;M2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



timber is always more durable than from low and 

 Avet localities. The pine roads in Canada generally 

 last about eight years, varying from seven to twelve. 

 The original Toronto road was used chiefly by teams 

 hauling steamboat wood, and at the end of six years 

 began to break through in places, and, not being re- 

 paired, was principally gone at the end of ten years. 

 Having been poorlj- built, badly drained, not sanded, 

 and no care bestowed upon it, indicates the minimum 

 of durability. Oak plank cross-walks are in Detroit, 

 the plank being laid flat on those of pine. It is be- 

 lieved that oak plank, well laid, would last at least 

 twelve to fifteen years. One set of sleepers will out- 

 last two plankings. Several Canada roads have been 

 relaid upon the old sleepers, thus much lessening the 

 cost of renewal. 



VINEYARDS ABOUT CINCINNATI. 



Editors of the Cixcinxati Gazette : ' I was 

 yesterday at some of the vineyards on the Ohio, be- 

 low the city, and, among others, at the vineyard of 

 'Mr. Duhmc, who, I understand, resides in the city. 

 The location is a good one, with a favorable soil, and 

 is, I believe, the largest vineyard in the state. It 

 requires his personal attention. The grapes ripen 

 badly, and a large portion of them cannot ripen 

 at all. 



In some parts of Europe, where their summers are 

 cool, they find it necessary to shorten the leading 

 branches intended to produce the next year's crop, 

 and thin out the leaves, and head in the short 

 branches, and fully expose the fruit to the sun and 

 air, to insure its ripening. This method, in our hot 

 climate, is often highly injurious to the plant, and 

 destructive to the fruit. If the heading in of the 

 leading shoots be done early in the season, the fruit 

 buds of the following year are thrown out. As an 

 experiment, I one year, by successive heading, had 

 the fruit of four successive years on the plant at the 

 same time, and, the fall being favorable, the second 

 crop ripened its fruit. Where the fruit branches are 

 frequently tojipcd, and the wood becomes ripe, the 

 sap ceases to flow, and the fruit cannot ripen. This 

 is the case at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. In our 

 hot climate, no more lateral branches should be taken 

 from the main shoots intended for next year's fruit 

 than to give them the necessary length. The fruit 

 branches should be topped when in blossom, beyond 

 the second eye from tlie last blossom, and after that, 

 allowed to grow without topping. In our climate, to 

 ripen the fruit, a portion of shade is necessary ; for 

 where there is growing young wood, there Ls, of 

 course, a full flow of sap to the fruit, without which 

 it shrivels and drops off". 



This day I visited a German settlement on the 

 Ohio, connncncing about twelve miles above the city, 

 and extending about four miles. The hill commences 

 close to the river, and rises gradually ; the usual 

 bottom land being on the opposite side of the river. 

 The soil is porous, and well calculated, in my opinion, 

 for the cultivation of the grape ; and nearly "the whole 

 of the four miles is occupied by vineyards, and there 

 are also some on the top of the hill. Two of the 

 vineyards belong to Englishmen ; the owners of all 

 the others are Germans. 



Most of the vineyards in this vicinity have suffered 

 severely from the rot ; and some vinc-dressers, ex- 

 pecting, in the early part of the season, to make from 

 two thousand to four thousand gallons of wine, will 

 not make one hundred. Yet their vineyards are on 

 the sides and tojis of the hills, fully exposed to the 

 sun and air. But the subsoil is a stiff clay, reten- 

 tive of moisture. These localities will, I fear, be 

 always subject to rot, and yet the vineyards w ill be 

 found more profitable than any other crop. To per- 



sons having a porous soil, I would recommend the 

 cultivation of the Herbemont grape. It is a fine 

 grape, both for the table and for wine, and perfectly 

 hard}-. It makes wine of superior quality, similar to 

 the Spanish Manzanilla, or Mansina;lla, as it is gen- 

 erally pronounced. This grape has a soft pulp, and 

 resembles the best foreign table grapes. Lick Run, 

 in our immediate vicinity, will make one of the most 

 beautiful rural spots in the world. It will soon be a 

 continuous line of vinej'ards. I wish some of our 

 poets would visit it in May or June, and give it a 

 more beautiful and appropriate name. They may 

 rack their brains for months, and not find one worthy 

 of the scene. It is diff'erent on Mount Adams, which 

 is in a double sense in connection w'ith the heavens — 

 its height, and proximity to the great telescope of 

 Professor Mitchel. The highest street is called Ce- 

 lestial Street. Commanding as the view is, the name 

 surely equals it. 



N. LONGWORTH. 



P. S. I have just returned from a visit to the 

 vineyard of Mr. Langdon, on the bottom of the 

 Little Miami, eight miles above the city, in a sandy 

 soil. That porous soil is not subject to the rot in 

 grapes, is exemplified here. His misfortune is, in 

 fact, too large a crop of fruit — an unusual complaint 

 this season. Yet he will have a poor vintage, arising 

 from two causes, which prevent the fruit from ripen- 

 ing. The first and least cause is, too much fruit, 

 from leaving too much bearing wood. There was 

 more than the vine could give a supply of sap for, in 

 a favorable season. The second and great cause is 

 the same as at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. The 

 fruit has no shade, few leaves, and but little young 

 wood on the fruit branches, to carry sap to the grapes 

 to ripen them. The wood is life, and the circulation 

 of the sap stopped. Not one fourth of the grapes 

 will ripen perfectly ; many of them shrivel and drop, 

 and many of them scarcely change color. A favor- 

 able fall will aid them. 



I observed, in the vineyard of Mr. Langdon, that 

 the Catawba vine is much closer jointed than in our 

 richer land, where there is a subsoil of clay ; and one 

 of my German vine-dressers assured me this is al- 

 ways the case. This would indicate an increased 

 crop, and the change probably depends on the rich- 

 ness of the soil. An important inquiry is, Will the 

 grape, in a sandy soil, yield an equal amount of sugar ? 

 I wish our vine-dressers to direct their attention to 

 this subject. In some of our vineyards they have 

 both soils, and the question will be easily decided. 

 The color of the Catawba grape is no certain evi- 

 dence of its ripeness and richness. They are often 

 of unusual dark color this season, yet the juice has 

 one eighth less sugar. N. LONGWORTH. 



— Cincinnati Gazette. 



CURE FOR GLANDERS. 



In answer to one of your subscribers, inquiring 

 what will cure " Nasal Gleet," or discharge from the 

 nose of horses, I would say, that I have cured many 

 with the following simple compound, and two cases 

 that were called glanders confirmed, viz. : Take 

 one tcaspoonful of common rosin, one tablespoonful 

 of copperas, two tablespoonfuls of salt, and four 

 spoonfuls of dry ashes ; pulverize the rosin and cop- 

 peras, and mix the whole, and give it in bran or 

 shorts, or oats, dry, and in four weeks* time, by giving 

 the same quantity twice a week, I cured the tw© 

 cases of glanders. I have used the same in cases of 

 cold or catarrh, and three or four doses have per- 

 formed a cure. I have also used it for horse distem- 

 per with success. O. W. 

 — Dollar Nfwspapei: 



