The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-11-30

NN'''y N'''h7hHu pphllbs VI men
toned would measure five hundred bush
els. Experience teaches that three gal Ions
of juice may be expressed from each bushel,
aud thus made INTO wins sells readily at two
dollars per gallon. \ barrel of wine is AS
easily made as barrel of cider, and after
the first pressing AN inferior quality is OBJ
tanned by treating the pulp with water
But little of this wine is consumed as wine.
The prevalence of local option =" laws pre-
vents its sale for home use, and the greater
part OF 1t goes TO the city to form the base
OF imported sherries, ports and ma
delras BY striugeatly enforcing the local
liquor laws, with \ special exception in
favor OF domestic wines, valuable home
industry would he encouraged. and the ter
rible "tangle foot - whisky might evcntu-
ally be forced out of use To the vast i'm
pTovement of public morals But the IA
natical element in the temperance move
ment can see no difference between rin
ordiHhre and benzine, and presses its OBJ
ject with an uncompromising severity which
all experience teaches us will in the end
defeat itself. Where the masses of the
people have to be kept sober by laws of
doubtful principle, they will some time
exercise their suifrages To secure the repeal
OF all prohibitory legislation. The true
remedy for lntempcrance in wine grow
ing country is TO give the people light wines
I'D ltbitum. and put distilled liquors prac,i-
cally beyond their reach.
The grapes used for wine making in
Eastern Maryland are almost exclusively
the Catawba and the Concord 1t is a
noticeable fact that the Catawba wine made
in Dorchester county is more highly coll
ored, showing a pinkish hue, and also
sweetel, than the product Of the same
grape grown in New York or Ohio-with
tue '"nquet rich and fruity. No claret
wines have Den yet attempted.
Before leaving the fruit interest it may
toe well to return for a moment :" the can
neries to note a point or two overlooke6f-irSS
our hurried survey. The chief establish.
meut in Queen Anne county is Round
Top the largest on the shore. consuming
the yield Of one hundred and thirty five
thousand peach trees growing on the farm.
This gives employment To seven hundred
hands, at cost of about three thousand
dollars per day. These hands are all board
I'd on the place, the "pcelers = being most
ly young white girls, who can make one
dollar and half per day. The steam
,.I ia, 4
the product Of the house live hundred thou
sand three pound cans for the season \
cannery in the town of Church Hill has all
its pairing done by the ladies of the town,
every one CT whom, ii is stated, is engaged
i'll the work, either 1T the house or at home
1t is no; to be supposed that fruit has
usurped entirely the place of the standard
cereal and grass crops Of the region. The
soil and climate Of the peninsula are well
suited To the culture of wheat. corn and
clover, and under high tillage heavy yields
are obtained, especially in Cecil, Kent,
Qneen Anne, Talbot and Dorchester
There is nothing peculiar, however, IN the
development of these interests to make us
special wants of the SOIL and the level sur
face gives opportunity for the Use of all
improved agricultural machinery.
The lumber interest, notwithstanding he
great liquidation Of the timber lands, is
still of great Importance and demands some
attention. glance at its present cond-
ti"n will not only give morc complete
idea of the industrial resources of the re
.ton, but will serve To illustrate the rapid
natural growth of valuable timber which
gives Ia forests their power of resisting
destructive influences. Despite the rcck
less use of the AK daring more than TWO
centuries. there may yet b. found in por-
lions Of Talbot aud Dorchester and in some
other localities groups of virgin pine of the
finest quality, while the white oak and
tulip poplar attain an immense size. There
are standing now several magnificent speci-
mems of the latter tree, SCARED with the
tokens Of successful strife with the ele-
ments for hundreds of years. which almost
rival in girth some of the red wood and
sequoia giants of the Pacific slope. There
Is one near Easion still vigorous, which is
fully ten feet IN diameter aud a few wears
since there was the stump of another in
Kent. into the hollow of which a horseman
might ride aud turn his animal.
The forest growth of the Eastern Shore
embraces every variety known To the CONT.
neni, except the northern white pine aud
some semi-troplcal varieties. 1t is the ''sec
ond growth" however, which chiefly com
nands attention, especially the pine, which,
though inferior to the virgin" pine, is
yet OF great value, and supplies a very
large saving and shipping interest. II
requires from thirty to fifty years to attain
maturity, and in Wicomico county alone il
Is estimated that from eight to ten million
feet of this timber grow annually The
celebrated Chesapeake oak. much sought
after for ship timber, is still found on the
flat lands near the water. and affords a
large revenue to the owners, although no
longer worked by local enterprise and CAPT.
tai Every year these oak lands are visited
by parties of timber gettcrs from the East.
era States, who bring all their own labor
and appliances. pitch their camps upon the
ground and hew the timber by their own
patterns, the grower having nothing TO do
but To receive his pay and see that they do
not exceed their contracts. The timber
thus shaped is hauled to the nearest stream
and Heated out To deep water, whence it
may be shipped directly upon sea going
vessels. These Eastern timber men seem
utterly indifferent to the civilization about
them, being regardless OF houses aud
cities as were the sons of Rechab, but ow
ing their resemblance to them in another
particular solely to the local option laws.
They do not board at farm house or town,
however convenient. but pitch their camps
IN the oak groves exactly as they would III
the wIlds of Maine or Minnesota
In the nine Eastern Shore counties there
are ahOut one hundred and tue,,ty ei,L.