580 Transactions of the American Institute. 



there were fifty pounds wasted on account of sickness. That was 

 my last year of raising sage; not because I did not find it pro- 

 fitable, for it was very profitable. I coiild earn one dollar and 

 twenty-five cents a day by selling my sage for tliirty-five cents per 

 pound (as I did), and work eight hours a day in any ordinaiy season. 

 After letting your sage leaves get their growth, pick by breaking oif 

 the little tender branches with the leaves on thera. They should be 

 picked while they are tender enough to rub up into powder when dry. 

 By so doing you will have two or three, and sometimes four, new 

 branches where you had one old one. Never allow your sage, if you 

 can possibly help it, to start to seed, for if you. do you will not get 

 much sage. I have always heard it said that sage must be dried in 

 the shade, but I was obliged to dry the most of mine in the sun. It 

 looked very fair, and there were not any questions asked as to where it 

 was dried. I did not perceive that it smelled or tasted any different 

 from that dried in the shade. It must be stirred occasionally while 

 drying. 



Geapes on the Lake Shore. 



Mr. G. M. Stebbins, Portland, IN^. Y. — In the report of the grape 

 growers' convention, at Canandaigua, last fall, a strip of land, seven 

 miles long by about two wide, between the villages of Westfield and 

 Fredonia, was mentioned as being the "home of the genus of the 

 vine." Jutting into Lake Erie, and protected on the land side by 

 high hills, no better natural situation could be desired. About a 

 dozen years ago, I first came in view of this spot, and looking down, 

 could think of notliing but the "Happy Yalley" of Rasselas. I 

 determined to have a home here, part way down the liill from every- 

 day Tiew, but witliin an easy walk of the gi'eat magnificence for 

 holidays. Then, every family had a few vines, and there were one 

 or two small vineyards. Now, we see vineyards dotting the whole 

 landscape. Some say there will be no market for so many grapes ; 

 some vines will have to be pulled out. Others say, people are just 

 learning how to use them, and to prove this fiiith are planting more 

 vines. They grow so finely, and with so little care, people can aftbrd 

 to grow them for the fun of it, if nothing more. Nothing makes so 

 fine a jelly as the pulp of grapes, and the skins, preserved, have the 

 flavor of raisins. Another excellent way the people have found out, 

 is to pick the grapes from the stems, and place them in a stone jar, 

 with a layer of sugar between each layer of grapes, keeping the 

 whole covered with dry sugar. As the poets say, there are potent 



