The weekly Arizona miner., 1880-10-08
More About wnd Grapes. Wine Making. Etc

wild grape vine Of AIiz1ua, by vitiCu.turis, | in California, especiaiIy y Chas. A Wet
 more, who is 2 wing bis entire tune and tal
 ent 10 the investigation of matters con
 nected with grape groUing and wine mixing
 several residents of Prescott have uader
 taken tp assist ia furnishing such il for
 nation as they possess in fur'herauce of tb
 object. Believing that i, xiiI iutercs, man,
 ot our readers We have sought and oniaiae, Ipermiss,on of Daniel Harz, E.q, So ppbii-l
 the following cOumune4tio1, written Jl
 him, and detailing ths result of bis some
 wLat extensive o1penesoe Tn making win,
 from wild grapes.
 MR. WErMoBE-I have read your vslu
 able treatise on the inc, and especially or
 the wild grape, whick received from Hon
 T. J. Butter, of thiss place. Well kaowlue
 the great interest Ydn take in ihe matter
 I shall bc only too glad to furnish you with
 such facts as I nays gathered on this sub-
 ject in the past 24 sears:
 h 1856 I had oeeas,on 10 make some pies
 from wild grapes q Kickapoo, Kansas, three
 miles above Fort Leaveuwor,h. Finding
 the juice of the gtapes, after adding some sugar to ii, very tlei;cious, concluded 10
 make some wine of them, aud did make a
 lew bottles. TAe.Dext year, at Fort Leavep-
 worth. made six barrels, mostly from sum
 nler grapes. l have found three dis,iuc,
 varieties of wild grapes ID my experience
 vest of the Missouri River, viz: Summer grapes, Frost grapes and Fox grapes. The Summer grape Is the same us described by y"u as "Vitis California l have found them in nyer and creek bottoms of Mis- souri, Kansas, the ss0ulhern part of Colo rado, New Mexico and Arizona. This is ,he earliest wild grape known to me, and l think earlier than any tame grape The clusters form in almost endless shapes, some times almost compact, then again very loose and scattered. The outward, color, taste, size ana shape of the leaves, etc, are also diverse in almost every vine, but the same general charaetcris,ics exist on ali the streams alike, and going from one stream to anothcr docs not change the quality of the grape. In making Wiue from tals grape procured about the same qual- lty as the samples examined by Professor Pohndorf, but l have since succeeded In making a far superior wine in the following manner: l first pound the grapes in an open barrel, adIing from one L. two buck cts of water, then waiting until the pup rises to the surface draw the wine of Al. this mash the same pulp over agaIn and fiji the barrel up with water, aiding from 20 To 90 pounds of sugar to a 49 gallon bar rel, let tre pulp again rise To the top and draw of as before Mix this wine to the taste, adding sugar or water IS ycur taste may require, ana let t fermen, in the bar rel through an open 5Ung. h this way l have succeeded In making wine of exceed ingly bright and lively color, similar to Claret, or the Nr.tiia Of Italy, of far su- perior aroma tg tAc pare grape juice alone.
 Before leaving the Sumner grape l would call your attention to the nature oi Its growth, etc. I have Wa ched some vine, in the vicinity of Prescott since 1864, some l wiI bear every year if not nurt by the ee.lv igosts in spring. while others never bear, although ..-"" boom Protuseiy. l have never e14mi4ei ;he blooms ".t4 ! m cToseagc io lAi og; jle difference. l. i;i not possible that ;lcre are m4.8 ana female ] plants as with happs, hemp, etc! l have noticed this lac. wherever have gathered | wild grapes, and can safely say that from a |, to ls of the plants are always barren
 The summer grape rpeus from the middle ol July to October, and prefers rich | sand, loam and graycIy soil. Ihave known . them 10 flourish in almost solid rock-, with | only small creYices for foothoId, and bear abundautly even at an altitude of from | seven to eight thousand feet above the sea. .
 FEosT GEAFEz-This grape natures in | September and October, grows iE the same . places as the former, in Kansas, l,Iiuos, Missouri put prefers uch sandy woodland, . he clusters are more uniform, loose and . scattered, from ; to i inches long. The berries are shining black, mure jIi,y ami . almost as sour as tartaric acid, and only ,alatabie after the frost has ripened them, rom which fact, no doubt, they lake their name. The leaves are dark green nn the lpper sides, and covered with q peachy white fuzZ on the lower sides. do not re- nemuer to have seen any barren vines of hIs variety in good bearing seasons; It is ,o0u steady bearer. l have experimenied n maA ting 9Iae from this grape in kausas, ut II requires so much sugar and water to overcome it's acidity that there IS but little ,ure grape juice Tn the wine, which was so lid that II broke all my bottles, much rorse than champagne. l think this would , e a 70, d grape for California To mix with a nmc ofher sweetest white grapes, and would or be surprised to learH that by Skilful ! Ianipu atl0n fortunes may be made by l. rapes can easily be ordered from Kansas ' r St. Joseph, Missouri, this season, '
 Fox GRAPEs-Tms grape approaches c carer to the tame grape than any of the l lid varieties. The berries are light blue, l nip rose color, quite dry, not juicy, taste | stringent, swedish. sloey, contains a large v mount of tanIn: the leaves are reddish and II milar to the Frast grape. grows in warm luny up,a and asd wooded glade, companion , tke wild plum and crab-apple, is not ad-
 cted to uaFrenuess. Here, !n the vicinity Prescott, on the Lower Agua Fria, found wild white grape, but the season was SD r advanced al tiie time that l could only ll lpct A few impprfrcI befrle.. small. sour.