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64 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



keeps dry under tlie grass. The rains fall- 

 ing in the morning, during which the rot 

 prevails, will run off in part, and what is ab- 

 sorbed by the soil will soon be taken up by 

 the grass. 



The result of this was, I made the first 

 crop in this vine and timothy field, with- 

 out any rot in 1850, and so every year in 

 in succession, until '54, but in the spring of 

 '54 my timothy ran out. I plowed the 

 field, and that year the greatest porjjon of 

 my crop was destroyed by the rot, in spite 

 of the wide planting. By plowing, of 

 course I urged the vegetation and made the 

 soil more fertile, and retained the moisture 

 of this already rich soil, and prepared my 

 fruit for destruction by the enemy. 



One of my vineyards was not hoed for 

 two years, only scraped to keep the grass 

 down, planted three by six feet apart; the 

 vines are laid dry by drawing the soil to the 

 plants as we do in a potato or corn field, 

 80 that the water can run off. 



The result of this was, I obtained in the year 

 '55 near seven, hundred gallons of wine, and in 

 the year '56 about five hundred gallons to the 

 acre, while in the same year, in vineyards along- 

 side, of the same age, and on the sams exposure, 

 only one hundred te one hundred and fifty gal- 

 lons to the acre wasjobtained. 



Last summer was a very dry summBr, but our 

 grapes rotted. By the obstrvations of Dr. Halez 

 we can easily account for this. The winter of 

 '55 and '56 was very eold and the soil was frozen 

 from one to two feet deep. The whole continent 

 was covered with snow one or two feet deep. — 

 The result of this was a late spring — the soil en- 

 riched by the snow and loosened by the frost, 

 caused such a luxurious vegetation at once, that 

 in four weeks we had flowers and grapes formed; 

 the vine plants were met in the highest and rieh" 

 est state of vegetation, with a cold night at first, 

 second and third; the rot we bad last season and 

 the mischief was done. This was the reverse in 

 1853, as the winter of '52 and '63 was mild and 

 dry, and the spring of '53, with the fore part of 

 the summer, dry and warm, the growth was reg' 

 ular and less rapid, and the consequence was a 

 rich grape year. 



According to all this, I came to the conclusion 

 to lay my vineyards dry winter and summer, not 

 cultivate them in the spring, except to scrape 

 them, to keep the grass down, summer prune and 

 with all those planted wide enough apart to ad- 

 mit of it, I will roll with a path roller, as soon 

 as the frost is out of the ground, to prevent ab- 

 sorption of rains and atmosphere moisture to 

 check the growth in part, put in the fall as soon 

 as the kernels are formed, and the fruit begins to 

 change collor, at this moment we know that all 

 plants want all their nourishment to ripen their 

 fruit and wood, a period of growth of which we 

 are all aware there is no more danger of the rot 

 — then I will set plow' and hoe at work. My 

 experienee last year, in a vineyard cultivated at 



the change of color of the fruit, is this: Cataw- 

 ba must of this part of the vineyard weighed 98 

 degrees, and the Isabella 101 degrees, while the 

 mast of another part of the samo vineyard, and 

 of the same exposure, not cultivated in the 

 autumn, the Catawba must weighed 92 degraea, 

 and the Isabella 90 degrees on the eaccarometer. 

 It seems to me that any means we can discov- 

 er to check the growth of vegetation in the early 

 part of the season, will be a help to conquer the 

 enemy, the rot, be it by the reverse of culture — 

 that is, cultivate in the fall when the grapes 

 change color — press the ground in the spring to 

 check the absorption of atmospheric moisture in 

 part, or by any means we can imagine, cheek the 

 too luxurient vegetation in the^ spring and first 

 part of summer a step will be taken toward the 

 production of grapes instead of wood, and per- 

 haps enable us to plant many European kincs of 

 vines in this rich and fertile climate, as for them 

 the too rich and rapid vegetation, with too long 



a season is destruction. 



. — ,0, 



From the Chicago Press. 

 Elmi^ratiou Westward. 



The tide of humanity has already begun to 

 set westward for the season. Through our ex- 

 changes and correspondence, we learn that New 

 England will send larger deputations of her 

 sons and daughters to the promised land than 

 in any previous season, and New York and 

 Pennsylvania exhibit strong symptoms of the 

 "Western fever. Ohio, too, which but compara- 

 tively a few years since was on the verge of civ- 

 ilization, is npw reckoned as one of the old 

 States, and the Cincinnati Gazett informs us 

 that a large number of its citizens have started 

 for different portions of the Northwest, chiefly 

 Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska. Other 

 States will send a full quota to the general mi- 

 gratory army, and it will be further reinforced 

 by thousands from the old world. The arrivals 

 during the winter months show a considerable 

 increase in foreign immigration over the corres- 

 ponding months of two or three previous years, 

 and the next quarter will doubtless exhibit a 

 still stronger tendency in the same direction. 

 A very large proportion of this immigration is 

 and will be from Germany, the main body of 

 whom invariably seek the Northwest as their 

 home. Let them come in any number. There 

 is no class of immigrants to whom it offers a 

 more hospitable welcome, or who make more 



valuable citizens. 



1^ 



Child-Stealing. — The business of stealing 

 little children, for the purpose of obtaining a 

 reward for their restoration, has been practiced 

 for a long time unsuccessfully in this city. — 

 Probably on an average, two children a week 

 are abducted from their homes while playing on 

 the side walk, and are detained until the afSict- 

 ed parents offer a reward for them, when the 

 kidnappers bring their little victims to light 

 and receive their money. This infamous busi- 

 ness is made to pay very well, for the rewards 

 frequently amount to over $100, and the pa- 

 rents joy at recovering their offspring is sogr6at 

 that they do not hesitate to nand over the 

 amonnt without a careful inquiry into the facts. 



