450 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



in which case, in order to dry fhe whole mapsi, if 

 must be siibjected to frequent turnings. After 

 spreading, I turn once in tiie morning, and in the 

 afternoon throw the hay inlo wirid-rows with 

 forks, turning at the same time, and clean up be- 

 tween them wiih the horse-rake, with which I 

 also clean up after the wagons. I prefer this plan 

 of gathering the liay into wind-rows exclusively 

 with the horso-rakc, because it leaves the hay in 

 a looker sta'te ff>r the wind to circulate through it. 

 and is more easily handled when put into heaps 

 or pitched upon the wagons. On the afternoon of 

 the second, or the morning of the third da}' after 

 cutting, if the weather is liiir, my hay is usually 

 fit to be hauled in. In mowing away my hay, I 

 have it kept level, well trodden and well sailed. 

 Salt subserves several useful purposes : it prevents 

 the hay from moulding; the hay need not come in 

 so dry from the field as it is required to be when 

 salt is not used. It retains a better color, and more 

 of the fragrant and delightful aromatic odor, after 

 being thus cured, and is a much more wholesome 

 food for horses and cattle ; besides, I think it adds 

 much to the fructifying principle of the manure. 

 As a proof of its value for the food of horses, I 

 will state, that two of my horses died suddenly of 

 colic : I thought they had been killed by bolts, but 

 upon a careful examination of their intestines. I 

 could not discover a single bott or other worm, and 

 I attributed this to the fad, that they had been 

 constantly fed with salted haj' — I have never had 

 a horse to complain of bolts since I have used it; 

 and I do not doubt that the general health of my 

 horses and cattle has been much promoted by the 

 generous use of salt amongst them, and that their 

 food is rendered much more pleasant to them by a 

 moderate admixture of it. 



In pursuing the method of curing hay which I 

 have above recommended, I have not only saved 

 much labor, but retained and secured all the valu- 

 able properties of my hay. As a proof of the su- 

 periority of my method, I will state, that a large 

 proportion of my crop has been annually sold in 

 the Philadelphia market for years past. My hay 

 would always find a ready purchaser, no matter 

 how much was in market, and I was always able 

 to obtain for it the highest market price. K. 



P. S. No liquor allowed in the field or the barn. 



JOURNAT> OF A RKCENT VISIT TO THR PRINCI- 

 PAL VINEYARDS OF SPAIN AND FRANCE. 



(Concluded from page 444.) 



Friday, Wth November.— On paying a small 

 fee to the health officer, I was permitted,"under his 

 guardianship, to walk to one of the neighboring 

 hills. Thesoil consisted of nothing else than the 

 rough debris of the granite of which they are 

 composed. Towards the bottom of the hills the 

 vines were planted in double rows, three feet apart, 

 with a space between of thrice that width, which 

 had just been ploughed for a grain crop. Higher 

 up, !li8 ground is entirely covered with vines"and 

 olives, planted with regularity wherever the 

 ground permits; but on ascending higher, advan- 

 tage has been taken of every spot vvhcre it was 

 possible to thrust a plant among the rocks. These 

 vines have been planted with great labor, as there 



is scarcely soil enough to cover their roots ; and 

 terraces have been formed by small walls of dry 

 stone, to prevent the little there is from being 

 washed away. The vines were all pruned down 

 lo one or two knots en each mother branch, and 

 each vino had li-om three to six or seven shoots, in 

 proportion to their strength. Tliose among the 

 rocks were in genera! very stinted, and inust bear 

 a very small crop. The olives, which they were 

 now employed in tratherintj. were a small black 

 variety, and I could not observe that they had suf- 

 fered in the same manner as the olives of Andalusia. 



Monday, \Aih November. — Having yesterday 

 been permitted to land, I spent last night in the 

 posada at Rosas, and proceeded this n)orning to 

 Figiieras, in order to join the diligence which 

 passes to-morrow morning' for Perpi<rnan. This 

 country tlioush fiir from beinff naturally so rich, ia 

 in a much higher state of cultivation, and propor- 

 tionally more productive than the south. Passing 

 throuch Ihe town i observed ihcm carrying oiiE 

 from a cellar the reflise of a fermenting vat, and 

 on entering I found they had just l>pen pressing 

 the skins Which had fermented with the wine. 

 Outside the cellar were two presses, each on 

 wheels. These were composed of a box 2| fieel; 

 lonor, and about the same width and depth, formed 

 bv light bars, with stronger bars at the corners. 

 BefoTe and behind these boxes was a screw, and 

 there was a spout to convey to a vessel placed be- 

 low, the must which would flow through the bars 

 10 the bottom on the pressure being applied. It 

 was evident that these were itinerant presses, 

 which the proprietor was accustonjed lo send to 

 the diflerent vineyards as they were required. I 

 ((Dund also that he had a more powerful press 

 within the cellar, and that there also was a mil! 

 for grindins olivei:, much superior lo the one I had 

 seen at the Marquis del Arco Hermoso's. The 

 basin of the mill consisted of an immense piece of 

 granite, formed into a circle, and hollowed out in 

 a sloping direction, leaving a space level at the 

 bollom considerably greater than was required foF 

 Ihe vertical stone to' turn upon, as upon a pivot ; 

 and attached to fhe vertical pione was a sort of 

 scoop which collected the scattered olives inlo the 

 line which it passed over. 



Tuesday. I5th November. — This morning at 9 

 o'clock I took my seat in the coupe of the diligence, 

 for Perpiirnan. I Ibund here an Eiiglishman who 

 was returning fi'om an excursion lo Madrid and 

 Barcelona. The road passed through a valley in 

 Ihe direction of the Pyrenees, ihe soil every 

 where cultivated like a garden. Here were im- 

 mense numbers of olive trees of a very large size, 

 underneath which grain crops are cultivated. 

 Some of the wheat has almost covered the ground ; 

 but in general it is just making its a[)pearance, and 

 in many places the plough is still at work. On 

 ihe hills the vines are cultivated in terraces, and 

 not a spol is left unoccupied. Adjoining the road 

 over the Pyrenees are every where lo be seen the 

 marks of the greatest industry ; not a spot which 

 is capable of cultivation is left untouched, and fhe 

 mountain scenery ia sometimes beautifully diver- 

 sified by dwellings surrounded with trees of every 

 kind, and enlivened by the verdure with which the 

 mountain stream has covered its banks. The 

 hills themselves are entirely destitute of herbage. 

 After passing the town of La Jonquiere on the 

 French side, the ground (although evidently of 



