The Portland daily press., 1874-11-02
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE.

from the trellis, trim it, and bend it down
and cover it from four to six inches deep in
the earth, and leave tkem in this condition
until the tirst or middle of April. then un-
cover t1e vines and wash them off clean with
soapsuds, or use force pump which answers
very good purpose to wash the dirt off and
10 molsten the buds so they will deyelope
more evenly. This should be done freouent-
ly until they are well leaved out. The sec
ond year let two shoots grow, and treat
them in the same manner as the first wear,
and then to the third year, while the anxious
eultivator is looking to the opening of every
bud to see if he is to be rewarded for a nor
ton of his tolls, which he is sure of if he
performs his duty well. If you slight the
grapevine it will remember you at the harvest
time with an indignant refusal to give YOU
one single cluster of well-developed fruit. So
it is in every department of Horticulture.
We quickly learn this lesson, whatever is
worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
After the third year, you have encouraged
the growth OF the vine to its fullest capacity
in length, say eight or ten feet, which should
never be allowed to extend farther than this.
on any condition whatever, for fear of letting
It oVer6ear. The other indulgent cultivator
is apt to spoil his fruit, and also the future
usefulness OF the vine, by over-taxation. /
have spoiled several of mine before could
learn this sad lesson.
A few remarks upon the best varieties of
native grapes for this latitude, perhaps, would
not be uninteresting to some. The first of all
the native varieties is the Concord, next the
Delaware; Hartford Prolific for early, but
not first-class; Diana, for keeping qualities,
is No. /; CreVelly should be in the list,
and the Croton comes highly recommended
from different sources, but not fully tested
here; the Iona is good grape, but not hardy;
the Clinton is valuable for jelly and wine, and
its keeping qualities are good. The system
OF pruning the native grapes is the same as
| the foreign, which left off at the third wear.
have always adopted the spur mode of prun-
ing the vine as it appeared to me TO be the
most reasonable, and that is to cut off in the
fall the present seasons growth of wood, to
the third eye OF each spur. This is the man
ner that have always practiced since COM
menced the cultivation of the vine, and l
have been very successful in getting plenty
of good fruit. II think the vitality of the
vine requires more wood, / let the end branch
es extend little farther at the time of prun-
ing, but more often make mistakes in getting
too much bearing wood than otherwise.
Sheep Farming.
The Sutter, CAL, Banner, in an editorial
on sheep farming, very truly concludes as
| follows:
| 4uO euSCU euIifco utot, pIOuucS IuOSb ueSu
and most wool, yields the largest, easiest and
| quickest profit when he has nothing in the
world to do but eat, digest, sleep and eat
again. If he be kept upon land which will
| only support one sheep to six acres, his flesh
| is stringy, his wool wiry, and the supply of
both very small. Ii, on the other hand, he
be kept in field where five and twenty
sheep can be fed to an acre, and so carefully
| penned in that he cannot roam at will over
| that, but must eat up one part of the crop be-
| fore he can attack another, he simply fill his
outer stomach full, apply himself to the pro-
cess of rumination, and afterward gently sleep
while nature is piling flesh on his bones, and
wool on his skin.
The finest mutton and the best wool can
| only be obtained by men who will cultivate
| good clover fields and grass meadows, will
buy good breeds of sheep and take proper
care of them. If this be done, we will not
import tallow, nor see Australian wool in
American markets. There is also a firm and
steady demand now in Great Britain for tin
ned mutton and mutton hams which are sent
| all the way from Australia, to meet with a
ready sale at twelve to fifteen cents per pound
| wholesale, in ship-loads. All these outlets,
and more, we might supply and even then
have plenty of room for more sheep after it
was done. The experience of modern times
shows conclusively that sheep are more valu-
| able on a small farm than on large one
more profitable on a highly cultivated mea-
| dow than on barren mountain side, and
| fully capable of paying for the highest amount
| OF attention that can be bestowed upon
/ them.