306 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



which he has ascertained is, that the sugar is in greater quan- 

 tity in the foot than in the rest of the cane ; it diminishes through- 

 out the first third of the length ; but if the mean term of the central 

 third, and that of the higher, be taken, there result nearly equal 

 quantities of sugar : it follows, that, from the beginning of the central 

 third up to the top of the vegetable, the distribution of sugar is al- 

 most uniform. The quantity of sugar in the central third is very 

 nearly the mean term of the total contained in the cane; to determine, 

 therefore, the value of a cane, it is enough to analyze the central third 

 of its length. If the prescribed rules be observed with some care, 

 the planter, who knows how to weigh, dry, and boil the cane, with 

 distilled water, or water condensed in the mill steam-engine, may, by 

 simple calculations, confined to multiplications and to divisions of 

 decimal numbers, always ascertain the mean saccharine richness of 

 his cane. 



GRAPE CULTURE IN THE VICINITY OF CINCINNATI. 



IN the vicinity of Cincinnati the culture of grapes, for the purpose 

 of making wine, is carried on to a considerable extent, and, as in 

 some other portions of our country, is increasing every year. A hill- 

 side with a southern aspect is selected, if possible, and the ground is 

 laid off into rows 3 feet by 6. The avenues should be 10 feet wide, 

 dividing the vineyard into squares of 120 feet. Two cuttings are 

 usually planted at each stake, but only one is allowed to grow, and 

 the time of planting is the end of March, provided the cuttings have 

 been previously buried in the earth for a time, so as to swell the buds. 

 The first year after planting, the vine is usually cut down to a single bud, 

 but the third year three or four are left. When the grapes are very 

 ripe, the unsound ones are carefully picked off, after which the bunches 

 are washed in a tub, or passed through a small mill, breaking the skin, 

 but not the seed, and then they are thrown into the press, and the 

 screw applied till they are pressed dry. For fermentation the juice is 

 put into clean casks in a cool cellar, and the casks filled within about 

 four or five inches of the bung, which is put on loosely. The gas es- 

 capes, but the wine does not run over, and in from two to four weeks 

 the fermentation ceases, and the wine clears. In February or March the 

 wine is racked off into clear casks, and a moderate fermentation again 

 occurs, after which the wine fines itself, and is ready for bottling or bar- 

 relling. The cost of a vineyard of six acres, with 14,400 vines, is, at 

 the most, $1,800. By the third year the vines generally produce 

 enough grapes to more than pay the expenses of that year, and after 

 that, for eight or ten years, the net profit per annum is $1,050, at 

 one dollar per gallon for the wine. To attain this the vineyard must 

 be well situated, and free from the rot. It is estimated tha.t over 300 

 acres are now planted with the vine within a circuit of twelve miles 

 round Cincinnati, nearly two thirds of which were in bearing in 1848, 

 producing, notwithstanding the prevalence of the rot, from 50,000 

 to 60,000 gallons of wine. The Catawba is the most cultivated, and 

 the Cape next, while the Isabella is raised only for table use. A 

 bushel of grapes, if well ripened, will produce from three and a half 

 to four gallons of wine. Condensed from the Patent-Office Report. 



