390 
JUNE 23 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
sure death to cuttings to let them get a little 
dry after being heeled-in all Winter. Do not 
take more in the bucket than you can plant, in 
half an horn - . If the ground is well prepared, 
a good hand can plant about 500 cuttings per 
day. Have the bucket about one-third full of 
water, and place the butt ends of the cuttings 
in the water. 
If the weather should be dry at planting 
time, run a small stream of water in the fur¬ 
row after the cuttings are planted, just enough 
to settle the ground around them: then, as soon 
as the ground is in good condition! or plowing 
fill the furrow with a riding cultivator, and 
keep the ground thoroughly cultivated, and 
you will be sure to see the vines all grow. If 
the surface of the gi'ouud is twenty feet above 
the water level, it will be necessary to irrigate 
the first season early in July. To irrigate, 
plow a deep furrow on each side of the row, 
about two feet from it, and let a small 
stream of water into the furrows;—not 
enough to more than fill them—and re¬ 
main long enough to thoroughly moisteu 
the row, without getting ont of the furrows 
because there is great danger of “ scalding ” if 
the water stands against the vine wheu the 
sim is shining. As soon as the ground is in 
suitable condition tor cultivating, fill the fur¬ 
rows with a riding cultivator and keep the 
ground mellow r by harrowing, or otherwise, 
and you will need no more irrigation during 
the season, and your vines will each have 
made several branches two to six feet long. 
The second year, in February, prune them 
down to from three to five buds each; and ir¬ 
rigate the ground well aud keep it well plowed 
and cultivated, and probably there will be uo 
need of Summer irrigation to iusure a vigor 
ous growth. You may expect enough grapes 
the second year to make five boxes of raisins of 
20 pounds each. Young vines do not usually 
produce large grapes; consequently your rai¬ 
sins will not be first-class, but good. I mention 
this so that you may not be disheartened; for 
it is the nature of the vine to improve the fruit 
iu quality as the vine increases in age until it 
is about five or six years old 
The third year the vines should be pruned 
to about eight to twelve buds each, in Febru- 
ary, and the ground kept mellow, and if the 
soil is deep no Summer irrigation wQl be 
needed. Grapes enough may be expected this 
season to make 25 boxes of raisins per acre. 
The fourth year prune to about 10 to 15 buds 
in February, and irrigate thoroughly and keep 
the ground mellow', and no Summer irrigation 
will be required; aud you may expect grapes 
enough this season to make 80 boxes of raisins 
per acre. The fifth year the vines will need 
about the same treatment as in the previous 
year, and they will bear a full crop of grapes— 
enough to make 100 boxes of raisins per acre 
The grapes are picked and placed on trays 
which are made of boards half-an-inch in 
thielcuess. They are 28x36 inches, and hold 
about 25 pounds of grapes. One tray will gen¬ 
erally bold the first crop. We expect two 
crojjs of raisin grapes in a season, one crop ri¬ 
pening about two weeks later than the other. 
The trays, wheu covered with grapes, are 
placed so as to receive the sunshine all day; 
the trays are exposed l>eside the vine from 
which the grapes were picked. When the 
graphs are sufficiently dried on one side, they 
are turned over,by placing an empty tray over 
them and turning them over, which leaves 
them on the tray which w f as placed on top. 
Tw'o men will turn from 4,000 to 8,000 trays 
per day. A tray of 25 pounds of good grapes 
will make about seven pounds of raisins. 
Grapes picked the 28th of August will gen¬ 
erally mire into raisins in about 15 days. If 
picked the 15th of September about 20 days 
will lie required. If picked September 30th, 30 
days will be needed. The 5th of October is as 
late as grapes can be picked and made intorais- 
i ns with profit; arjdthereis much danger of los¬ 
ing them by rains when picked so late. North 
of San Francisco 1 would not recommend 
picking for raisins later than October 1. When 
the raisins are dry enough they are emptied 
into sweat-boxes 28x36 inches and seven inches 
deep. It is well to place heavy paj>cr between 
the layers as they are emptied into the sweat- 
boxes ; about three papers wdll lie sufficient. 
The object of the paper is to facilitate the 
packing, as it keeps the raisins from getting 
tangled up, aud the bunches from being broken. 
Sweat-boxes hold about 100 pounds of raisins 
apiece, and when filled in the viueyard they 
are hauled to the packing-house and stacked 
one upon the other in columns seven or eight 
boxes high, the top box being covered with a 
tray. 
The raisius are packed into forms made of 
heavy tin which hold five pounds, and pressed 
into layers, and placed in the raisin boxes, 
with a paper enfolding each layer. Four 
layers are pressed into a box and the cover is 
nailed on, and the raisins are ready for market. 
Every layer is weighed, and holds five pounds 
“dowu weight;”aud twenty pounds of raisius 
make what is called a box of California raisius. 
The past season was the most unfavorable 
for making raisins of any since I came to the 
State, and I have been here over 33 years. 
Ou May 13, we had a heavy frost which dam¬ 
aged our first crop one-half; aud the early 
aud continuous rains iu September and Octo¬ 
ber spoiled nearly all of our secoud crop, so 
we made only about 20,000 boxes of raisins. 
Had the season been as good as usual, we 
should have made from 60,000 to 90,000 boxes. 
Pi-obably one-half the raisin grapes north of 
San Francisco were spoiled by rain. South 
of Sau Francisco but little damage was caused 
by frost or rain. 
Raisiu making is a very pleasant and pro¬ 
fitable business here iu California. Some 
small and well mauaged vineyards have 
yielded over $600 per acre per year. In 1878 
1 went to Malaga, Valencia, and other raisin 
districts in Spain to learn what I could about 
raisin making, and to see if the Spaniards 
had any natural advantages over Californians 
in raisiu making. I came home satisfied that 
we are able to supply the world with raisius 
at less cost and of equal quality, and make 
raisin making one of the most pleasant and 
profitable employments in the United States. 
There is one of the finest opportunities to get 
a good home aud make raisins foi;a livelihood 
I have ever met, in Fresno Co., Cu). Good 
land can be bought for raisin grapes for from 
?5 to $100 per acre, the price varying accord¬ 
ing to the distance from railroad stations. The 
climate is dry and healthy—not more than six 
inches of rainfall on an average per year. 
There are probably more than 500,000 acres of 
first-class raisin land iu the country. The 
price of the land has fully doubled within the 
past year; aud 1 should not lie surprised to 
see vineyards sold in Fresno County within 
five years for more than $1,000 per acre; aud 
within 15 years Fresno County will export 
more than 5,000,000 boxes of raisius annually. 
A person with a twenty-acre vineyard in 
Fresno Count}’, well managed, can safely ex¬ 
pect an income of over $2,000 a year after the 
vines are three years old. But no one need 
expect to get rich at raisin making, without 
well directed labor, aud economy. Fresno 
City is the capital of Fresno County; and the 
Overland Southern Pacific passes daily. The 
place is about days ride from Chicago, Ill. 
and 207 miles by rail from San Francisco. 
Fresno Co., Cal. 
SHARP CRITICISMS. 
I am much pleased with the remarks of A. 
B. C. Salmon, on page 342 of the 11oral of 
June 2, in regard to rearing young chicks, 
because the criticism is reasonable and his 
statements cau be fully corroborated. An in¬ 
cubator can be used successfully. There is no 
secret and nothing else about it but the simple 
requisite of an even, steady, regular tempera¬ 
ture aud the moving of the eggs occasionally; 
but the latter is not at all indispensable. I 
have hatched chicks in au incubator of my 
own make without moving them or moisten¬ 
ing them and while some were standing on 
the small end. An egg is provided with in¬ 
ternal springs and supports which will sustain 
the yelk in its proper place, if it is nut jarred 
or handled roughly, I believe a great many 
eggs are injured by rough handling. The 
idea that we must follow Nature is a mistaken 
one; I won’t say it is foolish, but it is wrong. 
Nature does very poor work. It is all liosh to 
get seutimental about the perfection of Nature. 
The old dame’s work is the poorest kind of 
blunders. The greater part of her productions 
are abortive and generally very poor in qual¬ 
ity. It is man’s business to improve upon Na¬ 
ture. That work was specially given to him 
at the first, and see how he has succeeded in 
thousands of ways. The modern hen as an 
egg producer is a vast improvement on the 
jungle hen from w'hich she has descended, or 
rather ascended, and we can greatly improve 
on her work if we try. The old hen tramples 
her brood to death aud kills some of them in 
her frantic efforts to protect them from some 
imaginary enemy. Reason is as much better 
than instinct as a telephone is better than the 
old smoke and fire signals of a century ago. 
Iu reariug chicks by hand there is absolutely 
uo necessity for one to be lost after it is out of 
the shell. A young chick has great vitality. 
Warmth iaall that is required to bring it safely 
up to the feeding point. People tell us that 
the clucks must be taught to eat. That is non¬ 
sense. A chick four hours out of the shell will 
go around picking up crumbs of food and will 
feed itself perfectly well. I don’t wish to an¬ 
ticipate Mr. Salmon iu Ins promised informa¬ 
tion about rearing chicks, but will say I know 
what he has said is all just and true. 
Let me make one more remark that is perti¬ 
nent : On page 346 a statement is given of a 
silo in which the ensilage was moldy aud 
worthless, aud the foreman thought that upon 
ensilage alone cows would soon be ruined 
Now what right has a man who will let the 
contents of a silo get moldy and worthless to 
think about anything ? That man is incom¬ 
petent to be a foreman, and to obtrade bis 
thoughts upon the public is sheer impertinence. 
Mr. Salmon’s criticisms will apply to this fore¬ 
man’s blunders and ignorance as well as to the 
subject he has in hand. 
It is wroug in my opinion to even mention 
such a fact as that given about ensilage, lie- 
cause it is not evidence against the practice and 
because it expresses what a very incompetent 
man thinks and what he clearly knows nothing 
at all about. H. Stewart. 
WATER PIPES. 
In a late Rural an inquirer asks how to 
construct a pi pe of water-lime cement. Some 20 
years ago I helped to build such a pipe for stock 
purposes a distance of 150 rods, using au ineh- 
and-a-half drain tile for an orifice. We tried 
to be very particular, iu working the cement 
together, and around the tiles, to close every 
crevice, but failed, as we never got water 
through the entire length; but it can be doue, 
and when done it is the best water pipe in use. 
Our method of construction was this: After 
, our trench was dug (which should bo deep 
enough to escape frost and wide enough for a 
mau to work in handily) and the material de¬ 
livered along the line, one mau mixed the mor¬ 
tar, wet the tiles (to prevent the mortar from 
setting on them too soon) and shoveled iu mor¬ 
tal- as the man in the trench used it. Two 
boards, six inches wide aud six or seveu feet 
long, were used as a box for the sides. These 
were fastened together with two strips of 
of iron, bent arch-shape (H i and extendiug 
above the box four or five inches, so that the 
arch was out. of the way in troweling. These 
were bent so as to make the box six inches 
wide. Now fill in about two inches with mor¬ 
tar; place ou the tiles and fill up the box, 
troweling together thoroughly. If a little soft, 
sprinkle ou a little sand or dirt and raise the 
box for another length. If the tiles butt 
against, instead of entering each other, care 
is necessary that the mortar duos not run iu at. 
the joints. If the side of the. trench is smooth 
one board is sufficient. In that case the irons 
should extend to the lower edge of the board. 
Another method of forming the pipe, one 
that has proved a success in this section, is to 
use a wooden rod the size oue wishes for the 
orifice, with a short pieee, two or two-aml-u- 
half inches long, which may be tailored at the 
back end, aud attached to the end of the n >d 
by two strips of leather, sunk into each to 
make a smooth joining. These act as a hinge, 
and the short piece is to be left just iu the end 
of the pipe to prevent any mortar from work¬ 
ing in, aud the long rod is turned up out of the 
way in preparing the bottom half of the next 
sectiou. When this is done, turn down the 
rod, pushing it buck just in the end of the last 
section; press it about half its length into the 
mortar, and cover, troweling down well. Im¬ 
mediately give the rod a little twist to prevent 
it from sticking, and wheu the mortar is suf 
iiciently set to remain iu place, draw out the 
rod and proceed. This rod should not be too 
long or it will not handle well—one four or 
five feet is abundantly long. We mixed three 
parts of clean, sharp sand to cne of lime. 
First mix together dry and a single batch at 
a time. 
Caro should lie taken not to lot the water in 
too soon. The right time will depend ou the 
fall. When such a pipe is in order, it is the 
best pipe water ever ran through. There is 
no taint, no corroding, and it will last a life¬ 
time, if out of the way of frost. For house 
purposes, if I could get good well water, 1 
would not attempt to carry water half u mile 
in any pipe; it is a very delicate job, and wa¬ 
ter is always warm, while the work is some¬ 
what expensive. The cost, however, will de¬ 
pend a good deal on u man’s fancy and pocket. 
My grit was good—I wanted running water, 
so we dug up the cement pipe and put iu iron. 
This worked well until a few years ago, wheu 
with two successive dry Falls and cold Win¬ 
ters, there was not sufficient water to keep 
running, and, the ground being bare, frost got 
to our pipe in many places, and the water went 
Itefore it came, so we threw up the sponge aud 
put dowu a well right where my penstix-k 
stood. Since then we have liad all the water 
we could pump; and by the way, I got a man 
with a peach-tree sprout to locate the well and 
he fixed it just where I wanted it. 
A Thirty-two-ykar Subscriber. 
Palmyra, N. Y. 
SOIL PULVERIZATION. 
Among instructive treatises on soil-culture 
to be had for the asking is a well-argued aud 
well-illustrated ti'eatiso ou plows aud plowing 
—a neat pamphlet of 30 pages distributed by 
the Sackett Plow Co., 100 Chambers Street, 
N. Y. It will interest all farmers who see it, 
aud instruct, many. Its special iuteution is fo 
explain and magnify the merits of a machine 
which tm-ns all the surface growth and a par¬ 
ing of the soil into the bottom of the furrow, 
as the old “Michigan Plow” did or perhaps 
docs somewhere yet; and which, in addition, 
crushes anil presses the grass and weeds com¬ 
pactly down by a large, heavy squirrel-cage- 
like wheel of the width of the furrow, which 
receives the furrow slice from the mold-board, 
breaks it up and leaves it sifted loose and light, 
much as a hay-tedder leaves the grass. Thus 
the harrowing is done at the same operation, 
aud iu a very thorough ami superior way. 
The special and specious pleading of this 
widely-distributed pamphlet may lead some to 
believe that the pulverization and looseness of 
the plowed soil are the only essential conditions 
for a sure and copious crop. We all kuow 
what Jethro Tull gained,year after year, by the 
thorough breaking up of the clods of his clayey 
soil, and owners of such soil continue to find 
profit in that unlocking of the treasures so 
closely held in the tenacious argil. But as a 
means of this unlocking no grinding or rub¬ 
bing of machinery can compare with the frost 
plow. It opens and separates every part that 
it reaches, particle by particle, without round¬ 
ing the edges, so that they do not readily fall 
together agaiu so closely as to become air and 
water-tight. 
A few Winters ago, while away from home, 
I had occasion to poc some seedlings and cut¬ 
tings, but there was uo suitable soil at hand. I 
undertook to break up some that, was rather 
coarse by nibbing it in a mortar, and so se¬ 
cured what was apparently u very tine, flour¬ 
like mold. But after two or three waterings 
its defect came to light. It shrank from the 
sides of the pot aud crusted on the surface, 
and became so compact that water could uot 
pass through it, and, of course, little or uo air. 
The plants soou ceased to thrive. The same 
effects are oftcu seeu when the dust from a 
road b«d has been used. The difference is 
about the same betweeu that and native loam 
as exists between the smoothly-rounded parti¬ 
cles of quicksand, which mus like a fluid, aud 
the shari»-edged irregularities of common 
plasterers’ sand, which null stand with a stoop 
face or between the pebbles of a river bed, 
aud the freshly-broken stouo used for macad¬ 
amizing a road. 
Keeping this iu view, and remembering that 
each variety of soil requires to be treated ac¬ 
cording to its nature, the teaeliings aud illus- 
tradons of the Hackett pamphlet iu regard to 
“fining” the soil and avoiding heavy tramp¬ 
ling of it, are worthy of careful observance. 
In the Spring, when frost has thorough' di¬ 
vided the particles of a clay soil, great pa¬ 
tience is requisite to avoid putting a foot upon 
it until drainage and evaporation have dried 
out its disposition to cohere. But wheu dry, 
all soils are the better for such a compacting 
of the particles about the seeds or roots plant¬ 
ed, as will secure against the danger of there 
being inclosed with them chambers containing 
stagnant air While air is essential the soil 
must breathe it, much as we do through the 
minute cells of the lungs. It must permeate 
continually all through, at least during the 
warm, growing season, but only through nar¬ 
row interstices. And we open the surface 
with tiie hoe or cultivator during that season, 
for the same sort of reason that obliges us 
to keep opeu the orifices which admit air to 
our luugs. 
The burying of all the vegetable matter in 
the bottom of the furrow is a convenience or 
a neatness, but uot a cultural advantage. If 
it could be broken up and mixed with the 
soil that becomes the new surfuee, it would 
greatly aid in keeping it ojxm, and in supply¬ 
ing the roots through chemical reactions with 
more wholesome food and less risk of poison. 
The Tribune lately cited examples of a rude 
once-plowing and coarse harrowing which loft 
the large growth of weeds dead aud dry on 
and in the surface, yielding better results iu 
crop than the clean, ueut, thoroughly-worked 
fallow of udjoining fields. “w.” 
Benefit of Applying Salt to Land. 
Mr. Thompson, a veterinary surgeon of 
England, has paid great attention to this dur¬ 
ing the past 13 years, having watched the ef¬ 
fect of something like 5,000 tons of salt applied 
to land. He found ou pasture that it had the 
power of preventing such diseases among ani¬ 
mals as cripples or rheumatism, ml water, 
fluke, louping ill or scours iu calves, etc. 
Sheep brought down from the lulls to winter 
in pasture bordering on the ocean, were much 
more healthy than wheu kept on inland pas¬ 
tures. Salt destroys snails, small mollusea 
and other minute animals, at the same time it 
so greatly improves the herbage that stock 
will forsake fresh pasture which is alongside 
of salted, when able to get on it. In a discus¬ 
sion of this subject by others present at the 
meeting, they contended that although salt 
was very beneficial, it did not always prevent 
the above diseases. “a." 
