West-Jersey pioneer., 1875-02-11
GRAPE CULTURE.

Ai' oAOAF"i 1NicnOlS, III tu0 cldlf, re-
quested Mr.. Thomas Miller to open the con-
sideration of the grape as suited to culture
in Cumberland County.
Mr.. Miller's experience extended to few
vines only, but, Judging from their produc-
tiveness, he thought the grape must pay
well if sold directly to the consumer by the
producer.
Mr.. Simon A. Beckhardt had some knowl-
edge of grape-raising and wine-making;
taking the yield of an acre of grapes at two
tons and the price at two cents pound,
the yield would be $50 per acre. The weld
in Vineland has exceeded five tons TO the
acre and the prices have largely exceeded two
cents pound. The fear that the market
would be glutted and no sale found is
groundless, as they are worth at Longworth's
wine house, near Cincinnati, never less than
two and a-half cents per pound, and from
that to ten cents. Every producer can
make the wine himself if he chooses
twenty barrels, about forty gallons each, is
fair yield per acre. Cuttings started
~~O--N oAAS u
teen pounds of grapes will make one gallon
of wine-grapes at five cents pound will
cost seventy-five cents gallon, and other
expenses will make the cost less than dol
lar gallon. Four dollars per gallon is a
moderate retail price for it, and we have
sold it cheap at two dollars and a-half, in
quantities. He believed the farmers of the
country would be enriched to put in a few
acres in grapes, which, added to grain and
fruit culture, would give the farmer some.
thing to sell every year. For single farm,
hand press is sufficient for wine making.
Good wine will not bear adulteration-no
water must be added-though the various
kinds of grapes may be mixed in certain
proportions for different kinds of wine-
Have the utensils. tubs and barrels, all clean,
the barrel if not entirely sweet must be fl-
migated with burning sulphur. Pick off
all rotten and bad grapes before pressing.
Keep the barrels full while fermenting
with the bung laid on loosely, in six weeks
or when it is done fermenting, bung tight
casks leaving four or five gallons settings
in the bottom Of the old cask After this
it should be racked off every six months by
tapping few inches above the bottom.
Bottle off, if at all, at one year old; cork
tight, lay on the side and it will keep for
ages.
Mr.. Miller reported that in Vineland they
raise from cuttings of three eyes laid eight
cen inches apart in burrows and covered
with the hoe. He prefers buying them al
ready started as a year is saved, and they
are sold cheap.
Mr.. Beckhardt said in Europe they dig
trench knee deep, leave it open all winter,
in the spring put the cuttings in the bottom,
cover with soil lightly, then add the manure
SO the cuttings are quite deep. They all live.
Mr.. Holding said grape gi owing has been
found to be an important and profitable
business in both ancient and modern times
in the old world and now in the new. Cum,
berland soil he thinks is as good as any in
the United States for the grape, unless it
be California The grape needs gravelly
or sandy loan, which will produce much
longer than sand subsoil. and will pay bet
ter profits at two cents pound than toma-
toes will at sixty cents per q hundred
pounds. True you must wait three years
for the first crop, but after that they will
last your lifetime. The Concord and Clin-
ton are the most certainly successful both
for eating and wine making Many are de-
tered from planting by the directions to
subsoil and fertilize heavy, which is neces-
sary to raise some fancy kinds, but good,
dry corn ground will raise good grapes
Too high fertilization tends to overgrowth of
wood which is long jonted and sappy liza
BILE to winter kill and mildew. Starting
cuttings is one of the most easy and simple
operations of the nursery. Set the cuttings
fresh from the vine or kept covered in SOIL
If you can get three weeks growth before
dry weather so they can make roots three
inches long they will succeed. Tramp and
pack the soil, the top bud level with or
under the surface. After they are started
draw an inch or two of soil to them to cover
the old wood. Yearling vines are much
better than those two or three years old, as
the fibrous roots are nearer the cuttings,
and they are much better started in nursery
rows than in the Vineyard.
All these sections which have gone into
grape raising are prosperous. In setting
grapes to stakes three and a-half by four
and a-half feet is the usual distance; but
the vine trellis is considered the best The
rows should be six feet apart; vines eight
feet apart in the row; trellis five feet high,
with five wires though only training to the
fourth wire. Set the old wood of yearlings
one inch below the surface. For posts cut
to two buds, and when started, ruff out the
weakest for trellis leave three or four buds
and ruff out to two branches. The best
time to prune is after the first heavy frost,
after the fall of the leaf-prune to four or
five buds if strong. Next year let them
grow horizontally along the lowest wire,
pinching out laterals till they meet the trel-
lis. Next year let the laterals run up seven
to nine inches apart to the fourth wire.-
They will fruit the next year. In the fall
cut out the cane that have fruited, close to
the horizontal stem, and let the alternate
cane bear next year. The yield will read
lily reach four to six tons per acre, which
will certainly pay better than tomatoes.
Mr.. Miller would not think such a yield
possible, but as Mr.. Fishers yield was
about nine tons to the acre. he sees the
great success of the enterprise, but is not
satisfied that the moral part of the question
is not worth attention-the raising grapes
for wine making may lead to drunkenness;
to which it was replied that the same might
be urged against the growth of corn, wheat,
rye, or potatoes, which may make whisky
now wine versus whisky.
Mr.. s. Fisher has one hundred and two
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