The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1865-03-01

Gus other winners, speculated-,fnallg
adopted the German method The ques.
ton then became as to mauureing or
drainage. Side-hW vineyards did not
require much thought on the latter point;
in digging, however, and preparing a.
vineyard on side-hills, we generally
threw the small stone excavated into the
bottom of the trench, which was two and
a half feet deep, then put in the top-soi
this usually flled it up eighteen inches
more; after that pat on the bottom clay,
and upon this l have expended many
hundred dollars, in placing guano, bone
dust, and other manures.
| am explicit in making this statement
to give the denial to a very labored re-
port made by two gentlemen of the Hor-
ticultural Society, stated that my vine
yard failed to yield, from want ofproper
hICeubloH anu Hidhule' III u COlLuuHlCa-
ton I made to that society some time
ago, Gin regard to grape culture, l as
serted that the culture ofthe grape in the
southern part of Ohio, was failure as
a source of profit. I did not predicate
my arguments upon the mode Of cutiva
ton, or particular kind of grape, but at
tributed the failure to atmospheric infu-
ences, and sudden changes Of tempera-
ture. Amy close observer, whose inter
ests have been largely at stake, can not
have failed to note that during the sum
mer months of the past ten years, the
very frequent light showers, followed by
hot sunshine during the day, and quite
cold nights. This, contend, produces
mildew in the early stages of the fruit
and, afterward, the spot, or black-rot. l
have had no difficulty in having myvine-
yard as fine promise of grapes as could
possibly ba asked for, and l do not by
any means complain, (as these gentle
men presume, or charge the failure to a
want of proper cultivation, but altogeth-
er to the simple fact of frequent and
sudden changes of temperature; and
wen on to prove my theory by evidenc-
ing the success Of the vineyards in Cali
fornia, the Floridas, and on our Lake
islands and shores, where it is well
known the winds prevail to a much
greater degree than with us around Gin
cinnati.
Now, as before said, we are not unsuc-
cessful on account of the "mode of cul-
tivatien;" and this, repeat, is proven
by the fact that our promise of fruit (from
vineygds) is all we could ask. Its des-
tructon is not caused, in my opinion,
either by disease of the vine, animalcula,
or of one particular grape having prefer
ence over another. Tile tg}ole is a fGi!-
ure, Notwithstanding anything to the con-
trary that may be said by these gentle
men, who may wish to further humbug
the community by foisting upon them
various seedlings at fabulous prices.
The first DRESSINGS of wine from the
Catawba Grape have been, time and
again, successfully compared with the
Delaware, Isabella, Notwithstanding,
Cigar-box, &C., and connoisseurs have
invariably given it decided preference.
1t is wine, when properly made, that
deies approximation from any other grape
ever produced in this country, and the
same causes which attend the failure of
as success will apply equally to all 9TH
ers,
Going back to the theory of the infiu-
ence of wind, which, [ contend, not only
blows off the miasma arising from the
ground, which, in the early stages of the
grape, produces mildew, but coming as
it does, unobstructed from off the water,
it has tendency to equalize, in great
degree, the temperature on land; hence
it is that my vineyard, and those rang
ing along the hill-sides of the Ohio Riv-
er. and other water-courses, have given
better show of fruit than those differently
But the argument is conclu-
siye when we look to the vineyards on
Kely's Island, or any of the Islands or
shores about Lake Erie. There it is a
rare thing for them to fail in growing
fine crops. Land in those places has
advanced from S25 to $500 per acre,