lalifornia Agriculturist 



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Vol. 7~No. a } 



SAN JOSE, CAL., MARCH, 1876. 



ISOBSCKIPTION Pbice, Sl-SOaYear. 

 ■J Single Copies, 15 Cents, 



LETTER FROM ITALY. 



BY JAMES S. LIPPINCOIT. 



S. Harris Herrino, Esq.: 'While pass- 

 ing through this lauil of vines we have 

 often been reminded of scenes in the 

 Occident, and many a time have memo- 

 ries of San Jose come up vividly before 

 us. Two weeks at Vevay, near the head 

 of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, were 

 especially agreeable, the wine harvest 

 being at its hight. 



Unlike California in almost every other 

 respect though Switzerland may be, in 

 the abundance and excellence of her 

 grapes, pears and plums, grown upon 

 the hills that border her lakes, she rivals 

 even your young and sunny laud. Such 

 an overwhelming abundance of sweet 

 blue plums and Grand Duchess and other 

 pears, I never before witnessed; while 

 the crop of grapes was so vast as to 

 greatly exercise the ingenuity of the pro- 

 prietors and text the capacity of their 

 vaults, to afford space wherein to bestow 

 the vintage. 



Picture to yourself the northern sloije 

 of the lake side for twenty-five miles in 

 length, and from one-quarter to one-half 

 a mile wide, covered almost entirely with 

 vineyards, terrace upon terrace, with 

 walls from five to twenty feet iu hight, 

 supporting the earth at wide intervals, 

 with here and there a stately homestead, 

 a fine chateau, or ancient tower, while 

 broad-armed walnut trees, or thrifty 

 orchards, or avenues of sycamores are 

 thrown in to diversify the scene. Higher 

 up the slope appear meadows and orch- 

 ards and compact villages on streets so 

 narrow that carriages can barely pass 

 each other, while before or beside each 

 house stands the ever-present manure 

 heap, reeking with foul vapors and wat- 

 ers. The almost universal presence of 

 this hope of the future, gives a charac- 

 teristic scent to Switzerland — the smell 

 of the cow yard — which, owing to the 

 manner in which the fertilizing liquid is 

 appliad, is a universal nuisance, detract- 

 ing from the pleasure with which one 

 would otherwise regard many a beautiful 

 scene by positively thrusting itself upon 

 the unwilling attention and filling the 

 sensitive with disgust. 



Swiss houses are generally lumbered 

 around with balconies loaded with wood 

 or faggots of vine-trimmings and bean 

 haulm, and almost every one has the 

 under side of the balcony or outside gal- 

 lery ornamented with festoons of yellow 

 Indian corn hanging in close files from 

 the twisted husks on very long pcles, 

 tier upon tier, for the American corn-crib 

 is unknown among them. 



Above those diriy villages, each house 

 of which is a picture in itself, sometimes 

 painted by some ardent young village 

 artist iu vigorous designs, rise the mead- 

 ows and the rougher slopes, and soon 

 the groves of pines and firs usurj) the 

 soil, which has become very thin; while 

 beyond the precipitous rocks look down 

 in their grey barrenness or thrust their 

 sharp peaks above the lower clouds. 

 Before we left, the early snows had pow- 

 dered their scalps, and on our departure 

 the highest mountain tops and far down 



towards their bases were covered with 

 snow, which, in the morning light, ad- 

 ded another element of beauty to that 

 which before was lovely; and when the 

 evening glow lighted the summits into 

 phosphorescent brilliance, they becaaie 

 gloriously beautiful with the tints of pale 

 rose and violet, to die into the duu of 

 twilight and the sombre of the evening 

 shades. 



The vintage is here the industry in 

 which all classes are interested, as upon 

 its prosperity depends much of the wealth 

 of the people. To it they give them- 

 selves with an enthusiasm which is quite 

 catching, and we temperance advocates 

 entered into the spirit of the occasion 

 with a zest we were not aware could have 

 been awakened in us. 



The city of Vevay, like many other 

 southern cities which have endured the 

 trials of war, has the lower story of its 

 houses, iu many instances, constructed 

 iu a massive manner, and entered 

 through largo arched doorways. This 

 story, though above ground, is heavily 

 vaulted, and serves as a depository for 

 wines and for the mills and presses and 

 scene of manufacturing. 



Let me attempt a description of a day 

 at Vevay among the grapes: You must 

 be informed that the Swiss are the most 

 industrious and toilsome of laborers — 

 not even your Chinese can excel them, I 

 imagine. Men, women and children 

 here perform an amount and kind of 

 labor that would be scarcely credible to 

 your easy-going Califcrniaus. One may 

 see masons jsropelling wagons loaded 

 with masses of stone that would make a 

 load for two horses, and which American 

 laborers would not touch with even one 

 hand. Groups of six or eight washer- 

 women iu lively chat may, morning and 

 evening, be seen and heard pushing a ve- 

 hicle loaded with linen to or from the 

 lake, where the washing is daily enacted, 

 and where the western order of things is 

 reversed; for the washerwoman usurps 

 the place of the soapsuds and clothing, 

 and taking her stand in the tub, punches 

 and slaps the clothes around with a long 

 pole, which she dextrously wields. But 

 the manner in which smaller burdens are 

 carried by the peasants is curious. The 

 Vaudois appear to consider their toilet 

 incomplete unless they are furnished 

 with the hoik. This hoUe, or hod is fitted 

 to their backs, and it is evident that their 

 backs are early fitted to the hoUe, for 

 groups of children daily appear in the 

 streets upon whose backs this unseemly 

 appendage is strapped, and in which 

 they carry bread, grapes, chips and even 

 their schoolbooks on their way to and 

 from these abouuding safeguards of their 

 liberties. This hotte is a long, oval bas- 

 ket or light wooden vessel tapering to- 

 wards its base, and attached to the back 

 by means of straps through which the 

 arms are passed, and affords the most 

 convenient method of carrying burdens 

 iu this land of steep declivities. 



But to the vintage — that joyous scene, 

 into which so many entered with interest 

 that the schools were adjourned, so that 

 young and old might assist therein. The 

 hillsides, as far as we could see, were 

 alive with grape-gatherers, among whom 



young women were most numerous, and 

 the streets were thronged with singular 

 vehicles, upon each of which was fas- 

 tened, lengthwise, a hogshead or pipe 

 loaded with crushed grapes on their way 

 to the mill and adjacent press in the 

 vaults of the city proprietor. The grapes 

 were cut from the vines by means of 

 small, sickle-shaped knives, thrown into 

 baskets and emptied into large wooden 

 hods in the vineyard, where they were 

 smashed by means of a plunger or pestle 

 in the hands of a strong man, who bore 

 the full hod to the gate of the vineyard 

 and emptied it by pouring its contents 

 over his head into a hoeshead upon the 

 wagon that bore it downhill to the press. 

 Every vehicle that the city could muster, 

 capable of bearing the burden of a hogs- 

 head, seemed brought into service, and a 

 most incongruous assemblage of beasts 

 harnessed thereto, from spavined old 

 steeds to noble teams of draught horses, 

 grand old bulls, well-worn mules, placid 

 cows and the omnipresent, patient and 

 all-enduring donkey. 



Our landlord having invited us to visit 

 his vineyard and help ourselves, we ac- 

 cepted with pleasure. We climbed up 

 the steep hillside, wound about between 

 the walls boundingthe narrow pathways, 

 and at length found ourselves among a 

 group of grape-gatherers, each busy with 

 her sickle-knife upon the large bunches 

 of sweet amber grapes. We plucked 

 and ate, and though our capacity did not 

 equal that of our host, which he asserted 

 was eight pounds, we left that vineyard 

 glad of heart but heavier than when we 

 entered it. No injurious effects follow a 

 very generous consumption of grapes, 

 and several grape-cures have been opened 

 in this district, where patients are en- 

 couraged to consume them in almost un- 

 measured quantities, morning, noon and 

 night, and with excellent results. We 

 partook abundantly during our two 

 weeks' tarrianco at Vevay, and can say 

 that our health has not been better at 

 any time during our travels in Europe. 



Florence, Italy, December, 1875. 



inUnxt, to cover the necessary expenses 

 of the business, instead of paying inter- 

 est. The property of each State, county 

 and township, and individual to 

 whom the money might be issued 

 should be he'd by pledge for 

 the payment of interest and re- 

 turn of money or its value. Such a 

 system would be simple, just, economic- 

 al and practical. It would give no bank- 

 ers power to extort enormous rates of 

 interest, would encourage instead of 

 kill industrial enterprises; everyone 

 could be employed in producing, and 

 everyone could secure the comforts and 

 luxurious of life. Money would be a ser- 

 vant instead of a king. The money 

 kings would find their speculative occu- 

 pations gone, and could become useful 

 citizens, instead of parasites to suck the 

 people's and the nation's blood. Min- 

 ing stocks and swindles could be dis- 

 pensed with as worse than useless. The 

 actual wealth and honor of the people 

 only would be at stake, and upon that 

 should be based the circulating medium 

 called money. And the less the actual 

 cost of the medium, the greater the ben- 

 efit to the people. 



IN A NUT-SHELL. 



The people are as completely slaves to 

 a pernicious financial system, iu the 

 United States, to-day, as ever were the 

 negroes iu the South to their owners. 

 The unjust and outrageous national 

 bank act costs the people thirty millions 

 of dollars every year for individual bank 

 notes not as good as greenbacks! The 

 Government pays interest on money she 

 should have issued herself, without pay- 

 ing interest, and might be drawing in- 

 terest on as well as not, instead of pay- 

 ing it out as is now the case. 



The greenbacks were a mistake in not 

 being made payable for everything in- 

 stead of excepting "interest on the 

 public debt and duties on imports." 

 Then there would have been no discount 

 necessary. 



We believe in paper money, but thirrk 

 it should be issued only by the Govern- 

 ment, and paid out by the Government 

 only for value received, or on good se- 

 curity, and should draw a very stnall 



MODELS OF HUMANE INVEN- 

 TIONS WANTED. 



The Massachusetts Society for the 

 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is en- 

 deavoring to collect models of every in- 

 vention for the comfort of animals. The 

 organ of the society. Our Dumb Animals, 

 published at the office of the Society, 

 No, 168 Washington street, Boston, thus 

 announces: 



In order to show the progress of hu- 

 mane sentiments in regard to the treat- 

 ment of animals, we propose to introduce 

 into the Centennial Exhibition, models 

 of such inventions as are calculated to 

 relieve animals from suffering. 



We* therefore request inventors, or 

 owners of such inventions, to send mod- 

 els to our office, on or before the last day 

 of March, with such description as may 

 seem necessary. 



These will include horse and ox har- 

 ness—collars, bits and substitute; bridles, 

 breastplates, horse-shoes, coops, bird- 

 houses, interfering and other pads, 

 whiffletrees, and any other parts of har- 

 ness or vehicle which contribute to the 

 relief of animals, cattle-cars, calf-racks, 

 in fact, angthing which fitly represents 

 the idea that animals should not be sub- 

 jected to unnecessary suffering. 



These models should be as small as 

 they can be. 



Wash fokFkctit Trees. —The Practical 

 Farmer, speaking of a wash for bodies of 

 friut trees, recommends the following: 

 One ounce of copperas to eight or ten 

 gallons of water, forms a good wash, and 

 is advised for trial as a preventive against 

 blight. One pound of bleacher's soda 

 and one gallon of water forms a wash 

 that cleans off all insects, and leaves the 

 trees with fresh, young-looking, healthy 

 bark. 



