THE CULTIVATOR. 
the mind for study, but rather imparts a freshness and a relish 
for it, which is seldom experienced by the indolent or the sedenta¬ 
ry; while study serves to beguile the tedium of labor, by the inte¬ 
resting matters it furnishes to the mind for investigation and re¬ 
flection, and which the mind may adapt to the useful purposes of 
life. While labor tends to sharpen the mental, as well as the ani¬ 
mal appetite, it affords the best facilities for a wholesome digestion 
of the food demanded by either. Thus labor and study are admi¬ 
rably fitted to be companions and reciprocal aids to each other. 
Upon this point I speak from personal experience. The limited 
knowledge which I possess, has been acquired amid the unremitting 
labors of a very active mechanical employment, and without the ad¬ 
vantages of an ordinary common school education. And in looking 
abroad among the companions of my boyhood, I find, after the lapse 
of nearly half a century, that their success and standing in life, has 
been good or bad, pretty much in the ratio of the culture which 
they have bestowed on their minds, and their habits of close appli¬ 
cation to their business. It is not the leisure, nor the opportunity, 
that : s wanting, but the disposition, a resolute determination, to 
improve our innate faculties, which retards the progress of intellec¬ 
tual culture. We respect and admire in others the talents that are 
usefully employed. Why not then resolve (for to will is almost 
to do) to acquire that which we so readily concede to be an excel¬ 
lence in others. Among the thousands of instances which I 
might quote, of men rising to eminence, and great usefulness, by 
means of self-instruction, amid the cares and labors of an active 
business life, I shall detain you by the mention of but one, and 
leave you to call to mind others, which cannot fail to present 
themselves within the circle of your acquaintance. I cite this case, 
because it presented itself first to my notice whilst penning these 
remarks. The late Rev. Dr. Carey, was the son of a poor man ; he 
entered life with a very defective education, and was brought up to 
to the humble trade of a shoemaker. These disadvantages were not 
sufficient to repress his thirst for knowledge. Having resolved to en¬ 
ter ihe ministry, he set himself to acquire a knowledge of the Greek 
and Hebrew, the original languages of scripture ; and while he was 
yet laboring for his daily bread with the awl, he sought acquaint¬ 
ance with grammars and dictionaries ; and he never left them, says 
his biographer, till those compiled by him had gained, by universal 
consent, an honorable place among the monuments of human learn¬ 
ing. Mr. Carey pecame a pioneer missionary to India in 1793. 
The first six years of his residence in that country were spent in 
active agricultural pursuits, during which time he acquired so per¬ 
fect a knowledge of the language of the country, that in 1801, he 
translated the New Testament into Bengalese and during the se¬ 
ven following years, into all the languages of Northern Hindostan. 
He in the meantime compiled a volumnious Bengalese dictionary, 
the first ever published, performed the duties of professor of San¬ 
scrit and Mahratta :n the College of Fort William and was withal 
ever active and efficient in his missionary labors. He subsequent, 
ly became known as an oriental scholar of the first eminence, was 
celebrated as a man of science, established at Caluctta an Agricul¬ 
tural society, of which he was an efficient member, and was either 
a prime mover, or a zealous promoter, in every undertaking for the 
benefit of his adopted country. This distinguished man died in 
June last, full of years, and full of honors. Who is there in this 
assembly that does not, from the narration of this brief biographi¬ 
cal sketch, of a self-taught great man, feel his capacity for useful¬ 
ness enlarged, and mentally resolve, that the influence of so wor¬ 
thy an example shall not be lost upon him. Cherish the senti¬ 
ment—it is a commendable one. 
Which of the two will be able, with the greatest security, to 
confide in his own powers, in a moment of adversity-—he who has 
indulged his mind and pampered his body, in many luxuries—or he 
who, contented with a little, and provident for the future, shall, 
like a wise man, prepare in the.time of peace for war 1— Hor. Eve- 
ry man, in his prosperity, should make provisions to meet adversity. 
He who envies the lot of another, must be discontented with his 
own.— Hor. 
“ Those who are happy at home, should remain there.”— Sat. 
Vices often creep upon us, under the semblance and name of 
virtues.— Seneca. 
Sloth, a seductive syren, should be most carefully avoided.— 
Horace. The indolent man can never be useful, either to himself 
or to promote the well being of others. 
Vol. II. 5 
33 
THE CULTIVATOR-MAY, 1835. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL, AND THE MIND. 
CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 
We have, among our subscribers, many, who delight in the grape, 
and who are desirous of knowing the best and cheapest methods 
of producing it in perfection. It is in compliance with the wishes 
of some of these, that we write the following article, though not 
exactly coming within the plan of our work. 
It is known that tne ordinary methods of raising the foreign va¬ 
rieties of the grape, in the open ground, are at least very precari¬ 
ous in this latitude. The fruit is either blighted by mildew, killed 
by frosts, or does not come to maturity so as to develop all the 
excellence of its natural flavor. And even our finer native varie¬ 
ties, such as the Isabella, Catawba and Bland’s Virginia, frequently 
do not come to maturity in the neighborhood of Albany in conse¬ 
quence of the early autumnal frosts, and in some of the higher dis¬ 
tricts, they seldom ripen well, particularly the last named, which 
many think the superior variety. We have seen at Utica, the 
Sweetwater, Chasselas and Munier in a fine state of bearing, lite¬ 
rally loaded with beautiful fruit, and yet we have been assured by 
an amatuer residing there, that the grapes of Utica never attain the 
high flavor which distinguishes them in warmer and dryer situa¬ 
tions. 
To insure a certain and good crop of this delicious fruit, grape 
houses may be constructed, in which the vines are trained under 
glass without any artificial heat, the roots being planted in a bor¬ 
der on the south side, and conducted into the house near the sur¬ 
face of the ground. We have constructed a house of th e kind, 
which is 54 feet long, 12 broad, 4 feet high in front on the south, 
and 12 feet high in the back wall on the north, with two tiers 
or rows of sashes, each 6 feet by three feet 4 inches, solping from 
front to rear, in an angle of about S3 degrees. The ends and back 
of the building are covered with plank groved together, and the 
inside is plastered. The total expense was from 120 to $125. We 
have in it at present, fourteen vines, foreign and native, the num¬ 
ber to be reduced as may be found necessary. Small iron dogs are 
driven into the under side of the rafters which support the glass, 
at parallel distances, the lower ends having holes through them for 
the admission of wire. Tinned wire, of a size we believe denomi¬ 
nated 12, is run through these holes longitudinally, the whole length 
of the house, and at the distance of ten inches below the glass, to 
which the vines are tied. In the rear, on the inside of the wall, 
we have the peach, apricot, nectarine and fig, trained as wall fruit. 
Inside of the building we raise early salladings, which are generally 
consumed before the vines come into foliage. The principal labor 
necessary, beyond the ordinary pruning and care of the vines, is 
to drop t-he upper sashes, when the temperature will permit, and 
the sun shines bright, about two feet, at eight or nine o’clock in 
the morning, and to close them again at three or four in the after¬ 
noon. This permits the vitiated air to escape, while the pure air 
from without, being specifically heavier, presses in and induces a 
healthy circulation. By closing the house in the afternoon, the 
temperature is in a good measure preserved till the next day. 
The covering of the building tends greatly to repel the severity 
of the cold. During the severe weather of January, the mercury 
in the house, as indicated by a self-registering thermometer, was 
at no time lower than five degrees above zero; while outside it was 
as low as 27 below, showing the difference made by the protection 
to be 32 degrees. About the 8th of March, the frost being out 
of the soil, we sowed cress and lettuce in the house; both were up 
in from eight to twelve days; the subsequent snows and frosts, the 
thermometer sinking twice to fifteen degrees in the open air, did 
not affect them, and the cress was fit for the table on the first of 
April. No artificial heat was applied. The produce of such a 
house may be estimated by those acquainted with the productiveness 
of the grape, when they consider that the vines in such a house 
as this, cover a superficial space of 650 square feet. 
There is another method of recent introduction, which it requires 
some professional knowledge to conduct, and the application of 
some artificial heat; but which accelerates very much the bearing 
of the vines, the maturing of the fruit, and probably improves its 
quality. The vines are cultivated in pots. Pieces of the vine, of 
