ROGERS'S HYBRID GRAPES.

By E. S. ROGERS, Salem, Mass.

THE following are descriptions of the twelve grapes which have been selected as most worthy of names : —

Goethe, No. 1.-Though this variety is perhaps more unique, and shows more of the character of the European species, than any of the other sorts, the vine is one of the hardiest, and very free from mildew. It produces large crops of beautiful clusters and berries, free from rot or imperfection of any kind. The bunch is large, shouldered; berry large, in shape long, oval, resembling the Malaga; of a yellowish-green towards the sun; skin thin; flesh tender and melting throughout, very sweet and delicious, with a pleasant and peculiar aroma. This variety is so late as seldom to ripen here, but, as far south as Washington and St. Louis, is considered one of the most valuable.

Massasoit, No. 3.

Bunch of medium size, rather short, with shoulder; berry of medium size; color red; flesh tender and sweet, with a slight trace of the native flavor when fully ripe, though not so much as to be at all objectionable, but, on the contrary, rather pleasant. As it is very early, this is one of the most valuable for cultivation at the North.

Wilder, No. 4.- Bunch large and showy, so much resembling Black Hamburg as to be hardly distinguishable in appearance; berry globular, large; color black; flesh tender, with a slight pulp. The fruit ripens as early as, and frequently earlier than, the Concord, and can be kept a long time. It has become the most popular of all, and is one of the most profitable for market-purposes, its size and beauty being equalled by its vigor, hardiness, and productiveness.

Lindley, No. 9. This, together with all those numbered from 5 to 14 inclusive, was hybridized from the Chasselas ; while the remaining numbers were fertilized with Black Hamburg. Vine of very vigorous growth, making rather long-jointed wood, but sometimes very fruitful. The foliage when young is of a reddish color. The bunch is long, compact; berries globular, reddish; flavor sweet. It resembles the Grizzly Frontignac in appearance

of bunch and flavor, and has scarcely a trace of pulp. It ripens among

Gaertner, No. 14.

Bunch above medium size; berry from medium to large; skin thin; color light red, with a pleasant aromatic flavor. The vine is productive, and the fruit ripens early.

Agawam, No. 15.—This variety has been here considered the highest flavored of the series. Bunch large, somewhat loose, shouldered; berry large, globular; skin thick, of a brownish-red color, like the Catawba ; flesh tender and juicy, free from tough pulp; flavor very rich and pleasant, having a peculiar aroma, thought by some to resemble the Black Hamburg. The vine is the most vigorous of all, and very productive; but, in unfavorable seasons and soils, the fruit is somewhat inclined to rot. The illustration is from a bunch grown in the garden of Mr. W. H. Harrington of Salem, in 1863, and is slightly reduced in size to accommodate it to the page, having measured four and a half by six inches. This vine, in 1863, covered a trellis seventy-five feet long by eight or ten feet high, and bore about seven hundred bunches; being then five or six years old.

Merrimack, No. 19. — The bunch is generally not as large as the majority of the black varieties; berry large, globular; skin black; flavor sweet and rich. Ripens early, and is of uniform good quality even in unfavorable seasons; vine very vigorous and a good bearer. This may be classed among our best early grapes.

Requa, No. 28. - Bunch large, shouldered; berry of medium size, round

ish;

skin thinner than most of the collection; color red; flesh tender and sweet, having in some seasons a trace of the native flavor.

Essex, No. 41. Bunch of medium size, shouldered; berry somewhat flattened, in this respect resembling the native parent; flesh tender and sweet, with a high aromatic flavor, excelling on this point most of the black varieties. Ripens early.

Barry, No. 43.

Bunch rather short, broad, and compact; berries round

ish to oval, much like Black Hamburg in general appearance; flesh delicate, sweet, and tender; skin thin; color black.

Ripens as early as Concord, and is one of the best black grapes. Vine very vigorous and productive.

Herbert, No. 44.

Bunch rather long and loose; berry of medium size, round, or sometimes oblate; flesh tender, sweet, and rich. Early and productive.

Salem, No. 53. This was originally numbered 22 in my private collection; but, a spurious sort having been put into the market under that number, the number of this variety was changed to 53. The bunch is rather large and broad; berry inclining to oval in form; skin thin; color black; flesh tender, sweet, and delicate. The flavor is, to my taste, superior to any of the others. In general appearance, the bunch strongly resembles the Black Hamburg; but it is as early as Concord. The vine is vigorous and productive; and, on the whole, it is one of the best black grapes.

FORTY-DAYS CORN.

OUR attention has recently been called to a variety of table-corn represented as attaining a size fit for plucking in forty days. We are aware, that, if the planting should be delayed till settled summer weather, germination and growth would be greatly hastened; but, even under such conditions, it will be difficult to find a "forty-days corn." If the seed is planted in spring as soon as the soil is in proper condition to receive it, from sixty to seventy days will be required for the production of ears suitable for the table, and this for our earliest sorts; while for the larger, which are generally the later kinds, nearly ninety days will be needed for full perfection.

All the sorts remarkable for extreme earliness that have come under our observation have been those with quite small ears; and we are satisfied, that, in proportion as the time for growth and development is shortened, there will generally be found a corresponding decline not only in the size of the ears, but also in the height and general strength and vigor of the plants. A "forty-days corn," if such a sort shall ever be produced, will be quite dwarfish in habit, the ears will be put forth near the ground, or low on the stalk, and will, withal, be so short and small as to be scarcely worth the growing. For those who may be induced to rely on the promise of ears fit for their table in six weeks, there can scarcely be any thing in reserve but little corn, and much disappointment. We pronounce a "fortydays table-corn" a myth.

F. Burr.

NEW TREES AND SHRUBS.

By J. L. RUSSELL, Professor of Botany to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

THE following descriptions of some ornamental trees and shrubs of Northern California and Oregon are from "Reports of Explorations of the Pacific Railroad," vol. vi., 1857:

A shrub, or low

The California Buckeye, Esculus Californica (Nutt). spreading tree, with large rose-colored flowers in a dense thyrse; fruit large, spheroidal, slightly tuberculated. Though usually a wide-spreading shrub, yet it sometimes assumes the style of a tree of twenty feet in height, and would become a valuable acquisition to cultivators of ornamental shrubs if introduced into our Eastern collections.

The Vine Maple, Acer circinnatum (Pursh). — A small shrub-like tree, with slender trunks springing from the same root, which assume a sarmentous character, arching and bending towards the earth, and rooting at the ends. Its foliage resembles that of the sugar-maple: its wood is hard and fine-grained, and, from its dwarf size and habit, might be used to advantage in ornamentation.

-

The Large-leaved Maple, Acer macrophyllum (Pursh). A small tree, with immense pale-green leaves, and long racemes of flowers. Conspicuous through portions of Oregon, and very ornamental.

The Manzanita, Arctostaphylos glauca (Lindley). —A large evergreen shrub, with red bark, which peels off as it grows old; ovoid, smooth, leathery, entire leaves set vertically; flowers in terminal racemes, pinkish white, urceolate in shape; fruit a flattened, black, smooth, spheroidal berry, with rough, triangular seeds. Its wood is hard, of a reddish color, and resembles that of the apple-tree; its branches much twisted and crooked, and useful in making rustic work. It is one of the characteristic shrubs of the Californian flora, abundant on the hills and mountains. From the fancied resemblance of its berry to a little apple, it has received the Spanish name of Manzanita. Growing eight or ten feet high, with many stems or trunks covered with red bark, and with its vertical evergreen leaves, it is worth cultivating as an ornamental plant.

The Madroña, Arbutus Menziesii (Pursh). — A small tree, twenty-five