The mountain Democrat., 1863-10-03
AnnRRaa.
DtligGrsd 1s)brs As ~ Derado 60. A0rtcxttwrGl
Society, at IT, Ftf1h AaaS0I F1tr, 1f DID,
~ nd GprSa0s, September S6Gh, 1858,
ny W WAnawORTH Ehn. or AACRAhENTO.

nv. President ana u1emoe oI tue ~ DuEtoo
County Agricultural SOciety-lsdies and gen.
Il was with NO ordinary degree Of pleasure
that received sh Invitation tO address you Un
thtN occasion. I really feel very much ai hume
keFe-hrst. because zee around me ilany faces
tRade familiar BY al early fur 5ears tesidence
iu El Dorado COUNTY and; aeconGly, because I
find myself here snfrBinded BY practical agri-
lculturists hurtfudithriste, miners and mechan-
les; and the &nnderful pr'ducts Of their indus.
tfS ahd skill just such place US any man pos
sessink admiration If the useful or love of the
beautiful, ought TO feel at home In, and feel it
pleasure too.
The objects sought to be accomplished by
your society, owing to the greatly diversified
character Of the materials TO be operated upon
within the limits Of your county, are worthy
Of your untiring zeal. and not only reflect fa-
vorably upon those who were the original
founders Of your society, utequally upon th0se
Of you now who continue to foster aud BY your
aid insure its continuance.
The leading purpose of your society doubt
less is. rs it should be. progress in the right
direction, or improvement in agriculture. hOt-
ticulturc, manufactures, mechanism and mi
ming.
Scientific, practical and successful agricul.
ture has eVeT been, in all ages Of the world one
Of the sure tests of an advancing civilization.
Not only is this true, but the very prosperity uf
any nation, not actually suffering the direct
desOlutions of war, can be measured more
truihfnlly by its agricultural resources and its
real wealth by the surplus Of its agricultural
and manufactured products, than by any other
standard.
BY agricultural products mean everything
useful TO mankind Resulting from the direct Ur
indirect use and occupancy of land, whether in
forest, orchard, vineyard, the grain farm, the
dairy or stock ranch, with all the endless pro-
ducts of horticulture.
The term horticulture is, perhaps, more ap-
plicable, more significant Of the mode and eX-
tent Of production from cultivated ground in
FL Dorado CO. than agriculture; for this reason
that whilst agriculture delights in leaving her
footprints upon the broad plains and valleys Uf
California, horticulture has seemed rather in
clined to nestle around the village, the town Ur
in the suburbs of cities. But now new phase
| is presented. Judging from your beautiful dis
| play nf fruitoA hOwerS, 1t is evident that hur-
ucultnre has, in c, c,.nnecIlOn with her beautiful
sister Horticulture, determined tnut hereafter
they will twine their most beautiful and mvi-
ting bOwers among the foothills and lower
Mountains Of the SIerraS.
1t seems tu be the peculiar province Of wo-
man in horticulture to court the favUls Of Flora
and invite her smiles with her own hand or
by her influence, she twines the clinginX ten.
drills Uf the creeper, the rose and the huney
Sucke around our portals, making beautiful our
homes whilst man gues forth spr, udIng broad
and wide the golden mantle Of Ceres over our
plains aud broad valleys, ar IN honor of Pnmn-
na, would Seem to be nov about IL wrap the
gorgeous drapery Of the vineyard aruand the
shoulders Of the mountains.
This is no fancy sketch; il is the living truth;
by the efforts uf yOui aud kindred societies and
individual members thereof, the vineyards Of
the lower valleys are already leapIng Ia the
hills, and from the hills upward to the noun
tainS.
But few years ago the impression prevailed
that grape growing and VINE making could
never gam prominence aiiIOng the bower inunn-
taInS Of the StrraS, OH account ut the SUPPOSED
burrenneSS and extreme uridity of the suil. ex-
cept IN isolated places, at small extent, suScep-
tible OF irrigalun; but now, by your etlurlS, tue
fact is established beyuud controversy, that
better grapes and consequently better wines
are now produced in FL Dmado CU.-Ur can be
so soon as the best processes Uf conducting the
Fermentation shah be properly understood -
than ever have been or can be- produced from
the rich ulluviunI lands Of the lower valleys:
and this fact established BY your efforts, is
worth more 10 FL Duradu Co. and California
to-day, than the enIire cust 0t maintaining ten
such socieIies us yours, from their inclpieucy
To the present.
They may, in the miasmatic heat and sweat
OF the river buttons, make lnure wine from an
acre Of grapes than you do here, but il they do.
il Is upon the principle Of llat 0f two city milk
men, the one with the most productive well ui
water can sell the most milk. such ~ it sand
5" OF their VINE, they may make Inute from AN
ucre than you Gun do such US il is.
But the time is now rapidly approaching
when the value Of California Vineyards will be
estimated, not by the quantity, but the quality
Ot the wine produced. In this Is where YOU
have Il decided advantage over the vineyard in.
tereSts Of the lower valleys. You are sure Of
the superior quality Of your wines; 81 that you
have but 10 extend the area Of your vineyards,
and you can 90 into the markets Of the world
with your wines, almost without Objectionable,
certainly HRt krhii316i 'cr'RnpeffshJR.~ So
Mr.. President, permit me here to utter a
word Of tribute to the memory of one whose
sagacity and foresight mo e than tive years ago.
led him u make the toIlnwing renIarks-I al
lude u the late lamented J. W. Osborne, Of
Oak Knoll, Napa Valley. In answer To my
queston-why he did not, as a ,rticulturist
and exien' i've fruit grower. give more attention
u the vineyard and It's products, he said: The
time will cume, ard il is not far distant, when
the vineyards Of the valleys Of California, for
the production of fine wines. will find their
crushing competitors among the foothills and
lower mountains Ot the Sierra Nevada"
In regaru To the adaptabiliIy Of the soil of
your county 70 the growth of the vine i allude
more particularly tU the rolling surfaces of your
hills, rs they embrace by far Shc lurger part Of
its area-numerUuS experiments have proved
beyond doubt, that the expensive and truu-
bles0me application Of irrigation, can be en-
tirely dispensed with.
In some instances surface irrigation has been
resOrted u successfully in growing the vines
the first year; but even IN such cases il is quite
questionable whether any reul or lasting bene-
hit IS secured, because such surface watering
has tendency to encourage growth of sur
face roots, that unless the watering is c0uiin-
ued from month u month during the summer,
and from year to year, must certainly suffer in
a corresponding degree when it is wiIhheld.
The vine, quite uullke the annual uT biennial
plant, is. in all respects except its fnrm abuve
ground, a tree; its roots extending deeper and
deeper, year by year SD that it Gun be laid
down as an axiom in vine planting, that in FL
Dorado Co., whenever the chapparal or forest
trees in any of their varieties can, unaded by
the hand Of man, take r0nt and grnw, there the
vine-if planted out below the region Uf iniu.
rious frnSts-can take root and grow wholly
unaided by irrigation.
but to insure the mDst perfect Euccess, there
should be deep and perfect preparation Of the
soil ut the beginning, and thorough puveri-
Zatinn Of the surface maintained ever after
wards, and no other crop should be allowed 10
trespasS, sooner or later, within the precincts
of the real vineyard.
1t is not my purpose, however, to offer you
minute instructions On the culture Of the vine,
even though 1t were the result of Ten years
careful observation and comparison Uf the man.
ner Of training and cultivation. and pruducts
OF many OT the best vineyards IN the Suite; but
would like to place upon your mind record at
this time the opinion Of u most careful 0bser-
yer during the last five years, that of Hon.
Wilson Flint, as TO what he believes to be the
best method of training the vine tn secure the
largest crops, where stakes can be prncured ut
reason ,ble cnSt, and labor il nut ton high,
All hare noticed that young and vigorous
trees, Of the same varieties. with the same cul-
tiruIion. bear larger and better fruit than old
trees. The circulation Of the sap seems tn be
retarded In its passage through the old wood,
OF il Is NOT 40 NelI elnh. ruted 1r find b..