The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-02-12
PREPARATION OF TIE LAND.

from four TO six bushels OF corn TO the acre !:
select if, possible, piece on castrrlv, or south
castcrly exposure, and on Il hill side, if You
have such; if you have not, level land will
do, provided it be not too retcu,ive of mois-
! lur". Sandy soil is the best, although dry
clay lIll-shlrS will answer very well. Clear
! tn" land and break it up with plowS, us for
. corn !; but all trees must of course. he cut
down and removed. Now get parcel of
i'snall stakes, three TO four feet long, and
proceed to mark out the rows if the land
he level let the rows be straight; but if
/, on Il hill side, lay them off horizontally, or
level without regard to s,raiyhtncSs this is
i'll or'!er 70 prevent the washing away of the
soil, see Que Of the late numbers of the
CHitirafor for asimplc levclng instrument J
! make my rows eight or nine feet apart,
prefer that distance on account of driving
carts between to haul stake, or manure,
when il becomes necessary, or in vintage
time. Having s,akrd off the rows to your
satisfaction. proceed to open the trenches or
bitches let them be about two feet wide,
ami some fourteen inches deep, arg- rlows
followed by long Shovcls, will very quickly
TO the work i'll SANDY y soil. The next thing
is to plant, .; this can be done, in our south.
crn climate, from the middle of November
to the end Of March. prefer rooted plants !:
others give the preference to cuttings; the
first will save one year, and you can
plant them 'lrrIrr, which is a grca, object
Make yourself Il wooden compass, with an
opening OF four feet six inches at the points,
and mark on, the distance for your vines
IN the bottom Of the trenches drop tile
vines in their places. and proceed to plant
them. Two men, with short handled hoes,
will plant Il great many i'll Il day one deep
ems the hole to let the roots 20 some inches
deeper than the bottom Of the ditch: the
other places the vine upright and holds it
until the first has put earth around it. II
you have other hands let them follow with
hoe, and refill the trench, so :hat the ton
eye Of the vim" will be about on Il level with
the surface. Put a short stake to each vine,
to mark it place. There is nothing more to
do until the spring grass will call vGur pows
aud hoes inic use; then work them as YOU
wonl,l corn or cotton. You may plant
two rows, and they will not interfere with
the vines in the least.
FIRST PRUNING.
In the winter, 1T any time between the
lSt OF December and the 18th of March,
take sharp knife, remove every branch X.
cept one, and cut that down above the sec
ond or thir,l ey. of the last growth; break
the land with a ha'fshovel plow as for corn,
passing the nearest furrow about twelve in
ches from the vines. Give them II stake
abou. four feet long; they will. in the spring,
shoot out many suckers, and put out eyes
where they have II" business; cut out the
suckers with a long handled chiscl, and
rub off all the eyes excepting the two or
three you left i'll pruning; these, as they
grow up, should he fastened to the stakes
with bits Of soft string, bark, or anything
else you may have at han keep th,.
land cultivated with plow and hce. and plant
peas between.
SECOND PRUNING.
The second winters pruning is repei-
ton of the first, but you must replace the
sma! stakes by good lasting WOO |, from six
to eight feet long. There will he some fruit.
The summers work is the same as above.
THIRD PRUNING.
The third winters pruning is different
remove all branches or canes, save the two
strongest Of these, cut the highest about
eighteen inches long and the other about
three inches-thc longest is intended for
fruit !; the latter, which is called "spnr," is
to make wood for next year. Towards
spring. bend this long branch hor;zontdNy
and fasten the end Of it strongly TO short
stake. placed at a sufficient distance. In
the West this cane is made to form com.
ple'e circle hy fastening the end of it to the
foot of the vine; this is called "arching. :.
The object Of sarching is to moderate and
regulate the flow Of the sap, in order that it
may fill all the eyes on the cane, for If the
cane were left perpendicular, the sap would
pass the loves. eyes, and rush upwards into
the top. "Bnt, in my opinion, arcbing over
does the business, am the sap, whose ten
dency is always upwards, will most generally
stop at the eyes on the upper part Of the
arch, and develope them, strongly; and those
below will pnt out very weakly. or not at
ali-whiIc, when the cane is laid horizontal
ly, they all get their share much. moreequal
ly divided. The vine should also bestroug
sly fastened to the large. stake. All whe
= 4