118 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. a, 1B27. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



nOSTON, FRIDAY, NOV. a, 1897. 



I'OR THli NliVVENCr.AND FARMHR. 



VINES. 

 Mr FessEiNden'— In giving to tlie pulUi- llie 

 best IransUtion in uiy power of Mr Porteau's and 

 Mr Vilmoriii'ii treatise, on tlie liile.-it iiiid most ap- 

 proved mode ol' treatment of the Grape in France, 

 1 had hoped to render an acceptable service to the 

 public. I had supposed that ns we were ovpr- 

 whelined with British works on the subject, where 

 they force the grape, Ihc French mode, more 

 adapted to osir climate, and to common usage, 

 would be interesting, and perhaps useful to us. — 

 It was far from my thouiihls to suggest any thing 

 new to your experienced correspondent at Brook- 

 lyn, so long and so intimately conversant with 

 horticultural science, and more especially with 

 the grape. I am grieved that he disapproves of 

 the plan recommended by MrPorteau and Mr Vil- 

 morin, two of the most distinguished cultivators in 

 Europe. But I find some consolation in perceiving 

 that he did not comprehend this plan, and I hope 

 by explaining it, I may remove or abate his oppo- 

 sition to a fair trial of it. 



1. His first objection to it arises from an imper- 

 fect attention to the te.xt. He supposes that there 

 was a trellis e.\act!y 8 feet square ; and he asks, 

 how could the outside vines be trained 4 feet each 

 way on such a trellis.' Neitiier Messrs Porteau 

 and Vilmorin, nor the Translator ever had an idea 

 of SHch a IrcUis, tight feet in levgth onlij. They 

 conceived the idea of a grape wall, at Thomery, 

 JOOO teet iu length, at least, and furnished with a 

 trellis the whole extent of the wall, before the 

 grapes were planted. Your intelligent correspon- 

 dent will at once perceive, iliat iu such a case, no 

 difficulty could occur in the training, but lost he 

 may still feel a difficulty in training grapes in this 

 mode, I send you a beautiful drawing by my wor- 

 thy friend, William Dean, of Salcin ; to whoso 

 goodness I was indebted for n loan of the "Bon 

 Jardinier." — By this, your correspondent and oth- 

 ers who visit you, will see, that the grape may be 

 trained, as described, and it is geometrically de- 

 inonstratsd, that every branch, and every bearing 

 shoot, and every bunch, will have its proper place, 

 without interference. Every ingenious man will 

 at once perceive, that the same vine might be 

 trained eqi(iii/»/ well in the o^po,«T7c direction, yet 

 occupying only sixty-four square feet. 1 have 

 estimated, by calrnlatinn, that a wall of many 

 thousand feet in extent, may be entirety covered 

 with bearing spurs, without a vacancy, exceeding 

 bix inches, and yet no branch cross each other. — 

 It is a point, susceptible of m.ithematical demon- 

 stration, that no mode of training, but the horizon- 

 la! one can give so great an extent of bearing 

 \iood, without interference. Every departure, at 

 whatever angle, till you arrive at the vertical, 

 constantly increases the difficulty of arrangement, 

 and crowds the fruit mart together. I say, this 

 is matliematically demonstrable. The Thomery 

 gardeners have adopted the most economical, and 

 tlie most simple mode of training. I hope this 

 will remove ove objection of your correspondent. 

 The horizontal mode of training has one ot},er 

 good effect ; it checks the tendency to useless, 

 and injurious, and enormous growth ; and if the 

 grapes thus trained, will bear for twenty successive 

 years, without suffering the spur to exceed one 



half inch in length, all we can desire, is attained. 

 So far as to your correspondent's first objection, 

 founded, as he admits, on misapprehension of the 

 plan. 



2. The second objection of your correspondent 

 is, that it is physically impossible that 04 bunches 

 of grapes could grow on the space allotted to thorn 

 by Mr Vilmorin. To this I reply, first, by the 

 sagacious and sound answer of Dr Franklin, when 

 a similar physical objection was made to him, 

 " Try." Secondly, I had at the extremity of one 

 branch this year, ten fair bunches, fully ripened, 

 which, if the branch had been cut off, could have 

 been placed without any confusion in a box one 

 foot square. I see no rcison why a whole vine, 

 to which BIr Vilmorin allows only sixteen eyes, 

 could not produce and ripen AaZ/that quantity in 

 proportion, for that is all he states. But it seems 

 that your correspondent thinks the thing impossi- 

 ble ; to which tlie Thomery gardener replies, it 

 may be impossible in your untried apprehension, 

 but it is a fact, that I do raise and ripen this quan- 

 tity, every year. Here, then, we have theory in 

 direst opposition to experience. Which shall pre- 

 vail ? 



But we are told that Vilm«rin has announced a 

 Munchausen story, which would have subjected 

 him to the ridicule of all Paris, before the sheets 

 of his " Bon Jardinier,^' could have been well 

 dried, fn order that this folly may rest on its au- 

 thor, and not :>n his unhappy Tra.islator, we gire 

 the original words : " Q,uand le cinquierne cep sera 

 a' ssi parvenu a avoir ses deux bras, long de4 pieds 

 chacun. on aura sur une surface de 8 pieds carres 

 80 coursons, qui etant toilles a deux yeaux, don- 

 nerent, chacun deux branches, quis produirent 

 chacune ' an vioins,' deux grappea d'excellent 

 raisin, ce qui fera320 grappes, sur une surface de 

 8 pieds carres." 



Let Mr Vilmorin and your correspondent settle 

 the dispute of physical impossibility between them. 



3. The third objection of your correspondent is, 

 that the grapes so trained cannot be laid to be 

 protected during our winters. 



In the first place, they can be laid in our old 

 mode as well as before ; but one of the excellen- 

 ces of the French mode is, that they can be laid 

 with more ease. We have only to bend the vines 

 down exactly as they are tiained — one branch to 

 the right and the other to the left. I am bound be- 

 fore I close, to acknowledge one error in the trans- 

 lation. I took " crossettes" for layers, but it is 

 plain from the subsequent parts, not translated, 

 that the Thomery gardeners only use " cuttings," 

 distinctly called "crossettes non enracinees," and 

 the layers are called "marcottes" — so that the 

 Thomer}' gardeners entirely agree with your in- 

 telligent correspondent, on this point. On one 

 point, he is entirely at variance with the French 

 gardeners. Their objection to the Thomery plan 

 i.s, that it is too sloip ; and they plant their vines so 

 ! near together, because their roots having little space 

 Icannot send out these hixuria?it shoots which are 

 so much our pride, and are the dread of a French 

 cultivator, whose bread depends on the profit and 

 quality of his vines. 



] I should not have been so full in my remarks on 

 ' the severe critique of your correspondent, if 1 had 

 not known the weight which his e.xperience and 

 authority «ould give to his remarks ; and if these 

 remarks had not stamped the character of folly 

 and absurdity on the treatise of Mr Vilmorin ; and 

 of course on the Translator, as incapable of per- 



ceiving the absurdity and impracticability of thu 

 French practice. I liave little confidence, that our 

 frst trials of the French mode will have sncoess. 

 Our vines have been too much exhausted by great 

 and useless growthsof wood, to expect immediate 

 effects from the French method, such as the 'J'ho- 

 mery gardeners experience. Least of all should I 

 look to the luxuriant vines of your correspondent 

 for a fair trial, because it would require five orsix 

 years of vigorous pruning before his vines could 

 bo tamed to a purely fructiferous state. Nor, if 

 every man had his skill and experience, should I 

 counsel the adoption of the French mode ; but for 

 common practice I am inclined to believe it the 

 best ; and have thought it a duty to meet at once 

 a denunciation of an untried experiment. 



The Translator of the condemned Article. 



The Show and Fair of the Litchfield County So- 

 ciety was held at Litchfield, on the I7th inst. The 

 exhibitions are ai^id to have been more numerous 

 and interesting than have heretofore been known 

 for several years. An Address was delivered on 

 the occasion by Mr J. P. Brace. 



HKMP. 



In reference to the article which appeared in our 

 paper of Saturday last, taken from the "Spirit of 

 '7y," we learn that the Coinmissioners of the Na- 

 vy have been desirous, for years past, to employ 

 cordage made of American hemp on board the ves- 

 sels of the navy, but have been hitherto discourag- 

 ed, by the unsuccessful result of various experi- 

 ments on that subject. 



The failure, it is well understood, is not attri- 

 butable to any defect in the quality of the article, 

 but to the improper mode of its preparation. Dew- 

 rotting, which is understood to be a more simple 

 prscess, has been resorted to, instead of Die old 

 and well tried method of water-rotting, and hence 

 the staple of the article has been materially injur- 

 ed, and the strength of tht cordage proportionably 

 diminished. 



When the growers of American hemp shall ad- 

 opt the last mentioned process, there can be no 

 doubt, that the substitution of native for foreign 

 cordage, in our national vessels will be a speedy 

 and a certain consequence. — JVai. Int. 



The following gentlemen were elected officers 

 of the Rockingham Jigricultural Society, Ht its late 

 meeting. 



ToHN Foi.soii, President, in place of CoI.Cilley 

 resigned. 



.Tohn Harvey, J7ct Piesident. 



Samuel Cushman, Treasurer. 



Ichabod Bartlclt, Cor. Secretary. 



Samuel T. Gilinan, Rcc. Secretary. 



Joseph Towle, Marshal. 



George O. Hilton, Dep. Marshal. 



The Governors of Maine, New-Hampshire, Mas 

 sachusetts, and Connecticut, have appointed Thurs- 

 day, the 29th of November next, tor a day of ge- 

 neral Thanksgiving and Prayer. 



It ia estimated, that there are IS.OOO.OOU of 

 square feet of Salt Works in Barnstable county, 

 Massachusetts; producing not less than 430.0U0 

 bushels of Salt annually. 



The number of sheep and goats in the State of 

 Massachusetts, in the year i;.''4, according to the 

 valuation taken in that year, was22'1.307; cows 



