20 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
found upon this vegetable. Hayward describes that which preys upon 
the peach. The eggs are deposited in autumn, on the embryo bud, and 
are hatched v ith the first start of vegetation in spring; and they mul¬ 
tiply so fast, that in a few days there are several generations of them, 
which become destructive to the young fruit and tree. The only suc¬ 
cessful application was found to be snuff, repeatedly applied with a bar¬ 
ber’s puff. It has been ascertained by the experiments of M. Bonnet 
and other naturalists, that males of the aphides are produced only every 
tenth generation, and then but few in number; and that one copulation 
serves for ten generations.— See Rep. of Arts, 1S29, p. 357. We have 
found the calix of the peach blossom, the green leaves which envelop 
the base of the petals, filled literally with the aphis. 
IMPORTANCE OF SALT TO CATTLE AND SHEEP. 
Salt, as a condiment, is as grateful and as beneficial to domestic ani¬ 
mals as it is to man. It serves the same purposes to both. We can 
readily determine, that it promotes our health and comfort best when 
taken with our daily food. Then why not equally so to the cattle of 
our farms ? It may be apprehended, that if permitted, the latter will 
take it in excess. This is not so. If they have constant access to salt, 
domestic animals will take no more than is required by their natural 
wants. But if given to them only at long intervals, they will then, if 
opportunity presents, indulge in it to excess. We have had salt troughs 
under the sheds in our yards for a dozen years, in which salt has been 
constantly kept, and to which our cattle have had daily access; and they 
have not only not taken it in excess, but they have been wholly exempt 
from disease; and although they have been fed three months in a year 
with ruta baga, and pastured often in fresh rank clover, they have in 
no case been hoven, nor has their milk or butter been tainted with the 
flavor of the turnip. . . 
Some years ago, the duty upon salt in Great Britain, was so high as 
almost to preclude its use for farm stock. Petitions were sent to par¬ 
liament, for a repeal of these duties, so far as they affected agriculture. 
The committee to whom the subject was referred, called before them 
many eminent farmers and others, to testify as to matters involved in 
the inquiry. The evidence was voluminous and conclusive, not only that 
the duty amounted almost to a prohibition of its use for cattle, and for 
the poor, but that where this privation had been felt, diseases had mul¬ 
tiplied, to man and beast, to an alarming extent. We refer to the Lon¬ 
don Repertory of Arts, vols. 34 and 35 for particulars. In the mean 
time we give an abstract of the evidence of two of the witnesses, so 
far as regards the benefits of the (taily use of salt to animals, well known 
as men of distinguished eminence, and of extensive practical agricul¬ 
tural knowledge. , _ . . „ . 
j c. Curwin, M. P. states, among other advantages of giving salt to 
his animals, daily, that it removed the unpleasant flavor from the milk of 
cows fed with turnips; that it greatly lessened inflammatory diseases 
—promoted digestion—increased the quantity of milk, and disposed the 
animal to fatten. That it improyed the general health andspirits of horses, 
rendered the doss of their coats remarkably fine, and, given at the rate 
of 8 to 12 ounces per day, rendered fit for service some which had be¬ 
come disabled by a disorder called the grease. That given to sheep, in 
the quantity of two ounces per day, it preserves their health, renders 
them sound, and sensibly improves their condition. 
Lord Somerville, considers salt all important to sheep. Without it, 
even on dry soils, his flock became sickly, and he lost many. Giving 
it twice a week, they were healthy. Salt preserves hay, and restores 
it when damaged. In the humid climate of Great Britain, his lordship 
feeds a ton of salt to every thousand sheep annually. It is particularly 
servicable with green food, clover and turnips, and prevents and cures 
the hoven, which is pent-up wind, occasioned by excess of fermentation 
in the stomach. In a wet season he did not lose a sheep, although fed 
with turnips, and he considered salt as a specific against disease. He 
generally gives it with hay, about twenty-five pounds being sifted on to 
ev erv ton. 
These facts are of high authority, and of deep interest to the cattle 
and sheep farmer, and of general application. The low price of salt 
among us will enable every farmer to profit by them. 
GRAPE CULTURE. 
Every bunch of grapes, according to Knight, in the Hort. Trans, com¬ 
mences its formation as a tendril, and it is always in the power of the 
cultivator, to cause it to remain a tendril. The blossoms are all addi¬ 
tions, the formation of which is all dependant upon agents, viz. upon 
the leaves, which are required to elaborate the food, and upon a good 
exposure to light and heat. Hence the importance of pruning in autumn 
or spring, to thin and shorten the wood 5 and in summer, to increase the 
exposure of the fruit to atmospheric influence. This practice is too 
much neglected, or too sparingly performed, by novices in the grape 
culture. It is essential to native as well as to foreign varieties. It is 
too common a practice to train the Isabella and other native kinds on 
arbors, and to let the wood accumulate as it will, without using the knife, 
or using it but sparingly. The consequence is, that the fruit is lessened 
for want of exposure, its time of ripening retarded, and its quality sen¬ 
sibly impaired. One of the most extensive cultivators of the native 
grape, Mr. E. H. Bons'all, of Germantown, Pa. says, that it is his prac¬ 
tice, even after the vines have attained a full capacity for production— 
say five years from the cutting, to cut them in low—Iris object is to pre¬ 
pare them for bearing an average of fifty clusters to each, leaving seve¬ 
ral shoots, from three to five joints to a vine, for this purpose; and that 
when fresh pruned, they will not be more than four feet high at the 
greatest age. We saw Mr. Bonsall’s vineyard, consisting of some acres, 
in the summer of 1833, and it had a remarkably fine appearance. 
In the summer pruning of the grape, let these rules be observed: 
1. Suffer only one shoot, and let that be the strongest, to grow from 
each joint; and if these are very near each other, pinch off every other 
one. 2. When the fruit has set, which will always be upon the new 
growth of wood, and generally on lateral branches, shorten the fruit 
bearing laterals to three or four eyes above the fruit, and the laterals 
not bearing fruit to one eye from the main vine. The object of the first 
is to throw the sap into the fruit, instead of permitting it to become ex¬ 
hausted in the formation of new wood; of the second, to preserve the 
bud at the base of the lateral, which is the fruit bud of the following 
year; and of both, to prevent the too great accumulation of wood and 
foliage. The main vines may soon after be shortened. The extreme 
buds on the main vines, and generally on the laterals, will generally 
burst, and throw out a new growth. These may also be occasionally 
shortened, without prejudice to the vine or fruit. When the fruit has 
obtained its growth, the process of ripening may be facilitated by thin¬ 
ning the foliage about the fruit, so as to give it a better exposure to the 
sun and air. 
In winte^pruning, the laterals may be all cut into the main vines, 
taking care not to injure the buds at their base, and the main vines may 
be shortened to the required length of two to six feet. 
Mr. Bonsall’s mode of training his vines deserves notice as well for 
its cheapness as for its utility—of this we speak from experience. He 
sets chesnut posts, at the distance of ten feet, firmly in the ground, on 
the line of his rows. He drives into the face of these, at regular in¬ 
tervals, three (we prefer four) stout nails, nearly up to the head. He 
then stretches wire, of the size denominated No. 11, along the whole 
line, making it fast at the end, and giving it a turn round the nail in 
every post. The posts stand five feet above the ground ; the first wire 
is two and a half feet from the ground, the second intermediate between 
that and the top of the post, and the third at the top. To these wires 
the tendrils readily clasp, and much labor is saved in tying, while the 
wires do not intercept the sun from the fruit and foilage. Tinned wire, 
though it costs more, is preferable to the common sort, as it is far less 
liable to corrode. Mr. Bonsall plants his rows seven feet apart, and at 
the distance of four feet in the rows. It should be borne in mind, that 
the richest grounds do not suit the grape so well as those of moderate 
fertility—as the former produce a superabundance of wood, and fruit 
of inferior quality. 
NOTICE OF CORRESPONDENTS. 
Levi Moore, of Cortland, suggests the propriety of planting apple 
trees on each side of the highway, in the line of the fence, seven, or 
ten or twelve feet apart, with a view of converting them into fence posts, 
and of using the fruit as hog and cattle food. He thinks it would be 
great economy in the end. 
“ M. J.” will find a part of his queries answered in our last, and the 
residue in this number. The crowded state of our columns precludes 
our enlarging now upon the subject of lunar influence. His ground, as 
he describes it, is well suited and well prepared for flax. We do not 
think plaster would benefit the crop, and yet we advise that he plaster 
a part, and advise us of the results. 
“A.” who dates from Salisbury, inquires what quantity of wheat, rye, 
oats, &.C. should be sown on an acre ;—and which are the best kinds of 
sheep for him to cultivate—rather difficult questions for us to solve sa¬ 
tisfactorily. If sown early, on ground well prepared, five or six pecks 
of wheat or rye, and two bushels of oats to the acre, are the usual 
quantity; if sown late, somewhat more is advisable. Early sown grain 
tillers better than that which is sown late ; and so does grain upon a 
rich, more than that sown upon a poor soil: More seed too will vege¬ 
tate and grow in a well pulverized soil, where the roller is used, than 
in a soil that is lumpy and badly tilled, where the roller is not used. 
Our “young beginner” should note down his practice, and its results, 
and he will soon be able to adapt his seed to his soil. The Saxony and 
Merino are the best sheep for fleece—the Southdown and New-Lieces- 
ter for mutton. They are all advertised in our February cover. 
G. W. Robinson, of Baldwinsville, Onondaga, N. Y. wishes to know 
where he can procure seed and cuttings of the Chinese mulberry, (m. 
multicaulis,) and the price at which they are respectively sold. The 
seed is not to be had in the United States. Those who have cuttings will 
please advise Mr. R. by letter, of the price, &c. 
