew on one vine, than on all my other varieties put together; crops very nearly ruined. Jennings.-Layer of 1861; good growth; looks well, and is well spoken of. Logan.-Layer of 1861; good growth. Louisa. Similar to Isabella; said to be earlier; layer of 1861; vigorous growth. Marion.-Layer of 1861; moderate growth; small foliage; not very promising. Northern Muscadine.-Layer of 1861; fair growth; generally considered as a very ordinary native grape. Nancy.-Layer of 1861; good growth, of very slim cane; not very promising. Ontario.-Layer of 1861; fair growth. Oporto.-Layer of 1861; a strong growth; gives promise to be a desirable wine grape. Pennel.-Layer of 1861; a fair growth, but small foliage. Perkins.-Layer of 1861; good growth; is well spoken of for its fair quality, earliness and nardiness. Rebecca. The tenderest and feeblest vines I have. Generally reported to me as too tender for this latitude, but a fine grape, when well grown. Rogers' Hybrids.-I am convinced that several of these will prove decidedly popular, and worthy of general cultivation. Nos. 9 and 15, pot vines | half the trouble to clean him the next time he of 1861, good growth. No. 19, large and hand- needs it. Mr. S. will be kind enough to try this some layers of 1861; a very vigorous grower on his new "beaver," [made of silk, perhaps cotequal to any in my collection. This grape proves to be of good quality, hardy, prolific, and earlier ton, now,] and Mr. W. on his four-year-old dapthan the Concord. Berries never drop, and keep ple grey colt. well. Bunch and berry large and handsome. Several good (amateur) judges in my acquaintance pronounce it a much more desirable grape than the Concord. A small layer of 1859, planted in 1860, gave thirty large layers in 1861, every one of which is growing well in 1862. In two neighbors' gardens, the grape is ripened about one week before the Concord. Sage. A well-known "Shaker grape," of rather poor quality, but hardy and vigorous. Taylor's Bullitt.-Layer of 1861; a very vigorous grower, but canes look tender, and leaf smooth, tender, and badly eaten. Of doubtful hardiness. Union Village.-Pot vine of 1861; good growth; rather too late for this section. Warren's Seedling.-Layer of 1861; a strong growth; looks well, and is well spoken of. In my next, I shall take a look at the pear trees. MY DEAR SIR:-It is quite time to address you after reaching my island home, and getting things somewhat straightened about me. I am sorry that I could not see you again at your office, but though I called twice near the time of my leaving Boston, I could not find you. This was all right, as you were doubtless where duty called. "Duty, stern daughter of the voice of God!" Since I last entered your office in obedience to her call, I left the land of my birth, and am now in the land of my adoption, some 8000 miles, the most direct way from your goodly city. The Lord bless old Boston, the metropolis of New England. Your readers will not care very much to hear of my voyage to San Francisco and the Islands; rather will they desire to know how I found things Who, having reached the age of dry bones, (28,) in attempting the extent of my ability I will gratify so reasonaon shore and things pertaining to agriculture. To ELEGY ON "POOR CHARLEY," to kick up his heels, like a colt, broke one of his legs. Not able to commit suicide, as Plato did when he broke his finger, one of the farmers shot him: Here lies a faithful steed A stanch, uncompromising "silver-gray"— Who ran the race of life with sprightly speed, Yet never ran-away. Wild oats he never sowed, Yet masticated tame ones with much zest; Bright were his eyes, yet soft, And in the main his tail was white and flowing; And though he never sketched a single draught, He showed great taste for drawing. Lithe were his limbs and clean, Fitted alike for buggy or for dray; And like Napoleon the Great, I ween, He had a martial neigh. Oft have I watched him grace His favorite stall, well littered, warm and fair, With such contentment shining from his face, And such a stable air; With here and there a speck Of roan diversifying his broad back; Mors omnibus! at length The hey-day of his life was damped by death; T. SPOON. A HAT AND A HORSE.-If caught in a shower, and you get your hat wet, brush it before it is dry. And so of the horse. When he comes in, wet with perspiration, smooth his hair with a coarse brush-a common broom is better than nothing in the direction you wish it to lie when he is dry. The animal will feel better, and it will be only ble a desire. I arrived in San Francisco, November 6, and remained there about a week. I visited Oakland, and the mission, so called, about a league distant from the city, a place which I saw in 1829 then occupied by the Mexicans, and the most thickly settled of any part of San Francisco. I hoped to make a longer stay, that I might go into the interior a short distance, and see the products of the country; but an opportunity offering for Honolulu, I felt it my duty to leave at once. In visiting the San Francisco markets, I was much disappointed in finding the vegetables, potatoes, turnips, beets, carrots and onions, of so diminutive a size, compared with what I had been told to expect. I supposed that I should find beets of the size of a man's thigh or, perhaps, body, and potatoes like one's head, but I saw no such mammoth vegetables. My impression is that Boston market has as fine a show as San Francisco in the line of vegetables; and in many things, as meats, fish, butter and cheese, Boston is, of course, far before the city of the Pacific. At one thing only was I astonishedthe seeing, the hearing of, and tasting the fruits of California. I should hesitate to tell you the measurement of some of the apples and pears which I saw. What would you think of a pear that weighed four pounds and a quarter? Such a pear grew in Oakland last year! The fruit, too, is most excellent. Nothing so good did I taste in 1860, in my travels from Bangor, Maine, to Cincinnati, Ohio, and you know that 1860 was an extraordinary season for fruit. California will be a fruit country, and no mistake. Let me now tell you of Hawaii. It is now more than two years since I wrote you from Makawao, so I must give you an account of the products of of 1860 at Makawao and vicinity was a very fair two seasons, 1860 and 1861. The crop of wheat one, but the market was very soon supplied, and the surplus was sold at so low a price, that our 436 NEW ENGLAND FARMER. For the New England Farmer. LITTLE THINGS: OR A WALK IN MY GARDEN. I Hawaiian farmers were much discouraged. In con- it was given up because it was doubtful whether sequence, much less was sown in 1861. Only some it would be as valuable a product as the kalo. Thine with respect, 10,000 bushels were raised, but this was of a su- see I'm spinning out my letter too long. Let me bushel. pause. J. S. GREEN. per perior quality, and sold for one dollar More was needed than could be obtained, and seed this spring sold readily for $1.50 per bushel. A good many oats and some barley and buckwheat were raised, and found a market. In 1861 considerable Indian corn was raised, and it sold for a fair price. The prospect of obtaining a higher price for wheat the present year than had been offered the past two years, stimulated our people to sow more than they had done. In February and March a good deal was sown, and but for the cut worm the crop would have been large. The earliest sown, some of which is nearly ready to be cut, looks very well, the latest sown is nearly destroyed by the worm. This is very discouraging, but there seems to be no help for it. "Long patience" becomes the hus-habits. bandman. Of the crop for the present year I will speak again, if spared, after the harvest shall have been gathered. We are now having gentle rains which, may bring forward the late sown wheat so that what remains of it will be stout and of good quality. More than usual Indian corn was raised last year, and our farmers are planting again this spring. As there are but few whaleships remaining, the cultivation of the Irish potato has greatly diminished. Indeed, there is likely to be a great change in the agricultural products of the islands. Among the little things that most men despise, and do not consider worth their study, is that of INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Insects are among the greatest enemies to the gardener and farmer, and it is gratifying to know that we can, to a certain extent, avoid their depredations as soon as we become familiar with their Farmers who sow their wheat as early as possible succeed in avoiding, to a great extent, the ravages of the weevil. Many prepare their ground in the fall, so as to harrow it as early as they can in spring. It may now be pretty safely predicted what will be the wheat crop by the time farmers are able to sow it. ground clear around the trunks of the trees, and applying some wash to young orchards in the month of June, made of soda, lime, salt or potash, either of which will prevent them from depositing their eggs. If we step into the garden we shall there find enough to try our patience. But let us see. I have been overrun with the grub worm, but I have stopped him from eating down my cabbages, simply by tearing a slit in a piece of paper eight inches square and slipping the plant through it, thus making a paper platform around the plant, which must be kept down by a lump of earth or a stone. Care should be taken to have the paper close have had complete success round the plant, as they will sometimes crawl up through the paper. the present year in saving my cabbage plants. To save vines from the striped bug, nothing is easier than to place half of a common-sized newspaper over the plant, and hoe a little earth on the edge of the paper. The plants will grow faster in May and June than if exposed to the air, and it is The apple tree borer, which but few farmers knew anything about twenty years ago, while they were destroying their orchards, is now known to every good farmer, and his ravages prevented, simply by cutting them out, or what is better, usThe cultivation of sugar cane and the manufac-ing a straight awl and mallet and by keeping the ture of sugar are decidedly successful, and this branch of business is rapidly increasing. In my own vicinity there are already three large plantations, with houses and machinery of improved pattern for manufacturing. Several landholders in the vicinity of these plantations are now turning their attention to the raising of cane, so that the prospect of a great increase of the amount of sugar is very fair. At Ulupalakua, some twenty-five miles distant, there is a plantation of several hundreds of acres of cane of promising growth. A mill of superior construction has lately arrived from Boston for this plantation. Wailuku, fifteen miles distant, and Waitepu, a neighboring village, are lands well adapted to sugar cane, and they will both be appropriated ere long to this product. The late King, Kamehameha III., several years ago, and while I resided there, caused a large tract to be planted at Wailuku, and erected a water mill to The experiment proved a failure, grind his cane. however, through the unfaithfulness of the mana Chinaman, whom he employed as superintendent. Lahaina, which you will recollect as the me-a perfect protection. tropolis of this island, is nearly deserted by whaleships, and there is scarcely anything doing in the shape of trade. But it is probable that all the land that can be spared from kalo, the native staMuch is already ple, will be filled with cane. planted, and sugar is being manufactured on a small scale. I doubt not that Lahaina will more than recover its importance in consequence of this new business, and I am sure there will be great gain. Another enterprise has begun to be urged among us, which promises large results. I allude to rice growing. The experiment of growing rice was made some twenty years ago at Wailuku, and succeeded so far as to satisfy all of us that rice could be raised at the islands without any difficulty. But The curculio is still a troublesome insect, but I am inclined to think that in fruit-bearing years most northern localities can obtain a good crop by cultivating highly so as to cause as many blossoms to set as possible. It has occurred to me that if a few of the Canada plum tree should be allowed to bear near by, that they would furnish a more desirable treat to the curculio. They bite those much more readily than the ordinary plum. I shall get a good crop this year, though many of them have been destroyed by this pest. Our gardeners in this vicinity cannot raise onions from the seed on account of the maggot, but they obviate this by planting the potato and top onions, which do not seriously suffer from its ravages. Fine beds may now be seen in most gardens where they have long been destitute of this escu-in water, some pearlash or soda should be put in lent. it, which destroys any acidity that may be about the vessels. They should then be well sunned. I have known some good butter-makers who dispensed with the sunning when soda was used, but both are to be commended. Thus as we become acquainted with their habits, we may in a measure get rid of the most troublesome insects. There are some which still trouble us, such as the spindle worm in our corn, the currant worm, and the little maggot that eats the roots of cabbage and turnip plants, and a fly that eats off the beet as soon as it appears above AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS FOR 1862. ground. A word here in regard to the BLACK KNOT. This is not produced by the curculio or any other insect. If it was, I should be overrun with it, whereas it never appears in my garden. It is unquestionably a specific disease, which communicates its poison from tree to tree and which furnishes a welcome nest for certain insects. Gardens where trees are badly crowded together, are usually affected the worst. LITTLE MISTAKES. Time of exhibitions by the Agricultural Societies in the State, and the Delegate from the Board of Agriculture to each society. Essex. SOCIETY. Middlesex.. Worcester...... .Sept. 30........P. Stedman. .Sept. 18........Jabez Fisher. ....Sept. 23........Levi Stockbridge. Middlesex North........Sept. 25........Samuel Hartwell. Worcester West...........Sept. 25........D. A. Cleveland. Worcester North..........Sept. 30........E. W. Bull. Worcester South...........Oct. 2........M. Stebbins. Worcester South-East......Oct. 14........Asa Clement. Hamp., Franklin and Ham. Oct. 2........H. H. Peters. Hampshire................Oct. 9........John Brooks. Highland... .............Sept. 11........Paoli Lathrop. ....Sept. 18........Joseph White. I must stop here to correct a little mistake in Hampden.................Oct. 7........S. B. Phinney. my last article. I spoke of the Editor of the Far-Hampden East.......Oct. 14........S. H. Bushnell. Franklin............................. ..Sept. 25........George B. Loring. mer as an advocate for August pruning. It should Berkshire.. ..Oct. 1........M. P. Wilder. have been summer pruning. Things as trivial as Housatonic. ..Oct. 7........C. C. Sewall. that have brought on desolating wars. portant that we should take care of little things! ST. CATHERINE'S PRUNE. How im I noticed a fact that the curculio does not touch this plum in my garden at all. Is the plum worth cultivating? I received the scions from France. N. T. T. REMARKS.-We have not raised the St. Catherine. Downing says that "among the fine old varieties of late plums, the St. Catherine is one of the most celebrated. In France it is raised in large quantities, in some districts making the most delicate kind of prunes. It is also much esteemed for preserving, and is of excellent quality for the desert. It bears regularly, and abundantly in this part of the country, [that is, along the Hudson,] and deserves a place in every good garden." It is not yet well settled whether the black knot is occasioned by insects, or is a disease. High authorities are of different opinions. Hoosac Valley........ ..Sept. 23........C. G. Davis. ..Sept. 25........Henry Chapin. ......Oct. 7........Freeinan Walker. Barnstable. ........................................Oct. 14........J. S. Grennell. DARK ROOMS.-Florence Nightingale, in her Notes on Nursing, says: "A dark house is almost always an unhealthy house, always an ill-aired house, always a dirty house. Want of light stops growth, and promotes scrofula, rickets, etc., among the children. People lose their health in a dark CLEANING MILK VESSELS. A correspondent house; and if they get ill, they cannot get well of the Cincinnati Gazette truly says, there is no again in it. Three out of many 'negligences and product of the farm that presents so much differ- ignorances' in managing the health of houses genence as butter. This arises chiefly from using ves-erally, I will here mention as specimens. First, sels for holding the milk, and utensils in making the butter, which are soured. In my notice of the effects of having soured troughs in sugar-making, I stated that acidity was fatal to good sugar-making. It is not less so in butter-making. Milk has 1 peculiar acid very easily formed, which entirely takes away that rich, sweet, fine flavor, belonging to good butter. A very little soured milk or cream on vessels rapidly generates enough acid to take it away. To avoid this great care is requisite. Cleanliness only is not sufficient, in having the vessels well washed, but they must be carefully washed in boiling hot water, and should be boiled in it also. But as the cream is very apt to stick, even in good washing, when the vessels are boiled that the female head in charge of any building, you, TRANSMISSION OF PROPERTIES. I wish to call your attention to a piece I find in the Vermont Chronicle of May 27, 1862, headed, "Transmission of Properties, Diseases, &c." I would like to see your comments upon it, and its application, not only to the human family, but to the breeding of sheep and other kinds of stock. There are a few thoughts upon my mind that I might like to present at some future time. Sharon, Vt., Aug., 1862. A. S. PHELPS. REMARKS.-Send the article along, and your own thoughts, and we will consider them. A GOOD WASH FOR OUTSIDE BUILDINGS. Thinking some of your readers may like a good receipt for a wash for buildings or fences, I will give you one which I have used for ten or twelve years. It is almost equal to paint. Take half a bushel of lime and slake it with boiling water; then add one peck of salt and two pounds of glue dissolved in warm water. Add eight pounds of dry, yellow paint, and two large papers of lamp black, mixed to a paste with alcohol. This makes a beautiful slate color. The color can be varied by adding more or less black to suit the F. E. BIGELOW. taste. Concord, Mass., Aug., 1862. MORTAR FOR BUILDING. In common practice, the cohesion of mortar is greatly impaired by using too large a portion of sand; it should never exceed two parts by measure to one of lime paste. A cask of lime weighing 280 lbs., made into eight cubic feet of lime paste, should be mixed with sixteen bushels of damp sand. The notion used to be generally entertained that the longer lime was slaked before it was used, the better would be the mortar made of it. sary, a little water may be added to produce a be employed for making mortar without being first In putting up walls of brick or stone, care should be taken that the stones or bricks be moistened before they come in contact with the mortar. Every brick and stone should be laid in a good bed of mortar, and should receive a blow to fix it firmly. The bricks should not be laid merely as is the common custom, but forced down so as to press the mortar into all the pores and crevices. The superintendent of a building should give his personal attention to the vertical joints in the walls, as the masons frequently neglect to fill them up with mortar.-Scientific American. YOUTH'S DEPARTMENT. THE DRY STREAM. "John," said Isaac, to his brother, "do you know that the brook in the sheep pasture has dried up?" "No; I do not know any such thing." "It is dry." "I saw it running not an hour ago." "It was dry this morning. I was going to cross over on the fence, but there was no water in the bed of the stream above or below the fence. I heard father say the brook never failed.” "I know it has not failed." lieve what I say. The brothers went on disputing till they got very angry. At first, one was sure that the other was mistaken. When they became angry, one was sure that the other had asserted an untruth. Now, the fact was, that both had spoken the truth. When the stream was low, there was a gravel bank by the fence mentioned by Isaac, through which the water percolated without appearing on the surface. John had seen the water flowing as usual in its channel some twenty rods below the fence. Men often dispute about things in regard to which they really do not differ. They look at the decide that a man is wrong because he differs from subject from different points of view. Before you you, see from what point he views the matter.— S. S. Times. THE KANGAROO AND HIS PUPS. This, however, is not the case with our common fat lime and sand mortars. The sand should be mixed with the slaked lime as soon as the latter How many times, on my hunting excursions, becomes cold, and no more water should be em- have I painfully witnessed the poor doe-when ployed than will reduce the lime to a thick paste. hard pressed by the hounds-hastily pull from her În preparing mortar, the unslaked lime should be pouch the almost hairless and utterly helpless placed on boards and sheltered from the sun and little Joey (as its offspring is called,) and cast it, rain; it should be open above and surrounded whilst at full speed, into a tuft of high grass, or with some sand. The water necessary to slake clump of thick fern plants, as the last resource lime should be poured upon it with any suitable whereby to save herself from the ruthless fangs of vessel, and care should be taken to stir the lime her hungry pursuers. And hundreds of times so as to bring the water into contact with every have I seen our magnamimous dogs spring over portion, when it may be left until all the vapor the Joeys, as if such puny prey were unworthy of has passed off. their notice, and continue in hot pursuit of the The sand may now be incorporated with the poor, panting mother, who, if so fortunate as to lime by means of a hoe or shovel; and, if neces-outstrip the hounds, in one hour's time would in |