specific gravity of the sweet must was 1.093, and at the time of bottling, August 18th, 1851, To the Officers and Members of the Agricultural Society of France. No. 1, at 60° Fah., was 0.992. I believe that the potash mixed with the soil, when brought up from the roots with the sap, will first combine with the tartaric acid, and that at the same time induces the malic acid which predominates in our wine to change into tartaric acid, which is precipitated during and after fermentation, as the bitartrate of potassa. This precipitation would not occur with the more soluble salts of malic acid. This vine is a native of Buncombe county, North Carolina, and has also been found wild upon the Arkansas. This native grape contains a large proportion of sugar. The wine acquired a fine flavor and bouquet, and great alcoholic strength; and what makes it more valuable to us, is its endurance of cold, having withstood 23 degrees below freezing point of Reaumer last winter, when most other native and foreign vines were I shall thank the members of your Sociekilled by the cold. ty to inform me whether similar experiOur soil is a fine calcareous clay, deposi-ments have been made in France, and with ted by an ancient tranquil sea, the rocks be- what effects, Very respectfully, longing to the lower part of the transition formation, but lacks the proper quantity of potassa and soda, so necessary to vine raising. In one of my vineyards, I put a quantity of silicious potassa, and at the time of hoeing in May, I add a handful of wood ashes to each vine. Bottle No. 1, contains the wine from this vineyard; and No. 2, from the vineyard where the soil was in its natural state. The L. REHFUSS, President of the American Wine Growers' To which the following answer has been received, and, with the report, has been translated for the Review: IMPERIAL CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, to send us, through Mr. Walsh, the consul of the United States. It is said Brazil produces a similar vine, which fruits in March, May and September, but this continual production of the vine can not produce a good wine. Two circumstances require our particular attention. First, that to the native vine, the preference has been given. Secondly, that By the report and resolution, which were accepted, I received an order to express the thanks of the Society for your communication, which was received with great interest. At the same time, I have the pleasure of sending you inclosed herewith, the report of sparkling wine has been produced. The the commission, allowing myself to express American vines, so exactly described by my wish that it may please you to communicate to us the new experiments made in that interesting branch of agriculture, in the state of Ohio. Be assured your communications will always be accepted with the greatest interest. PAYEN, Sec'y. Report on samples sent by L. Rehfuss, President of the Wine Growers' Association of Cincinnati, Ohio, -by MM. Payen and Bourchardat. GENTLEMEN:-You sent us for examination two samples of wine, Catawba and Isabella, raised in Cincinnati in 1851. The vineyards producing this wine have been set out in 1849, with two year old roots. These wine samples belong to two varieties of American vines, the Isabella and Catawba. The Catawba is a native of Buncombe county, North Carolina: was lately also found on the Arkansas river. Mr. Rehfuss gives the following as their descriptive properties: The fruit contains a great quantity of sugar; its wine is very tasty, having a rich bouquet; but its endurance of cold makes it invaluable. The must of the Catawba grape usually has a specific gravity over 1.090, nearly equal to our Pineaux must. Various attempts were made to make wine in America. Mr. Lakanal tried the vine culture in Kentucky for twenty years, but without success. In Vevay, Indiana, he Swiss vine dressers had once made an effort, but their small wine country exists now only in the memory of the inhabitants. our venerable M. Michaux, are not so easily affected by a change of temperature as our tender varieties. They do not bear fruit and flowers at the same time as our European vines, being raised in a hot and humid climate. The American vines in our collection bear very little fruit, and, therefore, can not be raised with profit by us. Will this be the case also in America? Will continual culture make them more fruitful? This the future will show. The strong and peculiar flavor of the grapes of the American vines, will not be easily reconciled by our delicate palates. The American wine samples particularly recommend themselves by their neat, clear color, and their ability to furnish carbonic acid, and become effervescent. The Isabella wine is of a rose color, has a particular perfume, contains .11 of alcohol, and an abundance of sugar. The wine gave .52 dry residue, double the quantity of our best white sparkling wine. The Catawba is of a white amber color, has less of this strong, peculiar bouquet, contains 11 per cent. of alchohol, with a great quantity of sugar. Evaporated to dryness, it gave .61, or three times as much as our Chablais wines. No doubt the wines in America will soon be much perfected; it shows great sagacity that the native vines received the preference there, and particularly as sparkling wines have been produced from them. We have the honor to request the Society to tender but on the hill-sides or mountains, and rich Mr. L. Rehfuss their thanks for his interest-earth is often carted several miles to form THE Houston Telegraph appears to be quite desirous that the culture of this luscious fruit should be introduced into Texas. Go on with your efforts! Who knows, until fair trial be made, what great success may attend your efforts? We commenced our experiments on the Ohio river, years since, and have only now begun to realize our reward, having much yet to learn. Do not proceed rashly; learn from your predecessors. Select your sites with judgment, and especially select your vines with care. not be persuaded to rely upon foreign varieties; some may answer with you, that have failed in this region. Endeavor to find a vigorous native vine of good qualities, for such there may be among your wildings, though the specimens of wine from Texas grapes that have reached us, have been very inferior. Do There is scarcely a doubt that the culture of grapes might be made as profitable here as in any part of Europe, or in the vicinity of Cincinnati. It is estimated that upward of 1,200 acres of land are now under cultivation in vines in the vicinity of Cincinnati, on the Ohio. The products of these vineyards is said to amount to upward of three hundred thousand gallons of wine, valued at as many dollars, and affording subsis-, tence to upward of two thousand persons. The climate of Texas being similar to that of Italy and Spain, must be more favorable to the culture of grapes than that of Ohio; and we are confident that vineyards are more profitable here than in any part of the valley of the Ohio. We believe the only attempts that have been made in Texas to cultivate the grape have been on the level region on the coast. These attempts have all failed, for the same reason, probably, that similar attempts have failed in Europe, where the vineyards are never found on the plains, terraces on the mountain sides for vineyards. The vines thus cultivated have thorough drainage for their roots, and they grow on, year after year, even for centuries, without being subject to blight or mildew. The Mustang grapes in Texas grow on, year after year, in the same manner, year after year produce successive crops of grapes which are as luxuriant and free from defect as those of the best vineyards of Spain or of Europe. We recently visited the valley of New-Year's Creek, Washington county, and were astonished to notice the immense quantities and the extraordinary luxuriance of the grape-vine. They were extended in many places in festoons, several rods in length, and loaded with tons of fruit. We believe we saw several vines, each one of which would have yielded a barrel of wine. If the native 'grapes grow thus luxuriantly on these natural terraces, surely the choice varieties of the grape might be cultivated there to advantage. The valley of New-Year's Creek probably contains a hundred thousand acres which are as well adapted to the culture of the vine as the lands in the valley of the Rhine; and if an enterprising and wealthy capitalist, like Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, would encourage a few poor emigrants from the vine regions of Europe to commence the culture of the grape in this beautiful valley, in a few years Texas might furnish the Atlantic cities with wine of a quality equal to the best which has ever been imported from Europe. Vineyard Calendar for April and May. THE article upon this subject, intended for April, was crowded out of the last Number. We shall, therefore, comprise in the present article, the observations for both periods. The vines should have been tied to their stakes, as previously directed, in the low form, or where vine trellises are used, horizontally and well secured in their places by suitable osiers of the yellow willow. damp or wet day must be selected for this process, as then the vines are less liable to A break at the points where they are bent; in doing this, a careful hand always gives the limb a gentle twist. Planting in the vineyard, whether cuttings or rooted vines, and planting nurseries of vines, is to be attended to at this time. quality, one of which resembled the Catawba in its original or native state. As I was on the eve of setting out for Macon, in order to attend the Fair, I took some of them with me; and although they excited considerable attention among the visitors, there seems to be a great deficiency of practical knowledge in such things in the South. The especial work for May will be to rub out the eyes where they are superabundant. The strongest should be preserved. This is I expected to have gone to Murraysville, to be done as soon as the blossom buds are last October, but was providentially hinsufficiently developed to guide us in leaving dered. I sent to my friends at Murraysfruitful branches. Pinching in and tieing, ville, and had one of the old Catawba vines are to be practiced as soon as it is observed grubbed up and forwarded, but it never that some of the young shoots are growing reached me. Our next Southern and Cenahead of their fellows, which must be check-tral Agricultural Fair is to be held at Aued by pinching, and secured by tieing with damp straw. Cultivation. Many vignerons insist upon an early hoeing of the soil; others prefer waiting until the weeds have started, when they may be turned under. This process is usually performed with a two-pronged hoe; others prefer the plow, which in careful hands, has many advantages, as it is a great labor-saving machine. Ashes may be applied at the same time. Insects.-Watch closely the inroads of these marauders, and remove them as speedily as possible. Letter from William Murray, Georgia. THE following extracts from a letter received by Dr. Mosher, were read at the Horticultural Society, and handed to me for gusta, next October. I strongly solicit a visit from some one of your Horticultural Society, as you will find that this is beyond doubt the best wine growing section of the United States, and fully equal to any in the world. I inclose a paper of Irish potato seed, saved from the balls or apples last August. I sowed part of them in September, and on the second day of December, upon examining what I had planted, found a number of young potatos from the size of a shot to that of a partridge's egg. To you, Doctor, or the Horticultural Society, do I appeal for assistance in conducting an experiment which I have begun with the Irish potato, and its diseases. I have it in the same condition as in 1795-6. I inpublication. The seed referred to were ju- that it may select some one to take charge close a paper of the seed to your Society, diciously distributed. of and plant them when spring opens. I have some small potatos from the seed sown in September last, and have many more to sow in the spring. I have two reasons for sending them to your Society: In the first place, there is more perseverance in your community in what are called small matters, which is the main constituent I SOME time since wrote you a long story about the native grape of our mountainous region of Cherokee, Georgia. I forget what I may have written. I visited the Sandstone mountain but a day or two since, which is computed to be two thousand feet high; on the top of that mountain I found grape-vines, all bearing fine fruit of extra of all important discoveries. When occasion THE VINERY. offers, I will give you the remainder of my experience in the cultivation of that crop since 1796. Should we not succeed in teaching Massachusetts how to raise potatos, we will, nevertheless, have the satisfaction of growing good ones for ourselves. I will endeavor to show that by means of my experiment, I have discovered, first, the cause of the disease, and secondly a remedy for it. This remedy I have in our soil and climate. And I wish the people of the great West to succeed-especially Ohio. For then the North will have to send to the South and West for seed. 379 is termed forcing can not be too gradual.- The moment the buds acquire size sufficient to distinguish their true character, what is termed disbudding should commence, whether on pot vines, or those otherwise situated. It must here be understood by beginners, that healthy vines generally may be By the time you are ready to plant your expected to produce more shoots than it is potatos I will write you again. In health, I am truly yours, WILLIAM MURRAY. The Vinery. THREE-FOURTHS, at least, of our garden possessors, who are in respectable circumstances, and who possess their little greenhouse, direct their first steps in exotic fruit culture to the vine. It would appear, from the character of many queries, that the writers thereof desire to know more of the minutiae of grape culture. Of course, all readers are not precisely alike; all tastes nct similar; all conditions not the same. One likes the very fundamental principles of culture; another thinks all such unattractive matters, and would prefer a cut-and-dry routine; and thus the world is compounded. In very truth, thousands who are fond of reasoning over principles, are obliged to resort to the latter off-hand way, inasmuch as they have not time, owing to their many engagements, to wade their way through the mass of conflicting opinions. The majority of our readers will, by the time these observations reach them, have their vines budding, or, it may be, blossoming; and it will be well to show forth the routine of practice, step by step, through the earlier stages. It is well known, that during the first swelling of the bud, up to the first peep of the young bunch, the advances made in what expedient to have on them. Now, this disbudding is not a process of a day, nor even of a week; it is essentially progressive; and the latter is a fortunate circumstance, as it affords the operator the means of equalizing, in a great degree, the strength of the tree, inasmuch as it compels the subsequent developments to assume a progressive character also-a matter of great convenience as bearing on the operations. It is not easy to say, without seeing the vines, how many buds should be removed, and how many left on, so much depends on the condition and character of the tree. But I may observe, that it requires nearly a square yard of space, (superficial,) in the average, to produce a good bunch of grapes of pounds. This may make some of our young folks stare, but they should be well impressed with this idea before they proceed with the disbudding. say two The fact is, it is altogether a question of light; and the more roof of a vinery it is, totally irrespective of all the interior area, that must determine the amount of produce. To produce a fair bunch of well-flavored grapes, there must be a shoot of about two feet in length, after what is termed severe stopping; and right and left of this, laterals which shade much, and occasionally overlap their neighbors-a thing, however, to be avoided; and at certain times they must be permitted to ramble somewhat freely, for reasons shortly to be offered; so that although the spray may not be confined to a given yard square, it will be found, on the average, to cast a shade on an area nearly |