Chapter VII: Part 7

Tender and exotic varieties may be acclimated by grafting into indigenous stocks. Fruit can be raised on an uncongenial soil, by grafting into stocks adapted to that soil. Several varieties may be produced on the same tree, for ornament or economy of room. Dwarfs of any variety may be produced by grafting on dwarf stocks, and we may thus grow many trees on a small space. A slow-growing variety may be made to form a large top, by grafting into large vigorous-growing stocks. We are enabled to carry varieties to any part of the world, at a cheap rate, as the scions, properly done up, may safely be carried around the globe.

_Time of Grafting._--Grafts may be made to live, put in in any month of the year, but the beginning of the opening of the buds in spring, is the preferable season. Stone fruits should be budded; and all fruits may be made to do well budded. Budding is usually only practised on small trees, while grafting may be performed on trees of any size.

_Cutting and preserving Scions._--Mature shoots of the previous year's growth are best. Those of the year before will also do. They may be cut at any time from November to time of setting. Perhaps the month of February is best. They may be well preserved in moist sawdust in tight boxes. The more there are together the better they will keep. They keep better by being cut a little below the beginning of the last year's growth, but it is more injurious to the tree. They may be kept well in fine sand, moist and cool. Too much moisture is always injurious. Put the lower ends in shallow water, and they will look very fine, but not one of them will live. Scions cut in the fall and buried six inches deep in yellow loam or fine sand, will keep well till next spring. There are several methods of grafting only two of which deserve particular attention. These are cleft-grafting and tongue or splice grafting, see figures.

_Cleft-Grafting_ is performed in most cases, when scions are grafted upon stocks much larger than themselves. It is too well known to need particular description. Tools should be sharp, and it should be performed before the bark slips so easily as to be started by splitting the stock. It endangers the growth of the scions. The requisite to success in all grafting, is to have some point of actual contact, between the inside barks of both the scion and the stock. This is more certainly secured by causing the scion to stand at a slight angle with the stock.

_Tongue-Grafting_ is generally used in grafting on small stocks--seedlings or roots. With a sharp knife, cut off the scion slanting down, and the stock slanting up, split each in the centre, and push one in to the other until the barks meet, and wind with thick paper or thin muslin, with grafting wax on one side. This is generally used in root-grafting. The question of root-grafting has excited considerable discussion recently. Many suppose it to produce unhealthy trees, and that retaining the variety is less certain than by other modes. Root-grafting is a cheap and rapid means of multiplying trees, and hence is greatly prized by nursery men. Practical cultivators of Illinois have assured us, that it is impossible to produce good Rhode Island greenings in that state, by root-grafting--that they will not produce the same variety. We see no principle upon which they should fail, but will not undertake to settle this important question. For ourselves we prefer to use one whole stock for each tree, cutting it off at the ground and grafting there.

_Grafting Composition or Wax._--One part beef's tallow, two parts beeswax, and four parts rosin, make the best. Harder or softer, it is liable to be injured by the weather. Warm weather will melt it, and cold will crack it. Melt these together and pour them into cold water, and pull and work as shoemaker's wax. When using, it is to be kept in cool or warm water, as the weather may demand. In its application, it is to be pressed closely over all the wound made by sawing and splitting the limb, and close around the scions, so as to exclude air and water. Clay is often used for grafting, but is not equal to wax. You can use grafting tools, invented especially for the purpose, or a common saw, mallet, knife, and wedge.

GRAPES.

Those cultivated so extensively in Europe were natives of Persia--showing that they may be acclimated far from their native home. Foreign grapes are not suitable for out-door culture in this country, except a very few varieties, which do well in the Southern states. The native grapes of this country have produced some excellent varieties, which are now in general cultivation. Others are beginning to attract notice, and seedlings will probably multiply rapidly, and great improvements in our native grapes may be expected. The subject of grape-culture deserves greatly-increased attention. To all palates the grape is delicious; it is not only one of the most palatable articles of diet, but is more highly medicinal than any other fruit. It is the natural source of pure wine. Pure wine made of grapes is only to be procured, in this country, by domestic manufacture. Probably not one out of a thousand gallons of imported wines, sold as pure, contains a drop of the juice of the grape;--they are manufactured of poisonous drugs and ardent spirits--generally common whiskey. A French chemist discovered a method of imitating fermented liquor without fermentation, and distilled spirits without distillation. His process has been published in this country in book form, and by subscription; and while those books are unknown in the bookstores, they are generally possessed by prominent liquor dealers;--and the practice of those secret arts is terribly dangerous to the community. Antecedent to this chemical manufacture of poisonous liquors, such a disease as _delirium tremens_ was unknown. Thus the Frenchman's discovery filled the liquor-sellers' pockets with cash, and the land with mourning, over frequent deaths by a disease, the horror of which is equalled only by hydrophobia. In self-defence, all should give up the use of everything purporting to be imported wines or liquors. Wine should not be used as a common beverage by the healthy. The best medical authority in the world has pronounced it absolutely injurious. But in many cases of sickness, especially in convalescence from fevers, it is one of the very best articles that can be used; hence, a pure article, of domestic manufacture, should be accessible to all the sick. (See our article on "Wine.") The luxury of good grapes can be enjoyed by every family in the land who have a yard twenty feet square. In the cities, almost every house may have a grapevine or two where nothing else would grow. Allow a vine to run up trellis-work in the rear of the house, and over the roof of a wing, or rear-part, raised two feet above the roof, supported by a rack. In such situations they will bear better than elsewhere, will be out of the way, and decidedly ornamental. In such small yards, from five to twenty-five bushels have often grown in a season. Some climates and soils are much better suited to grape-culture than others. But we have varieties that will flourish wherever Indian corn will mature.

_Location._--For vineyards, the sides of hills are usually chosen, sometimes for the purpose of a warm exposure, but generally to secure the most perfect drainage. A northern exposure is preferable for all varieties adapted to the climate. To mature late varieties, choose a southern or eastern exposure.

_Soil._--Gravelly, with a little sand, on a dry subsoil, is preferable, though good grapes may be grown upon any land upon which water will not stand. Grapes always need much lime. If the vineyard is not located on calcareous soil, lime must be liberally supplied, especially for wine-making. A dry subsoil, or thorough draining, is indispensable to successful grape-culture. We prefer level land, wherever thorough draining is practicable.

_Propagation._--Choice grapes are propagated by grafts, layers, or cuttings. New ones are produced from seeds. The more kinds that are cultivated together, the greater will be the varieties raised from their seeds, by cross-fertilization in the blossoms. A small grape crossed with a large one, or an early with a late one, or two of different flavors, will produce mediums between them. Seeds should be cleaned, and planted in the fall, or kept in sand till spring. In the fall, cover up the young vines. The second or third year, the young vines should be set in the places where they are designed to remain. By efforts to get new varieties, we may adapt them to every latitude, from the gulf of Mexico to Pembina.

_Layers._--These produce large vines and abundance of fruit earlier than any other method of propagation. Put down old wood in May or early June, and new wood a month later; fasten down with pegs having a hook to hold the vine, and cover up with earth; they will take root freely at the joints, and may be removed in autumn or spring. If you put down wood too late, or do not keep it covered with moist earth, it will fail; otherwise it is always sure.

_Cuttings_--may be from any wood you have to spare, and should be about a foot long, having two buds. Plant at an angle of forty-five degrees, one bud and two thirds of the cutting under the soil. A little shade and moisture will cause nearly all to grow. A little grafting-wax on the top will aid the growth, by preventing evaporation. The cutting, so buried as to have the top bud half an inch under fine mould, is said to be surer. Cuttings should be made late in fall, or early in winter, and preserved as scions for grafting. Cuttings made in the spring are less sure to grow, and their removal is much more injurious to the vine. Vines raised from cuttings may be transplanted when one or two years old.

_Grafting_--should be performed after the leaves are well developed in the spring. The sap becomes thick, which aids the process. Remove the earth, and saw off the vine two or three inches below the surface. Graft with scions of the previous year's growth, but well matured, and apply cement, to keep the sap from coming out. Cover all but the top bud. In stocks an inch in diameter put two scions. Very few need fail.

_Budding_--maybe done as in other cases, but always after the leaves are well developed, to avoid bleeding. These modes of propagation stand in the following order in point of preference, the best being named first: layers, cuttings, grafting, budding.

_Culture and Manure._--Land prepared by deep subsoil plowing, highly manured and cultivated the previous season in a root-crop, is the best for a vineyard. The trenches for the rows should be spaded twenty inches deep, and a part of the surface-soil put in the bottom. After planting the vines, stir the ground often and keep clear of weeds. At first, stir the soil deep; but, as the roots extend, avoid working among them, and never disturb the roots with a plow. Mulching preserves the soil in a moist, loose condition, and is a good preventive of mildew. In many instances it is said to have doubled the crop. Common animal-manures are good for young vines, and in preparing the soil, but are rather too stimulating for bearing vines, often injuring the fruit. Ashes and cinders from the smith's forge, wood-ashes, charcoal, soapsuds, bones and bonedust, lime, and forest and grape leaves and trimmings, carefully dug into the soil around the vines, are all very good. A liberal supply of suitable manures will keep the vines in a healthy condition, and preserve the fruit from disease and decay. This, with judicious pruning, will render the grape-crop regular and sure.

_Vineyards_--should be in rows five feet apart, with vines four feet apart in the row. Layers of one, and cuttings of two years' growth, will bear the second year, and very plentifully the third year. A good vineyard in the latitude of Cincinnati yields about one hundred and fifty bushels of grapes per acre, making four hundred gallons of wine. The average yield of wine per acre, throughout the country, is estimated at two hundred gallons.

_Training under Glass._--By this means the fine foreign varieties may be brought to perfection in our high latitudes. With most of the best kinds, this can be done by solar heat alone. A house covered with glass at an angle of forty-five degrees, facing the south, will answer the purpose. With a slight artificial heat, the finest varieties may be perfected, and others forwarded, so as to have fine grapes at most seasons of the year. The vines are planted on the outside of the grapehouse, and allowed to pass in through an aperture two feet from the ground, and are trained up near the glass on the inside. Protect the roots in winter by a covering of coarse straw manure. Wind the vines on the inside with straw, lay them down on the ground in the grape-house, and keep it closed during the winter. A house one hundred feet long and twenty-five feet wide, filled mainly with Black Hamburg, with a few other choice varieties, would afford a great luxury, and prove a profitable investment. From one such house, near a large city, a careful cultivator may realize a thousand dollars per annum. Native and even hardy varieties are often greatly improved by cultivation under glass, or by a little protection in winter.

The Isabella grape is hardy and productive in western New York. In 1856, we noticed a vine that had been laid down in a dry place and covered slightly with earth, in autumn; the fruit was more abundant, and one fourth larger, than that on a similar vine by its side that had remained on the trellis during winter: this shows the value of protection even to hardy vines.

_Training._--There are many methods, and the question of preference depends upon the location of the vines, the space they may occupy, and the taste of the cultivator. There are four principal systems--the cane or renewal system, spur system, fan-training, and spiral or hoop training.

The renewal system we prefer for trellises. Put posts firmly in the ground eight feet apart, allowing them to be seven feet above ground after they are set; put slats of wood or wire across these, a foot apart, commencing a foot above the ground. Set vines eight feet apart; let the vines be composed of two branches, coming out near the ground: these can be formed by cutting off a young vine near the ground, and training two of the shoots that will spring from the bottom. These two vines should be bent down in opposite directions, and tied horizontally to the lower slat of the trellis; cut these off, so as to have them meet similar vines from the next root; upright shoots from these will extend to the top of the trellis, and it is then covered, and the work is complete. After these upright canes have borne, cut off every alternate one, two or three inches from its base, and train up the strongest shoot for a bearer next year: thus cut off and train new alternate ones every year, and the vine will be constantly renewing, and be in the most productive state; keep the vines clipped at the top of the trellis, and the sap will mature strong buds for next year's fruit. We regard this the most effectual of all training. The principle of renewal can be applied to any form of vine, and eminently promotes fruitfulness. Many complain that their vines, though liberally pruned, do not bear well. The difficulty may be that the new wood is principally removed, while the old is left to throw out strong-growing shoots, bearing abundance of foliage and little fruit. More of the old wood removed, and more of the young saved, would have produced less vines and much more fruit.

_Pruning_--is the most important part of successful grape-culture. Mistakes on this subject are very injurious. Let vines grow in their own way, and you will have much wood and foliage, and very little, poor fruit. Some cut off the shoots in summer just above the fruit, and remove most of the leaves around it to expose the fruit to the sun. This often proves to be a ruinous mistake; the sap ascends to the leaves, and there amalgamates with what they absorb from the atmosphere, and thus forms food for the vine and fruit. It is the leaves, and not the fruit, which need the sun: the leaves are the lungs, upon the action of which the life and health of the fruit depend. Blight of the leaves destroys the fruit, and a frequent repetition of it destroys the vine. Grape-vines should not be pruned at all until three years old, as it retards the growth of the roots, and thus weakens the vines. Older vines should be freely pruned in November or December; pruned in winter they _may_ bleed in the spring, and pruned in the spring they _certainly_ will bleed. Tender vines, not protected, may have an excess of wood left in the fall to allow for what may perish in winter; in this case, cut away the dead and surplus wood in spring, but never until the leaves are well developed, so as to prevent bleeding. Necessary summer-pruning is of much importance. Remove no leaves, except the ends of branches, that have already made as much wood as they can mature. In the Middle states this should be done about the last of July, and at the South a month earlier. Weak lateral branches, that bear no fruit, may be removed, but not all of them, for it is on the wood of this year's growth that the fruit will be found the following season. Old wood does not send out wood in spring that will bear fruit the same season; that wood will bear fruit next season if allowed to remain. Whoever observes will notice that grapes grow on young shoots of the same season; but they are shoots from wood of the previous year's growth, and not from old wood. Many suppose if they trim their vines very closely, as the old vines send forth abundance of new wood, and it is new wood on which the fruit grows, of course they will have abundance of grapes; and they are disappointed by a failure. The explanation of the whole is, fruit grows on new wood, from wood of previous year's growth, and not from old vines; hence, in lessening a vine, remove old wood. This is the renewal system, whatever the form of the vine, and is the whole secret of successful pruning. This accounts for the great success of the Germans in producing such quantities of grapes on low vines. In their best vineyards, they do not allow their vines to grow more than six or seven feet high, and yet they produce abundantly for many years. They so prune as to have plenty of last year's wood for the production of fruit the current season; after this has borne fruit, they remove it to make room for the young wood that will produce the next season. This principle is applicable to vines of any shape or size you may choose to form. The removal, in summer, of excessive growth, and shortening the ends of those you design to retain, throws the strength of the vine into the fruit, and to perfect the wood already formed. Liberal fall-pruning is necessary to induce the formation of new wood the next season, for bearing the following year. Parts that grow late do not mature sufficiently to bear fruit the next season; hence, cut off the ends in summer, and let what remains have the benefit of all the sap.

_Reduction of Fruit._--The grape is disposed to excessive bearing, which weakens the vine, and injures the quality of the fruit. Liberal pruning in autumn does much to remedy this evil, by not leaving room for an excessive amount of fruit: hence, when you have a plenty of fruit-bearing wood, cut off the ends, so as to leave spurs with two buds, or at the most only four; when too much fruit sets, remove it very early, before the juices of the vine have been wasted upon it. A vine cut or wounded in spring will bleed profusely. Sheet India-rubber, or two or three thicknesses of a bladder, wet and bound closely around, may prevent the bleeding.

_Mildew_--is very destructive in confined locations, without a good circulation of air. Sulphur and quicklime, separate or combined, dug into the soil around the vines, is a preventive. Straw or litter of any kind, spread thick under the vines, is, perhaps, the best remedy--the action of it is in every way beneficial.

_Insects._--The rosebug, spanworm, great greenworm, and many other insects, infest grapevines, and do much injury. The large worms are most easily destroyed by hand; the small insects by flour-of-sulphur, or by snuff, sprinkled over profusely when the vines are wet. The various applications recommended in this work for the destruction of insects, are useful on the grapevine. The principle is to apply something offensive to the insects, without being injurious to the vines.

_Preserving Grapes._--Packed in sawdust or wheat-bran, always thoroughly dried by heat, they will keep well until spring. Another method is packing them in cotton-batting or wadding (the latter is best); or put them in baskets holding no more than four or five quarts, cover tight with cotton, and hang up in a cool, airy place, and they will long remain in good condition. In shallow boxes, six inches deep, put a sheet of wadding, and on it a layer of bunches of grapes, not allowed to touch each other; on the top of the grapes put another sheet of cotton, and then another layer of grapes, and so the third, covering the last with cotton, and put the cover on tight, and keep in a cool place. This is the most successful method.

A new method is to suspend hoops by three cords, like a baby-jumper, and hang the bunches of grapes all around it, as near as possible without touching, on little wire hooks, passing through the lower ends of the clusters, allowing the stem end to be suspended, and the grapes hang away from each other, and if the place be not damp enough to mould them, and not dry enough to cause them to shrivel, they keep exceedingly well. It requires more care and judgment, than the other methods. A very cool situation, without freezing, is essential in all cases. It is also necessary to remove all broken or immature grapes, from the clusters you would preserve.

_Varieties_ are very numerous, and their nomenclature is confused, as that of other fruits. It is utterly useless to cultivate foreign grapes in the open air in this country. They succeed very imperfectly, even in the Southern states. But for cultivation under glass, they are preferable to any of our own. The following foreign grapes are preferred in this country:--

Black Prince, White Muscat, White Constantia, White Muscadine, White Sweet-water, Early White Muscat, Black Cluster, Black Hamburg. The latter is the best of all foreign grapes for cultivation under glass. It is very delicious, a great bearer, of very large clusters. It requires only solar heat to bring it to perfection.

_Native Grapes._--Of these we now have a large number, many of which are valuable. We call attention only to a very few of the best. The _Isabella_ as a table luxury is hardly surpassed. In the Eastern, Middle, and Western states, it is generally hardy and prolific. In northern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, it does not ripen well. The seasons are too short. It also feels somewhat the severity of the weather, on the western prairies. It is also apt to decay at the South. For all other parts it is one of the very best. It is an enormous bearer, one vine having been known to produce more than ten bushels, in a single year.

Next is the _Catawba_, better for wine, more vinous but not so sweet as the Isabella, ripens two or three weeks later, and hence not so good in high latitudes.

_The Rebecca Grape._--This is a comparatively new variety, of great promise. White like the Sweet-water, flavor very fine, vine hardy and productive.

_The Diana_ is a small delicious grape, excellent flavor for the dessert, and ripens two weeks earlier than the Isabella. Hence good for northern latitudes.

_The Concord._--Large, showy, of good but not the best flavor, and ripens with the Diana. Should be cultivated at the North.

_The York Madeira_ is similar to the Isabella, smaller and a few days earlier.

_The Delaware_ is a small brown grape, excellent and hardy. Ripens quite as early as the Isabella. Best outdoor grape, in many localities.

_The Canadian Chief._--One of the very best grapes for Canada.

_Canby's August._--Very fine; considered better for the table than the Isabella, ripens ten days earlier, and as it is a good bearer, it should be generally cultivated.

_The Ohio Grape_ is a good variety, beginning to attract much notice.

_The Scuppernong_ is the best of all grapes, for general cultivation at the South. It is never affected by the rot. Not easily raised from cuttings. Layers are better. It does best trained on an arbor.

The soil and climate of the South are well adapted to the grape, even the finer varieties that do not flourish well at the North. They are, however, seriously affected by the rot, an evil incident to the heat and humidity of the climate. It being very warm, the dews and rains incline the fruit to decay. We think the evil may be prevented by two very simple means: Keep the vines very open, that they may dry very soon after rain; and train them to trellises, from six to ten feet high, and over the top put a coping of boards, in the shape of a roof, extending eighteen inches on each side of the trellis. It will prevent the rain and heavy dews from falling on the grapes, and is said to preserve them perfectly. This arrangement is about equal, in a warm climate, to cold graperies at the north. We recommend increased attention to this great luxury, in all parts of the country. Seedlings will arise, adapted to every locality on the continent.

GRASSES.

There is a great number of varieties, adapted to cultivation in some countries and climates, but not suitable for American culture. On the comparative value of different grasses there is a diversity of opinions. The best course for the practical farmer is, having the best and surest, therewith to be content. Sir John Sinclair says there are two hundred and fifteen grasses cultivated in Great Britain. We shall notice a very few of them, with a view to their comparative value:--

1. _Sweet-scented Vernal Grass._--Small growth; yield of hay light. For pastures it is very early, and grows quickly after being cropped, and is excellent for milch-cows; grows well on almost any soil, but most naturally on high, well-drained meadows. It grows in great abundance in Massachusetts.

2. _Meadow Foxtail._--Early like the preceding, but more productive and more nutritious. It is one of the five or six kinds usually sown together in English pastures; best for sheep and horses.

3. _Rough Cocksfoot._--_Orchard-grass_ of the United States; cows are fond of it. In England it is taking the place of clovers and rye-grass. About Philadelphia it is supplanting timothy. It is earlier, and therefore better to mix with clover for hay, as they mature at the same time; grows well in the shade, and on both loams and sands; springs rapidly after being cropped. Colonel Powell, one of the best American farmers, says it produces more pasture than any other grass he has seen in this country. Two bushels of seed are sown on an acre.

4. _Tall Oat-Grass._--A valuable grass, deserving increased attention. It will produce three crops in a season; grows four or five feet high, and should be cut for hay when in blossom. Of all grasses, it is the earliest and best for green fodder.

5. _Tall Fescue._--Cut in blossom, it contains more nutriment than any other known grass. Grows well by the sides of ditches, and is well adapted to wet bogs, as, by its rapid growth, it keeps down coarse, noxious grass and weeds.

6. _Rye Grass._--This is extensively cultivated in Scotland and in the north of England. It is mixed with clover. Respecting its comparative value there is a diversity of opinion. Some do not speak well of it.

7. _Red Clover and White Clover._--See article "Clover."

8. _Lucern._--This yields much more green feed at a single crop than any other grass. For soiling cattle it is one of the best, and may be cut twice as often as red clover. This makes a good crop, soon after time for planting corn. Common corn or pop-corn, and later, Stowell's evergreen sweet corn, are the best for soiling cattle; but for early soiling, use lucern, or some other quick-growing, large grass. Lucern needs clean land, or cultivation at first, as young plants are tender. The tap-root runs down very deep; hence, hard clay or wet soils are not favorable. It stands the cold, in latitudes forty to forty-five degrees in this country, better than red clover.

9. _Long-rooted Clover._--This is a Hungarian variety--biennial, but resows itself several years in succession, on good, clean land. Its yield of hay and seed is abundant. Needs a deep, dry soil, and stands a drought better than any other grass. To plow in as a fertilizer, or for soiling cattle, it is valuable, wherever it will flourish.

10. _Sain-Foin._--Adapted to calcareous or chalky soils; considered one of the best plants ever introduced into England; but in New England it proves almost a failure--it requires more cool moisture and less frost.

11. _Timothy._--In England, _Meadow Cats'-tail_, and in New England, _Herd's-grass_. This is the most valuable of all the grasses, and wherever it will thrive well, should never be superseded by anything else for hay. It should be cut when the seed has begun to harden, but before it begins to shell, and never in the blossom. Let every farmer remember that timothy, cut in the seed, contains twice as much nutriment as when cut in the blossom; hence, it is not worth more than half as much for hay, sown among clover, as when sown by itself, as it must be cut too early, to avoid losing the clover.

12. _Red Top._--We can not find this described in agricultural books; but we have been familiar with it for thirty-five years, and can not find a New York or New England farmer who does not know it well and prize it highly. For low, moist, rich meadows, the red top is the best for hay of any known grass. It yields abundantly, and may be cut at any time, from July to last of September. The hay is better for cattle than timothy. Many intelligent gentlemen insist that it is the most healthy hay for horses.

After all that has been written on the various grasses, we regard it best for farmers throughout the continent to cultivate only the following:--

For early pastures, _vernal grass_ and _meadow foxtail_; pastures through the season, _white clover_, _cocks-foot_, _meadow foxtail_, _red clover_, and _timothy_; for lowland pastures, _red top_ and _tall fescue_; for hay, _timothy_, _red top_, _orchard grass_, and _tall fescue_; for the shade of fruit-trees, _orchard grass_; to be plowed in as fertilizers, _red clover_ and _white clover_, for soiling cattle, _tall oat-grass_ and _lucern_.

Time of sowing grass-seed is important. Some prefer the fall, and others the spring. Fall sowing should be very early or very late. Early sowing will give the young plants strength to endure the frosts of winter, which would kill late sown; but sow so late that it will not vegetate until spring, and it will come up early and get out of the way of the droughts of summer. Grass-seed sown late in the spring will always fail, except when followed by a very wet season. Sow timothy with fall grain, or late in the fall, or on a light snow toward the close of winter. Do not sow clover in the fall, as the young plants will generally fail in the cold winter;--sow it on the last light snow of winter, and it will always succeed. Roll the land in spring on which you have sown grass-seed in the last of winter; it will benefit the grain, and cause the grass-seed to catch well, and get an earlier and more rapid growth. Let all who would not lose their seed and labor, remember that grass-seed not sown so as to form good roots, before the frosts of winter or the drought of summer, will be lost; the plants will be killed. Timothy-seed sown in the fall, one peck to the acre, will produce a good crop the next season.

GREENHOUSE.

Greenhouses vary as much in style and cost as dwellings. The simplest is any tight enclosure, covered with a glass roof at an angle of forty-five degrees, facing the south, and kept warm by artificial heat. The temperature is not allowed to be lower than forty nor higher than seventy degrees of Fahrenheit; this will keep plants growing and make them blossom, and affords a good place for starting plants to be transplanted to out-door hotbeds, and finally to the vegetable garden, after frosts are over. There is but one main danger in greenhouse culture, and that is obviated by a little care: it is, allowing the air to become too much heated for the health of the plants; they require but little heat, but need it regularly. Some greenhouses are warmed by stoves, and serve a good purpose; others have a stove set in a flue which is built in the wall, gradually rising until it has passed around two or three sides of the building. Place three or four sheet-iron pans over this flue, at different points, and keep them filled with water; the fire in the flue will heat the water, and impart both warmth and humidity to the atmosphere, which is very favorable to the health and growth of plants. Such a house is favorable to the growth of tender exotic fruits and plants. A similar house without any artificial heat affords an excellent place for the cultivation of the finest varieties of foreign grapes.

GYPSUM, OR PLASTER OF PARIS.

The fertilizing properties of this article were discovered by a German laborer in a quarry, who observed the increased luxuriance of the grass by his path, when the dust fell from his shoes and clothes. This led to experiments which demonstrated its fertilizing power. With the protracted controversies on gypsum we have nothing to do; certain important facts are established which are valuable to agriculturists.

Gypsum is valuable as an application to the soil, at from three fourths to one and a quarter bushels to the acre. On poor land, for a flax crop three bushels per acre, applied after the plants were up, and when wet, produced a great crop. It should be applied only once in two years, or in very small quantities every year. Applied as a top-dressing, it will do no good until a considerable quantity of rain has fallen upon it. If it be applied in the spring, and the summer prove a dry one, its greatest effect will be felt the next season. Its most marked effects are on poor soils; on land already rich it seems to produce but little effect; on dry, sandy or gravelly soils, it will increase a clover crop from one fourth to two thirds; sowed among clover and immediately plowed in, it acts powerfully. Plants of large leaves feel its influence much more than those with small ones, hence its excellence on clover, potatoes, and vines. Some soils contain enough plaster already: the farmer must determine by analysis or experiment. On the compost heap it is valuable in small quantities; it is also useful on all long, coarse, or fresh manures of the previous winter. Seeds rolled in it before planting vegetate sooner and stronger. Mixed with an equal quantity of ashes and a little lime, and applied to any crop immediately after hoeing, or when just coming up, it adds materially to its growth. It is better to apply it twice--on first coming up, and immediately after first hoeing; small quantities are best;--it will ten times repay the cost and labor. Upland pastures and meadows, except clay soils, are greatly benefited by it. A time-saving method of sowing plaster on fields of grass or grain, is to sow out of a wagon driven slowly through the field, the driver being guided by his former tracks, while two men sow out of the wagon. It is customary to put plaster and ashes, mixed, around the hills of corn, or throw it upon the plants. Sown on the field of hoed or hill crops, its effects are much greater than when only put on the hill. It should be sown equally over the whole ground.

HARROWING.

The very liberal use of the harrow is one of the principal requisites of successful farming. No other single tool does so much to pulverize the soil, as the harrow. A full crop can only be raised on a fine mellow soil. Seeds planted in soil left coarse and uneven, will vegetate unevenly, grow unequally, ripen at different times, and produce unequal quantities. Many farmers insist that it is a mere notion, without reason, to harrow land four or five times, and roll it once or twice. Not one in five hundred believes in the full utility of such a thorough working of the soil. Coarse lumpy soils expose the seeds and roots of young plants to drought, and to too strong action of the atmosphere. (See article on _Rolling_.)

Harrow sandy and sod land whenever you please. If you work any other soil when very wet, it will not recover from the effects of it during the whole season. Harrow land the first time the same way it was plowed.

The form of a harrow is of no importance, except avoiding the butterfly drag, that seldom works well. The square harrow with thirty teeth is usually preferred. Every farmer should have a =V= drag also.

Corn, potatoes, peas, and other crops that are planted in straight rows, should be harrowed just after coming up, with a =V= drag, drawn by two horses. The front teeth should be taken out that the row may pass between the teeth, as well as between the horses.

Such a cultivation will do more good than any other single subsequent one. It stirs the whole surface, pulverizing the soil, keeps it mellow and moist, and destroys the weeds, and all at the best possible time, for the benefit of the crop. No other form of cultivation is so good for a young crop. Try two acres, one in the usual way, and the other by harrowing, as we recommend, when it first comes up, and you will never after neglect harrowing all your hoed crops.

HAY.

Farmers differ in their modes of making and preserving hay. The following directions for timothy and clover, are applicable to all grasses suitable for hay, as they are all divided into two classes, broad-leaved, and the fine-leaved, or grasses proper. The principles involved in these directions may be considered comparatively well settled, and they are sufficient for all purposes. Cut clover when half the blossoms are dried, and the other half in full bloom. Cut later, the stalks are so dried, that they are of much less value. Cut earlier, it is so immature, as to be of small value for hay. In case of great growth and lodging down, clover may be cut earlier, as it is better to save hay of less value, than to lose the whole. To cure clover for hay, spread it evenly, immediately after the scythe, let it thoroughly wilt, but not dry. Rake it up, before any of the leaves are dry so as to break, and put it in small cocks, such as a man can pitch upon a cart at once or twice with a fork. This should be _laid_ on and not _rolled_ up from a winrow. In the former case it will shed nearly all the water, and the latter method suffers the rain to run down through the whole.

Unless the weather be very wet, clover will cure in this way, without opening until time to haul it in, and will retain its beautiful green color, almost equal to that of England and Germany, cured in the shade, which, at two or three years old, appears almost as bright as though not cured at all. If the weather be quite wet, cut clover when free from dew or rain, wilt it at once, and draw it in, put as much as possible in thin layers on scaffolds, and under cover, to cure in the shade. Put the remainder in alternate layers with equal quantities of dry straw, with one peck of salt to a ton. A ton may bear half a bushel of salt, less is better, and more is injurious to stock, by compelling them to eat too much salt. The most beautiful and palatable clover hay is that cured in the shade, on scaffolds and afterward mowed away.

Timothy should never be cut, until the seed is far enough advanced to grow. Careful experiments have shown that cut in the blossom, the hay will contain only about one half as much nutriment, as when cut in the full-grown seed, but before it commences shelling. Cure as clover, but in twice as large cocks, and never salt, unless compelled to draw in when damp or too green.

HEDGE.

The question of fencing in this country, so much of which is prairie, and in other parts of which there is such a wanton waste of timber, gives great importance to successful hedging. The same plants are not equally good for hedge in all parts of the country. There are but few plants suitable for hedges in our climate.

_The Osage Orange_--is the best, in all latitudes where it will flourish. It has no diseases or enemies by which it will be destroyed, except too cold winters. Of Southern origin, yet it flourishes in many places at the North. In cold localities, where there is but little snow, it suffers much until three or four years old. It is being extensively introduced into central and northern Illinois, where unusually cold winters destroy vast quantities of young plants, and kill the tops of much old hedge. It is still insisted that it will succeed; but we consider it too uncertain, and consequently too expensive, for general fencing in such climates. The roots and lower parts of the plants may be preserved, however, by setting them out for a hedge on level ground, instead of ridges as usual, and plowing a furrow three feet from each side of the row, to drain off surplus water. Mulch thoroughly in the fall, and thus protect from frost until they have been set in the hedge for three years, and they may succeed and make a good live fence. To raise the plants, soak the seeds thoroughly, and, at the usual time of corn-planting, plant in straight rows, and keep clean of weeds. Set out in hedge the following spring. The soil of the hedge-row should be deep, mellow, and moderately, not excessively rich. Too rich soil makes a larger growth, of spongy and more tender wood. Plants should have a portion of the tap-root cut off, and be planted a foot apart in the row.

_The Hawthorn_--will never be extensively cultivated for live fence in this country, being subject to borers, as destructive as in fruit-trees.

_The Virginia Thorn_--is equally uncertain.

_The Buck Thorn_--after fifteen years' trial, in New England, bids fair to answer every purpose for American live fence: it is easily propagated, of rapid growth, very hardy, thickens up well at the bottom, and is exempt from the depredations of insects. It may yet prove the great American hedge-shrub.

_The Newcastle Thorn_--cultivated in New England, is much more beautiful, and promises to rival the buck thorn, but has not been sufficiently tested to settle its claims. Much is anticipated from it.

There are plants well adapted to hedge at the South, which are too tender for the North. In White's Gardening for the South, we have the following given as hedge-shrubs, adapted to that region: Osage Orange, Pyracanth, Cherokee, and single White Macartney roses. The Macartney, being an evergreen thorn, and said to make as close a hedge as the Osage Orange and much more beautiful, is quite a favorite at the South. They usually train the rose-shrubs for hedge on some kind of paling or wire fence. They render some of them impenetrable even by rabbits or sparrows; this is done by layers, and trimming twice a year, commencing after the first three months' growth. Pruning is the most important matter in the whole business of hedging. A hedge set out ever so well, and composed of the best variety of plants, if left in the weeds, without proper care in trimming, will be nearly useless. A well-trimmed hedge around a fruit-orchard will keep out all fruit-thieves. The great difficulty is the _unwillingness_ of cultivators to cut off, so short and so frequently, _the fine growth_.

Shear off the first year's growth (_a_) within three inches of the ground (_b_). Cut the vigorous shoots that will rise from this shearing, four inches higher, about the middle of July, and similar and successive cuttings, each a little longer, in the two following years; these will bring the hedge to a proper height. The form of trimming shown in end view of properly-trimmed hedge, protects the bottom from shade by too much foliage on the top: the effects of that shade are seen in neglected hedge in the cut.

HEMP.

This is one of the staple articles of American agriculture. It is much cultivated in Kentucky and other contiguous states. Its market value is so fluctuating that many farmers are giving up its cultivation. The substance of these directions is taken from an elaborate article from the pen of the honorable Henry Clay. Had not the length of that article rendered it inconsistent with the plan of this volume, we should have given it to the American people as it came from the hand of their greatest statesman, who was so eminently American in all his sentiments and labors.

_Preparation of the Soil_--should be as thorough as for flax;--this can not be too strongly insisted on. Much is lost by neglect, under the mistaken notion that hemp will do about as well on coarse, hard land. Plants for seeds should be sown in drills four feet apart, and separate from that designed only for the lint. The stalks should be allowed to stand about eight inches apart in the rows. Plants are male and female, distinguished in the blossoms. When the farina from the blossoms on the male plants (the female plants do not blossom) has generally fallen, pull up the male plants, leaving only the females to mature. Cut the seed-plants after the first hard frost, and carry in wet, so as to avoid loss by shelling. Seed is easily separated by a common flail. After the seeds are thrashed out, they should be spread thin, and thoroughly dried, or their vegetative power will be destroyed by heat or decay. They should be spread to be kept for the next spring's planting, and not be kept in large bulk. Their vegetation is very uncertain after they are a year old. Sow hemp for lint broadcast, when the weather has become warm enough for corn-planting. Opinions vary as to the quantity of seed, from one bushel to two and a half bushels per acre. Probably a bushel and a peck is best. Plowing in the seed is good on old land; rolling is also useful. If it gets up six inches high, so that the leaves cover the ground well, few crops are less effected by the vicissitudes of the weather. Some sow a part of their hemp at different times, that it may not all ripen at once and crowd them in their labor. Cutting it ten days before it is ripe, or allowing it to stand two weeks after, will not materially injure it. Hemp is pulled or cut. Cutting, as near the ground as possible, is the better method. The plants are spread even on the ground and cured; bound up in convenient handfuls and shocked up, and bound around the top as corn. It is an improvement to shake off the leaves well before shocking up. If stacked after a while, and allowed to remain for a year, the improvement in the lint is worth more than the loss of time. There are two methods of rotting--dew-rotting, =and= water-rotting--one by spreading out on grass-land, and the other by immersing in water; the latter is much the preferable mode. The question of sufficient rotting is determined by trial. Hemp is broken and cleaned like flax. The stalks need to be well aired and dried in the sun to facilitate the operation. Extremes in price have been from three to eight dollars per hundred pounds: five dollars renders it a very profitable crop. Thorough rotting, good cleaning, and neat order, are the conditions of obtaining the first market price. An acre produces from six hundred to one thousand pounds of lint--an average of about one hundred pounds to each foot of height of the stalks. Hemp exhausts the soil but a mere trifle, if at all; the seventeenth successive crop on the same land having proved the best. Nothing leaves the land in better condition for other crops; it kills all the weeds, and leaves the surface smooth and even.

HOEING.

Much depends upon the proper and timely use of the hoe. Never let weeds press you; hoe at proper times, and you never will have any large weeds. As soon as vegetables are up, so that you can do it safely, hoe them. The more frequent the hoeing while plants are young, the larger will be the crop. Premium crops are always hoed very frequently. Hoeing cabbages, corn, and similar smooth plants, when it rains slightly, is nearly equal to a coat of manure. But beans, potatoes, and vines, and whatever has a rough stalk, are much injured by stirring the ground about them while they are wet, or even much damp. We have known promising crops of vines nearly destroyed by hoeing when wet. Hoeing near the roots of vines after they have formed runners one or two feet long, will also nearly ruin them;--the same is true of onions: hoe near them, cutting off the lateral roots, and you will lessen the crop one half. In hoeing, make no high hills except for sweet potatoes. High hilling up originated in England, where their cool, humid, cloudy atmosphere demands it, to secure more warmth. In this country we have to guard more against drought and heat.

HOPS.