t! i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I H^: (!Il)a|). SJB^^^ gUNITED STATES OF AMERICA. i THE OV^VRIOyy U JlyUAjL:!. CULTURE OF THE GRAPE, AND WINE-MAKING; BY ROBEET BUCHANAN. "VriTH AN , APPENDIX CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY, B Y N. LONGWORTH. CINCINNATI: MOORE & ANDERSON, 28 WEST FOURTH STREET. 1 852. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by MOORE & ANDERSON, In the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court of the United States for the District of Ohio. CINCINNATI: C. A. MORGAN yn ?*ace on the opposite side of the globe, in vine culture, is given. It is an extract from the first Vol., second edition, of Dr. Lang's " Historical and Statistical account of New South Wales. London, 1837." VINEYARD CULTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 69 ** The soil and climate of New South Wales are universally considered peculiarly adapted for the cultivation of the vine. The vine has been cultivated in various localities in New South Wales for many years past ; but never to any extent, or with a view to the making of wine, till within the last three or four years. There are now, however, many acres of vine- yard throughout the colony, the vineyards of several of the more wealthy proprietors being for the most part under the management of scientific and practical vine-dressers from the south of Europe ; and wine and brandy in considerable quan- tity — as much in one instance as eighteen pipes of the for- mer — have already been manufactured on several estates. It is scarcely possible as yet, to predict, with any degree of cer- tainty, of what quality the wines of New South Wales will eventually prove ; for the vine requires to be in bearing for five or six years before good wine can, in any instance, be produced from its fruit. The specimens of wine, however, that have actually been produced from the colonial grape, have induced a general idea on the part of the colonists, that the wine of New South Wales will be somewhat similar to the light wines of the Rhine and of France. At all events, the highest expectations are entertained on the subject ; and those of the landholders, who have planted vineyards, begin to talk already of exporting wine to India and England. *' Cuttings of the choicest European and African vines have at different times been imported into the colony, by public- spirited proprietors. ** About eleven years ago, Mr. Redfern, a respectable colon- ist, touched at the island of Madeira, on returning from Eu- rope to New South Wales, and carried out with him a number of cuttings of the celebrated vine of that island, together with one or two Portuguese families acquainted with its culture. *' The Messrs. Macarthur of Camden, had a laro-e collection of cuttings of the choicest French and German vines sent out to them, for propagating in the colony several years ago ; 70 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. and cuttings of upward of a hundred varieties were carried out to the colony for general distribution, in the year 1832, by James Busby, Esq., now British President at New Zealand ; from several of the first vineyards of France. *' The success of this branch of cultivation is of incalculable importance to New Soiith Wales ; not so much, indeed, in a commercial or agricultural, as in a moral respect. *' The raising of an article in the shape of colonial wine, fit for the home or India market, is doubtless of consequence to the colony in a mercantile point of view ; and the annual saving that would accrue from the manufacture of a whole- some and cheap beverage, that would gradually obviate the necessity for importing European and Cape wine, is of still greater moment. " But the gradual diminution of the consumption of ardent spirits within the colony, which would in all likelihood be the eventual result, would, without doubt, be a blessing of far greater, and of inestimable magnitude to the whole colonial population. It is a fact well ascertained, that the population of wine-growing countries are not addicted to the brutalizing vice of drunkenness, like the inhabitants of colder latitudes ; and there is reason to hope, therefore, that if the population of New South Wales could by any means be converted into a vine-growing population, they would, in due time, become a wine-drinking, and comparatively temperate, instead of a rum-drinking and most outrageously intemperate population." PRODUCT OF THE VINE IN FRANCE. To those who are not aware of the value of this product in wine counlries, the following statistics from Mr. Redding's work, before referred to, may be found instructive. It will be perceived, that the grape crop of France, like the cotton crop of our own country, is the most valuable of all others for export. ** France is the vineyard of the earth. There are few de- THE VINEYARD REGION IN THE UNITED STATES. 71 partments in France tliat are iinfriendl}^- to the vine ; the ex- ceptions are six only. In eighty of the departments wine is made, although of varying quality. The country may be called one vast vine-gard-en. The number of proprietors of vineyards in France, is very great. In 1823, there were 4,270,000 acres in cultivation. The annual mean product, 920,721,08S gallons of w^ine, at an average value of about thirteen cents per gallon, amounting to 120,000,000 dollars. The product per acre, near 200 gallons. This estimate was sustained by the minister of com- merce, in his report for 1828. About 115,000,000 gallons of wine is annually distilled into brandy, producing near 19,000,000 gallons. Beside this, 2,000,000 gallons are ob- tained from the murk, ('pummice,' grape seeds and skins, after being pressed), and 3,000,000 gallons made from corn, potatoes, etc., etc. Swelling the total amount of brandy to 24,000,000 gallons," The wine products of France must have gi-eatly increased since 1828, when these estimates were made. THE VINEYARD REGION IN THE UNITED STATES. The writer of this treatise does not presume to fix the limits of the vineyard region in this country. The grape-vine is found indigenous over all our vast possessions. There can be no doubt, but some of the native varieties may be found suitable for vineyard culture, in almost every section of the Union, south of latitude 43°. He can only give the result of his own observations, in relation to the kinds cultivated here ; and first, of the Catawba : — This grape was discovered, ac- cording to Dr. Mosher's report, "in Buncombe county, Is". Carolina ; latitude, 35° 30', by Col. Murray, and others, in 1802." It has since been found high up the Arkansas river, in about the same parallel of latitude, and on similar soil, "poor and gravelly." Since that period, it has spread over all the country north, as high as lat. 42° ; and how far south, 7 72 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. has not yet been ascertained here. In this parallel, 39° 6', it is perfectly hardy, and is our great wine grape ; nineteen- twentieths of all the grapes planted here, are Catawba. It does well in favorable positions, as high as lat. 41° ; on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and some sheltered localities in Avestern K. York, the fruit ripens well ; even in lat. 42°, in warm seasons. The influence of the water of Lake Erie, for two or three miles from its shores, makes that a better fruit region than ours here. The Cape (^Alexander or SclmylMll Muscadel), is a native of Pennsylvania, and was first found on the banks of the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. It bears well as far north as the Catawba does. Its southern limits are unknown to the writer. The Isabella is said to be a native of S. Carolina, and strange to say, it succeeds better in the north than in the south, or even our intermediate latitude. Here it is not prized for vineyard culture, and the young wood is often winter killed ; but further north and north-east, particularly on the shores of Lake Erie, and in the vicinity of the city of New York, it bears abundantly and ripens well. There, it is the favorite grape for open culture. The Scwppernong, is the principal wine grape south of lat. 35° ; but here it is not hardy. The foreign grapes do not appear to succeed much better in that region than this. The foreo-oing are the grapes most used in vineyard culture as yet. Experiments have been made with other varieties, but not sufficiently to ascertain the latitude that suits them best. The whole valley of the Ohio, between Pittsburgh and Cairo, and not north of lat. 40°, is thought to be favorable to vineyard culture ; provided a proper selection of soil and position is made. The hills and hillsides should always be chosen, in preference to the plains. Three-fourths of all the vineyards in Europe, are on the hills or slopes of hills, and those in plains are generally in the chalk formations, wdiich we have not here. In the valleys of the Mississippi, Missouri, and other of our western rivers, the same rule will probably apply» APPENDIX. [ The directions and descriptions in the preceding pages of this treatise, have heen made as brief and concise as possible, in order that they might the more easily be re- membered. In the folio-wing pages, the reader will find a more full and detailed account, of some of the branches in vine culture and wine-making.] (From the "Western Horticultural Review.) STATISTICS OF VINEYARDS. In accordance with a resolution of the Horticultural Society of Cincinnati, passed at its last session, calling on the Presi- dent and Council to report on the extent of the interest at this time engaged in the wine business in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, we submit the following report : Of the number of acres now under cultivation in vines, we are not, as yet, prepared to give an exact account, as the en- tire statistics of the county have not been fully made out since 1845. In that year (see Report of Wine Committee) there were eighty-three vineyards, covering an area of three hun- dred and fifty acres. In that year alone, one hundred acres were prepared and planted, and the number of acres brought under cultivation has been steadily and rapidly increasing every year since. The great number of new vineyards com- menced since 1845, some of which embrace twenty-five to thirty acres, with the annual enlargement of those previously planted, will swell the aggregate amount to not less than twelve hundred acres. From the statistics already in our possession, Ave can safely say that this is Avithin the actual amount. (73) 74 APPENDIX. The labor bestowed upon this culture in the preparation of the ground, planting and dressing, and making the wine, gives employment to at least six hundred efficient laborers, at an annual cost of 8120,000, producing, when in a bearing state, in moderately favorable seasons, about 240,000 gallons of wine, estimated at about the same number of dollars. Be- side the cultivators and vine-dressers, employment is also given to wood-coopers, equal to the making of eight thousand barrels, estimated at $8,000. A considerable portion of this crop now falls into the hands of the wine coopers, and is converted into sparkling wine or champagne, thereby more than doubling its market price. The value of sparkling wine prepared in this county in 1851, as near as we can arrive at an estimate, amounts to not less than $75,000. The dealing in these wines also forms a con- siderable item in the transactions of the wine merchants. As most of those engaged in the culture of the vine have families to support, as well as others engaged in the business, it may, without exaggeration, be calculated that the wine in- terest in Hamilton county, aflfords subsistence, directly or in- directly, to at least 2,000 industrious and sober people — a drunken vine-dresser we have never met with. S. MosHER, Pres, Hor. Soc. Cincinnati, March 16, 1852. When this report was read before the society, some of the members expressed great surprise at the large amount of the vineyard interest — but others considered the estimate to be below the truth. Mr. Yeatman suggested that it should be put at 600,000 gallons for the aggregate annual yield, in a fair average estimate. Mr. LoNGWOKTH considered the value of sparkling wine, prepared last year, to be $176,000, instead of the amount reported above. RACKING WINE. ' 75 (From the Western Horticultural Rev.) RACKING WINE. This being the season of the year when the wine may re- quire attention, the reasons for racking and the manner of effecting it are presented : This operation is performed to separate the wine from its ferment, in order to prevent further change, either spiritous or acetous — to separate it also from the lees, containing, be- side the yeast, cream of tartar, and coloring matter which has accumulated at the bottom of the cask. This process also enables us to avoid the exposure of the surface of the wine to the influence of the air, by which it would suffer more evaporation and be liable to be covered with mould {Kahnen) a white crypto- gamic plant which covers the wine and gives it a putrid taste. To effect the first object, frequent racking is required, say 1st, at the end of December ; 2d, at the end of February, in March or early in April ; and then again in the autumn, at the end of October : such is my treatment of the Catawba wine during the first year ; after this, it is only racked in the fall. The latter object is to be attained by keeping the cask always bung full to exclude the air and prevent alcoholic evaporation or absorption of air, to produce putrefaction. The bung should be made of clear wood, wrapped with clean linen to insure tightness ; a caution should however be had to loosen the bungs in April, when the wine is apt to undergo a fermentative change, and should the bung be too tight, so that the gases cannot drive it out, the bottom of the barrel may have to yield before the pressure, and thus the wine will be lost. In racking, the first requisite is a good wine-green cask, which has previously contained similar wine ; it should be carefully examined to ascertain that it is quite clean and has neither a sour nor other bad smell. After the cask is thoroughly rinsed with clear, fresh water, burn a piece of brimstone paper, one by three inches large, suspended from the bung by a piece of bent wire. This is made by dipping 76 APPENDIX. paper into melted sulphur. Then fill the cask, but endeavor to expose the wine as little as possible to the air. Never use a new cask in this process, as the wine will acquire a bad smell and taste from the fresh wood. Neither should you think of taking a barrel that has contained brandy, Madeira, or other wine than good Catawba, as these substances always impart a taste to the wine, and thus destroy the fine flavor of our delicate product. Casks become what is called wine-^reen, or fit for old wine, after having had fermented in them sweet cider or grape must. Empty casks may be kept in good order by being thorough- ly cleaned, and after they have been left to dry for a few days, burn a piece of sulphur paper and bung them tightly, this may be repeated every three or four months. The burn- ing sulphur produces sulphurous acid gas, which prevents putrefaction and acidulation, but they should be well rinsed before they are again used. Especial caution is given after racking the wine to keep the cask always bung-full ; this requires frequent examination, say every three or four weeks, when it should be filled up. In a cask that is not kept full, there is more evaporation, and in presence of the atmospheric air, acetous or vinegar fermen- tation is apt to be commenced, the white mould (Kahnen) is formed, and the wine is spoiled, never to be restored. A great many persons believe that the racking of wine is not necessary, they say that it is thereby weakened, because the yeast and all the sedimentary matters give strength to the wine — let us examine into this. The temperature of the must during the first week of the first or quick fermentation is very much increased, the liquid from being clear, becomes turbid, owing to the separation and precipitation of the decomposed and eftete ferment, the cream of tartar and other matters which are kept in continual motion by the escaping carbonic acid gas. In the second week the fermentation is moderated, the temperature is reduced ; in the third week this reduction FERMENTATION OF WINES. 77 is still more observable, and fermentation nearly ceases, until the temperature becomes almost the same as the surrounding- air, and cold v/eather comes on. At the end of December the wine will be nearly clear, and this is the time I recommend for the first racking. At the end of February, the Aveather is still colder, and more of these foreign ingredients are separ- ated, hence this period is recommended for the second rack- ing, the wine will then be mellow and nearly clear. In the middle of April, when the vines begin to push forth their buds, the wine ferments again, but if it has been well racked, it possesses little yeast, and the fermentation will be slow, and more of the suofar will be retained in an unchann^ed con- dition, so that the wine is more palatable. What happens, on the contrary, with v/ines that have not been racked ? With the increasing temperature of the season, in April or May, fermentation commences, and the escaping carbonic gas stirs up all the sediment from the bottom of the cask, bringing it into contact with the v/ine, which retains a portion of what it had before thrown off, the yeast also, thus mixed, will decompose more sugar, and the result will be a too hard and too astringent wine, that must require years to render it again mellow. L. Rehfuss. March, 1852. (From tlie Western Horticultural Review.) FERMENTATION OF WINES. The growing importance of the manufacture of wine, from our already numerous vineyards in this immediate vicinity, calls for the attention of those engaged in that particular branch of industry. The great deficiency of the knowledge of the principles which govern the fermentation and changes of the must, or juice of the grape, is sufficiently attested by the numerous poor specimens of wine ofifered in our market, showing con- clusively a want of skill, as well as proper attention to the 78 APPENDIX. management of the different changes it undergoes while in its transition from the crude juice of the grape to good mar- ketable wine. There is undoubtedly too much importance attached to locality and soil, and too little attention during fermentation. If all could extract the juice from their grapes in precisely the same manner, then the same treatment (other circumstances being similar) would undoubtedly produce nearly the same results ; but, with our numerous small begin- nings and variety of appliances used in gathering and press- ing the grapes, we can look for little uniformity in the quality of the raw juice ; hence it becomes absolutely necessary for each one to understand the principles that govern the ferment- ing process, in order to meet the variety of circumstances that will necessarily follow. Some rack or draw off their wine too much, some not enough : in the course of my remarks I shall attempt to point out the reason why wine may be injured by too much, as well as by too little separation from the lees during its progressive stages of fermentation. In the first place, it will be important to ascertain the character of the agent that produces fermentation, how long that agent should be suflfered to operate, and when it is proper to dispense with its influence. The fermenting or yeast principle is produced during vinous or first fermentation from a vegetable gluten or gum which exists in the juices of all fruits — this yeast or ferment is formed in greater or less quantities, as this gluten or gum pervades more or less the fermenting mass ; hence that having a large quantity of gluten will produce an abundance of the stimulating or fermenting principle, and in many cases, to the injury of the wine. In drawing the must from the grapes by pressing, some part will be more charged with this gum than others unless the whole amount pressed at once is run into a sino-le receiver, in which case there will be more uniformity in the process of fermentation, than if it is put into a number of casks during the time it is running from the press. This FERMENTATION OF WINES. 79 (mm or miicilaa'e is held in solution in the iuice, and is invisi- ble before the fermentation commences, but, so soon as that process begins, the clear liquor becomes turbid and a separa- tion takes place ; some subsides and settles to the bottom, some becomes charged with carbonic acid gas and floats on the top until the gas escapes, when it sinks to the bottom. This is the time to separate the wine from the superabundant yeast, as there will still be enough left to carry forward the fermentation with sufficient rapidity to insure a sound, good wine. The wine, then, will not, in all cases, be clear, but if it is a little turbid, it should be racked off, and the casks well washed out with cold water, and the wine returned into them to complete its fermentation. Some wines will not require a second racking off, as the separation from the ferment or lees will have been sufficiently effected, and the fermentation during its future progress will be moderate enough to fine itself bright and clear ; but if that should not be the case and it still continues turbid or riley, a small quantity of isinglass or fish-glue should be dissolved in strong spirits and added (about one ounce of the glue to one pint of spirit, for a bar- rel of forty gallons is sufficient); it should be dissolved warm and put into the bung-hole, and then slightly stirred over the top ; it is gelatinous, and in subsiding carries down the super- abundant particles of ferment that heretofore kept up the action, causing the muddiness of the wine. Whenever the wine appears clear it should be racked ofi", and, in most cases, it will not need any further assistance, but becomes bright and clear. The process of fermentation does not stop hei'e, however, as it is constantly progressing in the form of an in- sensible fermentation, elaborating and combining the elements of the new and acrid, and producing a mellowness of the wine that is only acquired by age. If the wine has been fined or separated too much from the lees during the first racking off, it will be thin and wanting in "body" and defi- cient in aroma ; this can only be remedied by adding sub- 80 APPENDIX. ^ stances to it that will strengthen it, whether sugar or spirit, but either will injure the quality, and the produce will not be of fine flavor or possess the mellowness that is indispensable to good wine ; in fact, the '■'manufacturing''' should be as much avoided as possible. The strength of wine depends upon the amount of sugar contained in the juice of the grape, a portion of this sugar is decomposed and its alcohol combined with another portion of the sugar during the fermenting process : now if the fermentation is hurried too rapidly, and is not sus- pended at the proper time, the spirit will, by another fermen- tation, the acetous, be converted into vinegar, and the whole irrecoverably lost, as no *' manufacturing or doctoring" will ever correct a cask of wine after that chansfe has occurred. The acetic acid may be neutralized, but it will never be sound, good wine ; for this reason — a too rapid fermentation should be guarded against. Very weak wines are more liable to become acid than strong ones, for the amount of alcohol elaborated, when there is an abundance of sugar, serves to check the rapid vinous fermentation, and prevents its running into the acetic chano-e. Some have tried adding sugar to the juice, but the diffe- rence between cane and grape sugar is such that the product has not been satisfactory. I think the juice of well-matured Catawba or Cape grapes, that are produced in this vicinity, is strong enough to insure good wine without any addition either of spirit or sugar. Julius Brace. December, 1850. ON SPRING AND SUMMER PRUNING. R. Buchanan, Esq. : — Dear Sir. — To your request that I w^ould communicate a detailed statement of my mode of training and pruning vines, I cheerfully comply — and as I think much experience and observation are required to arrive at the best methods, I shall SPRING AND SUMMER PRUNING. 81 give only what has proved most successful with me. My vines or a portion of them have been planted nine years ; the rows five feet apart, and the vines three feet distant in the rows. Roots, one year old from the cuttings, were planted after being cut close down to the crown. The first year they were allowed to grow without any other care than keeping the ground clear from weeds. The second spring, early, the tops were all cut down to two eyes, and a stake driven to each vine, six or seven feet long. One or two of the best shoots were allowed to grow, all others rubbed off. These two shoots, or canes as they are technically called, are tied up to the stakes when they have grown eighteen or twenty inches in length, and should be kept tied from time to time, as they advance in height through the second summer ; little or no pruning will be required this season. The third spring, I would cut these canes down to two eyes, although some of the strongest might bear fruit the third summer, it is much better to let them grow another year, and become strong, before raising a crop. This season more attention is required, and they must be prepared to bear a good crop the fourth summer. The two most thrifty shoots must be selected the third spring and kept tied with rye- straw, or some other strong and suitable material, to the stakes, as in the second summer. This year I pinch off all the lateral or axillary branches between the thumb and finger- nail before they become too large and woody — otherwise, if left too long, so as to require the knife, the determination of sap in that direction is liable to force out the sleeping eyes, which should remain dormant till next year. These lateral shoots should be pinched off to the height of four or five feet, or as high as is intended to prune the next spring ; after that they may be allowed to grow as they check the extension of the main shoots. The two canes of this 3"ear will be strong and vigorous and soon rise to the top of the stakes, where they must always be 82 APPENDIX. strongly tied to prevent the efifects of wind. About the first of September, and not much before, the extremities are pinched off to arrest their further elongation and growth — whereby the wood and buds become more perfectly matured — this finishes the work of the vines for the third season. We are now arrived at the fourth spring. The vines are old enough to bear a full crop — and we have two good thrifty canes ready for the knife — the old strings by which they were secured to the stakes are cut — and the tendrils trimmed off. The cane that comes off highest from the root is chosen to bear the whole crop, and is cut off about four feet from the ground, having from six to ten eyes according to the length of the joints — the other cane, which is often equally beauti- ful, is cut down to two eyes, and is generally used for cuttings. From these two eyes two more shoots are trained, as in the previous year. After all are pruned, and just when the sap begins to flow freely and the vines are most flexible, the bear- ing cane is carefully bent round in the form of a hoop, and tied to the stake with willow twigs — one at the bottom, one at the top of the circle, and the third fastens the extremity either to the the stake or to the vine below. I am often asked, why this hoop or circle ? The answer is, gradually to retard the current of sap or juice, that each eye may receive an equal share, and prevent its rushing on- ward to the last eye or bud, which is sure to gain too great a share and to cause a growth too exuberant if trained upward with the stake. The operation of tying is performed with much dexterity by experienced hands, and should always be completed before the buds are much expanded, as then they are liable to be broken off. All my hopes and expectations of a crop are now centered in this little circle. If the winter has not been too severe every eye will shoot, and in a short time show the blossoms, from one to three bunches on each. After the berries are set SPRING AND SUMMER PRUNING. 83 my vines are carefully inspected by the vine-dresser, and from ten to fifteen of the largest and most promising bunches are selected, and all the others are pinched off, also all unfruitful shoots that may have pushed out from the circle. I know that many of our vine men allow every bunch to grow for fear of casualties. This I have proved to be an error. Ten to fifteen bunches, according to the strength of the vine, are more likely to remain on and produce more mature fruit than twenty or more. The vines must not be overtaxed — too heavy a burden can never be carried to the end of the jour- ney — but a light task will be more perfectly executed. Soon after the grapes are set and about the size of common shot, my rule is to pinch off the ends of the bearing branches — leaving four good leaves for the first bunch of grapes, and two additional leaves for every other bunch on the same branch — so that if there are three bunches there will be eight leaves to supply their wants. I have tried leaving these bearing branches to grow their full length without pinching them off, but I find they incumber the ground too much, with- out any perceptible improvement of the fmit. After these bearing shoots have been pinched off, especially if done too early, the buds in the axils of their leaves will push out. These I pinch oflf also when quite young, sometimes permit- ting one or two leaves to remain on them. The leaves on these laterals do not seem to subserve the wants of the fruity like the original leaves on the bearing wood, which should be carefully preserved. At the fifth spring-pinning the vines will have the two good canes, as in the previous spring, with the addition of the old hoop or circle that bore fruit. This I cut oflf as close down as possible to the uppermost cane, and the other two canes are managed exactly in the same manner as in the preceding year. I never allow the old stock to rise more than six to ten inches above the ground — the lower they are kept the more healthy they will remain and be much more easily managed. Pruning the vine for wine requires a bold 84 APPENDIX. hand and much firmness of purpose, otherwise the old stock will get too high and become incumbered w^ith too many- shoots. It must be borne constantly in mind that one single bearing shoot or cane, having from six to ten eyes, will throw out as many bearing branches. From these ten bearing branches it will be easy to select from ten to fifteen bunches. These bunches, in any ordinary favorable season, may be made to yield one quart of good grapes, which will make, at least, a pint of wine. One acre of ground planted three feet by five will contain 2,904 vines. If each vine, then, yields one pint of wine only, there will be 2,904 pints, or 363 gallons, from each acre. This is more than the average yield per acre — and for the reason only that we are two greedy — by overloading the vines we fail to obtain a reasonable quantity, as well as a good quality of wine. The above contains most fully my views, derived from practice and close observation, on the subject of pruning the vine for wine. If you think they contain any hints that will aid beginners, or others, you are at liberty to make such use of them as you may think proper. Yours, respectfully, S. Mosher. Latonia Springs, Ky., March, \Qih, 1852. SOIL FOR A VINEYARD. R. Buchanan: — Dear Sir. — I consider the proper selection of the soil, as almost everything in the successful cultivation of the grape for making wine. I have visited nearly all the vineyards near Cincinnati, and feel confident that many of them must eventu- ally fail, from a w^ant of selecting at first the right kind of soil ; and yet, in my opinion, there is plenty of suitable soil in almost any neighborhood. Some have planted on land of a grayish, gravelly superficial surface, with a heavy blue clay subsoil, impervious alike to water and the roots of the vine, further than is loosened by the spade or the plow in trenching SOIL FOR A VINEYARD SEEDLINGS. 85 Sucli soil, if it does produce a growtli of wood, yet causes the grapes to rot. Another soil, unsuited to the grape, is that Avith a surface of good, rich mould underlaid by a stratum of fine, bright, yellow sand, clammy and adhesive. This is well calculated to deceive, but it has no strength below the mould, and the vines invariably become weak and of small growth. Such lands may be improved by lime and ashes. But the soil upon which I rely, and from the experience of seven or eight years, place the greatest confidence, is of a grayish black, breaking up into small square lumps in cultivation, deep, and running into a reddish yellow subsoil, friable like the surface in work- ing, and generally resting on limestone rock; in such soil, with proper cultivation, I have never known the vine to fail. As to locality, I prefer a southern, western, or eastern aspect, in the order here named, to a northern, but consider the soil of the right selection of far more importance. Kespectfully, John Williamson. March 1 5th, 1852. (From the Western Horticultural Review.) ON GRAPE SEEDLINGS, BY N. RIEHL, OF ST. LOUIS, JAN. 1852. The method which is most commonly followed in raising grape seedlings, is to sow the seed in the open ground, then select the finest or most vigorous plants and set them out in rows, where they remain until they come into bearino-. Ex- perience has now shown that these seedlings are generally inferior in quality to the Catawba, or other sorts from which the seed was taken. Why such is the result, may be princi- pally attributed to the following reasons : Beside the ten- dency which the grape has, when grown from the seed, to go back to the natural wild state, like all other varieties of cul- tivated fruit, it also, like the strawberry, has a tendency to become dioecious by the abortion of male or female organs in the flowers. Those plants may be recognized the first season 86 APPENDIX. by their luxuriant growth and longer joints, while those which will probably produce the best varieties are of much slower growth, more delicate, and often die out in the first summer, when left exposed to the drought and scorching sun of our south-western climate. So there is no wonder why the exertions of amateurs have been attended with so little success in the production of better varieties of grapes from seed. The production of hybrid grapes, by crossing our native kinds with the European species, is a very uncertain process. The flower is formed in such a way as to make it very diffi- cult to decide whether the pistil is not already impregnated by the surrounding anthers ; and it is very doubtful whether there is yet one true hybrid grape in cultivation. Although it is not impossible that such hybrids may be produced, but we may be certain that the great number and very different varieties of the European grapes are varieties of one and the same botanical species, and not hybrids. So we have all reason to hope that, by starting with our native grapes, we may be able to produce sorts just as different and excellent, either for table or wine, as those of Europe are, without resorting to crossing the differcnt species. The seeds should be selected from grapes of the greatest perfection, in every respect, large, fine bunches, and perfectly ripe, of the sort which the experimenter thinks most proper, probably Catawba. They should be sown, as soon as washed from the grapes, in four inch pots, in rich mould, not too thick, and covered about one-fourth of an inch with the same soil. These pots are to be kept always moist, and wintered in a conservatory, or pit, or any other similar place, until spring, when almost every grain will vegetate. They are then treated like other tender seedlings. They require plenty of light, and as much air as the weather will allow. From May or June, they require protection from the sun. The weaker plants should never be pulled out for the pur- GRAPE SEEDLINGS. 87 pose of thinning. I would rather cut off close to the ground some of the most vigorous, if thinning should appear indis- pensable. If the young plants grow well they may be shifted two or three times into larger pots, being careful not to break the ball of earth, nor let the rootlets become dry. Some time in winter, when the seedlings are in the house again and have lost their leaves, they should be taken out of their pots and planted separately in pots corresponding to the size of their roots. Should their number be larger than I might wish to keep, I would select the moderate growers, with their short wood, and reject the longer and thinner ones. The second year or summer, two shiftings may again be necessary, and, if well attended to, they may be strong enough to be planted in the open ground in the spring of the third year. Staking, mulch- ing, and, perhaps, shading will be necessary at first ; but after being established, they may be treated like other vines in the vineyard. In the fall of the fifth year, most of these seedlings will bear fruit, and a number of them will give certain evidence of being inferior and poor, which may then be discarded. The doubtful and promising ones should be kept two or three years longer, before deciding upon their merits. In judging the qualities . of the grapes, we must not ask too many good qualities of one and the same plant. A grape may be small and tough-skinned, and nevertheless make excellent wine ; and a very poor wine grape may be a deli- cious and beautiful table grape. In fact, the finest European table grapes — for instance, the Chasselas de Fontainbleau among others — is nowhere grown for wine ; and the grapes which furnish the best wine, like Tokay and Auvergnes, are never seen in market nor presented on the table, when others can be had. Nor should the experiment be made on too small a scale. The attending of four or five hundred pots does not require so much labor. They may be put under 88 APPENDIX. the stage in the winter, when they have no leaves ; and one plant of superior quality found in such a lot will amply reward the cultivator for the trouble and expense. The win- tering of grape seedlings and their nursing in the green- house does not render them more delicate than they naturally are, and whoever attempts to raise them in the climate of St. Louis will find a similar course necessary to insure success. (From the Western Horticultural Review.) FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE *'WINE ASSO- CIATION." "Allow me, gentlemen, to suggest for your discussion some propositions, by which we may be guided this year, the adoption of which may prove useful and bring our society to the stand she ought to occupy as an institution, by distrib- uting the results of our experiments, founded on practical and scientific investigations, in cultivating the vine, and pre- paring a healthy drink, which may save our country millions of dollars, now yearly sent away to other lands for mixed liquids, called wine. By introducing a cheap, good, natural wine, whisky and brandy, and other deleterious articles, may be dispensed with, the habits of the people will be changed, and we shall see less drunkenness, as it is a well known ' fact that in wine-growing countries drunkards are very seldom found. "As we have in our society high-minded, generous, and disinterested members, who, with indefatigable zeal, have promoted the distribution and cultivation of the vine for a number of years, I do not doubt that they will also be glad to support measures which w^ill bring our society to a higher stand. I, therefore, propose, " 1. Publishing the different modes of pruning and training the vines, and having them all fairly tested for a number of successive years. REIIFUSS* LETTER NATIVE WINE. 89 "2. Publishing- monthly the different parts of the work to be done in the vineyard as a vineyard calendar. "3. Publishing' the different modes of fermenting the wine, and its treatment in the cellar. "4. To induce wealthy merchants at home and abroad to invest their capital in our wine, so that by a competition for the produce a fair price may be realized by the maker, who may thus always find a ready sale, and not become discour- aged by the low state of the market. "5. Chemical analyses should be made of our soil, of the wood and leaves of the vine, and particularly of the fruit, from the beginning to the time of its maturity. ** On the three first propositions you do not need a com- ment. To the fourth I have to remark, it would be bene- ficial for the wine-dealers to open large cellars here, and take the sweet must from the vine-dresser, and ferment it in their own cellars, under regular treatment, by which means the wine would be made of a more equal quality. " The man who dresses the vine, and he who understands the treatment of the wine in the cellar, are, in Europe, sepa- rate persons. **Here, among our vine-dressers, from a want of good cel- lars and casks, and from lack of proper treatment, I have found the best must converted into a liquid not good enough for vinegar, and too bad to be called wine. **L. Rehfuss. *' February, 1852." (From the Western Horticultural Review.) NATIVE WINE. BY DR. MOSHER. In this climate, in good localities, it has already been proved, and many respectable persons in this vicinity can attest to the fact, that the Catawba and the Cape grape, when well treated, will yield a pure and perfect dry wine without 90 APPENDIX. any admixture of sugar or alcohol whatever, or of any other foreign substance. Within my own knowledge, the pure juice of the Catawba grape has been kept in bottles twelve years the last six of which, it was kept in a dry chamber, and be- came so much improved as to be pronounced by good judges a most delicious dry wine, that would compare favorably with the very best Hock or Madeira. Twenty-four dollars a dozen was oflered for it, by one who knew what constituted good wine. The pure juice of the grape alone deserves the appellation of wine — to obtain wiiich, of an excellent quality is the grand desideratum that should engage the enlightened efforts of this society. If sugar or spirits is required to convert the juice of the grape into what is called wine, the sooner the vine-cul- ture is abandoned, the better — for we already have among us enough artificial mixtures of this class called wine — many of which, I am credibly informed, have never had the christen- ing influence of a single drop of the blood of the vine. If, in awarding a premium by this society for the^ best native wine of the vintage of 1 847, it is intended to apply indis- criminately to all the mixtures of the produce of that year, it is difficult to perceive how horticulture is to be benefited by it. It is liberal and praiseworthy to offer rewards that will tend to encourage so important a branch of Horticulture as the vineyard — to bring its produce into a high state of excel- lence, and to make public that mode of culture and manage- ment of the vine, and that treatment of wine which shall elicit the most meritorious production and obtain the prize. I know the Society, in offering this reward, were actuated by the purest motives — to encourage horticultural improvement alone, and never dreamed of ministering to the cupidity of the most skillful inventors of compounds. That cultivator, who manages his vines in the best manner, and thereby pro- duces to this Society a pure juice of the best qualities, such as strength, fineness, aroma, and flavor, should be entitled to FOREIGN GRAPES. 91 the premium, and not he who possesses most knowledge and skill in combining mixtures. It is of incalculable impor- tance to this Society, as well as to the community at large, to know how to cultivate the vine and to manage the pure juice so as to produce the best samples of wine, which will always be sure to command the hio-hest market value. (From the Horticulturist.) FOREIGN GRAPES. BY MR. DOWNING. Mr. ToGNO is sano-uine as to the introduction of the foreio-n grape in this country for open vineyard culture. The thing is impossible. Thousands of individuals have tried it on a small scale in various parts of the Union ; and several per- sons — as for example, M. Loubat, Mr. Longwortii, etc., of great experience abroad or knowledge at home, joined to abundant capital, have tried it on a small scale. The result in every case has been the same ; a season or two of promise, then utter failure, and finally complete abandonment of the theory. The only vineyards ever successful in America are those of American grapes. As it is a pretty well established axiom, that the hardiness of a variety of tree or plant is not afiected by grafting it on a hardier stock, though its luxuriant growth may be promoted by it, we doubt if our correspondent will find the mildew less inclined to make havoc on his foreign grapes, when worked on our wild stocks. If he really wishes to acclimate the foreign grape here, he must go to the seeds, and raise two or three new generations in the American soil and climate. They will then get American constitutions — which no grafting, pruning, training, or manuring will give them. The only thing that he can do for them, is to cheat them into the belief that they are in the warmer parts of Europe, by putting them in a glass house. If any of our readers doubt whether grafting can enfeeble a healthy variety, they have only to try the experiment by taking that variety 92 APPENDIX. and grafting it for two or three successions upon unsuitable or unhealthy stocks. We do not mean, however, to assert that grafting on healthy stocks impairs the vigor of a sort — but only that any given variety, which has been propagated in this way time and again, for 100 years, is very likely, in the course of that time, to have been put upon an unhealthy stock, and hence to have lost some of its original vigor. January, 1851. (From the Western Horticultural Review.) FALSIFICATION OF WINES. As an evidence of the great importance our wine interest is assuming among the products of our country, the miserable attempt to palm off other brands at auction will show how highly ours are valued. An instance of this kind has elicited an explanation from Mr. Longworth, in the New York Tri- bune, which is here appended : " Sparhling Catatvha Wine of Cincinnati. **A friend, recently from your city, informs me that, at the request of Mr. Leinan, a wine merchant on Front street, in your city, he sent him a box of my Sparkling Catawba wine, and charged him the invariable price here — $12; and that Mr. Leinan expressed surprise at the price, as he had recently bought my wine at auction, in your city, at $8 per box. I have not yet been able to supply the home demand — have never sent a box to New York, or any other city, for sale. Our merchants, who sell at $12, have a commission. My wine has not only an engraved label on each bottle, but * N. Longworth, Cincinnati,' branded on the end of each cork, and my name, and the name of the wine, and Cincinnati, with a circle of bunches of grapes around it, on each bottle. My wine never will be sold at auction. I shall esteem it a special favor if Mr. Leinan will ascertain who sent the wine to auc- tion, and write me. That he will also compare the labels on TEMPERANCE AND THE VINE. 93 the bottles, and the brand on the bottom of the cork. I have no desire to have even French Champagne sold as my Spark- ling Catawba. A merchant of our city writes me, that he was at one of your first hotels, and called for a bottle of my Sparkling Catawba, which was brought to him. That the moment he tasted the wine, he found it had not the Catawba aroma and flavor. He examined the bottle, and found no label on it. He took up the cork, and instead of my brand on its end, found the name of a French house. From the character of the hotel, I am satisfied this was a mistake of the waiter, who perhaps had never heard of Sparkling Catawba wine. Of the flavor and aroma of my wine, each person who drinks it can judge. I claim for it one superiority over im- ported Champagne. It will be found to suit the stomach better and be much healthier. It is the pure juice of our native Catawba grape, with the addition of the best rock candy. The French champagne is made from a mixture of three or four different wines, which never can be healthy to the stomach. They say one kind is to give aroma and flavor; another strength ; another effervescence. If true, our Ca- tawba is superior, for it contains all these properties. Inte- rest may have its influence, even in France, as one of the wines used costs three times as much as the others. I expect, next summer, to have more wine than will meet the home de- mand, and shall then send to the eastern and southern cities, to wine merchants, to be sold at private sale, but never at auction. Any person who buys it, and is dissatisfied with its quality, can return it to the agent, and receive back the full sum paid. **N. Longworth. ''October, 1851." (From the Western Horticultural Review.) TEMPERANCE AND THE VINE. We have long been of opinion, says the Southern Press, that the best remedy against the love of strong drink — a besetting 94 APPENDIX. sin with the Anglo-Saxon race, is the free use of pure wine. It is a remarkable fact, that in the wine districts of Europe, the people are comparatively free from the brutal habit of intoxi- cation. Among the rural population of France, Italy, Spain, etc., the wholesome light wines in common use, are considered as essential to the table as bread and meat. The same, indeed, may be said of all classes. We have heard it remarked in derision, that give a man of this class a piece of bread, a few dry figs or dates, a little sweet oil, and a bottle of claret, and he will feast like a lord, and be happy. This mode of living is coeval with the introduction of the vine and olive of those countries ; and where a man is found induloing: in the use of strong drinks, he is the subject of remark and commiser- ation, by his friends and acquaintances. A modern temper- ance reformer, would probably obtain new and valuable ideas upon the subject, by visiting Havanna. There, a temperance society, except by American newspapers, was never heard of. Yet in a population of nearly 20,000 souls, it is a rare thing to hear of a Creole or a Spaniard, who is in the habit of using distilled spirits. In regard to wines, however, especi- ally claret and Sauterne, all classes make free use of them at every meal. We find in the Horticulturist, the following sensible re- marks : << Very few Americans, except those who have traveled abroad, estimate properly the moral value of pure light wines, because pure wines very rarely find their way across the Atlantic. ** As hocks or clarets contain only about eight or nine per cent, of alcohol, they are far more wholesome than coffee, and the cheap production of such wines, will do more to de- crease the consumption of ardent spirits than any other cir- cumstance. Neither law nor morals can be brought to bear upon the present age, so as to force men to be entirely temper- ate, but the introduction of wholesome, pure light wines, at a TEMPERANCE AND THE VINE. 95 dieap rate -will, as there is abundant proof in the wine dis- tricts of Europe. It is for this reason, as Avell as because we look upon it as a source of national wealth, that we reo-ard the successful labors of such men as Mr. Longworth, in in- troducing and perfecting th-e wine cultui^, as worthy of the highest public gratitude." Amhcrstburg, Canada West, March 12, 1852, R. Buchanan, Esq.: — Dear Sir,— I presented your letter to Mr. James Cousins, the person on whose lands the vin-es and cuttings were planted, distant s-ome two miles from here. Mr. C. says, they have so far, proved a failure owing to the extraordinarily dry season in which they were planted. In fact, all the cuttings died, and also a great part of the vines; but thei-e are some living, and doing well. He is of opinion, that the grape might be cultivated here to great advantage, with the exception of the foreign kinds, which generally mildew. The fruit of the Isabella and Catawba appears to ripen very well in this section of the country. The soil is clay. The winters are generally moderate, but the present one appears to be the exception to the rule, for the thermometer has stood as low as 17° below zero. If, therefore, the vines are not affected by this great degree of cold, we may safely say this part of the country would be well adapted to grape culture. The wild grape grows abundantly here (small black fruit), and I have tasted wine made from their juice, far superior to any Port we can get here. I have the honor to be. Dear Sir, Your obedient, humble servant, A. H. Wagner. 96 APPENDIX. (From Cist's Adyertiser.) GRAPE CULTURE NEAR READING, PA. The following letter from the Reading con^espondent of the Philadelphia Ledger, invites and deserves a careful perusal in this region, on various accounts : In the first place, many interesting and valuable facts for our vine growers are contributed from Berks county experi- ence. There can be no doubt that much of the character of grapes is derived from the subsoil, and the sug-gestion on this point, will be worth attending to. Passing from solids to Jluids, I would say a few words on* the cultivation of the grape vines " in these diggin's." The phrase is literary correct ; for the vineyards here are all un- dermined by diggin's for iron, and their soil copiously inter- spersed with large fragments of heavy iron ore. I had no idea that such labor could be performed, as has here been ex- pended on the culture of the grape ! Mr. John Fehr, our industrious vintner, of whose wines you will have received a sample, has dug down his whole vineyard to the depth of three feet, to plant the Isabella and Catawba grapes, which now yield beautifully. Some five or six hundred cart-loads iron ore had first to be removed from the soil, before the vines could be planted. The attempt to cultivate exotic grapes has utterly failed. In 1839, Mr. George Lauer imported some seventeen thou- sand grape vines, comprising nine different sorts, of the best European vines ; but they all perished from the vicissitudes of the climate. Previously, in 1831, Mr. William Tibler planted the Isabella grape, indigenous to South Carolina, which produces largely and is less sensitive to changes of temperature, and from which, most of the Reading wine now entering into consumption is made. The Catawba grape, from North Carolina, was only intro- duced in 1835, by Mr. Gottfried Pflieger, but is now about MANUFACTURE OF WINE, AND ROT IN GRAPES. 97 to be cultivated on a large scale. The grape of this vine is more spicy than the Isabella, and the quality of the wine much superior ; but its yield is less, and its cultivation costs much more labor. The Catawba grape is extensively culti- vated in Ohio and Missouri, and is the grape from which all the better sorts of American Champagne are manufactured. It improves, like the Hock grape, for a period of thirty years, after which it declines and becomes gradually unfit for the production of wine. The vineyards must then be renewed. The Catawba and Isabella grapes resemble the German and French grapes in many respects ; but their skins are thicker and less transparent, and the interior is more pulpy, or ''fleshy," as the Reading and Ohio vintners call it. Cultiva- tion will, no doubt, remedy the defect. The time of the blos- soming is about the same as in France ; but the vintage is a month earlier. Where the vintner, in Germany and France, must cut the leaves to afford sun for his grapes, the American must try to shade them if he would bring them to maturity. For this reason, I suppose, nature has provided the Ameri- can grape with a thicker and richer foliage than any other grape in the world. MANUFACTURE OF WINE, AND ROT IN GRAPES. To the Wine Committee of the Horticultural Society, Cincinnati : Gentlemen : — Each year's experience proves, that too little neatness and care are generally observed in gathering and selecting the fruit, in pressing out the juice, and having clean, pure casks, and a cool cellar. After racking in the spring, a cool cellar is indispensable, and few if any of our common cellars, are cool enough. They are too much affected by the outward air, and all jarring from the passage of wagons, or other causes, is injurious. The casks, after racking in the spring, should be always kept full and air-tight. We espe- cially err in gathering our grapes too soon. We should never 98 APPENDIX. do this until they have reached their utmost maturity, unless they should be seized by the rot. I formerly supposed (being influenced by the opinion of foreign writers), that every object could be obtained by the addition of good sugar. Experience convinces me of the contrary. Sugar will be converted into alcohol, and give streno-th to the wine. But it will not give the same richness of aroma and flavor as the fruit, so ripe as to require no sugar. In some parts of Europe, to give richness to their wines, they gather their fruit and partially dry them before pressing, to carry off the watery particles from the fruit. This wine sells at a high price. Before gathering the fruit, its richness should be ascertained, as its color is no certain indication. This richness, when the maturity is the same, will vary in different varieties. To test its maturity, press out a tumbler full of must, and if you have no saccharometer, put in it a fresh laid hen's egg. If of proper maturity, the egg will then rise the size of a quarter of a dollar above the juice. If not rich, it will sink. The Catawba should, in favorable seasons, weio-h from 90 to 97 degrees, by our saccharometers. Many use fresh brandy pipes, to put their must or wines in. They are destructive to the aroma and flavor of the wine. Alcohol should never be added, unless the wine be too weak to keep, and when this is done, it should be distilled from the same kind of wine. If not, you injure its aroma and flavor. Spirit is never necessary, when the fruit is matured, unless it be in a hot climate. Then it seems to be indispensable, as the following hot season brings on the acetous fermentation. An intelligent gentleman of South Carolina, Mr. Guignard, and another friend, both wrote to me to this effect. So much so does the value of the wine depend on the maturity of the fruit, and great neatness in manufacture, that in buying, this winter, from a person in the vicinity of Louisville, I paid him for his new wine, three times the sum that I paid him for his wine made in the year 1848. When that was made, he MANUFACTURE OF WINE, AND ROT IN GRAPES. 99 acknowledged lie was not aware of the great importance of having his fruit fully matured, and the great care necessary in separating green, decayed, and rotten grapes, and neatness in manufacture. The only object in buying his wine of 1848, was to distill it into brandy. One great advantage that our native wine will have, is its being the pure juice of the grape. In Europe, total changes are wrought in the wines in the mer- chants' wine-cellars. And we are so much the creatures of habit, that for many years we gave a preference to those wines of Madeira, that had the strong fetid flavor which they de- rived from the old goat-skins in which the must was carried from the mountains, on mules, to the cellars of the wine-mer- chants at Fundi al. I yesterday had wines off*ered me for sale, when one of the persons made an observation, that revived recollections of a few years past. The wine of one of the persons was of fair quality, and he off"ered it to me at little more than half the price fixed by the other. Yet such was the quality of the 400 gallons of the latter person, that even a Jerseyman could not try to buy cheaper, and I promptly complied with his terms. Better Catawba wine I have never seen. I inquired if his grapes rotted the past season. He replied not, and that the rot in the vineyards of all his neighbors had been severe. I observed, yours must be a sandy soil, or more porous than your neighbors. He replied, a stiff subsoil of clay, the same as his neighbors. That he could give but one cause for his success. That before the rot began, his time had been so much taken up by his farm, that he neglected to hoe his vine- yard, and it was filled with grass and weeds. Finding his not to rot, while the well-hoed vineyards of his neighbors suf- fered severely by the rot, he left all standing and had a full crop, and left his grapes until fully ripe, and when he did gather them, did it from a fear of injury from frost, and thought the yield as large as it would have been had he gathered his grapes earlier. I recollect, some years since, 100 APPENDIX. when my vineyards suflfered severely from the rot, some of my lazy tenants, who left half their vineyards in grass and weeds, which escaped the rot, while the clean vineyards of their neighbors adjoining, and their own portion cleaned, suffered badly from the rot, attributed their escape to their idleness in not cleaning their vineyards. I was and am unwilling to believe this ; ** But facts are chiels that winna ding, And dinna be disputed." I can scarcely believe this, for though I cannot fully believe the doctrine, that every act of an idle sinner is hateful in the eyes of his Creator, I am slow to believe that he holds out inducements to idleness. His long forbearance and mercy to idle sinners compels me to believe he shows more mercy to them, and views their transgressions with more lenity, and makes more allowance for their bumps, natural propensities, education and examples, than their more fortunate and perfect fellow-mortals. But I would still call the attention of vine- dressers to the subject, as worthy of note. I believe each year's experience confirms the opinion, that a sandy or porous soil suffers but little from the rot. A thorough draining, in our subsoils of clay, may produce the same effect. N. LONGWORTH. Cincinnati, February 1 8, 1 850. COMMUNICATION FROM N. LONGWORTH, Read October ^\st, 1848, and ordered to be appended to the Report of the Committee on Fruits. TO THE CrXCINXATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Gentlemen, — I objected to the Report of our Fruit Com- mittee, in giving, as the cause of the rot in our grapes, "their location being in confined situations, not fully exposed to the air, and their proximity to orchards or woods." My experi- ence is the reverse, as regards a full exposure to the air, COMMUNICATION FROM N. LONGWORTH. 101 tlioiTgli I do not consider that the location, as to air, either causes or prevents the rot. Most of my vineyards at Tuscuium are on a high hill, and on its sides, fully exposed to the sun and air, and facing east, west, north, and south, with no tall trees in the vicinity. Yet in all these vineyards the rot has prevailed, and this season two- thirds of the crop was lost. The subsoil is a stiff clay ; and to this I chiefly attribute the rot. Among my vines near the foot of the hill, where the ground was more porous, there was less rot ; and in the bottom, or near it, where the rain immediately sank deep in the earth, there was no rot. And this I have found to be the case at other vineyards. Where the subsoil was a compact clay, the rot prevailed. Where the subsoil was mixed with sand or gravel, or where it was porous, there was no rot. I have for the past five years believed that the land in Kentucky, on the opposite side of the Ohio, v^ould be prefer- able, for the grape culture, to our own. The soil on that side of the river is in many situations sandy, and the rain passes freely through it. The consequence is, they supply our mar- ket with strawberries a week earlier than we can raise them on our side of the river; and most, if not all their vineyards, are planted in soil of this character ; and I have heard of no serious loss by the rot on the Kentucky side. On inquiry of our intelligent Germans, I find their experience coincides with mine. In their vineyards, the rot injured them the least where the ground was porous, or the water, from the decliv- ity of the ground, passes off speedily; or if the subsoil was a clay, and it was mixed with stone, which caused the water to sink speedily. One of my vineyards at Tuscuium suffered but little from the rot, and this was on land where the sub- soil was a stiff, damp clay, and near to the forest. The Ger- man who cultivates it is a perfect "swoab," a very ignorant man. He, hoAvever, was able to give the reason for his escape from the rot. He " prepared his ground and planted 102 APPENDIX. liis grapes just so as he did in Germany."" His vrnejard fs on the top and sides of a high hill, descending both to the north and south. He trenched his ground, throwing up the earth from each side, making beds fifteen feet wide, with deep trenches on each side, and the trenches having a quick descent for water down the hill, north and south. On these ridges he planted three rows of grapes. The consequence was, that no water lay on the surface, or had time to saturate the clay beneath, but speedily passed into the trenches, and from them rapidly down the hill. On inquiry, I learned the part of Germany he came from had a subsoil of stiff clay, in con- sequence of w^hich all their vineyards were graded in like manner. Nine-tenths of our " swoabs," in all their business and pursuits in life, must do it **just so as they did it in Germany," without any change for soil or climate; and the result is not always as favorable as it was with my tenant. But I would not be understood as saying, that other causes may not also operate more or less in causing the rot. One reason for believing that other causes may operate is, that previous to the last six or eight years, we had much less of the rot, yet our soil was then the same, and our rains as fre- quent and heavy. But the rot should not discourage us. After losing two-thirds of their crops, my tenants, the past season, made upward of nine thousand gallons of wine, and most vineyards escaped much better than mine, and many had no rot whatever. In Germany, our vme-dressers assure us, the crop is not more certain than with us, though they are but little troubled with the rot. Their seasons are much shorter than ours, and their crops are often destroyed by their early frosts. My wine-cooper informs me that before he left France, they had lost four crops in succession, and many of the poor, owning small vineyards, had cut them up, and planted vegetables in their place. I am informed, by intelligent Germans, that the same would be done in Germany, if the poor vine-dressers COMMUNICATION FROM N. LONGWORTH. 103 were allowed to do it. But the vine-dressers, both of Ger- many and Spain, have a greater evil to contend with. In a season when the yield is abundant, so low is the price of wine in Germany, that if you will take two empty casks to the press, you will be allowed to carry away one of them filled from the press. In Spain the evil is still greater. Mr. Sam- uel E. FooTE, who was many years purchasing wine in Spain, informs me that he paid the cooper 813 for wine pipes, and the vine-dresser 85 for filling them. Mr. Rehfuss recently imported from Germany the instru- ments used there for testing the saccharine quality of the must, and the strength of the wine when fully fermented. The result surprised me. Our must this season ranged from 80 to 101 degrees. I am informed, by intelligent German vine- dressers and wine-coopers, that in Germany it ranges from 70 to 90. Many are under the impression that the grape, farther south, possesses more of the saccharine principle than it does with us. I believe this is never the case ; and if it is, it is more than counterbalanced, by their vintage coming on in the heat of summer, and the grape possessing a larger portion of the fermenting principle. Very few, if any, of our wine- coopers now add sugar to the must ; yet our wines, in tight casks and cool cellars, keep sound for years, without any addition. But the casks should be kept full, to guard against accident. I corresponded for several years with Mr. M'Call, who cultivated the grape for wine, near Dublin, Georgia. He informed me that he was in the constant habit of addinof from 2 to 2|- lbs. of sugar to the gallon of must, of the Schuylkill Muscadel (Cape) and Catawba grape; and fre- quently found it insufficient to prevent his wine from running into the acetous fermentation. I know that Mr. Herbemont, of Columbia, South Carolina, was in the habit of adding as much sugar to his must ; yet when his wine was offered for 104 APPENDIX. sale at public auction soon aftei* his death, most of it was turned to vinegar, or undergoing the acetous fermentation. The pure dry wines of Germany weigh from four to seven degrees, in general. The wines of Madeira weigh from twenty to twenty-five. This is occasioned by the quantity of brandy added. In their hot climate, I believe it is necessary, to pre- vent the acetous fermentation. If not, they would not add any brandy, or not so large a quantity. — N. Longworth. NATIVE GRAPES. To the Editors of the Cincinnati Gazette : — Messrs. Editors. — I requested last spring, in your paper, that persons having any new variety of the native grape, would do me the favor to forward me cuttings, that I might test their quality both for the table, and for wine. The communication was extensively republished in most parts of the Union, and the result was that twenty-four varie- ties were sent me in February and March last. I grafted them, and also planted cuttings. Most of the grafts are now in fruit, and from the wood and leaf, about one-fourth of them promise to be of superior quality. All of them are new in this vicinity, but two, the Olmstead and Minor's Seedling. Both of these are Fox grapes. The fruit of the first, I have not seen ; the second, is the best Fox grape that I have seen. The pulp is unusually soft, for that family, and the grape re- markably sweet, though it does not contain as much sacchar- ine matter as some grapes less sweet to the taste. It is not a great bearer, though it bears uncommonly well for a grape of that class. The Fox grape may never be valuable for a wine grape, except to mix with others, to give aroma and flavor. I re- ceived cuttings of several varieties of Fox grapes, and the stem and leaf of most of them are so strongly Fox, that they cannot be valuable. In my boyhood, I thought this grape NATIVE GRAPES. 105 the most delicious of all fruits, and found some that bore a fair crop. This vine is easily distinguished from all others. The leaf is like leather — thick, and of a white color on the under side, and downj^ and the neAv wood covered with a hairy down, generally of a reddish cast. It is a great objec- tion to it, that the fruit drops on the ground as soon as it is ripe. I rank the common class as about equal to the Black Scuppernong of North Carolina (the Muscadine of the Missis- sippi), from which, it appears, a siqjerior wine is made in North Carolina, by putting three pounds of sugar to the gallon , and sold for ^4 per gallon, and from tim thousand to three thousand gallons are raised on an acre. Further, a Horticul- turist there, tells us, he also makes wine from the green grape ; the same person who raises so large a quantity, Mr. Alves, of Kentucky (formerly of North Carolina), tells me they put from one-fourth to one-third of spirits to the gallon, and sell the wine from seventy-five cents to one dollar per gallon ; a wide difference in price this. The North Carolina Horticul- turist seems learned in the manufacture of foreign wines, as he tells us that one-third of Brandy is added to Port, Malm- sey, and Madeira wines. This will be news indeed, to the European wine merchants. The black Scuppernong bears from one to four berries on a bunch, and would, in times of war, if lead be scarce, be as valuable, even when fully ripe, as the Fox grape, for bullets. The white Scuppernong, also, has a very small bunch, and is a better grape than the black. But the skin is thick, and the pulp hard ; it will never be valuable as a wine grape, unless to give to other must, aroma and flavor. Our vineyards may have produced 800 and possibly 1000 gallons on an acre, but no vineyard has averaged 300 gallons for ten years. I believe ground, with a mixture of sand, or such as will freely let the rains sink, will be less subject to rot, and average double the crop produced, where the sub- soil is a stiff clay. 106 APPENDIX. I shall be gratified to receive letters from all persons having new varieties of hardy grapes in their vicinity, describing the character of the wood and leaf, color, size, and quality of the fruit, etc. After importing foreign grapes for thirty years, from all latitudes, I have never found one worthy of cultiva- tion in open air, nor do we require them. We have native grapes of superior quality, both for the table and for wine ; and by raising seedlings from our best natives, and from a cross between them and the best foreign, we can greatly im- prove them. We have neglected our native grapes. Forty-five years since, I heard of a superior grape in the garden of Mr. Zane, of Wheeling, found by him in a wild state on Wheeling Island. I sent for cuttings, and found the grape of no value. I heard of a person in Kentucky, who had it, and that it proved of good quality. I obtained cut- tings, and it proved to be the Vevay, or Cape (Schuylkill Muscadel) grape. I am now satisfied that neither was the Zane grape. I, this spring, had cuttings sent me, from a vine got of Mr. Zane, some thirty years since, and which has never got out of the neighborhood, and which I doubt not will prove of superior quality. A native grape, of different aroma and flavor, and in all respects equal to the Catawba, would be worth millions of dollars to the nation. If my correspondents do not err, some of the kinds sent me are superior. The origin of the Catawba is in doubt. Major Adlum first brought it into notice, having found it some twenty-five years since, in the garden of a Ger- man, near Washington city. I received recently, an interesting letter from Mr. Alves, of Henderson, Kentucky. He was born in North Carolina, and says he heard of the Catawba grape in the upper part of North Carolina, forty years ago, and that it was discovered near the Catawba river, from which it derived its name. A grape, precisely the same, is said to have been discovered in a wild state, a few years since, in Pennsylvania. I have one NATIVE GRAPES. 107 from the south-west, of the same color, aroma, and flavor, but smaller, and the vine of slow growth, and a poor bearer ; and one bearing much larger fruit, of precisely the same character, but inferior. I discovered it in the center of my vineyards, and know not how it came there. My oldest vine-dresser. Father Ammen, has gone the way of all flesh, and I regret his end. He was a worthy old man. Some twelve years since, he lost his wife, and deeply regretted her loss. He assured me, with tears in his eyes, *' she was just so good in the vineyard as one man, and he might just so well have lost his horse." He got a second wife, but she was of hasty temper, and gave the old man as good as he sent. Finally, she told him, if he would give her five dollars, she would leave him, and never see him more. ** Give you five dollars !" said the old man : " I will do no such thing ; but if you go and never come back, I will give you ten dol- lars." The money was paid, and the old man was relieved of that trouble ; but one that he deemed greater came. I have heretofore said, that after being my tenant ten years, he was ruined by selling his share of the crop for eight hun- dred dollars. He cleared out ; went to the north part of the state ; bought land, and planted a vineyard. The location was too far north. His vines were killed, and he came back a poor man, and began a new vineyard on a farm of mine, adjoining his old one, on which his son-in-law has resided since he left it. This year his vineyard came into bearing, and the old man's heart rejoiced to think that he should again be able to sit under the shade of his favorite tree, and enliven his heart with wine of his own making. But, alas ! the rot came, and blasted his prospects. He became dispirited ; which, the cholera discovering, a few days since, seized his victim. He was taken to the house of his son-in-law (for he lived alone, and I could not prevail on him to take a Frav, for the third time), when they urged him to take medicine, but he refused. He was told if he did not, in a few hours 108 APPENDIX. he must die. "What I care?" said the old man, ** I take none. What I want to hve for ? My grapes all rotten." A few hours, and he was no more. Peace to his ashes. N. LONGWORTH. Cincinnati, July 16, 1849. MANUFACTURE OF NATIVE WINE. Genilemen of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society : The season for our vintage is approaching, and the quality of the wine depends mainly on the period of gathering the grapes, and the care and neatness exercised in the manufac- ture, and the selection of the casks : skill has little to do with it. To make good butter, is apparently one of the most sim- ple employments ; yet not one dairy-woman in ten makes but- ter of the first quality ; while the best commands twenty-five cents per pound, the poorest has a dull sale at half price. The first error is gathering the grapes too soon. This sea- son has been a severe one on our grape crop, yet from the in- creased number of vineyards now in bearing, I believe the vintage will be greater this season than last. A late frost was very destructive in our vineyards, and the summer rot more so. From the first, vines often recover. One person informed me the frost killed all the young shoots, and his vine-dresser cleared out in despair, but that the dormant shoots put out with great vigor, and from one acre and one-third he expected to make 1,600 gallons of wine. If this prove true, the frost has to him been a blessing ; fori have never yet known 1,000 gallons to be made from an acre. If we want large crops, we must go to the fertile lands of North Carolina, where, from their famous Scuppernong, they make from 2,000 to 3,000 gallons per acre. This is truly mi- raculous. I have known a bunch of our Catawba grape, to have 150 berries, and weigh twenty-four ounces. On the Scuppernong, the yield is from two to eight berries. The price is in proportion. We add no sugar, and sell our wine MANUFACTUBE OF NATIVE WINE. 109 from one dollar to one dollar twenty -five cents per gallon. They add three pounds of sugar to the gallon, and, strange to tell, make a Hock wine (which is a hard, dry wine), and sell it for four dollars per gallon. Injurious as we found the frost, the rot has been more de- structive. But the experience of this year will confirm the opinion, that the rot is occasioned by a stiff subsoil of clay, through which the water cannot pass freely. In our sandy soils there has been but little rot ; and in many, none. On our rich, deep-soiled bottoms, the rot has been less than on our side hills. The first error we commit, is o-atlierino: our grapes too soon, and before the saccharine principle is fully de- veloped. Last season, some of the must of Mr. Rehfuss, weighed 101, while that from some other vineyards weighed from sixty-five to eighty only. The best average about nine- ty-five. In Germany, superintendents have this subject in charge, in the several districts, and they name the day on which the vintage is to commence. I presume this is to pre- vent ignorant vine-dressers from gathering their grapes too soon, as they are anxious to save a loss in quantity. This creates as great an evil as it is intended to remedy. All vine- yards do not mature their fruit at the same time ; and often, in the same neighborhood, one vineyard will mature its fruit a week earlier than another. The ripest bunches only should be picked at the first vintage ; and all rotten, defective, and green grapes, carefully picked out. The grapes should not be gathered till the dew is ofi". A second picking should be made some eight or ten days later, when, with great care in picking out rotten, decayed, and green berries, wine equal to the first may be made. The rejected grapes from both pick- ings, will make a common wine, but will be improved by add- ing eight or ten ounces of sugar to the gallon of must. The press and casks should be clean. Even fresh brandy and Madeira wine-casks should be carefully cleansed, to take out all the taste of those liquors ; the casks placed in a cool 1 10 APPENDIX. place, where there is a circulation of fresh air, for fermenta- tion ; the bung- being left out after the fermentation com- mences, till it abates, when the bung should be put in tigkt, and a spile-hole made, and air given from it, two or three times per day, and as soon as it can be done safely, all air excluded till the wine is clear, when it should be racked off. I would sooner pay seventy-five cents per gallon for must weighing ninety-five, than five cents for one w^eighing seventy-five. In the manufacture of wine in Europe, in times past, the grapes were always mashed with the feet before pressing, and in many places, the same practice still continues. We have been inclined to attribute this practice to their ignorance, and want of cleanliness. I believe, however, that, like many other old customs, we now treat with ridicule, the practice was impor- tant to the manufacture of good wine. My attention was first drawn to the subject by Mr. Wm. Hatch, who stated, that in manufacturing wine from the Catawba grape, where pressed with little or no mashing, the wine contained but little of the muscadine aroma and flavor. On inquiring of my manufac- turer of sparkling Catawba, I learn that the same opinion prevails in the wine countries of Europe, and in consequence, the machine for mashing the grape is but little used in France. In the manufacture of Catawba wine, it is a great object fully to develop its muscadine flavor, as it is always retained in the wine after the most perfect fermentation. I would, there- fore, recommend, even where they pass through a machine, that they be further mashed by pounding, using care not to crack the seed, or much bruise the stalks. By mashing, the pink color is, also, in part, brought out. The muscadine fla- vor adds greatly to the value of the wine, and where not fully developed, w^ill lead to the conclusion that the wine is not pure. Where it exists in its full strength, it will always be evidence of the purity of the wine, as the aroma and flavor are peculiar, and cannot be successfully imitated. The ma- STEMMING AND MASHING GRAPES. Ill chine in use for mashing grapes, does not separate the stems from the mashed berries. I would draw the attention of our ingenious mechanics, to induce them to add such an addition to the present machine. Respectfully, Se^ot. 14, 1849. N". Longworth. APPARATUS FOR STEMMING AND MASHING GRAPES. Latonia, February l&h, 1850. R. Buchanan, Esq.: — Dear Sir, — In a letter addressed to the Horticultural So- ciety of this city, by Mr. Longworth, some time last fall, he expressed the opinion that two essential requisites were yet needed, to complete the process of making wine from the Ca- tawba grape ; one of these was a method by which the grape could be separated from the stem, and the other was to impart the peculiar perfume or aroma of the fruit to the wine. Before I had seen Mr. Longworth's letter, my father had resolved to adopt a method for accomplishing both of these objects, by a very simple process, which has been pursued by our family and others, in the vicinity of Tours (in France), for several generations past, in the manufacture of wine. The method is exceedingly simple, and is probably the only one that can be applied successfully to a large crop. Various attempts have been made, in this vicinity, to accomplish the desired object, but they have invariably failed ; the only sure method, it being supposed, was, to pick the fruit from the stems by hand : this tedious process could, of course, only be adopted with small quantities of grapes. My father's me- thod is remarkable for its rapidity, and the perfect manner in which the grape is separated from the stem ; the unu- sual excellence of our wine made by this process the last season, bearing ample testimony to the usefulness of the method. 10 112 APPENDIX. There are many who think it not only a matter of indiffer- ence whether the fruit is pressed with the stem or not, but some venture to assume that the astringent principle contained in the stem, is essential to the preservation of the wine. From all these views, I dissent, and take the ground that nothing hut the 'perfectly ripe grape itself should he subjected to pressure : and our wine manufacturers will, I predict, find this opinion correct after they have had sufficient time to test it. The usefulness of the apparatus alluded to, depends more upon the method of using it, than upon the article itself — it being mainly a manual process, facilitated by the use of a screen of wire, so arranged that sufficient space is allowed for the operator to extend his arms freely, and with the aid of hand-pieces, the grapes are made to pass with great rapidity through the screen, entirely separated from the stem. It is difficult to describe the process on paper ; in fact, it can only be understood practically by witnessing the operation. The crushing and attrition of the grape by this method are such as to bruise and rub the skin of the fruit, without break- ing the seed, and thus impart the aroma to the wine. In addition to the stemming process, we pass all our grapes through the "rollers," in a small wooden mill, before pressing. Respectfully yours, J. A. CORNEAU. FERMENTING THE GRAPES ON THE SKINS. John Williamson, a successful cultivator of the vine, who resides near New Richmond, 0., has tried the experiment for the last two years, of letting his grapes ferment on the skins, slightly, after being mashed, and before pressing. He allows them to stand in large open hogsheads, for twenty-four to thirty hours, or, until they begin to ferment, and the grapes rise to the surface. They are then pressed. Too much fermenta- tion in this state would be injurious, and give a bitter, astrin- VINEYARDS ABOUT CINCINNATI. 113 gent taste to the •vvine ; but a slight fermentation adds to the color and aroma. Mr. Williamson's wine enjoys a high reputation where known, and readil}'- commands ^1,25 per gallon, whenever it is offered for sale. vineyards about CINCINNATI. To the Editors of the Cincinnati Gazette : Gentlemen : — I was yesterday at some of the vineyards on the Ohio, below the city, and among others at the vineyard of Mr. DuHME, who, I understand, resides in the city. The location is a good one, with a favorable soil, and is, I believe, the largest vineyard in the State. It requires his personal attention. The grapes ripen badly, and a large portion of them cannot ripen at all. In some parts of Europe, where their summers are cool, they find it necessary to shorten the leading branches intended to produce the next year's crop, and thin out the leaves, and head in the short branches, and fully expose the fruit to the sun and air, to insure its ripening. This method, in our hot climate, is often highly injurious to the plant, and destructive to the fruit. If the heading in of the leading shoots be done early in the season, the fruit-buds of the following year are thrown out. As an experiment, I one year, by successive head- ing, had the fruit of four successive years on the plant at the same time, and the fall being favorable, the second crop ripened its fruit. Where the fruit branches are frequently topped, and the wood becomes ripe, the sap ceases to flow, and the fruit cannot ripen. This is the case at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. In our hot climate no more lateral branches should be taken from the main shoots intended for next year's fruit than to give them the necessary length. The fruit branches should be topped when in blossom, beyond the second eye from the last blossom, and after that allowed to grow without topping. In our climate, to ripen the fruit, a portion of shade is neces- 114 APPENDIX. sary, for where there is growing young w^ood, there is of course a full flow of sap to the fruit, w^ithout which it shrivels and drops off. This day I visited a German settlement on the Ohio, com- mencing about twelve miles above the city, and extending about four miles. The hill commences, close to the river, and rises gradually ; the usual bottom-land being on the op- posite side of the river. The soil is porous and well calcu- lated, in my opinion, for the cultivation of the grape, and nearly the whole of the four miles is occupied by vineyards, and there are also some on the top of the hill. Two of the vine- yards belong to Englishmen ; the owners of all the others are Germans. Most of the vineyards in this vicinity have suffered severely from the rot, and some vine-dressers, expecting in the early part of the season to make from 2000 to 4000 gallons of wine, will not make 100. Yet their vineyards are on the sides and tops of the hills, fully exposed to the sun and air. But the subsoil is a stiff clay retentive of moisture. These localities will, I fear, be always subject to rot, and yet the vineyards will be found more profitable than any other crop. To persons having a porous soil, I would recommend the cul- tivation of the Herbemont grape. It is a fine grape, both for the table and for wine, and perfectly hardy. It makes wine of superior quality, similar to the Spanish Manzanilla, or Mansinsella, as it is generally pronounced. This grape has a soft pulp, and resembles the best foreign table grapes. Lick Run, in our immediate vicinity, will make one of the most beautiful rural spots in the world. It will soon be a continu- ous line of vineyards. I w^sh some of our poets would visit it in May or June, and give it a more beautiful and appro- priate name. They may rack their brains for months, and not find one worthy of the scene. It is different on Mount Adams, which is in a double sense in connection with the heavens — its height and proximity to the great Telescope of VINEYARDS ABOUT CINCINNATI. 115 Professor Mitchel. The highest street is called Celestial street. Commanding as the \iew is, the name surely equals it. N. LONGWORTH. P. S. I have just returned from a visit to the vineyard of Mr, Langdon, on the bottom of the Little Miami, eight miles above the city, in a sandy soil. That porous soil is not subject to the rot in grapes, is exemplified here. His misfor- tune is in fact too large a crop of fruit, an unusual complaint this season. Yet he will have a poor vintage, arising from two causes, which prevent the fruit from ripening. The first and least cause is too much fruit, from leaving too much bearing wood. There was more than the vine could give a supply of sap for, in a favorable season. The second and great cause is the same as at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. The fruit has no shade, few leaves, and but little young wood on the fruit branches, to carry sap to the grapes to ripen them. The wood is life, and the circulation of the sap stopped, not one-fourth of the grapes will ripen perfectly; many of them shrivel and drop, and many of them scarcely change color. A favorable fall will aid them. I observed in the vineyard of Mr. Langdon, that the Ca- tawba vine is much closer jointed than in our richer land, where there is a subsoil of clay ; and one of my German vine- dressers assured me this is always the case. This would indi- cate an increased crop, and the change probably depends on the richness of the soil. An important inquiry is, will the grape, in a sandy soil, yield an equal amount of sugar ? I wish our vine-dressers to direct their attention to this subject. In some of our vineyards, they have both soils, and the ques- tion will be easily decided. The color of the Catawba grape is no certain evidence of its ripeness and richness. They are often of unusual dark color, this season, yet the juice has one- eiofhth less suo-ar. N. Longworth. September, 1849. 1 1 6 APPENDIX. VINEYARDS IN CLARK COUNTY, INDIANA. The following letter, from Mr. Gibson, will be found interestino- : — O R. Buchanan: — Dear Sir. — Mr. A. Goodwin, my fatlier-in-law, yesterday- placed in my hands a letter from you of January 28th, and requested me to reply to the questions therein propounded, which I take great pleasure in doing. The number of acres of grapes in cultivation in our county (Clark), is somewhere between 150 and 200, and steadily on the increasje. The Catawba is almost exclusively cultivated. Those who plant a few Isabellas, generally dig them up after a few years' trial. The objection to them is that they are much more liable to the rot than the Catawba. The distances at which the vines are planted vary in differ- ent vineyards from 3 by 6 to 4 by 8 feet. Mine is 8 by 8 feet; but I know of no others planted so widely apart. The cultivation adopted is simple, and costs next to nothing. The land is deeply plowed in the spring — holes dug with a spade, and two or three slips planted in each hole — the ground is then planted in potatoes and pays for its culture — second year the same. Third year the vines are staked, plowed and hoed once or twice. I have never known manure to be applied, and most of our cultivators are of opinion, that the poorer the land the better it is for the grape. When Mr. Goodwin first commenced the culture of the grape, he planted perhaps an acre in a very rich river bottom, and cultivated them with a great deal of care. They made enor- mous growth of w^ood and a fine show of fruit ; but it invari- ably rotted. I do not believe that he ever got two barrels of grapes from the vineyard. It was finally dug up and destroyed. The grape is very subject to rot in some seasons, though hardly as much so, I think, as around Cincinnati ; at least ours have escaped here, when yours were partially destroyed. SPRING PRUNING SPUR SYSTEM. 117 Vineyards planted in low valleys have generally been aban- doned. The fruit is almost always killed by spring frosts. The average quantity of wine per acre is about 200 gallons ; this, I mean, for an average of different years. I have known them to rot so badly as not to produce 50 gallons. One thing I have never yet known — a vineyard to sufifer much from the rot the fourth year — the crop is always good. The juice is generally sold from the press at from 70 to 80 cents per gallon, to vintners in Louisville, Cincinnati and New Albany. My attention was called, a few years ago, to a grape which has been cultivated here for the last forty years, and is, I think, a native. It is about the size, shape and color of the Cape, but, in my opinion, superior to the Catawba, as a table grape. It is a vigorous grower, and entirely free from rot, but somewhat liable to crack when exposed to the sun. T. Ware Gibson. Charleston, Ind., Feb. 26, 1850. spring pruning SPUR SYSTEM. The following letter on this subject will be read with inter- est by vine-dressers. Mr. Sleath is one of our best prac- tical horticulturists. He had charge of Mr. Longworth's green-house and garden for many years. R. Buchanan: — Sir. — At your request I now give you the method of spring pruning which I have lately adopted in my vineyard, and which I believe to be the best. It may be called the alter- nate spur system, for want of a more descriptive name. The method is simply this : Instead of training only two canes to the stake for bearing wood, as pursued in the bow system, train three or four. Then, in the ensuing spring, cut down to two or three eyes, and train three or four canes for bear- ing the next year, from the lower bud, or that next the 118 APPENDIX. stake. This can be done by pinching in the bearing branch from the upper bud of each spur. Subsequently cut down, in the spring, each branch intended for bearing to two eyes, regulating the number of spurs, to the age and strength of the vine. To prevent the stalks from getting too high, cut back from the top, and train young wood from the lower buds. I will frankly admit that this system requires more care and better judgment in summer pruning than the old one; but I am certain it will produce more perfect fruit, which is the great object. Respectfully, G. Sleath. Note to page 67. — The success at first, of the Swiss at Vevay, Ind., in vine culture, was owing to their selection of a native grape — the Cape. For several years their vineyards prospered ; but being planted on new land, in rich river bottoms, and the ground not trenched, they were much troubled by rot, and finally abandoned. Another cause of failure, was in the quality of their wine, which was made too harsh and acid, to suit the taste of the American consumers. But few vine- yards are now cultivated at Vevay, and those on the hillsides. The town is a Swiss village no longer. Many of the descendants of the former " vignerons," removed to other parts of the country; some settled in tliis vicinity, and few of those that remain, follow the occu- pations of their fathers. It has lost the charm of novelty to the west- ern traveler, which it presented thirty-four years ago, when the writer there, for the first time in his life, saw vineyards. CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. PREFACE TO THE STRAWBERRY. The following articles from the peu of Mr. Loxgavorth, on the culti- vation of this delicious fruit, will be found highly interesting and in- structive. Cincinnati has, of late years, been famous for her fine sugar-cured hams, sparkling Catawba wines, and a cheap and abundant Strawberry market. The latter has mainly resulted from the discovery, that certain fine va- rieties of the strawberry were more prolific in the pistillate than stami- nate organs, and that when beds were planted with a due proportion of male or staminate plants— say one-tenth — the crop was far more abun- dant, and the fruit finer than that produced by the old methods. When this became known to Mr. Loxgworth, about twenty -five years ago, he at once made public this secret, possessed by a few, that all might profit by it. Oar cultivators had the good sense to adopt it, and the result has been, that from the same quantity of ground, we produce more Straw- berries, in this vicinity, than in any other portion of the Union. For many years Mr. Loxgworth was warmly opposed on this ques- tion by Eastern Horticulturists. Some of them have lately yielded to his opinions, and others are probably testing its accuracy by experi- ments of their own. The Cincinnati Horticultural Society appointed two committees, at different periods, to investigate the subject. After a careful examina- tion, both reported favorable to Mr. Longworth's position, fully sus- taining his views in almost every particular. These reports are here- with presented— the first in full, the latter only in part, for want of room. Several valuable Seedling Strawberries have been produced by the Horticulturists in this vicinity. Mr. Geo. Graham's a-nd Mr. Mottier's were favorably noticed some six years ago ; and those of Mr. D. Mc- Avovr and Mr. Schxeicke, exhibited last spring, created quite a sensa- tion in the Horticultural Society. The premium of one hundred dollars was awarded to Mr. McAvoy, for his "superior" — the best of three fine varieties of his production; — it was pronounced, by the committee, better, in every respect, than any other Pistillate Strawberry cultivated in this region. Schxeicke's Hermaphrodite Seedling, named "Longworth's prolific," from its size, quality, and the perfect fruit on all its blossoms from its first bearing, was deemed superior to any plant of that class known here, where the best English Hermaphrodites are cultivated. (121) CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. Mr. Buchanan : — It occurs to me, that in connection "with your publi- cation in relation to the grape culture, and the manufacture of wine, engravings of the Strawberry blossom, and a short description of their sexual and bearing character, will be highly beneficial, if properly un- derstood. Every family having thirty feet square of ground, may have an ample supply of fruit. In our best species of Strawberries, there are four distinct kinds, as to their sexual character, and this character is never changed, if each kind were cultivated for a thousand years. The last persons to believe in this difference in the sexual character of the plant, are our botanists. For it is true that the Strawberry be- longs to a class of plants, that possess both male and female organs in the same blossom. But in their wild state, and in raising from the seed, there are three kinds produced, entirely differing in their charac- ter. And in raising fr«m seed, one maybe found in many thousand plants, distinct from the former three. Of the last description, until recently, I had met with but two, the Eberlein, and Duke of Kent. The size of their fruit is too small to render them very desirable. A new Seedling, raised by one of my tenants in the Garden of Eden, (Mr. Schneike), from seed that I furnished, is of this character, and should it sustain the bearing character it has for five years (the period since it first bore fruit), it is superior to any plant of its character, or any Hermaphrodite in cultivation. It has produced each season a full crop of extra large fruit, of fine quality. The pistillate blossoms not only produce a certain crop, having staminates in the truss, but each Hermaphrodite blossom has proved perfect in both organs, and pro- duced large, perfect fruit. In this, it thus far differs from all Hermaph- rodites The famous Keen's Seedling, Swainstone, and others of that class, will not average one-fourth of a crop of perfect fruit. One of the three varieties first named above, is always perfect in the male organs, but the female organs are so defective that not one blossom in ten thousand will bear a perfect fruit, and rarely a defective one. "We call them staminate. Another of the three, always perfect in the female organs, but so defective in the male, that it is a rare occurrence for them to produce even a defective berry, without impregnation from other plants. These we call pistillates. The third one we term Hermapliro- dites. Being perfect in stamens, and more or less perfect in pistils ; these bear from one-tenth to one-third o( a crop. This variation in (123) 124 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. product is owing to a better development of the pistils in favorable sea- sons. The famous Keen's Seedling, and other prized English varieties, are of this character, for it is not till recently, that they have under- stood the true character of the plant, but have adhered to the opinion of Linnjeus, that all varieties have both organs perfect, and a failure to bear fruit, they attribute to the effect of frost. The last rare variety is a plant that has, with staminate and Hermaphrodite blossoms, or Hermaphrodite blossoms only, a portion jDurely pistillate. Hermaph- rodites, and staminates, to a casual observer, present the same appear- ance. Where there are no insects, even Hermaphrodite blossoms require impregnation by hand. It is even said, that some kinds of plants, if not all, require particular kinds of insects to perform the impregna- tion ; that some plants, strangers to our climate, require impregnation by hand, as we did not, with the plant, import the insect designed to perform the labor of impregnation. Of the truth of this, I have no knowledge, never having had my attention drawn to it. I believe one staminate, or Hermaphrodite plant, will impregnate twenty or more pistillates. Both require watching. If you plant but one staminate to twenty pistillates, the staminate will, in two years, take entire posses- sion and root out the pistillates. They are the most vigorous, and hav- ing no fruit to exhaust them, make ten new plants, where the pistillates form one. That Hermaphrodites require impregnation by insects, or by hand, I ascertained last season and this. In my grape-house, I had, last spring, a large number of pistillates and Hermaphrodites in pots. When in blossom, no insects were stirring, and neither bore fruit. In the garden, when the plants were in blossom, it was cold, and an in- sect was rarely seen, except on the south side of a high garden wall. There my blossoms were fully impregnated, for there insects congrega- ted. I had a large number of beds of plants, commencing twenty feet south of the wall. There, not one blossom in fifty of pistillates or Hermaphrodites, had a perfect fruit. This season, in my grape-house, I impregnated both kinds by hand, with a brush, and now have all fully impregnated, and fruit nearly ripe. I learn from my gardener, recently from England, that they now, in forcing their Strawberries, also impregnate with a brush. To shake the pot daily would produce the same effect, and I presume, more perfectly. I would recommend to plant three beds of pistillates, then a single row of Hermaphrodites, followed by six or eight beds of pistillates, and so continue to the end of the patch. I should cut off the runners in the single rows, and not allow them to increase. A staminate Seed- ling may come up in a bed of pistillates, and root most of them out of CtJLTURE OF THE STRAWfiERRY. 125 the bed, before his presence is observed. Tliis, and the prolific charac- ter of the staminates, has led many of our first Horticulturists, and among them Mr. Downing, to believe that pistillate plants become sta- minate by running. For our knowledge of the sexual character of the plants, even our learned botanists and gardeners, are indebted to a thoughtless remark of the son of an illiterate market gardener, who lost many thousands of dollars by the casual remark of his son. He made an independence by selling his strawberries from twenty-five to fifty cents per quart. The discovery reduced the price so much, that he turned his attention to vegetables. Cincinnati, March, 1852. "N. Longworth. THE STRAWBERRY. This is one of the most abundant fruits of the west. Im- mense quantities are raised for the Cincinnati market, one in- dividual (Mr. Culbertson), having sent to market, in a single day, four thousand quarts, and employing sixty hands to gather them. All the famous eastern varieties are cultivated here, and do well. Beside these, very fine Seedlings have been raised by Mr. MoTtiER, Mr. LoisfowoRXH, and others, that are as large, prolific, and high flavored, as have been described by eastern writers. The plan of shipping them to Note. — These cuts represent the difference of the flowers of the Strawberry plant. No. 1, is the staminate. No. 2, is the pistillate. STRAWBERRY BLOSSOMS. No. 1. No. 2. Stamiuate or Male BlosBom. Pistillate or Female Blossom. 126 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. New Orleans, packed in ice, has just commenced, and may eventually become an important branch of business, as they can be taken down in a week by our regular packets. No place in the world is probably better adapted for preparing strawberry jelly for exportation ; of which article, a large quantity is now annually imported from France, and sold in the eastern cities, and at New Orleans. For an elaborate account of the theory in regard to the in- fluence of the sexual character upon Strawberry plants, the reader is referred to Mr. Longworth's letter to the Society. — (Minutes Cincinnati Horticultural Society.) I regret that the committee on the character of the Straw- berry plant, have not yet been able to make up a unanimous report. It arises from a failure of the crop with some mem- bers of the committee, and from a conviction with our Euro- pean gardeners, that all varieties were perfect in both organs, in Europe ; and they are slow to believe the contrary. This I am positive is not the fact in England. In some soils and some climates, and in favorable seasons, such staminate plants as are partially perfect in the female organs, yield a larger crop than usual ; but can never be made to bear a full crop. But in raising from seed, fully one half will in general be staminate plants, and not one in fifty of them bear even a single fruit. Those that do bear, produce many defective berries. I do not believe that any soil, climate or season can make the pistillate plant bear singly ; and it is the only one worthy of cultivation for a crop. Of this, and of the stamin- ate and pistillate character of the plant in England, we have positive evidence from their great horticulturist, Keen himself. In the year 1809 (if my memory serves me as to date). Keen discovered that a new Seedling of his, planted by itself, did not swell the fruit. On a careful examination of the blossom, it struck him that it might be owing to a defect in the male organs. He then placed some staminate blossoms in a vial of water, and suspended them in the bed. He found the CtTLTtTRE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 127 fruit in the vicinity to swell immediately, and he placed more vials of staminate blossoms in different parts of the bed, and had a fine crop. His letter will be found in the Transactions of the London Horticultural Society for that year. What was true in 1809, will be found still to be true. I have fur- ther evidence of the character of the plant in England. Fif- teen years since, I imported several varieties of strawberries from London, and among them I had both staminate and pis- tillate plants, but not one variety in which both organs were perfect in all the blossoms. The staminate varieties bore from one-tenth to one-third of a crop. Under the name of Keen's Seedling, I got a pistillate plant, that impregnated, produces abundantly, and the fruit is large and fine. By themselves, an acre would not produce a perfect berry. It is not, what in England is generally known by the name of Keen's Seedling.- — Mr. Keen raised many varieties. The true Keen, is a staminate plant, and is more perfect in both organs than is usual, and produces a partial crop of large fruit. I incline to the belief, that for market, their gardeners cultivate the same seedling of his as the one sent me, and probably the same kind he impregnated by hand. It is truly a valu- able kind, and worth twenty of the staminate seedlings. The staminate Keen is cultivated for forcing, and as the object is large fruit, all the blossoms are picked off, except three or four that set first. But it will be asked, if true, why is not this known to botan- ists, and to all our nurserymen who raise the plant for sale. The reasons are obvious. The strawberry belongs to a class of plants that have both the male and female organs in the same blossom. In all the white varieties I have seen, and in the Alpines, both organs are always perfect in the same blos- som. Both organs existing in all other varieties, though not both perfect in all the blossoms, the attention of botanists is not directed to it, or where noticed, is supposed to be an ac- cidental defect. In all the other species and varieties I have 128 CtJLTtJtlE OF THE STRAWBERRY. seen, botli wild and cultivated, I have met Avitli one only, where the defect in the one organ or the other, was not appar- ent, and in that the fruit was very small. I have never seen a pistillate plant (one in which the female organs predomin- ate), that would by itself produce any perfect fruit. Stamin- ate plants (those in which the male organs predominate), where partially productive, generally produce the sweetest and most highly-flavored fruit. In certain soils and certain seasons. Keen's seedling, Wilmot's, the Iowa, and some other staminate varieties, will produce half a crop. Where our horticulturists raise from seed, all the staminate plants that are entirely barren, are of course thrown away, and the few staminates that produce a partial crop of large fruit retained. A pistillate plant, that, mixed with others, bears a full crop of large berries, is transplanted as a treasure, into a bed by itself, for increase. The gardener is the next season surprised to find it wholly barren, and after one or two trials, throws it away. The nurseryman, within a space of 100 feet square, culti- vates twenty or more varieties, and a large portion of them are always staminate, and impregnate the pistillate varieties. Fruit not being their object, their attention is not directed to their bearing, and the failure of a full crop, in any variety, is attributed to frost, or accident, or its being a bad bearer. Of this we have a strong instance in Hovey's seedling. It is eleven years since he raised this plant ; he has increased it extensively for sale. Six years since, I made known the de- fect in the male oi*gans of the plant, and drew his attention to it ; and asserted that an acre of them, separated from all others, would not produce a perfect berry. Until 1842, he continued to contend, and was positive, that his plant was perfect in both organs. In 1842, he admitted in his Magazine its defect in the male organs. In 1844, he went back to his old doctrine, as will be seen by his Magazine ; and it was not until the August No. of his Magazine of the present year. CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY 129 that his mind was again mystified on the subject. How are the mere uvrkics to gain information, when the editor of a Horticultural Magazine, and a nurseryman, who undertakes to enlighten others, has not, in eleven years, ascertained the character of his own seedling ? I am the less surprised at this, and acquit Mr. Hovey of blame, as Mr. Downing, in a recent letter, assures me, that last season, he raised a fine crop of Hovey's seedlings, on a bed far separated from all others ; and for a still stronger reason — that even the London Horticultural Society holds the same doctrine. But the ques- tion is now under investigation, and light is thrown on it yearly by cultivators, and even the London Horticultural So- ciet}^ will soon acknowledge their error ; but not until Mr. HovEY has satisfied his own mind, when he will doubtless draw public attention to it. Yet Mr. Hovey, in his August No. of the present year, states, a person had cultivated an acre of his seedlings, where they were mixed with staminate plants, and raised two thousand quarts, and that his new seedling is valuable for impregnating his old one. Here is a tacit admission, that his old seedling is defective in the male organs. The yield was not a large one. Mr. Jackson raised at the rate of five thousand quarts to the acre, near Cincin- nati, as he informed the public in a late publication. Mr. Downing, I am positive, had not Hovey's seedling unmixed with others. To keep varieties separate, is next to an impossibility, and the more so, as new ones are often produced in the bed from chance seed. I was absent from home two months this summer, and left it in charge with my gardener to watch the beds, and keep down runners. On my return, I found the pistillate beds had become mixed, and the staminate Iowa had run on the adjoining pistillate beds, on each side, a dis- tance of nine feet. But though Mr. Hovey appears to admit that his old seedling requires staminate plants near, on the same page, he remarks, *' It is time and labor thrown away 130 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. to cultivate sterile plants, as has been recommended by some individuals, when varieties unusually productive, and of large size, can be planted out for that purpose." He here, of course, refers to his own seedlings. Mr. Downing describes the Old Hudson as " a fruit with a neck." Our Hudson is the reverse of a necked fruit, and I have never seen a single berry of this kind with a neck ; and I am positive that ours is the same variety that has been cul- tivated under this name in New Jersey, and in the vicinity of Philadelphia, more extensively for market, for the last fifty years, than all others united. The Hudson, or Hudson Bay, is described in English works as a necked fruit. They obtained it from New York many years since, and do not consider it a first rate fruit. I incline to the opinion, that the true Hudson was not sent them, or has been lost, and a new variety substituted. It has been of late years imported from England by New York gardeners, and by them consid- ered the true Hudson. The genuine Hudson is not now to be found in Boston, and probably not in New York. It is wholly defective in the male organs, and has been thrown by as unproductive. It is a large and finely-flavored fruit, and, where properly impregnated, a great bearer. Mr. Downing, in a letter to me, suggests that our Hudson has probably lost its neck by impregnation with other varie- ties. I hold that the character of new seedlings is changed, where the mother plant was impregnated by a different vari- ety, but that the shape or color of the fruit is not, where im- pregnated by a variety differing in shape and color from the plant impregnated. I wish to see the experiment made, whether the size of the fruit of the pistillate plant is in- creased or lessened by the staminate plant used for impreg- nation. An experienced market gardener assures me that it is increased. I have this moment received a letter from Col. Carr, an old and experienced horticulturist of Philadelphia. He CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 131 writes me, "I have conversed with Mr. Hobson and others, who pay great attention to the cultivation of the strawberry, and they all unite with me in opinion." ** The Hudson is the principal sort cultivated for market, and has been for fifty years. It is what we call female or prolific. It never has a neck. A Mr. Abergust, who was my near neighbor, and excelled in strawberries, removed to Cincinnati about thirty years since, and took the true Hudson with him, and the same now cultivated here. All our principal- market gar- deners now begin perfectly to understand the difference be- tween staminate and pistillate plants, and find the former such strong runners as generally to prefer keeping them in separate beds." Mr. Abergust for many years sold nine- tenths of the strawberries brought to our market, and raised the Hudson only. While I could, from one-fourth of an acre, scarcely raise a bushel, he would raise forty bushels. His fruit was much larger than any other brought to market, and commanded from 25 to 37^ cents per quart. He made a handsome competence from the sale of his fruit. His secret he kept to himself, and had been as much noted for the size of his fruit and the quantity raised on a given space of ground in Philadelphia as he was here. A chance obser- vation of a son of his one day, in my garden, saying, ** I must raise but little fruit, as all my plants were males," first led my attention to the subject. I soon discovered that there were what he called male and female plants, and com- municated the fact to our market gardeners. The result was, strawberries rapidly increased in our market, till as fine as had been raised by Mr. Abergust were sold at from 3 to 10 cents per quart, and he ceased to cultivate them. The British Queen is, at present, the most popular straw- berry in England, and much sought for here. Messrs. Cun- ningham & Son, of Liverpool, write me, that it is a fruit of fine size and superior flavor, but with them is a bad bearer ; that, in some soils and situations, it is said to be a good 132 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. bearer. Here is the old story. I am convinced it will be found to be staminate, and of no value to our market gar- deners for a general crop. It may be pistillate, and its bad bearing caused by the absence of staminate plants. If so, it will be very valuable. Certain it is, it will not be found perfect in both organs. In a late number of the Farmer and Mechanic it is said: "Foreign strawberries are unproductive about Boston, and the only ones now cultivated are the Wood, Early Scarlet, and Hovey's Seedlings. That three cultivators near Boston %q.vl\> four thousand five hundred quarts to market in 2l single season J* What will our market gardeners say to this^? The Wood strawberry is thought by them to be worthless, and not a quart was ever sold in our market. Its only merit is, that its blossom is said to be perfect in both male and female organs. The Early Scarlet is raised to some extent ; but four-fifths of all the strawberries sold in our market are the Necked Pine and Hudson ; mostly the latter. Mr. Culbertson brings more strawberries to our market than any other per- son. The greatest quantity he has brought in any single day was four thousand quarts ; and not one of the kinds named in the Farmer and Mechanic among them. All were the Hudson. By properly understanding \he true character of the plant, Mr. Culbertson has been able to gather nearly as many quarts in a single day as three Boston cultivators were able to do in a whole season. I saw an editorial article in a recent eastern horticultural paper, speaking in high terms of the Alpine strawberry, as raised by a Col. Stoddert, and its great produce, which yielded him, at 12^ cents per quart, upward of ^1,600 to the acre. It is an indifferent fruit, and never yielded one-fourth the quantity. Can Hovey's Seedling, or any other large-fniited pistillate strawberry, be impregnated by the Alpine Monthly ? It is my impression that they are distinct species, and that it can- not be done. If it can, a cross might be produced that, with STRAWBERRY REPORT. 133 the size and flavor of the one, might be united the ever-bear- ing character of the other. There is a wild, ever-bearing variety in our State, that would cross with the Scarlet and Pine, and is the only kind I have ever seen worthy of the name of Ever-bearing; for the Alpine, after the first crop, rarely produces much fruit through the season. Thirty years since, I met with a solitary strawberry plant on Mount Adams, then in bloom. I removed it to my garden, and the plant not only bloomed freely till frost, but all the runners threw out blossoms at the same time that they made roots, and bore abundantly till late in the fall. The- fruit was small, but of fine flavor. A new hand in the garden, early the next spring, supposed they were weeds, and destroyed them. The old pioneer, Lewis DavIs, informed me the same variety grew in Greene county, on the clifts, and had been frequently seen by him. I trust it may again be discovered, and Ohio have the credit of producing the only ever-bearing straw- berry, as well as raspberry. The latter plant, to produce a good crop, during the summer and fall, requires a moist soil. My ground in the city is too rich and dry for it. I have never seen the plant bear as well as in Newark, New Jersey, on a side hill, where the ground is moist, poor and stony. The plant did not attain half the size it does here ; but the fruit was large and abundant till frost. N. LONGWORTH. REPORT ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY. (Made June 13tli, 1846.) The Committee appointed two years ago, at the request of N. LoNGwoRTH, Esq., to investigate the character and habits of the Strawberry, having had the subject under considera- tion, beg leave to report : That after numerous experiments made by the members of 134 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. the Committee, relative to the character of the plant, and its productive qualities, they have unanimously arrived at the following conclusions : 1 . That strawberry plants raised from seed, like many other plants, are liable to run into diversified varieties, and a pecu- liarity in these varieties, is the irregularity of the reproduc- tive or sexual organs. 2. That a few varieties have the flowers perfect in the sexual organs, and present the stamens and pistils both fully developed in each flower. Such flowers may produce a good crop of medium-sized fruit, as we have witnessed this season, in the cultivation of the La Grange (a variety of the Haut Bois), in the White Pine, and in the Monthly Alpine. 3. Another class, which is numerous and embraces the best varieties cultivated in this neighborhood, has the female or pistillate organs fully developed, and the male or staminate organs so imperfect, that at first glance they appear to be wantino- ; but a critical examination and dissection of the flower will disclose them, few in number, and so imperfect in anthers and pollen, that they appear incapable of fertilizing the stigmas ; consequently, they are termed pistillate or female plants, and require a staminate plant near them to furnish the fertilizing powers ; for without staminate plants, the crop will be small, and the berries imperfect. Hovey's Seedling plant will illustrate this class. 4. Other varieties are perfect in the male or staminate or- gans, with the pistils imperfect. Such plants will produce an imperfect crop, although some flowers may have perfect pis- tils, and produce the berries of large size ; but under the most favorable circumstances they will fail to mature an abundant crop of fruit. It may be proper here to state, that these varieties have a strong growth, producing vigorous runners, and when planted with pistillate plants, within two or three years, they occupy STRAWBERRY REPORT. 135 all the ground, and the cultivator, who is ignorant of their habits, generally concludes that his productive plants have become barren ; when, after proper examination, he would see that the pistillate plants had been displaced by the rapid growth of the staminates, and the quantity of fruit propor- tionably diminished. 5. There are other varieties so defective in the pistils or female organs, as to be completely sterile, and fail to produce fruit, either in their native state or under the most careful cultivation. A majority of the Committee also express the opinion, that the varieties mentioned never change their character, so as to be transferred from one class to another, but continue their original distinction in the runners, and remain the same under all circumstances of cultivation. The minority of the Committee think that sufficient experi- ments have not yet been made, to demonstrate fully the truth of this opinion. Your Committee, therefore, relying upon their own experi- ments, and those made by other cultivators, freely state, that to insure an abundant product of large fruit, the principle of hybridizing must be adopted, and such varieties selected to bear fruit, as exhibit the female organs, or pistils, largely de- veloped, with the male organs, or stamens, defective or unde- veloped. To fertilize the female plant with the necessary pollen, the pistillate plants must be accompanied in the same bed, or near to it, with male or staminate plants. This rule being strictly observed, in all favorable seasons abundant crops will reward the careful cultivator. As further evidence that this is the most successful mode for the cultivation of the strawberry, your Committee beg leave to refer to the quantity of strawberries sold in the Cin- cinnati market this season, which were furnished principally by those who have adopted the system of planting female or 12 136 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. pistillate plants, with a proportion of about one-tenth male or staminate plants for fertilizing. The amount sold has been ascertained by a Committee appointed by the Horticultural Society. The Committee reported the quantity in market each day during the most productive portion of the strawberry season, commencing on the 19th of May and ending on the 12th of June, — a period of twenty-two days, — in which time they state the aggregate amount at 4,150 bushels, being an average of nearly 200 bushels per day. Other estimates make the quantity much greater. This product of fruit, compared with other markets, and the quantity of ground cultivated, furnishes conclusive evi- dence of the success in attending to the cultivation of stami- nate and pistillate varieties. Jacob Hoffner, jr., minority on 5th position. William Smith, R. Buchanan, George Graham, A. H. EwiNG, A. H. Ernst, J. G. Anthony, minority on the 6th position. S. Mosher, S. S. Jackson, Committee. Cincinnati, June 13/A, 1846. STRAWBERRY REPORT. 137 REPORT Of the Committee of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society on the Statistics of the Strawberry, and the quantity sold in the Cincinnati market, for the year 1846. May 19th 10 bushels. 20th . . . . . . i\j ... 20 21st .. . . .. 20 22d . . . ...25 23d .. . ...55 25th . . . . .. 20 26th... ...250 27th... ... 200 28th.. . ... 200 29th... ...250 30th . . . ...300 June 1st 100 bushels. 2d 3d , 4th. 5th, 6th 8th, 9th, 10th, nth, 12th, 300 300 300 300 350 100 350 300 250 150 Total, for 22 days, 4,150 bush. D. K. Cady, Chairman. REPORT. The Committee to whom was referred the investiofation of the Sexual Characters of the Strawberry, beg leave to report : — That they have endeavored to discharge, in the most thor- ough manner, the duty imposed upon them, by investigating, with note-book in hand, the condition of various kinds of Strawberries, at the different stages of their progress, from the blossom to the ripened fruit, so as to observe any pecu- liarities of inflorescence, and watch the consequent effects upon the fructification. As an evidence of the fidelity with which your Committee have discharged their duty, allow them to say that this Report is based upon more than two hundred and seventy recorded observations, which were made with critical accuracy, and as extended, in almost 138 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. every instance, as it was possible to render them ; hence, it may be safely assumed, that they have now sufficient data and abounding testimony to prove the postulates they intend to lay doAvn in this report. The whole subject has been so ably and so frequently explained to this society and commu- nity that there is nothing new left for your Committee, who only reiterate truths well established and generally admitted among us. After carefully collating and reviewing the facts which they have observed and recorded, the Committee present the fol- lowing conclusio7is or 'postulates, which have been deduced from their united observations : 1. That there are many different varieties of the Straw- berry, which are characterized, in part, by the foliage, pubes- cence, mode of growth, and fruit, and, also, by their iiijio- rescence. 2. That the varieties in inflorescence (the most important to the cultivator) consist in the greater or less development of the stamens and pistils, respectively, upon which are based our terms and classification, " stammate" and "2)istiL late," or, more familiarly with the mass of cultivators, male and female. ( See 2^age 1 23. ) 3. That these classes are 'permanent aberrations from what the m-eat Lhinaeus considered the normal condition of this genus of plants, as of its natural family Rosace.e, 4. That nearly all botanists (and among them our most enlio-htened modern writers) have overlooked the important error of Linnaeus, and have simply copied after him in their descriptions of the strawberry, without verifying for them- selves; while a plain, unlettered market gardener, but a prac- tical and observing man, discovered* the important fact, that * "We say "discovered," because Ave are unable to learn that Mr. Arbegust ever heard of Mr. Keen or M. Duchesxe, or that he was at all in the way of reading anything upon the subject. STRAWBERRY REPORT. 139 while in some plants the flowers are apparently perfect in both sets of organs, one set is really defective, to a greater or less extent, and, in others, the flowers which we style j^isiil- late, have the stamens so imperfectly developed as entirely to elude a casual observation, and only to be discovered by a critical observer, and then, in most instances, found to be wholly abortive. 5. That no pe52;///aer/cc^ fruit every year. 8. That the only method of producing this delicious fruit, with any degree of certainty as to the result, is that now adopted by our intelligent cultivators, namely : To set out plants of both of the sexual classes, the relative proportions of each to be determined by experience, selecting such pistil- late kinds as may prove of good size and flavor, and only so many staminates as may be found necessary for impregnation. 9. That the runners from a strawberry plant are as integral portions of itself as the branches and buds of a tree ; and, therefore, that we may always propagate any variety by this means, with as much certainty as we perpetuate any variety of apple, or other fruit, by grafting or inoculation. There are great diff'erences in the productiveness of the staminates, from those which are entirely barren to those which may bear tolerably well, or even very well, under peculiar circumstances; but our cultivators have been unable to ascertain any regimen, soil, or treatment, that will insure 140 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. a full crop of berries upon any staminate variety, in a suc- cession of years ; and they, therefore, condemn them as un- worthy of cultivation, except as impregnators, and for this purpose recommend the selection of those which are remark- able for the size and flavor of their fruit, time of flowering, hardiness, etc. Since the great ^^ Strawberry Question" has attracted so much attention, very many persons, anxious to verify for themselves the new doctrine, have tried the experiment of planting pistillate kinds separate and apart from all others. These efi'orts have been carried on with more or less care and precision ; but the results, in all cases that have come within our notice, confirm the Committee in their fifth conclusion, that no 2^istillate 2^^(ini ivill hear a perfect fruit, if kept entirely apart from staminate varieties.^ And they are perfectly satis- fied that where any person thinks he has met with a different result, he must have been deceived by overlooking some male plants in the bed, or near it. The Committee, having examined a great many new seed- lings, which have not yet been tested sufficiently, have ob- served this fact, that, admitting them to be equally divided in their sexual character, the majority of the staminates will prove to be entirely barren. All those who would enter upon the business, or try exper- iments, are advised to commence by impregnating the best and largest pistillates with the largest and most highly-flav- ored staminates ; keep each plant and its runners entirely separate from all others ; test them well before exhibition, and lastly, if they be not decidedly superior to the kinds already * They take pleasure in referring to Mr. A. H. Ernst's article upon the "Cultivation of the Strawberry," in No. 11 of the Horticulturist, wherein he mentions some of our most intelligent cultivators, who had brought out this result with different kinds of pistillate plants ; and also to the admirable experiment of G. W. Huntsman, of Flushing, detailed in the 2d N"©., p. 88, vol. i, of the same journal. EXPERIMENTS BY HUNTSMAN. 141 grown, in size, flavor and productiveness, or, unless they have some peculiarity of lateness or early ripening, it will be best to say nothing about them; for we have several kinds already that are worth raising, and are not confined to a selection of four sorts, as some suppose, namely, Hovey's Pistillate, Boston Pine, Wood, and Scarlet, the three latter of which are here condemned as unproductive, being staminates. A. H. Ernst, Geo. Graham, S. S. Jackson, John Lea, N. Shaler, S. MOSHER, J. A. Warder. y Committee. (From Downing's Horticulturist.) TWO EXPERIMENTS MADE TO TEST MR. LONGWORTH's STRAW- BERRY THEORY. Taking Hovey's Seedling as a subject, I procured a bell- glass, and placed it over an entire plant which had not bloomed. The flowers expanded well under the glass, but did not produce one berry. The plant was frequently agi- tated to put the pollen in motion, if there was any. I also introduced under a glass some blossom buds before they had blown. These, as they successively expanded, showed no signs of swelling. I impregnated, at diff"erent times, two of the blossoms by hand, applying the pollen from another plant with a camel's hair pencil. These two set their fruit perfectly. The pistils of the other blossoms soon turned to a dark color. These experiments were made at the north side of a picket fence, where the plants were screened froni the full eff'ects of the sun, otherwise the heat under the glasses would have been too grpat. These experiments prove, to my mind, very conclusively, that Hovey's Seedling will not bear any fruit unless impreg- nated by softie staminate variety. Ajid the same may be 142 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. said of other varieties in which the stamens are obsolete. I have had some plants of the Hudson Bay for three years, in a position where they cannot very easily be impregnated by other kinds, during which time they have not borne one berry, while other plants of the same variety, exposed, have been productive. A difiference in the formation of the flowers on different plants is not confined to cultivated kinds, but may be seen in those growing wild in the fields, the pistil- late plants of which I have often examined with a magnifying glass, to see if I could discover any pollen, but have never been able to find it ; I am forced, therefore, to believe that pistillate plants, both wild and cultivated, are absolutely devoid of pollen, and cannot, therefore, produce any fruit except when impregnated by others. I am also convinced, from observation and theory, that one kind will never change to the other by oflf-sets. The runner bearing the same relation to the plant producing it as a tree grown from a bud does to the tree from which it was taken. It may, then, be asked, how does it happen that there are pistillate and staminate plants of the same variety ? I answer y it is not the fact, unless they have sprung from seed, or the plants have been taken from the fields in a wild state. That pistillate plants are surer and better bearers than staminate plants, is, I think, generally true (provided, of course, that they are impregnated). And it would seem reasonable to infer that when but one of the sexual ororans is complete, the other will have more strength. Plants, there- fore, that are perfect in both organs, require a higher state of cultivation. There is, however, a wide difference in the pro- ductiveness of different kinds, that are perfect in both organs, some being much more liable to blast than others. G. W. Huntsman. Flushing, L. L, July 14, 1846. _HPIH^- ^9^ '■^^IP &^»ii^