46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



and economical feeding. It is not absolutely 

 necessary that each lot should be kept in separate 

 buildings ; but the lots ought to be so divided 

 that they cannot run, feed, or lie down together. 

 Water should be carefully supplied to sheep, and 

 a box of coarse salt should be placed in every 

 fold. 



The subject is treated as follows by Mr. Young- 

 love, of New York : 



During the winter, care should be taken not to 

 allow too many to run in one flock, for the 

 stronger continually overrun the weaker, picking 

 out the most delicate portions of the food, and 

 leaving that less palatable and of inferior quality 

 to those which should have the best. The usual 

 mode is to allow from one hundred to one hun- 

 dred and fifty in a flock. AVhile some keep them 

 in close yards and water and feed them, others al- 

 low them to roam over the fields during the day 

 and bring them to the yard at night. Such as are 

 allowed a free range usually pick quite a por- 

 tion of their winter living, but it is of an inferior 

 quality, and a flock allowed to roam will not usu- 

 ally keep in as good condition as Avhen they are 

 carefully yarded, housed, and pro]3erly fed. If 

 sheep are divided into small flocks of about 

 twenty-five, and are selected with reference to size 

 and strength, and kept in close confinement 

 through the winter, giving them only room enough 

 to move about, they will require less food than if 

 allowed more liberty, and allowed to run in larger 

 flocks ; but Aviiether the increased amount of la- 

 bor will off'set against the difference in the supply 

 of food can only be determined by the circum- 

 stances and conveniences of the grower. 



A DISCUSSION ON GEAPES AND PEARS. 



At the Concord Farmer's Club, on Thursday 

 evening, Dec. 12, the subject under discussion was 

 Fruit Culture and its Profits. The whole even- 

 ing, however, was exhausted upon two or three 

 points relating to the grape and pear, and only a 

 general reference was made to the profits of fruit 

 culture. 



With regard to the grape, the first leading 

 thought was, that heavy manuring is not only un- 

 necessary, but that it is absolutely hurtful. 1. 

 That it forces the wood to a late, rank growth, so 

 that cold weather finds it in an unripe, juicy and 

 tender condition, and that it cannot resist the ac- 

 tion of severe frost, as slow growing and thor- 

 oughly ripened wood M'ould be able to. This 

 alone will so weaken the general powers of the 

 vine that it does not recover the shock, and after 

 a struggle for a year or two it dies. 



2. That an abundance of nitrogenous manure, 

 worked in several inches below the surface, at- 

 tracts the roots below, where they are found to 

 canker and finally rot, and thus cause the prema- 

 ture death of the plant. It was urged that the 

 roots should be kept near the surface, where they 

 would sensibly feel the force of the solar rays, and 

 that the principal manuring should consist of 



ashes, plaster, and lime, spread upon the surface ; 

 that the plants should have careful and clean cul- 

 tivation, and only be allowed to fruit moderately, 

 and that a soil that would bring forty bushels of 

 corn per acre, was abundantly strong for the 

 grape. 



In our own culture of the grape, we have suc- 

 ceeded best by training a single plant to a stake 

 six feet out of the ground, pruning severely in 

 November, and leaving only two buds on the side 

 spurs, — then when the new' wood is thrown out 

 and two bunches of grapes have set, to cut off" the 

 shoots which grow out, leaving only one vigorous 

 leaf beyond the fruit. This practice is pursued 

 all summer, until the fruit has ripened, and se- 

 cures on each vine some ten to twenty pounds of 

 large, Avell-ripened and delicious grapes, providing 

 the frost docs not interfere with our operations. 

 This is a more simple and convenient mode than 

 cultivating them on trellises, because one can go 

 all round them with ease, and look into the condi- 

 tion of every part of the vine. It is also more 

 convenient to cultivate and prune them, and as 

 this must be done several times in the course of 

 the summer, it becomes a matter of importance to 

 have them accessible. A thrifty vine will need 

 cutting back as often as once in ten days ; it has 

 a wonderful vigor, and will send up shoots en- 

 tirely above the stake, and lateral ones aD around 

 it, that will need the pruner's constant care to 

 keep down. But it is easy and interesting work, 

 that can be done without interfering with the 

 stei'ner duties of the farm, or ft may be performed 

 by the females of the family, who need exercise 

 and to be interested in the open air. 



Two or three speakers of experience in grape 

 culture stated that deep, rich borders are entirely 

 unnecessary in the open air culture of our native 

 grapes, — that they will not produce so abundantly 

 in them as in more shallow culture, dressed with 

 mineral manures, and that the vines will not con- 

 tinue so long in them in a healthy condition. All 

 this is encouraging, and may lead some to the cul- 

 tivation of this cheap and wholesome fruit, who 

 have been deterred from it by the idea that the 

 process was a complicated and expensive one. 



As to the profit of grape raising in New Eng- 

 land, we have not a doubt, as the demand for 

 them during the two seasons just passed has 

 proved that they are appreciated and will be taken 

 at remunerative prices. Large quantities have 

 been brought into our markets from Ohio and 

 Western New York, and especially from one or 

 two islands in Lake Erie. They were of the Ca- 

 tawba and Isabella varieties, and when reaching 

 here in good condition were of excellent flavor. 

 But notwithstanding this, the Concord grape, 

 raised in quantity in one or two vineyards in the 

 town whose name the grape bears, has been sold 



