mends preparing the ground by ploughing with two ploughs with strong teams, one immediately behind the other, in the same furrow, each of them set deep; and after the ploughing is completed, to be harrowed thoroughly. Then in the direction the rows are intended to be planted, parallel furrows are run across the field, at the distance of eight feet from each other; these are afterward crossed at right angles, five feet asunder. In the opening, at the intersection of these furrows, cuttings from nine to twelve inches long are planted, and arranged with a view to the vines being, when grown, at distances of four by seven feet from each other; to this end, he frequently plants two cuttings in a place, some of which are used to fill up with, in case of failures. He says, that in 1829 he planted in nursery beds from two to three thousand cuttings as late as the middle of April to the middle of May, with better success than at any previous time. “In this case the slips should be kept in a cool, damp place, where vegetation may be held in check. To insure their freshness, sprinkle them occasionally with water. Previous to planting cut them a proper length, and place them with their lower ends three or four inches in water, in a tub above ground, where they may soak three or four days. At this season the temperature will be likely to be such as to spur vegetation at once into healthy and vigorous action. The autumn, or early in the spring, is preferable for rooted plants. In the autumn of the first year, after the frost has killed the unripe part of the young shoots, they should be pruned down to the mature, firm wood, and then with a hoe hilled over with the surrounding soil, which will completely protect them through the winter, If left without protection the first winter, many of them will perish."

Mr. Bonsall says, his mode of training, as far as he is aware of it, is entirely peculiar to himself, which he describes as follows: "I take chestnut posts, the thickness of large fence rails, seven feet in length; these I plant along the

rows, at distances of ten feet from each other, and at such a depth as to leave five feet above the surface of the earth; then taking three nails to each post, and driving them to within half an inch of their heads, the first two and a half feet from the ground, a second midway between that and the top, and the third near the top, I attach No. 11 iron wire (one degree soft is best) firmly to one of the nails in the end post, pass on to the next, and stretching it straight and tight, give it one turn round a nail in the same line as the one to which it was first attached. Having in this manner extended it along the three courses, the whole length of the row, my trellis is formed. I have had a portion of my vineyard fitted up in this way for three years, and experience has confirmed the superior fitness of the plan. It is not its least recommendation, that it possesses in a degree the character of labour-saving machinery. A very important and extensive labour-making portion of the operations in the ⚫vineyard during the summer, is the attention required by the growing shoots to keep them properly trained up. They grow and extend themselves so rapidly, that where the strips of the trellis are lath, or where poles are used to support vines, unless very closely watched, they fall down in every direction, in a very unsightly and injurious manner. Here the wire being small, the tendrils or claspers eagerly and firmly attach themselves to it, and thus work for themselves in probably two-thirds of the instances where the attention of the vigneron would otherwise be required. There is a free access afforded to the sun and air, and no hold for the wind to strain the frame," &c. Mr. Bonsall says farther, "I shall not enter into a minute description of my manner of pruning, but may just say, that after the vines have attained a full capacity for production, (say five years from the cutting,) my view is to prepare them for bearing an average of fifty clusters to each, leaving several shoots of from three to five joints on a vine for this purpose. When fresh pruned, they will not be more than four feet high, at their greatest age."

Dr. R. T. Underhill, of New-York, has a vineyard at Croton Point, near Sing Sing, where, after having sunk thousands of dollars in attempting to raise the most celebrated foreign varieties, he abandoned the project as visionary, and commenced planting the Isabella Grape in 1832, and the Catawba in 1835. Mr. Underhill has now upward of twenty acres of these grapes, chiefly of the former, under the most successful cultivation. He says that the Isabella Grape ripens two or three weeks earlier than the Catawba, and that these two varieties are, in his estimation, the best adapted for general purposes; the former yielding with him a more valuable crop than any other with which he is acquainted. He says that the quality of this fruit has improved very much within a few years, the clusters and berries being much larger and sweeter; and that they are capable of still greater improvement by high cultivation.

The following extracts are from Dr. Underhill's communication to the editor of the Cultivator,' published January 28th, 1843:

"In this latitude, (south of the highlands of the Hudson,) I find that the Isabella Grape ripens quite as well when planted in a level field, protected from the north and west winds by woods or hedges, as on declivities. Several of my vineyards are thus located, and, as far as I can perceive, the fruit ripens at about the same time, and is of the same quality as those planted on steep side-hills. I think, however, that north of the highlands, side-hills would be preferable. To prepare the ground for a vineyard, the best way is to turn over the whole of the surface soil from fifteen to eighteen inches in depth, early in the spring, by ploughing twice in the same furrow. This will place the richest part of the soil in a position where it will give the greatest supply of nourishment to the vines. Few vineyards in this country have been prepared in this way; but the cost is so small and the advantages so great, that it should be done wherever there are no rocks or large stones to prevent it."

The following observations on the destruction of the Rosebug, were also published in the Cultivator, Sept. 13, 1842: "I observed that when the rose-bugs first appeared on the vines, they were so feeble as to be unable to fly even for a few yards. Having surmounted all other difficulties, I was determined not to be defeated in the vineyard cultivation of the Grape by this insect, and consequently resorted to the following means for its destruction. I directed my men to take each a cup, with a little water in it, and go through the vineyards every morning, removing every bug from the vines; and this was done quite rapidly by passing the cup under the leaf and merely touching it, when the bugs instantly dropped, and were received in the cup containing the water. When the cup was full, they were soon destroyed by pressing the foot upon them on a hard surface. This plan was persevered in every morning as long as a bug could be found, and was attended with such success, that they have given me very little trouble since. I also tried ploughing my vineyards just before winter set in, so as to expose to the weather the insect in the larvæ state, which will certainly destroy the young tribe that have not descended below the reach of the plough. For two years past the number has been so small that I have omitted this process for their destruction.-R. T. Underhill."

Although the man of taste and capacity for improving on the improvements of others, may have gleaned ideas from the above extracts, sufficient to enable him to cultivate the vine in his own garden, it may be necessary to direct the reader's attention to the different methods of cultivating this excellent fruit in varied situations.

A vine may be trained horizontally under the coping of a close fence or wall, to a great distance, and the borders in an east, southeast, and southern aspect of large gardens, may be furnished with a variety of sorts, which will ripen in great perfection, without encumbering the borders; or the plants may be trained low, like currant bushes; in

which case, three or more shoots, eighteen inches or two feet in length, may diverge from the stem near the ground, to supply young wood annually for bearing. The summer pruning consists in removing shoots which have no fruit, or are not required for the succeeding season; and in topping fruit-bearing shoots, and also those for succeeding years, when inconveniently long and straggling. For as, by this mode, the shoots destined to bear are all cut into three or four eyes at the winter pruning, no inconvenience arises from their throwing out laterals near the extremities, which topping will generally cause them to do.

In training vines as standards, the single stem at the bottom is not allowed to exceed six or eight inches in height, and from this two or three shoots are trained, or tied to a single stake of three or four feet in length. These shoots bear each two or three bunches, within a foot or eighteen inches of the ground, and they are annually succeeded by others which spring from their base, that is, from the crown or top of the dwarf main stem. This is the mode practised in the North of France and in Germany; in the South of France and Italy, the base or main stem is often higher, and furnished with side shoots, in order to afford a great supply of bearing wood, which is tied to one or more poles of greater height. The summer pruning, in this case, is nearly the same as in the last, In the winter pruning, the wood that has borne is cut out, and the new wood shortened, in cold situations, to three or four eyes, and in warmer places, to six or eight eyes.

Nicol observes, that "Most of the summer pruning of vines may be performed with the fingers, without a knife, the shoots to be displaced being easily rubbed off, and those to be shortened, being little, are readily pinched asunder." After selecting the shoots to be trained for the production of a crop next season, and others necessary for filling the trellis from the bottom, which shoots should generally be laid in at the distance of a foot or fifteen inches from each other,