NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



123 



following remarks, which are entitled to particular 

 attention, as they are from a very skilful cultivator 

 of extensive experience. lie has at Croton Point, 

 on the North River, a vineyard of twenty acres 

 under successful cultivation, fi-om which we have 

 occasionally had some of the finest and largest 

 grapes. The Isabella is the principal kind culti- 

 vated. The Catawba is the next in importance. 



Farmers' Club. — Dr. Underhill said, " I am asked 

 to speak on the grape question ; but I cannot in 

 the space of an hour give a proper view of it. I 

 will, therefore, but sketch. The grape is immortal- 

 ized in history, in poetry, in Scripture, in painting, 

 llie rich architccturo of antiquity, the frescoes, 

 vases, and other beautiful works, are entwined with 

 the vine and its precious clusters. The tendrils of 

 the grape have enwrapped the heart of man in CA^ery 

 country where it grows. The graj^e is so delicious, 

 so salutary, — diluting the blood, and causing it to 

 flow easily through the veins, — and there is nothing 

 equal to it for old age. In this country its use will 

 grow, will increase, until its consumption will be pro- 

 digious. It will supplant some of the articles which 

 destroy men, and establish the cheerful body in place 

 of the bloated, diseased systems of intemperance. 

 No disease of the liver — no dyspepsia — are found 

 among those who fi'eely eat the grape. This remark- 

 able fact is stated in reference to the vineyard por- 

 tions of France. Persons who are sickly, in grape 

 countries, are made well when grapes are rii^e. And 

 this result is familiarly called the grapo cure. In 

 this coimtry our attention has been long misdirected. 

 We have spent years and sums of money on im- 

 ported vines. We have proved the fallacy of all 

 this. The foreign grape-vine will not flourish in our 

 open air. It only thrives under glass. I suppose 

 that millions of dollars have been lost on these 

 foreign vines during the past century. Climate has 

 settled that question. Our extremes of heat and 

 cold are incompatible with the character of the 

 foreign vine. Time will show that our native stock 

 of grapes will, by cultivation, gradually improve in 

 qualit}^ It is with them as with animals : a great 

 amelioration follows care and proper knowledge. I 

 spent some thousands of dollars on the foreign grape- 

 vines without success. AVe want to supply our 

 twenty millions of people with fine grapes. In 

 1830, France produced fourteen thousand millions 

 pounds of grapes ; of which were consumed on the 

 tables, and exported in the form of raisins, &c., two 

 thousand millions of pounds. Arc you afraid that 

 our market will be overstocked from the few vine- 

 yards which Ave have ? 



" There are many books on the culture of the vine, 

 but their doctrines are generally not at all applicable 

 to our country. Europe has the moisture from the 

 ocean — we have dry winds blowing over our conti- 

 nent. More heat penetrates our ground in one of 

 our hot, bright days, than England has in a week. 

 The books of Europe are an honor and an ornament 

 to the world ; but they lend us from the truth fre- 

 quently ; such is the great difference of the climates 

 of Europe and America. Wc must here select our 

 best native grapes ; there are many ; of which we 

 have now proved the Isabella and Catawba to be 

 excellent. Plant the vines deep, on dry soil, Avhere 

 there are no springs of water ; slaty, calcareous, or 

 other soils; but the drier they are, the better for 

 the grape. A soil of brick clay will not do. The 

 roots must be deep, to avoid our scA'cre droughts. 

 Plough the ground exceedingly deep before you 

 plant your A'ineyard. I haA'c found that, in seven 

 years' culture, the savage musk of my Isabella has 

 vanished. Its character is greatly changed for the 

 better. Its pulp is almost gone ; its seeds are less." 



SELLING CORN ON THE COS. 



We have noticed, for the last few years, a custom, 

 coming into general use, of selling corn on the cob. 

 During the late fall, Ave Avitncssed many deliveries in 

 our city of the kind. This custom Ave hold to be 

 "more honored in the breach than the obserA'ance," 

 and, therefore, should be reformed. The cost of 

 transportation, a costly item of expense, is thereby at 

 least doubled : the merchant purchaser gets the 

 cobs for nothing, Avhile the farmer unnecessarily 

 imposes a heavy tax for couA'cyance upon himself. 

 Setting aside this vicAV of the subject, there are oth- 

 ers of vast moment to CA'cry farmer Avho looks upon 

 economy as a virtue. The cob of the corn crushed 

 into meal, or broken into suitably sized pieces, and 

 cooked, is Avorth, as a matter of nutrinxent, tAvo fifths 

 as much as grain as food for milch-coAvs or Avorking 

 oxen, while it improA^es the quality of the manure 

 made by the beasts fed upon it, imparting to it, be- 

 sides a very sensible portion of nitrogenous matter, 

 other certain mineral salts, Avhich Avould be other- 

 Avise lost. 



To the man Avho may not have paid attention to 

 the study of economy, this may appear a small mat- 

 ter ; but if he will reflect, that every time he may 

 sell tAvo hundred bushels of corn in the ears, he pays 

 the transportation upon one hundred bushels more 

 than he receiA'Os any consideration for — that he 

 gives aAvay one hundred bushels of excellent food — 

 that he removes that quantity of manure from his 

 farm, and to that extent impoverishes his land, he 

 Avill see at once that he is Avarring against his inter- 

 est, and that justice to himself and family requires 

 that he should no longer pursue a practice at once 

 so ruinous and impolitic. — American Farmer, 



Remarks by the Editor of the Neav ExaLAND 

 Farmer. 



The cob of corn contains nutriment for animals, 

 such as cattle, horses, &c., Avhich are accustomed to 

 coarse herbage, and Avhose poAvers of digestion are 

 sufficient to decompose broAvse, even tolerably largo 

 tAvigs. And though it seems to be a Avell established 

 fact that cobs are nutritious, yet it is not settled aa 

 to the amount of nutriment they contain. 



The experiment by distillation shows the amount 

 of alcohol produced from cobs, compared \A-ith that 

 of the same quantity of corn ; but whether the cobs 

 contain the same proportion of nutriment that can 

 be extracted in its passage through the animal, is not 

 well settled ; nor can it be, excepting by numerous 

 and varied experiments. Besides the advantage in 

 grinding the cob with corn, on account of nutriment, 

 the cob is useful in adding bulk to food that is too 

 solid or concentrated. 



AGE OF SHEEP DETERIORATES THEIR 

 WOOL. 



It has been obsei-ved, by the most experienced 

 wool-groAvers, that the older the sheep the less fine 

 the wool. The avooI is said to be of the best quality 

 when the sheep is from two to five years of age : 

 after that it deteriorates. 



Mr. Blanchard, of New York, states that he has 

 known flocks that yielded avooI that sorted number 

 one when young, when older drop down to number 

 tAvo or three. 



Those Avho wish io grow the first grade of wool 

 should keep young sheep. Some go so far as not to 

 use a buck after he is four years old. 



