Newspaper Page Text
VOL. XXIII. NO. 10.
The Cartersville Express.
CntabliNlied Twenty Years
RATES AND TERMS.
SUBSCRIPTION.
One copy one year $1
One copy six months 0
Nne copy three months 50
Payments invariably in Advance.
ADVERTISING RATES.
Advertisements will be inserted at the rates
of One Dollar p.r inch for the first insertion,
and Fifty Cents lor each additional insertion.
Address, S. A. CUNNINGHAM.
Grape Gulture.
W. W. MEECH.
The grape (Vitis Vinifera) is one
of the oldest and most delicious of
all cultivated fruits. Its original
home in Syria and Persia identifies
its history with that of the patri
archs. From Persia it was carried
to Egypt, thence to Groeco and
Sicily, and extended gradually into
Italy, France, and Spain. About
the second century, the Homans
•arried it to Britain. Seeds and
plants of European varieties were
brought to America early in the his
tory of the country. The native
varieties of American grapes were
found to be quite distinct species
from the European, much stronger,
and with a peculiarly foxy flavor to
the fruit. By our methods of culti
vation, we are obtaining now varie
ties, of excellent quality, with great
hardiness and productiveness. The
ability to see at a glance the supe
rior vigor of our Concord and Clin
ton vines, in sending out the largest
number of fibrous roots, has led the
French agent to order millions of
their cuttings within the last few
years; and soon France may show
her choicest grapes grafted on stocks
of American origin, carrying her
grape culture to a degree of perfec
tion never before attained.
Grapes will grow in almost every
variety of soil; but universal expe
rience pronounces in favor of a rich,
dry, and warm soil, cultivated very
deep in its preparation for the vine
yard when planted.
The propagation of grapevines is
very easy, because they root freely
at the joints, and even between
them. When branches of any age
are bo nt down so an to Do wiou/J
with moist earth, in the growing
season, they ro#t readily, and
make strong bearing plants sooner
than by any other method. The
observance of this natural method
by layers very naturally suggested
the method by cuttings, which, from
its ease and convenience, has be
come the general method of propa
gation. But while the cutting is
mojftt convenient, the layer is most
certain.
Cuttings arc generally prepared
in connection with the annual prun
ings in the fall and winter. They
only need to be kept from drying
till they are planted. The usual
length is three buds, or eyes, with a
little projection above the upper
two. The tendency of the vine to
gend out roots most freely at the
joints has led to the practice of cut
ting off at the lower bud for the
rooting end. Experience has shown
also that it is best to leave only one
bud above ground.
A few years ago I began experi
menting with the long cutting, and
found it far superior to the short
cutting, because of its greater
strength, and the consequent gain
in bringing it to a bearing maturi
tv. ’ A cuffing three or four feet
iong, prqperly planted, wjli send out
a row of roots at each joint and will
grow accordingly. I have had them
flloasom the year, snd fhey
Would have hQrne flQt fhp blos
som been removed to prevent it.
The best plan is to dig a hole
where you want the vine to grow,
about two feet apross and a loot
deep. Scrape a little surface soil
into the bottom, crook the cutting
round in the hole on it, bring the
upper bud just abovo tbo level of
tho surface, and fill tho hole with
surface soil, pressing it down on the
cutting with the foot. By this
method I gain from ono to two
years time in bringing vines to a
bearing mat urity.
Whpp some rare and very valua
ble Variety is being propagated, it is
quite common to Use 1 cuttings of
one or two buds, in the mold of a
hofc-bed, qr in pots set ip hot-bed.
If only fcjogio bud is used, it will
be more'sure of success to only leave
about two inches of the vine, and
split off the half of tho vine opposite
thebud, planting in a horizontal po
sition, but little under the surface.
Propagation by planting the seeds
furnishes about one chance in live
thousand or six thousand of ob
taining a nc w variety, of merit, and
requires a number* of years to se
cure and test both the qualities of
the fruit and vine.
The experience of some has con*
vlncod them that they had vines
with unsurpassed vigor in the root
that yielded an inferior grape;
while they had Others superior in
the quality of their fruit and in
ferior in the vig©r of their roots.
By grafting the superior on the
inferior, they have gained a double
advantage, securing the best results
in the least time.
The easiest and simplest way of
grafting is by cleft in the root, as is
done in the root-grafting of apples.
I dig deep enough below the surface
to secure moist earth, cut off the
©ld vine, split the end of the root
enough to receive the tongue of the
graft, which is cut so as to receive
the greatest pressure on its outer
edge, and then insert so as to have
the bark of root and scion match.
No waxing or tying is necessary.
The earth being replaced, protects
he point of contract, and the bud
of the scion above ground gives
apportunity for the desired growth.
The bud under the surface is some
times the best one to grow. The
roots, too small to bold a scion in
the end, may succeed by having it
set in them as a wedge is driven in
tbe middle of a log. This is also a
very convenient way of setting
them in even large roots that lie
horizontally. It may be done any
time from December to April. I
have succeeded oven after the sap
was flowing quite freely. A suc
cessful graft will give a good crop
the next year.
Grape pruning was for a long
time considered as an art that only
a favored few had skill properly to
perform, but it is one of those
things in fruit culture that can be
performed by any one who will
combine a little common sense with
observation.
Looking at a bearing vine, we see
grapes only on a part growing from
last year’s wood. We see next that
from some buds there is only wood
growing, and from others shoots
with two, three, abd, once in a
while, even four clusters. It takes
but little wit or wisdom to put these
two things together and conclude
which are the parts most desirable
to remove, or retain, in winter or
summer prunings. You see a vine
which, from its size and vigor, you
judge able to bear sixty clusters of
perfect fruit. This will require
twenty buds producing stems of
three clusters each, or if thinned
down to two clusters each, will only
need thirty buds, Now, having
seen which are the strrmcreat capos
ot last year’s growth, you divide
the twenty or thirty buds among
them according to your judgment,
leaving a few additional for con
tingencies, and then make a clean
sweep of all the rest.
It is only in the very rarest eases
that grapes grow on shoots from
wood older than last year’s growth ;
and little is also to be expected from
the shoots out of buds in the axils
of tbe last years wood on that still
older. It follows that the system of
pruning back to one or two buds
increases the wood-bearing pros
pect out of proportion to the fruit.
On a vigorous cane the fruit value
of the third bud exceeds that of the
first.
Winter pruning may be performed
qny time after the leaves drop in the
fall and before the flow of sap in tbe
spring. It is better to do it early
enough for the cut ends to season,
so that they will not bleed. The
summer prunings are to relieve the
vine of unnecessary wood that must
all be pruned away, and to assist in
the perfection of the fruit by pre
venting the strength needed for this
purpose from being exhausted in
making too much wood.
hove is All.
If the sun shines on a dull brick
or stone, they reflect none of his
bearqs, fherp is pothipg in them
capable of this; nor is there, in an
ungodly man, any natural power of
reflecting the light of God, But
let the sun shfne upon a diamond,
and see what rays of sparkling
beauty it emits. Just so the Chris
tian who has the graces of the
Spirit; when God shines in his soul,
beams of celestial loveliness are re
flected by him on the world. The
Christian’s character should savor
of holiness. The promise is, “I will
be as tho dew unto Israol;” ppd
hovv sweet is the fragrance p|
flower after the gentle falling of the
dew; so must the true beljeyer be
under the soft distilment qf the
droppings of heaven on his heart.
Cultivate a spirit of love. Love is
the diamond amongst the jewels of
a believer’s breast-plate. The other
graces shine like the precious stones
of nature, with their own peculiar
lustre U 4 various hues; but the
diamond is white, ijow in white
all the cohors are united, so in love
is'centred aU the other Christian
graces and virtues. “Love is the
fulfilling of the law.— Howland Hill
a new
building for holding Federal Courts.
CARTERSVILLE, GA., FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1880.
What is Trouble ?
A company of Southern ladies
were one day assembled in a lady’s
parlor, when the conversation
chanced to turn on the subject of
earthly affliction. Each had her
story of peculiar trial and bereave
ment to relate except one pale, sad
looking woman, whose lusterless
eye and dejected air showed that
she was a prey to the deepest mel
ancholy. Suddenly arousing her
self, she said in a hollow voice ;
“Not one of you know what
trouble is.”
“Will you please, Mrs. Gray,” said
the kind voice of a lady who well
knew her story, “tell the ladies
what you call trouble ?”
“I will, if you desire it,” she re
plied, “for I have seen it. My pa
rents possessed a competence, and
my girlhood was surrounded by all
the comforts of life. I seldom knew
an ungratified wish, and was al
ways gay and light-hearted. I mar
ried, at nineteen, one I loved more
than all the world besides. Our
home was retired, but the sunlight
never fell on a lovelier one, or a
happier household. Years rolled
on peacefully. Five children sat
around our table, and a little curly
head sti 1 nestled iu my bosom.
One night, about sundown, one of
those black storms came on, which
are so common to our Southern
clime. For many hours the rain
poured down incessantly. Morning
dawned, and still the elements
raged. The whole savanna seemed
afloat. The little stream near our
dwelling became a torrent. Before
we were aware of it, our house was
surrounded by water. I managed,
with my babe, to reach a little ele
vated spot, on which a few wide
spreading trees were standing
whose dense foliage afforded some
protection, while my husband and
sons strove to save what they
could of our property. At last a
faar>fnl a UTfi.V mV HllS
band, and he never rose again.
Ladies, no one ever loved a husband
more—but that was not trouble.
“Presently my sons saw their
danger, and the struggle/or life be
came the only' consideration. They
were as brave, loving boys as ever
blessed a mother’s heart, and I
watched their efforts to escape, with
such agony as only mothers can feci.
They were far off but I could see
them close nearer to each other as
their little island grew smaller and
smaller.
“The sullen river raged around
the huge frees; dead branches, up
turned trunks, wrecks of houses,
drowning cattle, masses of rubbish,
all went floating past us. My boys
waved their hands to me and then
pointed upward. I knew it was a
farewell signal, and you, mothers,
can imagine my anguish. I saw
them all perish, and yet —that was
not trouble.
“I hugged my babe close to my
heart, and when the water rose to
my feet, I climbed into the low
branches of the tree, and so kept
retiring before it, till an all power
ful band stayed the waves, that
they should come no futher. 1 was
saved. All my worldly possessions
swept away; ail my earthly hopes
blighted —yet that was not trouble.
“My baby was all I had left on
earth. I labored night and day to
support him and myself, and sought
to train him in the right way; but,
as he grew older, evil companions
won him away from home. He
ceased to care for his mother’s coun
sels ; he would sneer at her en
treaties qnd flgonising prayers. He
left my humble roof that he might
be unrestrained in the pursuit of
evil, and at lust, wheq heated by
wine one night he took the life of a
fellow-being, pnd ended his own on
the scaffold. My heavenly Father
had filled my cup of sorrow before,
now it ran over. This was trouble,
ladies, such as I hope his mercy
will save you from ever esperienc
ing- M
There was not a dry eye among
her listeners, and the warmest sym
pathy was expressed for the be
reaved mother, whose sad history
had taught them a, useful lesson.
—The Japanese are about to organize a
geological staff of engineers.
Welcome New Thoughts and Ways.
Flexibility of mind, and open
ness of nature to welcome new
ways of work, when united with
persistent constancy in his old
creed, make an admirable combina
tion ? It is one rare enough at any
age, but especially in elderly men.
We are always disposed to rend
apart what ought never to be sepa
rated, the inflexible adherence to a
fixed centre of belief, and the freest
ranging around the whole changing
circumference. The man of strong
convictions is apt to grip every
trifle o| practice and every unim
portanir bit of his creed with the
same tenacity with which he holds
its vita| heart, and to mistake ob
stinacy for firmness, and dogged
self-will for faithfulness to truth.
The man who welcomes new light,
and reaches forward to greet new
ways, is apt to delight in having
much fluid that.ought to be fixed,
and to value himself on a “ liber
ality” which simply means that he
has no central truth and no rooted
convictions. And as men get older
they ftiffen more and more, and
have to. leave the new work for new
hands, and the new thoughts for
new brains. That is all in the
order of nature, but so much the
fiuer is it when we do see old Chris
tian men who join to their firm
grip of the old gospel the power of
welcoming, and at least bidding
God speed, to new thoughts and
new workers, and new ways of
work.
The union of these two charac
teristics should be consciously
aimed at by us all. Hold unchang
ing, with a grasp that nothing can
relax, by Christ, our life and our
all; but with that tenacity of mind,
try to cultivate flexibility too. Love
the old, but be ready to welcome
the new. Do not consecrate your
own or other people’s habits of
thought or forms of work with the
central truths of our salvation ; do
not let the willingness to entertain
new light lead you to tolerate any
changes there, it is hard to blend
the two virtues together, but they
are meant to be complements, not
opposites, to each other. The flut
tering loaves and bonding branches
need a firm stem and deep roots.
The firm stem looks noblest in its
unmoved strength when it is con
trasted with a cloud of light foliage
dancing in the wind. —Alexander
Maclaren, D.D.
Choice hits from Kuskin.
Man’s use and function is to be
the witness of the glory of God,
and to advance that glory by his
reasonable obedience and resultant
happiness.
We treat God with irreverence
by banishing him from our
thoughts, not by referring to his
will on slight occasions. His is not
the finite authority or intelligence
which cannot be troubled with
small things. There is nothing so
small but that we may honor God
by asking his guidance of it, or in
sult him by tak'mg it into our own
hands; and what is true of the
his Deity is equally true of his reve
lation. We use it most reverently
when most habitually; our inso
lence is in ever acting without ref
erence to it; our true honoring of
it is in its universal application.
In general, pride is at the bottom
of all great mistakes. All the other
passions do occasional good, but
wherever pride puts iq its word,
everything goes wrong, atid what
might be desirable to do quietly r.nd
innocently, it is morally dangerous
to do proudly.
Be Warm Hearted.
Don’t let us get soured with life
It does not mend matters for us,
and it makes us very disagreeable
to others. If we have had misfor
tunes, we arp not alone. The world
is not all sunshine to anybody. We
love the fresh, light hearted laugh
of a child. Why not keep it our
selves in after years. Does groan
ing ease any burdens? We love
the faith of children. Are
we any better off if we have al
lowed them to slip from us? We
love tie ardor and natural enthusi
asm of children. Are any wiser if
we have covered up all the impulse
and warmth of our natures, so that
the world knows only a cold, calm
exterior ? We know a woman who
has lost all her property, though
once very rich, nearly all her friends
by death, has her hands so cramped
by rheumatism that she has been
unable to use them for years, and
yet she is full of sunshine, and
thanks God every day for the great
enjoyment she finds in life. We
know another who, in the midst of
luxury, wishes she had not been
born, and some others almost wish
she had not. Not least of all shall
we have to give account in the judg
ment as to what manner of spirit
we have possessed,— The Congrega
tional! st.
The Little Family Foxes
One of the most malignant of the
family foxes is discourtesy, and he
creeps into households where one
would not suppose it possible for
him to find even momentary hospi
tality. People who are ordinarily
polite, well-bred and genial, are
sometimes guilty of rudeness in
manner and speech and action at
home, of which they would be
ashamed in society. Parents are
hasty or fretful in their way of ad
dressing or reproving children, and
children forget the respect and
honor due to parents. A great deal
of unhappiness overclouds homes
which might be bright as the morn
ing, but for this wretched habit of
brusqueness and incivility which
fastens on some unfortunate victims
like a second nature. It has its
different phases, to be sure. When
papa indulges in it, the family are
apt to say that he is tired. If it is
mamma who is irritable and
peevish, it is intimated that she is
nervous. Like the lady in a charm
ing little magazine-story, it is be
nevolently' supposed that she may
have “neural” on the top of her
bead !” When Aunt Kitty or Sis
ter Sophy arc short and snappish;
it is excused because they were up
late last night at a party, and it is
only little Floy or small Tom who
is sent to bed in disgrace for an
swering impertinently and frown
ing blackly. A little leaven leaven
eth the whole family' lump, and it is
curious to observe how rapidly and
“Quiet people have quiet
said a plain woman to me the other
day, and she was right. Persons
who are invariably polite to each
other in the presence of their sons
and daughters, do not often have to
check the latter in a thoughtless or
improper manner of speaking, for
courtesy' as well as its opposite, is
atmospheric and educational. It is
worth while, if the fox we are
thinking of has intruded into our
vineyard and begun his work of
spoiling our tender grapes of good
will, of gentleness, and of daily
cheer, to think how best to banish
him. There are three magic P’s,
which have never failed, when
properly used, to utterly rout and
destroy the subtle foe. Their names
are patience, perseverance and
prayer. If you feel that y T our fam
ily has fallen into the custom of
being cross and unmann&rly, pray r
first to have your own heart and
temper sweetened, then meet angu
larity and crookedness with invinci
ble patience, and be not discouraged
in setting a good example— Chris
tian at Work.
Maple Sugar Making.
The best sap weather is when the
wind is south-west, with fleecy
clouds by day, and clear nights cold
enough to freeze a little. The sap
will run as long as these conditions
prevail. A south wind threatening
rain soon stops it; though if a soft
snow falls instead, it will run rap
idly. The sugar-maker has no use
for rain; it wets his jackets, soaks
his wood pile and increases the
quantity of water to be evaporated,
and the water running down the
trees, steeping moss and lichens on
its way, and falling into the sap,
gives a dark stain to the sugar that
nothing short of chemical means
will remove. In a good “ run ” the
sap accumulates, and the fires must
be kept going all night. There is
no particular fun in this when one
has gathered sap all day, but the
great store tubs must be emptied to
make room for the next day gath
ering ; so after suppei tho one who
is to boil till midnight wends his
way to tho works through the deep
ening twilight. The familiar woods
look solemn and mysterious in the
uncertain light. The owl takes
great interest in the sugar-maker’s
fire at night, and perched on a tree
just outside the circle of light hoots
loudly at intervals for hours. If
you have two pans, and propose to
boil a large quantity of sap, you'wilf
have no leisure to speak of. You
fill the “ feed tub,” and set the fau
cets at the bottom to run as large a
stream as can possibly he evapo
rated, then you urge the fires to the
Utmost. The pans bubble and foamj
S. A. CUNNINGHAM.
the fragrant steam rolls away in
clouds. \ou see the light of other
fires in the distant woods where
other lonely watchers like yourself
are at work, and after a while the
waning moon comes up and her
light struggles in among the trees.
If the air is clear and still the tinkle
of the failing drops of sap can be
heard at a distance of many yards,
a clear melodious sound, like a sin
gle stroke on a tiny silver bell; and
as the pitch varies somewhat ac
cording to the size of the bucket or
the depth of sap, or for some other
reason, you may enjoy a unique con
cert, if twenty or thirty trees stand
near enough together to enable you
to hear them all at once. ISTow sev
eral drops fail at once, then the in
tervals gradually widen, then nar
row again, while others chime in,
giving rise to a sort of irregular
rhythm and cadence. No one no
tices it in the day time, and the dis
tance at which it is audible at night
is surprising. The only other sound
is the rush of the creek in the val
ley far below, swollen with the trib
ute gathered by the sun from every
snow-bank within its basin. —Good
Company.
The Art of Letting Others Alone.
It might be said with propriety
that the art of letting others alone
is essentially a lost art, one which
everybody preaches and nobody
practices. We are all so thoroughly
interested in each other that inter
ference is a necessity of the case'; it
would seem a sort of inhumanity to
let others alone ; we should feel like
the Pharisee who passed by on the
other side, and earn for ourselves
the reputation of selfish indifference,
since human nature has become so
accustomed to the nagging process
that it is apt to feel itself left out in
the cold whenever it is let alone, as
if there were something abnormal
in the exemption, like being cut off
from participation in any of the
universal experiences of the race.
Is it not, in fact, the most difficult
art in the world, as well as the most
obsolete ? Do our elders or our
savants know it? Did our forefa
thers study it? Are we not always
striving to arrange and re-arrange
the lives of others to suit our awn
views and convenience ? Can we
see our neighbor diverging from the
stumbling block in rns w r ayr I>o
we not advise him about his invest
ments, his love affairs, his children ?
Do we leave him in peace at his table,
at his orisons, his toilette, his char
ities? Though it is generally con
ceded that a man’s religion is some
thing between himself and God
alone, do we not act as if it were
rather between himself and us, as if
we had a mission to reform his
creed ? We talk a great deal about
minding our own business, but wo
are morally certain that somebody
else will mind it for us, provided we
are kind enough to neglect it in the
interest of others. Is there not
some moribund Orcesus who is anx
ious to establish a chair in our uni
versities for the cultivation of his
neglected art, beside which our
knowledge of the classics, our ac
quaintance with the higher mathe
matics, our intimacy with all the
hypothesis of the cosmos, is of ivo
special value? But who can teach
us its ab c? And we shall begin
its practice at our own fireside or
next door. In the mean time, letting
others alone cannot be learned in a
day, any more than painting or
scupture ; and few of us are born
with a natural genius in that direc
tion, while such talent as we may
possess has probably grown shabby
from disuse. When we can see
young Highflyer riding his mustang
without threatening him with being
brought home on a shutter; when
the parson’s daughter may flirt with
a heretic unmolested by word or
deeds of ours; when our friendj
may burn her gas late without our
comments, put her earnings into her
wardv<xb.o instead of the bank with
out our interference, or give to street
beggars and encourage the organ
grinders without our meddling, we
may begin to believe that the art is
reviving amongst us.— Hatp&fs Mar*
zar .
Choice Selections.
If God has commanded, it is our
duty to obey; not to fall to reason
ing upon the propriety of the com
mand.
The way to enjoy what you pos
sess, is to be willing to give it up
if God call for it saying, “Of thine,
own have I given thee.”
If tho eye of the mind is spirit
ual, when we look on evil things
we hate thorn; but if we see good
things, we love, value, and
them.
You may judge of your religion
by your estimation of the Lord
Jesus Christ; have you any in heav
en but him ? Is there any or aught
upon earth you desire in eOmparD
with him? *1