We cannot do better than to quote Mr. Roberts's own words detailing his practice :

"The time of thinning I recommend, is when the berries are well set, or attain the size of No. 2, or 3, shot, beginning at the bottom of the bunch, leaving the leading berry if possible, and according to the kind of grape, having care to thin judiciously, as there is great difference between the Cannon Hall Muscat and Frontignacs as to size. As you proceed thinning upwards on the bunch, say, for an inch or two, more or less, from the bottom, you find the peduncles, or footstalks, or what more technical term you may apply to them, to consist of three berries (the leading one, and one on each side), my practice is to leave the lead or centre berry, taking off the other two. As you approach higher up the bunch, or approaching the middle part, such sorts as the Hamburghs form a sort of secondary shoulders, and upon the sides of these you will find them set on in threes; proceed to thin, as for the bottom, leaving the leading berries, taking off the side ones as before, proceeding upwards to the top of the bunch to the main shoulders, suspending or raising the shoulders with strands of soft matting, and thinning the same as before mentioned, taking care to remove all inside berries, as they scarce ever color well, and if the grapes have to hang long on the vine, they contribute to mouldiness in damp weather. The above system of thinning leaves a bunch equally balanced, each berry acting its own part, and not robbing another, will be found to assume a strong bold footstalk, and be regular as to size in every part of the bunch."

If a bunch of grapes is carefully examined, it will be seen that Mr. Roberts has adopted the only proper mode of thinning, -a mode which keeps the peculiar form as well as the size of the cluster, while, at the same time, they are more thoroughly thinned than in the ordinary way, as the central berries, which often do not color, and frequently rot before the clusters are ripe, are all removed, and room allowed for the others to swell up. In performing the operation, care should be taken not to injure the berries. They should be handled as little as possible, and if the hands of the operator are moist, from great perspiration, he should wear a glove, or,

in the large shouldered kinds, a small stick may be made use of to lift the shoulder up so as to cut out the inner berries.

THINNING THE BUNCHES.

This is a matter of much importance to the future health and well doing of the vines. On no account overbear young vines. There is no rule by which to be governed, as some vines are stronger than others, and something depends on the border. It may be safe to say that the spurs should not be nearer than one foot apart, and that each spur should not be allowed to mature but one bunch: they often show three, and amateurs are too apt to leave two or more on. Experience is the only sure guide; but it is better to have too small a crop than too large a one. The bunches should be cut out as soon as the berries are sufficiently swelled to see which are the best shape. Our vines matured and colored well, about twenty clusters each, averaging one pound to the bunch.

PRUNING.

At the end of the fourth season, the vines will have reached the top of the house, and the future pruning will be merely to secure a good spur every year; for we premise that the spur system will be adopted, as it has been with us. Some cultivators cut the old spur clean out: this is Mr. Russell's plan. Our mode is to cut back to the first or second eye,generally the second, as it is larger and fuller than the first, but always select a prominent one, even if the third. This eye will produce the fruit; but, as the spur which it forms must be cut out after it has borne, provision should be made for one to take its place: this is done by selecting one of the shoots which spring from the numerous buds at the base, at the time of disbudding, and tieing it in to the trellis, stopping it, and otherwise managing it during the year in the same way as the fruit-bearing ones. At the autumn pruning, the old spur is cut off close to the main stem, thus leaving it straight and clean. If this plan is not adopted, the old spurs would become crooked and unsightly, and, in a short time, extend far beyond the trellis. The same practice is to be followed every year, always bringing up a new spur to take

the place of the old one, and always pruning off to a good round plump eye. No system can be more simple, and we are sure none more successful in securing a good crop of grapes.

ART. IV. Root-Grafting Apple Trees. By a FLUSHING PROP

AGATOR.

ALLOW me to give to the public, through your valuable journal, some account of the quickest and the easiest mode of raising apple trees by root-grafting, as I am desirous of encouraging young nurserymen and propagators in the raising of apple trees.

1st. In the fall, all the seedling apple stocks intended for grafting should be carefully taken up, and placed in a heap in a cellar, and then the roots taken off and carefully preserved by mixing them by sand: all the scions intended for use should be cut before the frosty weather sets in, and carefully placed in sand or earth. Grafting may be commenced as early as convenient; it will not matter if you begin as early as November, and work at it through the winter till March, provided the roots, after being grafted, are heeled into boxes, and placed in the cellar till spring.

2d. All the roots, as you want them, should be washed, and then cut into pieces about four inches long or less, according to their length, and placed regularly on a table or bench, and the scions cut about three inches long, and placed in a heap near at hand; and then begin to graft. The system which I have always tried, and which succeeded best, is tongue-grafting, making a nice fit with the barks, and then bind slightly with muslin strings. These strings are made. by mixing six ounces of Burgundy pitch, six do. of tallow, three do. of beeswax. These should be melted, and then put on to the muslin with a brush. It may then be cut into strips nine inches long, and half an inch in breadth. This is better than matting, as it does not require to be cut off. The boxes should be made twelve inches deep, two feet in width, and three feet in length, and filled with fine sifted mould or sand. Trees grafted by this system are the best, grow very thrifty,

and are generally fit for sale in two years, if placed in good soil. A man accustomed to grafting can do from nine to twelve hundred a day very easily, and tie his own strings. Weak growing kinds generally grow stout and remarkably straight by this plan, and as it can be done in the winter, when nothing else of consequence can be done, there is a great saving of time.

In the spring, the boxes should be taken out of the cellar, and placed in some frames, pits, or the greenhouse, to start them into growth: or, if none of these are at hand, place them out of doors in a warm situation, as it is necessary to start them two or three inches before planting out; they will not be injured if you do not plant them out till the middle of May. Such has been my practice of root-grafting, and, if properly done, it will never fail to succeed.

Flushing, L. I., June, 1847.

ART. V. On the Propagation of Stove and Greenhouse Exotics in a Series of Letters. By JAMES KENNEDY, Gardener to S. T. JONES, Staten Island, New York.

LETTER III. Propagation by Offsets.

THIS is the mode by which bulbous and tuberous rooted plants are propagated. They are, however, sometimes increased by seed, but being so much longer than offsets in reaching a flowering state occasions this mode to be but seldom resorted to.

There are some kinds, however, from which I would prefer propagation by seed. Of these, the amaryllis, of which there are many varieties. I have found hybrids to be much preferable, as they often surpass the originals in beauty, and invariably flower more freely under good management.

In a situation I had the honor of filling as head gardener, in England, about eight miles from London, I succeeded in obtaining some beautiful hybrids by transferring the pollen from Amaryllis Johnsonii to A. reticulàta, from reticulata to vittata, from fúlgida to vittàta, from fúlgida to Johnsonii, and

from Johnsonii to equéstris,-the seed, as soon as ripe, should be collected, sown in pots, thoroughly drained, and placed in a hotbed, where they should be regularly shaded, when necessary, and watered sparingly. Under this treatment, they will vegetate quickly, and, when two leaves are produced, they should be potted off separately into thumb-pots, well drained, as above remarked.

Care must be taken not to pot them deep, but to have the young bulbs level with the surface of the mould, and, when potted, give as much water as will reach the bottom of the soil. They should then be placed in the hotbed for a few days, and regularly shaded from the sun. When the bulbs recede from the surface, they should have a shift into pots a size larger, and so on during the summer, until they are thoroughly rooted. By this treatment, many of them will flower abundantly the following spring. I should have mentioned that they require regular supplies of water, but not too much. The following compost I have found exactly to suit:-Three parts light turfy loam, two parts white sharp sand, and one part turfy peat; along with which treatment, an occasional watering with clear liquid manure would not, by any means, do injury.

The bulbous genera generally, such as the Gladiolus, Moræ`a, Ixia, Antholyza, &c. &c. should, when done flowering, be allowed to dry till the following October. This is the time for increasing by offsets, as then they are in a dormant state, and will not receive any injury in separating them from the parent. Nor will the parent's flowering principle receive any check for the coming season. Small pots thoroughly drained, and a compost composed of equal parts rich mellow loam, peat earth, leaf mould, and sand, with the addition of a little cow manure, will be found exactly suitable. After potting, let them be placed in a cool frame, when the only attention required is protection from heavy rain and frosts. No moisture should be given further than the soil in which they are potted furnishes, until the pots are full of roots, when they should be shifted into pots a size larger, using the compost above directed. They should then be taken into the greenhouse, where many of the largest of them will flower if kept regularly watered.

Staten Island, N. Y., June, 1847.