336 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



For the New England Fanner. 



MB. A. G. SHELDON'S FARMING. 



Me. Editor : — Spending a few clays among the 

 scenes of my childhood, I visited the residence of 

 your correspondent, Mr. A. G. Sheldon, the 

 "Wihnington Farmer," whose "Practical Observa- 

 tions on Farming and Stock Raising" are in pro- 

 cess of printing, and about to be offered to the 

 public. I had the pleasure of looking at his 

 orchard, now in full bloom, from side to side, and 

 a more beautiful sight of the kind I never beheld. 

 Nature seems to be very propitious this year ; cer- 

 tainly she promises fair for a good crop of apples. 

 The trees, set in straight rows, with smooth, 

 healthy trunks, and well expanded tops, tell a faix" 

 story for the hand that reared them. 



Passing through the orchard, we went through 

 the reclaimed swamp, and what a contrast met my 

 gaze. Tv/euty acres of beautiful, smooth, mow- 

 land, just as green as a rich lawn in spring, took 

 the place of the sterile, blueberry swamp that oc- 

 cupied the ground -when I was young. What can 

 not the hand of industry accomplish ? This land 

 promises to yield a bountiful crop for years to 

 come. Sure, it must be our best land in New 

 England. 



Where this beautiful orchard now stands, was, a 

 few years since, a ledgy hill, full of stones and 

 covered with stunted pines. Taste and industry 

 have made it what it now is, not only beautiful to 

 vicAV, but generally bringing to its owner a hand- 

 some income. jNIy mind involuntarily came to the 

 conclusion, that the man who had brought about 

 such a change in the face of nature before me, 

 must, by condensing the results of his experiments 

 and observations, bring out a book that would be 

 worth double its cost to the young yeomanry of 

 New England. 



The piggery and barn were next visited. T-wo 

 model sows, heavy with pig, attracted attention. 

 In form they were symmetrical. On inquiry, I 

 was informed by Mr. S. that he had named them 

 the "Bay State breed." He said they originated 

 from the "Mackay," the "Columbia County," the 

 "Cheshire County," and several other breeds 

 mixed ; that they were the best breed and cheap- 

 est kept of any in market. And he comforts him- 

 self with the hope that in a few days he shall offer 

 for sale some noble pigs, that have never taken a 

 ride in the cars, or visited the Brighton pig-pens. 



In looking over the neat stock, I observed three 

 pairs of heifers of different ages, as nicely matched 

 as you ever saw three yoke of oxen in a team. 

 There were one pair of blacks, bearing strong 

 marks of the old black Spanish, one pair of light 

 reds, with long horns, showing the Denmark 

 strongly developed ; and one pair of twins, dark 

 reds, resembling the Devon. 



These mixtures form our "Native Stock," and 

 must be fine for dairy uses ; at least they appear 

 so, judging by the large milk sacks they carry. 

 The herdsman informed me he had been obliged 

 to reduce the keepin" of the long-horned reds to 

 coarse meadow hay, m order to dry them before 

 calving. And he likewise said of one of the blacks 

 that had not yet calved, he had milked her once 

 per day for some time, and that day twice to pre- 

 vent swollen udder. 



I think our brother farmers and mechanics, deal- 

 ing in stock, would do well to select the best breed, 



not only in cows, but hogs, and look well to pur- 

 chase those that are free from disease. 

 East Wilmington, 1862. E. E. Carter. 



OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE. 



In the Farmer of May 31, we noticed anew 

 work by Mr. John Puin, upon the subject of 

 Open Air Grape Culture. A further examina- 

 tion of the book has convinced us that some of its 

 pictorial illustrations and teachings may be made 

 very useful to a large number of our readers. We 

 have, therefore, sent to the Publisher and obtained 

 several cuts, which will be quite useful to those 

 not entirely conversant Avith the management of 

 the grape vine during the several stages of its 

 growth. Some of these cuts relate to the vine in 

 its earliest condition, and show the manner of set- 

 ting the plant, disposition of the roots, and raising 

 plants from layers. Those that Ave give to-day re- 

 late to the care of the vines during the first, sec- 

 ond and third years. 



The cut which follows illustrates the author's 

 idea of mulching the plant. He says, "If an 

 abundance of grassy weeds, litter, stable manure, 

 or similar matters can be obtained, the best plan 

 is to mulch the plants deeply for at least three 

 feet every way from the stem," — and adds, "that, 

 before applying mulch of any kind to a young vine 

 it will always be advisable to raise the soil around 

 the stem to the depth to which it is intended to 

 lay the mulch, as represented in Fig. 1. 



Laterals are small shoots which spring from 

 the axils of the leaves, (the point which they join 

 shoot.) As these laterals absorb much of the nu- 

 triment which would otherwise go to the increase 

 of the stem, they should be carefully pinched out 

 after they have made one or two leaves. If re- 

 moved before they have made some growth, the 

 bud at their base is very apt to push, as it is called 

 (that is, to grow,) Avhich should be avoided, if pos- 

 sible. 



Fig. 2 shows a young 

 shoot of the current 

 year with a lateral (r.) 

 si)ringing from the base 

 of the leaf L. This 

 lateral should be 

 pinched off at the cross 

 line. If removed en- 

 tirely or too soon the 

 bud (c) will be apt to 

 push, and destroy our 

 prospects for next sea- 

 son. 



