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xanc sott*piiit\ON<; gk,ife.
11 A writer in the Southern Cultivator , advises the far
triers of the State of Georgia to cultivate largely the Seup
pernong grape. He estimates that one hundred vines,
planted on three acres, will yield 5,250 gallons of wine
annually, at the end of ten years. At 40 cents per gallon,
the crop would amount to *2,100 00—a greater profit,
he argues, than has ever been made annually by cultivat
ing 100 acres oi cotton. A yield of 1,750 irallonsof wine
per acre ! May the common sense of the farmers of Geor
gia, or any other Stale, deliver them from operations bus
ed on such wild-goose est mates.”
So says the Rural New m Yorker. The writer probably
never saw aScuppernong vine, or tasted its fruit.
The article criticised, was one by our well known cor
respondent, Mr. Van Huron. We are* in the habit of
watching the statements of our correspondents like the
good woman at church did a strange clergyman ; but as she
knew all was right when her own minister .vas in the desk
and dropped off soundly to sleep, so with Mr. Van Huron's
communications in our case. We are satisfied that they
are all right, and let him say what he pleases in our par
ish. We did not closely observe the amounts of product
he gave. If we had, we should have remembered a state
ment of the late Dr. Neisler, made to us some years ago,
when wc asked the product of his largest vine that year,
and were told 35 bushels. This single vine would have made
from 85 to 105 gallons of wine that year, and yielded from
33 sueh vines about double the product claimed by Mr.
Vanßuren; now half or two thirds this product yearly,
would not be an exorbitant crop for one of these large
vines. Moreover, here follows an article in which the
writer, an intelligent and perfectly responsible gentleman,
over his own name, claims that Mr. Van Buren’s estimates
are too low.
Editors Southern Cultivator : —ln your January
number of the Cultivator , I notice a very interesting arti
cle on the culture of the Scuppernong Grape, which 1 en
dorse in every particular except one where the writer lays
down the axiom “ that wine from this grape can be made
of superior quality to any in the world, and cheaper than
from any other grape. The latter statement is true ; but
the former assumption is certainly a mistake, from the fact
that all grapes in Southern climates, where a humid atmos
phere obtains, contain a much larger per cent, of tartaric
acid than the same grown in a drier climate; hence the
wines of Astraean, and all the provinces north of the Cas
pian Sea, and the Upper Rhine, are superior to the wines
grown where there is more moisture. The quantity of
rain which falls in St. Petersburg, 124 inches ; in the
wine districts of France, 28; in Philadelphia, 36; in
Charleston, S. C., 48 ; and in N. E. Geo., (Dahlonega) 79 !
This immense difference is produced by the prevalence of
east storms during the fall, winter, and spring months—
their number varying from 20 to 25, and lasting from two
to three days—rarely six to seven. The vapor from the
Atlantic is condensed as soon as it reaches the elevated
plateau, and falls in rain when it reaches the mountain
slopes of the Appalachian chain, where the altitude varies
from 3000 to 6000 feet. The great vine region, from its
base southwards for 100 miles, embraces every variety of
soil, being most deficient in lime, which can be artificially
supplied. The vast belt of itaeolumite, which is destined
soon to yield countless millions of diamonds forms the
SOUTH ERN CU LTIVATOR.
central portion of this great vineyard, and I think will
produce a wine of superior quality to any other in tho
Southern States. Alternating 1 with this rock are Mica
ceous, Talcose Cloritie and argillaceous slates, together
with Hornblende and Granite rock.
That Mr. Va.fl Buren is correct in his conclusions rela
tive to the production of the Scuppernong Grape, as well
as its exemption from disease, there can be no doubt; but
his estimates are certainly too low. One hundred vines
at ten years old, will yield twice as much as he calculates,
and will bring, in market, five times as much. All the
poor wine growers in the Ohio valley express and sell tho
juice to the wine makers at from $1 to $1 50 per gallon,
and they bottle it up and sell it at ten years of age, at from
2to $3 per bottle. The producer of crude wine can al
ways count on *1 50 per gallon. The Scuppernong re
quires the addition of one pint of good brandy to each
gallon of juice; consequently the former can certainly
calculate on making at least SB,OOO from three acres of
vines, besides furnishing sufficient light wines for family
use as a beverage, which will prevent thousands from sink
ing under the numerous intestinal diseases incident to a
sudden change of temperature. In May, June and July,
the system is prostrated by excessive debility which super
induces inflammation of the mucous coating of the stomach
and bowels which in dry, hot seasons becomes epidemic,
and sweeps off thousands, and is known as bloody Jinx.
A glass of wine at dinner during that season, will effectu
ally prevent the disease, and serve to establish habits of
temperance, which is so conspicuous a feature in the wine
distiicts of Europe and Asia; and should be encouraged
by all well wishers of the human race—instead of the
puritanic and pharisaical course pursued by the temper
ance societies of Massachusetts, who advised that all the
orchards should be cut down to prevent making eider !
thus depriving themselves of one of the most essential
requisites of health, and also a great luxury. I hope yon
will urge on the people of Georgia to engage in the Grape
culture, and not only make five times as much money with
the same labor as they do with cotton, but secure an ex
emption from disease, which will save hundreds and thou
sands from an untimely death. Yours,
M. F. STEPHENSON.
There' let our critic in the Rural New Yorker, “ put
that in his pipe and smoke it.” Our friend Moore, it
seems is not exactly posted on Southern products. He
is a clever gentleman, and the Rural Neio Yorker is
really a first class family and agricultural paper, which,
if not quite reliable on Seuppernongs, is first rate author
ity on sheep. Our advice therefore, to him is “qu il re
vienne a ses moutons .” Let him go back to his sheep.—
Ed. So. Cult.
Superi’hosphate FOR Irish POTATOES. —Our friend Jos.
Harris, of Rochester, late editor of the Genesee Farmer ,
a good authority, says in that paper for July, 1864, in his
“ Walks and Talks on the Farm” :—“ I have one crop that
I feel proud of; some early June and Six weeks’ potatoes.
The ground is very warm and light, and I planted in good
season, and manured them in rows, at the rate of four
hundred pounds to the acre, with Baugh’s Raw Bone Su
per-Phosphate.
“ Better potatoes I never saw. Os all the manure I
have used the present season, this Raw Bone Super-Phos
phate, so far, has done the most good. For garden vege
tables it is certainly an excellent manure.”