1863. 



NEW EXGLAND FARMER. 



309- 



harvest last, but compared with theirs his labors 

 are short and sweet. Thus, one great objection 

 to farming, that it lays on narrow shoulders too 

 heavy burdens, is in his case mostly surmounted. 

 And it surely is an advantage fur a man to be so 

 situated that he can follow the pursuit in question 

 through the busy day, without that most uncom- 

 fortable sense of drudgery that is so apt to op- 

 press tlic toiling husbandman. 



Well may we all be grateful for the introduc- 

 tion of labor-saving machines, not merely for re- 

 lieving toil, but for promoting its dignity and at- 

 tractiveness. 



Take, for example, the mowing machine. One 

 may enjoy the music of whetting a scythe and the 

 grace of swinging it — but let him go half through 

 an acre of short herdsgrass, and the poetry of 

 mowing is very apt to ooze away in secret, and its 

 dignity collapse. Let him, however, mount to 

 his seat on the machine, and, with reins in hand, 

 drive business through an hour that would cost 

 him an half day of melting labor otherwise, and 

 the hardest operation of the season is reduced to 

 a pleasant pastime, while the drudge feels like a 

 master now ! 



From no class of men docs the pursuit of ag- 

 riculture receive more hearty ap])reciation, than 

 from this under consideration. And the fact that 

 their situation is usually free from most of its un- 

 welcome features, favors this view of the case. 

 With work enough to afford them health and vig- 

 or, they have sufficient leisure for that sense of 

 the beautiful and devotional sentiment, which the 

 sight of green pastures and waving harvests is 

 calculated to inspire. No doubt, there are one- 

 horse farmers as one-sided and contracted in their 

 views as their name would seem to indicate. But 

 the writer is not responsible for such — and only 

 has aimed to indicate those who, though con- 

 strained to hire their ploughing done, will ever 

 pray with liberal hearts, "God speed the plough!" 



Lonijnicudow, Aitrj., 1.SG3. w. E. B. 



QEAPE CULTURE, WINES AN"D WINE- 

 MAKING. 



Some time since, we made a brief notice of a 

 work on these subjects, ho])ing to return to its 

 pages again for interesting and valuable passages 

 which met our eye at the time. We are fortunate 

 now, however, in being able to present the reader 

 not only with extracts, but with intelligent remarks 

 upon them from one of the most scientific and best 

 informed writers on these subjects, of New Eng- 

 land. Ilis pen is as clear and persuasive as the 

 subjects which he discusses will be valuable and 

 attractive. He has promised us several articles, 

 which are to include a variety of topics. The 

 careful attention of the reader is c.dled to them as 

 they a])pcar. 



After -iving the title of the work by. A. IIau- 

 ASZTilY, of California, he says, — 



Here is a volume of 420 pages full of most im- 

 portant ob=;crvations upon the subjects of which it 

 treats, the whole of which was prepared in seven 

 months and twenty-five days, including a journey 

 to Europe and back. 



Xhe "tVinrwas employed by thp Onvprnor of 



California, J. G. Downey, by authority of the leg- 

 islature, toJgo to Europe to examine the diflerent 

 varieties of grapes and the various modes of mak- 

 ing wine, in the wine- growing countries of Europe. 

 At Washington, he received from Mr. Seward 

 a circular letter to the diplomatic agents of United 

 States in Europe, instructing them to afi'ord him 

 all the assistance in their power. In France he 

 opened a correspondence with the officers of the 

 various agricultural and horticultural societies, 

 who cheerfully gave him every opportunity of ob- 

 taining the information he required. 



He visited various parts of France, the Nether* 

 lands, Holland. Rhenish Prussia, Bavaria. Nassau, 

 Baden, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Juigiand. 

 Never did envoy more diligently or moi>- faitlifuUy 

 fuliil the objects of his mission. Examination con- 

 firmed him in his conviction that "California is 

 superior, in all conditions of soil, climate, and oth- 

 er natural advantages, to the most favored wine- 

 producing districts in Europe, and that it actually 

 bas yielded considerably more per acre." "AU 

 that this State requires, to produce a generous 

 and no!)le wine, is the varieties of grapes, fronj 

 which the most celebrated wines are made, and the 

 same care and science in its manufacture. This 

 conclusion is the result of a chorougli investiga- 

 tion, and frequent consultations with many emi- 

 nent men in Europe, who assured mc that the 

 quality of the grapes governs, in a great measure, 

 the quality of the wine." "■Even in the lead fa- 

 vored localilics, where common wines were ordina- 

 rily made, tlic fined and mod codly u-inci had been 

 produced bij planting Ihebest varieties of grape" 



In the course of his researches, he examined 

 every wine-making establishment within his reach, 

 so as to learn the best modes of making wine, pro- 

 cured the reports of many scientific committees, 

 the proceedings of a Congress in France made 

 up of the most scientific chemists and practical 

 wine-makers, the various reports of similar assem- 

 blies in Germany, and the newest and best works, 

 in various languages, by able men who had spent 

 their lives in ibe business of vine-culture and wine- 

 making. He purchased and sent home from dif- 

 ferent jiarts of Europe 100,000 vines, embracing 

 about 1400 varieties. 



Nor did he confine his attention to grapes and 

 wines. Wherever he found a lucrative trade in 

 I making rai<ins, drying figs and prunes, raising al- 

 I monds, cultivating mulberry trees for tiie suste- 

 I nance of silk-worms, and, above all, producing su- 

 i gar from the sorgho, the iniphee, or the beet-root, 

 he took occasion to investigate these branches of 

 [ industry, and to ])rocure the best and newest 

 'works concerning tliem. In regard to ll)ese last 

 { three articles, he thinks that no part of the world 

 ' except, perhaps. Africa, can produce them so suc- 

 cessfully as California ; and he adds: "The pres- 

 ent mode of making sugar from these products is 

 so simple that every farmer, at an exjiense of $30 

 for machinery, can manufacture enough for his 

 own use, and have a considerable overplus, each 

 year, for the market." 



In going by rail from Paris to Dijon in Burgun- 

 dy, he says : "We crossed several roads, nil of 

 which excited my greatest admiration by the fine 

 order in which they are kept. They are smooth 

 and hard as a billiard table. All alonj,' their bor- 

 ders, at a distance of twenty yards, are piled up 

 fine small stones. In case a hole should be made 



