It is now established beyond doubt, as Mr. Huntington of Kelly's Island has conclusively shown in a late essay upon “The Climatology of Northern Ohio on the Grape-Crop," that there is pecuniary gain to the producer from allowing grapes to hang on the vines as late as possible, provided the price is regulated by the weight of must. It was found this season that the grapes pressed after the 15th of November had gained fully ten per cent in weight of must over the lots pressed before the 20th of October. The loss in gross weight was considerable, but more than counterbalanced by the increase of price, which the Kelly'sisland Wine Company have for the past two years graduated by the quality of must. Thus they assumed this vintage eighty-five degrees as the normal standard; and, for every degree above, a mill was added to the rate per pound, and a like decrease for every degree below, down to a certain limit. It is intimated above that the rot was chiefly confined to the Catawba; and mildew, or blight of leaf, to that variety and the Isabella. It is true that other varieties with us were quite free from these ills. The Hartford, faithful harbinger of the coming plenty, gave us a hundred-fold; and the berries did not drop from the bunches suffered to remain late on the vines. The Concord showed few defective clusters, and the berries did not crack. The must reached eighty degrees, and the grapes ruled high in the market. The Delaware, fairest among the daughters of Pomona, bore its heavy burden cheerfully. Its fruit carried perfectly to distant market, and yielded the handsomest returns. In some instances, the must weighed a hundred and eleven degrees; and a sample of wine from Messrs. Lungren and Rotent, Put-in Bay, tested in committee at the late grape-meeting at Cleveland, was marked a round hundred by every member. The "Sunshine" of Italy, which Hawthorne celebrates in "The Marble Faun," cannot be more nectarous and divine. The Delaware is said to love a very rich soil; but here our observation teaches us that it does equally well on the clay and loam when well under-drained. There was no rot among the Rogers's Hybrids; but on Kelly's Island we saw mildew on the leaves and fruit of No. 1, and slight traces upon No. 15. No. 3 was early and pleasant; but the bunches were lean, and not numerous. Nos. 4 and 19 were most promising. Both were productive, - 4 the earlier and more showy, 19 superior in quality. Fruit-growers have not awakened to the real value of these two numbers. The Diana, whose moods no man can number, ripened her clusters evenly; and was intensely sweet, if not palatable to every taste. Of the hundreds of vines of Iona planted, three and four years since, immediately upon the Bay and Lake Shore in this vicinity, no fruit was to be seen. An exception or two would not disprove the general statement. At Put-in Bay, fifty vines of Ives's Seedling in the third year, on the grounds of Sibley and Homer, perfected a fine crop, which was converted into a wine that pleases everybody, by Mr. Harms, the well-known vintner. The must-scale registered eightysix degrees in this pressing. The Norton Virginia increases in favor. With pruning such as recommended in Husmann's " Grapes and Wine," it bears plentifully of juices rich in sugar, spice, and tonic. Missouri proclaims her honors in the production of this wine; but we modestly believe that the Lake Shore need not fear to enter the lists. A friend found his must weigh a hundred and four degrees, with a low per cent of acid. The Ives has been named a rival of the Norton. This is a mistake. While equally hardy, healthful, and productive, possibly, there are marked differences, not in kind or degree, which admit of popularity for each, without involving rivalry. The Norton is a late, the Ives an early, variety. The fruit of the Norton is only adapted for wine. The Ives has as high claim for table as the Concord; while for marketing it is decidedly superior to it, as it never cracks nor drops, and can be shipped earlier. The Norton wine is deservedly noted, in the words of Mr. Husmann, for its "astringency, great body, fine flavor, and superior medical quality." On the other hand, the Ives yields a wine aptly classed by Col. Wilder between a Burgundy and Claret, of fair body, very pleasant flavor, slightly astringent, and can be made so cheaply as yet to be in fact the very boon of that class pictured in the poet's lines slightly changed, – "And now and then amid his toil, for fear his strength decline, We append statistics of our crop, which we gathered at great pains from the most reliable sources, expressly for "The Journal of Horticulture,” but used, by special request of our secretary, at the late meeting of the Lake-shore GrapeGrowers. It will be seen that the whole number of table-grapes shipped amounted to 1,822,000 pounds. This aggregate would have been increased many hundred tons had there not been at mid-season a sudden failure in supply of boxes. This could not be remedied for some time; and, meanwhile, they were diverted to the wine-press. There is a hopeful state of feeling among us with regard to grape-growing. It is demonstrated that thousands of acres devoted to raising grapes will prove largely remunerative. Really, one-half or more of the land here devoted to this culture, and which is shown to have realized two hundred and twentyseven dollars per acre, would not realize three dollars for any other purpose. Yet it is not to be denied, that, with some of our people, there is a disappointed state of mind, notwithstanding this fine showing. This arises from two causes. One, and the more serious, is the universal disposition here, when the general planting took place, to stock their vineyards with but a single variety, - the Catawba. The other error, which has resulted in serious loss to some, is the practice which has prevailed on the part of merchants, lawyers, and business-men, whose duties demand constant attention in the city, of setting out vineyards without personal supervision. Ignorant and careless hands sowed the seeds of failure at the beginning of the enterprise. And when the proprietors have secured a full-bearing vineyard, as they feel themselves able only to provide muscle, not brains, expenses multiply, neglect wastes much of the harvest, and finally, as the market is not carefully studied, the sales bring in but meagre gains; or, if wine is the product, inexperience and ill-management beget dis aster. The men who give their whole attention to this business are doing well, almost without exception; and many have grown rich. So, too, the companies who have entered upon this work with definite aims, with capital and efficient superintendents, are reaping a full reward. Gradually the vineyards are falling into the hands of men who propose to make grape-growing a life-business, and not a speculation. Some have resorted to a compromise which promises well. They have let out their vineyards on shares to men known to be capable and industrious. House, horse, and implements are furnished; and the tenant performs all the work, and shares one-third of the income. Another spirit prevails now with regard to planting. There will be much setting the coming spring, but chiefly of Hartford for early, of Ives and Delaware for table and wine, and of Norton for wine alone. ESTIMATE OF THE GRAPE-CROP OF SANDUSKY, ISLANDS AND PENINSULA, 1867. Number of pounds of table-grapes shipped from Sandusky by express Total number of pounds of table-grapes shipped from the Sandusky region. 10,000 174,000 76,000 1,360,000 12,000 20,000 250,000 80,000 100,000 1,822,000 Total 260,000 Number of gallons of wine pressed at Sandusky. Number of gallons of wine pressed on the Peninsula and Catawba Island. 150,000 105,000 65,000 400,000 Estimating eleven and one-half pounds of grapes for each gallon of wine expressed gives the number of pounds of wine-grapes pressed as above, 4,600,000. Cash sales of 1,822,000 pounds of table-grapes at 12 cents per pound 1,822,000 260,000 4,600,000 6,682,000 $227,750 15,600 500,000 7,500 The yield per acre (average), about two tons. At an average yield of two tons per acre, 6,682,000 were grown upon 3,341 acres. At a total cash value of $750,850, the income per acre is $750,850 $227.00 $2,270.00 TACSONIA VAN-Volxemi TREATMENT.—This plant should be put to rest in autumn, and kept dry at the root during the winter. About the middle of February, it should be pruned, and may be repotted, removing most of the old soil, and have a less-sized pot. A compost of two-thirds light turfy loam, and one-third leaf-mould, with a free admixture of silver sand, will grow it well, free drainage being provided. The pot should be placed in a gentle hotbed, the scil being kept only just moist until growth fairly commences, when the watering should be more plentiful. When the pot becomes filled with roots, the plants should have a shift into the pot in which it is to bloom, and be again plunged in the hotbed until it recovers from the potting, when it may be gradually withdrawn from the bed. The atmosphere should be moist, and the roots must not suffer from want of water; but a saturated soil is bad. The shoots should be regulated upon the wire frequently, and must not be too much crowded. It cannot have too much light, and free ventilation is essential. It does admirably in a warm greenhouse. WINTERING SCARLET PELARGONIUMS. Any time in autumn, before the plants are injured by frost, take up the old plants, shake away all the soil, and place them in an open shed for a few days; then pick off all the foliage, and, after allowing them to lie a few days thinly spread on a dry floor, tie them two or three together according to their size, and hang them up in any dry place where fire is not employed, but from which frost is excluded. A cellar is a very good place. Another very good plan is to take up the plants as described, and when the stems are dried a little, and all the leaves removed, to pack the plants closely together in shallow boxes no deeper than to hold sufficient dry sand to cover the roots. They may be kept over the winter in any cool, dry place from which frost is excluded; but the cooler the better: or pack them close in boxes, using sand or any description of poor light soil for covering the roots, and keep the plants in any part of the greenhouse; all they require being the removal of the old leaves and stems as they decay. ORCHIDS FOR GREENHOUSE. Three good orchids for a greenhouse are Lycaste Skinneri, Lælia purpurata, and Dendrobium speciosum. Three cheaper are Cypripedium venustum, Bletia verecunda, and Oncidium flexuosum. Half fill all the pots with broken pots or crocks, and upon that place a mixture of chopped sphagnum or moss, fibrous peat, and pieces of charcoal, in equal parts, adding a little silver sand. Press the compost firmly, and raise it in the form of a cone above the rim of the pot. Place the plant on the top, and cover the roots, but no part of the stems or pseudo-bulbs, with the compost. A suitable temperature for the greenhouse, from November to April, is forty degrees at night from fire-heat, and from forty-five to fifty degrees by day; air being given freely on all favorable occasions. The temperatures will, of course, vary much, and considerably exceed those named during mild weather, and especially on sunny days. The temperatures named are for dull days, and during frosty periods; being the maximum and minimum from fire-heat. Grapes about ROCKS.—The past season was a very peculiar one, — wet and cold; and the grapes in many localities East failed to ripen. While this was generally true, it was rather refreshing to observe at one of our horticultural exhibitions splendid specimens of a well-known variety, apparently fully ripe, which we found, on inquiry, had been grown near a ledge of rocks. Some years ago, we visited a place where we observed similar results from a similar cause. The whole secret of the thing is, that the rocks absorb the heat of the sun by day, and give it off at night; keeping the roots of the vine warm, and the temperature about it more fully equalized. Our attention was once attracted to this same subject by observing that the melon-vines in a hill around which some stones had been placed were much larger, at the end of a few weeks, than those in the hills that had not been so treated. The same principle is observed in cities, where grape-vines are trained in front of brick walls, which absorb the heat by day, and reflect it when most needed by the vine. We propose to test more fully the value of such treatment for the vine by placing stones about the roots of several bearing vines, in different parts of the vineyard where they failed this year to ripen a single grape. ROSEMARY RUSSET-APPLE. · - This esteemed English apple is figured in "The Florist." It is one of the most popular dessert-fruits in England; but its origin is unknown. It first came into notice in 1831, but had been in cultivation many years previously. "Fruit below medium size, ovate, broadest at the base, and narrowing obtusely towards the apex; a good deal of the shape of a Scarlet Nonpareil. Skin yellow, tinged with green on the shaded side, but flushed with faint red on the side exposed to the sun, and covered with thin pale-brown russet, particularly round the eye and the stalk. Eye small, and generally closed, woody, with erect segments, set in a narrow, round, and puckered basin. Stalk very long, inserted in a round and wide cavity. Flesh yellowish, crisp, tender, very juicy, brisk, and sugary, and charged with a peculiarly rich and highly aromatic flavor. "A most delicious and valuable dessert-apple, of the very first quality: it is in use from December till February." GRAFTING. — Dr. Regel describes a new method of grafting as practised by Herr Freundlich, one of the Russian court-gardeners, with remarkable success. Instead of taking the scions from the previous year's wood, with the bud just beginning to swell, the still soft, growing, lateral shoots are selected, when from half to one and a half inches long, and either bark or tongue grafted; care being taken not to draw the ligature too tight, as they swell much more rapidly than hardwood scions. Success, he says, is certain, if care be taken that the sap of the stock is in motion at the time the operation is performed. He recommends this mode as superior to all others, especially for hard-wooded trees, such as oaks and beeches, which are usually difficult to propagate from the old wood. New roses, and other plants which it is desirable to increase as rapidly as possible, may also be advantageously worked in the same manner. |