Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-06-21
FARM AND FRUIT.
Results of the Late Storm-Plum Curculio
Prodncts firm, Ho>s-Ictc

b The gloomy reports OF a few days since,
received from all parts of the State concern
ing damages caused by the recent rain
storm, are now being supplemented by
more favorable statements, which show
shat in many localities there was after all
little or no damage done, but to the con-
tTsry, much good to young vineyards and
orchards, and 10 late-sown grain. Where
grain, however, was forward, and as far
advanced as TO be in the milk, and the
straw was broken down, the result will be
to injure the plumpness Of the berry and
reduce the yield. In the vicinity of Win
Bers, barley which was nearly ready to cut
was blown down, and has shrunken badly.
Wheat in that locality is also said to have
turned red with rust and if so will not fill,
and the grain yield VIII not only be lost,
but the straw will be practically valueless
for hay on account of the rust. The april
cot crop in the neighborhood of Winters
is also much damaged, the rain having
caused, to quite an extent the fruit to
crack open on the trees. A similar effect
and in other places, among some varieties
Of cherries.
On the other hand information received
from various sections of the State both by
shat where crops and fruits were less ad-
Vanced the rain has been absolutely great
blessing and will materially increase the
seasons products. This is the general
statement concerning the upper Sacramento
valley and the foothill regions while the
vineyardists, hop-growers and many others
rejoice in the effects of the late rain, " ard
speak of it as a genuine bonanza to their
special lines of product. One hop-grower
on the Costumes, in this county, states that
the much berated rain-storm will add at
least $4,000 to his yield of hops this season.
A later careful survey over the State as
10 the effects of the storm will while fur
nishing evidence of much injury to some
sections. also show large benefits in others,
and thus the prospect is that, after all. the
account of profits and loss from the unu-
sual and generally regarded unreasonable
and disastrous June rain-stOrm will not be
far from even, if indeed ii should not have
proved and come to be regarded generous
favor.
Among young vineyards the rabbit pest
continues unabatcd, and fortune and fame
awaits the lucky individual who shalL-dis-
cover some infallible remedy that will eff
feCtually stop the rayages of this destroyer
A tight fence is the only protection. Quail
a a n w aT
they protected by law that their cry of
WI hat cheer What cheer" is heard in
every direction, and the young birds are
beginning to make their appearance in
swarms Until grapes are ripe the garden
is their chosen haunt, where all kinds of
vegetables, small fruits, berries, etc. are
devoured by the numerous tlocks of this
persistent and saucy robber. What is the
law-abiding citizen to do? is the question
Build a fence high enough to keep them
out, was the remedy proposed by one of
the "uninitiated late from the city, who
was making his first visit to his newly
acquired country place. Sitting on the
Veranda of his residence, he had been
watching the quail rise up out of the grass
and fly over the fence into the garden
John said he to his man, 81 think we'll
go to work and build fence high enough
To keep those birds out" What, with the
law protecting quail, and the unsatisfactory
bounty ON rabbit scalps, surely the way of
the vineyard man is hard these. however,
comprise his greatest enemies, as soil, eli
mate and natural conditions tend to make
this vicinity one of the finest grape-grow-
ing and fruit-raising sections in the State
LSt. Helena Star.
The Rurdi Californian says: If your
plum trees are troubled with curculios,
turn the fowls in and let them scratch
under the trees. To encourage this scatter
Cornmeal occasionally. The curculios will
disappear That may be beneficial, but as
reliable remedy 1t can be insured in adj
vance by the RECORDUNION as a successful
failure. At the East, where the curcuiO
has prevented the raising of plums for
many years past, plum trees standing in
hen-yardS, where hens were always around
them and scratched externally, were strict
ly innocent OF bearing even sample of
fruit for year after year. 1t has more re
Gently been ascertained there that the plum !
Curcuho has a season of only from three to
five weeks each spring, when the fruit is /
very small, that it commits its ravageS upon |
the plum crop; and by means of shaking |
the tree OF pruning it heavily each morning /
during that period, the CurCuliO can be !
shaken into a blanket Tor machine used by |
some, in the shape of an inverted UNI |
brella, wheeled by hand from tree to tree) !
and thus destroyed. This has resulted in /
the possibility of again raising plums at !
the East, though under much difficulty, |
where for twenty years this class of fruit had
come 10 be regarded as beyond all hopes of
maturing. The curculiO is, at best, dan
gcrOus invader and should be most scru-
pulously watched whenever it appears in
this State, and not permitted to gain a
permanent settlement.
Messrs. f. Pohndorff and NJ. G. Bale
spent several days at Mission San Jose re-
Gently, where Mr.. Bale had charge of plans
for q capacious wine-cellar about to be
erected by Juan GallegOs. The vineyard
attached to the property, which is near
Iryington station, is probably one of the
most complete and systematic in the world
1t embraces several thousand acres, and
each division of 600 acres has its own fore
man. Last year alone the sum Of $1,000
was spent for cuttings. Satisfactory expert
ments have been made with several hun
dred varieties of cuttings, and there is no
vineyard in the country which is under
better or more systematic management, nor
Is there one that promises 10 be the ditlu
sivc source of more general information
pertaining to the great subject of vitiCult-
ure The experiments that have been
made and are being made there in Connec-
ton with the planting of resistant stock
are attracting very general attention. The
most thorough care is displayed in handling
all vines and the use of varieties that pro-
mise any form of failure Is discarded. The
vineyard IS, in fact a school of instruction
that promises a vast fund of information TO
Califonians engaged in the business.-LSt.
Helena Times.
BY a careful analysis of the Treasury re-
L J. 4. ]