made 40 gallons. I send you a bottle, a sample of that made in 1844. The wine remained in the half-barrel one year on the "lees," and was then bottled and sealed. Its color is as high as any grape wine. I never please my friends more than when it is produced, and the strongest advocate of temperance need not fear abusing his or her pledge in its use. pint of alcohol was all that was put in the 18 gallons.

One

I shall leave you to speak of its quality :-It is as pleasant as a cordial, and, for summer drink, mixed with water, it is as choice as claret.

I subjoin a recipe for any one who may wish to make it. "Pick the currants when fully ripe, and, after obtaining the juice, either by use of a wine-press, or by squeezing through a cloth with the hands,-to each gallon of juice add six quarts of water, three and half pounds of common brown sugar, (to cost 6 to 8 cents per pound,) and put it in your keg or barrel (according to quantity made,) minding that the keg be full, and let it thus stand, until it has gone through the necessary fermentation, then add the alcohol, one pint to 18 gallons, and close the barrel for one year at least, letting it stand in the cellar. After this time, it is fit for use, and may be bottled, and should be sealed. Age tempers it, and makes it as it does other wines.

Rochester, March 30th, 1847.

The currant, of all the small fruits, is the most valuable. To them, it holds the same relation as the apple to the large fruits. Like the apple, it may be used for every culinary purpose, or take its place among the dessert fruits. We are, therefore, glad to present any article which shall extend its cultivation; for no garden should be without at least a dozen bushes, which may be purchased for a small sum, and afford an abundance of wholesome and delicious fruit.

The manufacture of currant wine was, some years ago, carried on very extensively by the father of our friend W. Kenrick, and the grounds which he and his brother now occupy, were covered with thousands of bushes, from which many barrels of wine were annually made. Those were the days, however, when King Alcohol stalked abroad, and the pleasant beverage of currant wine had to give way to stronger drinks:

In these times of temperance reform, to recommend the use of any other beverage than cold water might subject us to the charge of opposition to this philanthropic cause; but, as a drink to take the place of alcohol, such a specimen of wine as Mr. Watts has sent us would do no one harm, and if it could be made to take the place of alcoholic liquors, it would be the most efficient aid in the promotion of temperance. A light and pleasant drink of some kind is necessary in our warm climate, and an article like this could be easily and cheaply made by every one who has a spare rod of ground. We recommend the recipe of Mr. Watts for manufacturing the wine to those who would like to make a trial of it.-Ed.

ART. VI.

On the Cultivation and Treatment of the Peach Tree, in Cold Houses. By Thomas B. CowAN, Gardener to Dr. Durfee, Fall River, Mass.

THE peach has, for a long time, occupied a conspicuous place among other fruits, and ranks as one of the most delicious, for summer use. It was first introduced into Europe from Persia, which is said to be its native country.

The following account of its introduction into Europe is given by Loudon, in his Encyclopedia. The peach tree, in its natural state, is under the middle size of trees; of quick growth, and not long duration. Sickler considers Persia as the original country of the peach, which, in Media, is deemed unwholesome; but, when planted in the alluvial soils of Egypt, becomes pulpy and delicious. The peach also, according to Columella, when first brought from Persia, into the Roman Empire, possessed deleterious qualities; which Knight concludes to have arisen from those peaches being only swollen almonds, or imperfect peaches; which are known to contain Prussic acid which operates unfavorably on many constitutions. The tree has been cultivated from time immemorial in most parts of Asia; when it was introduced into Greece is uncertain; the Romans seem to have brought it direct from Persia during the reign of the emperor Claudius. The peach

was introduced into England about the middle of the sixteenth century, and, owing to the unfavorableness of the climate, it is always there cultivated against walls or under glass.

Practical men have, at all times, found it difficult to cultivate the peach to perfection; that is, having its peculiar rich and delicious flavor; for, in a great many instances, where the trees are grown in houses, the flavor of the fruit is poor and insipid, and little better, if the expression may be used, than a turnip.

It is my intention to give as correct an idea as possible, in regard to the making of the borders, planting, training, pruning, general management, &c. The formation of the border, It consider the most difficult part; for, if it is not made properly, it is quite useless to expect to raise good fruit; and it matters not how much care, time or expense may be spent afterwards, it will never make up for this defect; and it is always best to do the work thoroughly at first, sparing no pains or expense, as the trees will amply repay for all the extra trouble.

The border should commence at the back wall inside of the house, and extend outside under the arches, to the distance of twelve feet from the front of the house. The soil should all be taken out to the depth of two feet six inches, sloping the bottom gradually, so that the front will be one foot lower than the back: a drain should run along the front of the border one foot deep, with small cross-drains leading into it, so as to have a perfect command of draining off all superfluous water, particularly where the bottom is spongy and wet. There should then be laid, on the bottom thus formed, about six inches of stones and rubbish, leaving the depth for the soil two feet.

in a

The soils and manures which I consider best suited to the peach, are three parts of the top sod of good old pasture land, dug up about six or eight inches deep, and laid up pile, with the grass side down, for about a year, and never turned; one eighth part street manure, and the other eighth part decomposed horse or cow dung. I do not approve of turning over and mixing the materials promiscuously together, as I think such repeated intermixture is very injurious to the soil, and, by often turning the compost, it becomes too heavy.

When the soil is in readiness, commence filling up the border, mixing the materials in proportion, and turning them in as rough as possible. After allowing a sufficient time for the compost to be well settled, nothing remains to be done, but to begin to plant the trees, in their respective places. As regards season, I consider the fall the best time, if the trees can be procured, but, if not convenient at that season, they should be planted as early in the spring as possible. A good selection of trees is important, for many individuals think large are preferable to small ones. For training, no tree should be more than one year from the bud, and should have a straight clean

stem.

Proceed now to open the holes about twelve feet apart, along the inside front of the house, allowing them to extend outside under the arches. Then proceed to plant the trees, keeping the roots as near the surface as possible, spreading them out with great care under the arches, in the fan shape, so that the roots, when the tree begins to grow, will run into the outside border. The planter must also bear in mind, that he is planting trees which will last for years, and, if some extra pains are taken, even if it occupies a little more time to perform the work, he will be amply repaid in the end for his trouble. As soon as the operation of planting is completed, each tree should receive a moderate watering, to settle the earth about the roots. This done, commence setting out the trees along the back wall, in the same manner, only that those at the back of the house, should have all their roots spread out towards the front, and if the house is very wide, there can easily be a neat half-circular trellis put down, to train another row of trees to, having the front posts of it about two feet from the front row of trees. Though the fruit will never be so fine, on such trillises, as that from the trees trained on the rafters of the house, being rather too far from the glass, and shaded partially by the other trees, yet I have often known them to produce very fine fruit.

The planting all completed, which I shall suppose to be done early in spring, the next and principal work will be the pruning. The trees should now be headed down to three eyes, above the lower part of the trellis, from where it is wished to

commence training the trées, rubbing off all eyes below these three, if it is deemed desirable to have handsome shaped specimens.

Fan-training, I think, is the best adapted to the peach, and though most gardeners adopt this plan, few of them seem to carry it out in a proper manner; for, in a great many instances which have come under my observation, a great portion of the trees are unsightly objects, having lost their centre stem before they have grown three or four feet from the bottom of the trellis, and all shoots are laid in, whether they happen to be front or lower, spoiling the regular and beautiful appearance which a well trained tree always presents.

Commence training the top eye as it starts to grow, perpendicular, and the side ones in rather an oblique direction, and, when the centre shoot has grown about two feet, it should be stopped again to cause it to start out lateral shoots. The first year I think it is as well to tie in nearly all the wood the tree makes, as it encourages the roots to lay in a good supply of food, to support the tree another year, while, on the other hand, if there was not much foliage to elaborate the sap, the roots would remain partially inactive, not exercising half the functions they would otherwise have to perform where the tree was covered with foliage, and growing vigorously. I think it is of vast importance to try to establish the trees the first year. The trees will have to be examined once a month through the growing season, to tie in all shoots to the trellis that require it, and be particular to give plenty of air through the day, shutting up close at night, unless the weather is warm; in that case, air may be left on night and day. Syringe freely twice a week with pure water, and water the house inside so that the earth will not look dry or parched.

About the first of January will be the time to commence pruning the trees for the next or second season, cutting down the centre shoot to within eight eyes from where it started from the last season.

The side shoots should also be cut in to two or four eyes, according to their strength: during the summer, all laterals which spring from these, on either the front or lower side, should be cut close in as soon as they appear, laying in only those which spring from the upper side, and these at regular dis