74 THE YEAIM500K OF AGRICULTURE. 



The most approved method of preparing the ground for a vineyard is by trenching with the 

 spado t\\.> or three feet in depth (luring the full and winter, previous to planting. • attings 

 are mostly used, and are by many preferred to roots, even at the asms price; the arj nment 

 in their favor being that the roots which are produced from the foot of the cutting, when once 

 disturbed, will not readily grow again, and these lowest roots are for the grape admitted to be 

 the most important. The cuttings are planted two in a hill in the place where they arc iu- 

 tended to remain; and if both grow, one is cutoff or removed to till vacancies; the usual 

 distance being about three by six feet apart. The cost of trenching a vineyard vari< -. with 

 the nature of the soil, the amount of stone encountered in the subsoil, and the amount of under- 

 draining, from sixty to two hundred dollars per acre: and the planting, including the cost of 

 cuttings from fifteen to twenty dollars more. The labor required during the first time years 

 is very Blight ; thorough hoeing two or three times in a season, and spring and summer pruning, 

 are all that is necessary. In the second year the vineyard is supplied with stakes, usually of 

 good white-oak heart, costing about twelve to fifteen dollars per thousand. Locust si i 

 are better, and cost about double that sum. The common practice is to have only a single 

 stake to each vine; although some very successful cultivators use two stakes with two "bows" 

 to each vine. The "bow-and-spur" method of trimming is the most general method, although 

 many prefer, instead id' bending the branch in the shape of a "bow" or circle, to train each 

 vine across to the next stake in the row. 



The great enemy of the vintner is the rot. Of this there are two kinds; although some 

 persons think there is but one, with a slight variation in its manifestations. The first makes 

 its appearance in the form of a spot of yellowish-brown upon the berry, and i* called the 

 "spot rot." This spot rapidly enlarges, so that in twenty- four hours from its first appear- 

 ance in a vineyard, one-half of the crop is often blackened, and presents the appearance of 

 having been for weeks affected with decay. The other variety of this disease first shows a 

 slight discoloration under the skin of the berry, sometimes in veins or blotches, and ha- hi 

 derived the name of "blue rot." All the searching and experimenting of the best vine- 

 growers have failed thus far to discover aught of its cause or remedy. Some have in despair 

 given up the attempt to make any discoveries in this direction, and are in ho] ape the 



difficulty by finding new varieties not subject to the disease. 



The following statistics furnish some idea respecting the products and profits of the grape- 

 culture in Europe and the United States. In 1828, the aggregate number of acres devoted 

 to the culture of the vine in Europe was estimated at 72,587,600 acres, producing 1,67 1,680,000 

 gallons per annum. This gives an average per acre of L87 gallons. According to a careful 

 French estimate, the profits of vine-culture, after deducting all charges, amounted only to five 

 percent, on the capital employed. The total amount of capital employed was estimated at 

 £200 per acn ; this includes the price of laud, machinery, improvements permanent labor, 

 \w regard to the profits and products of the vine in the United states; — Mr. Robert 

 liuchanan, one of the most experience. 1 vine-growers in Ohio, lias furnished reliable Btatisl 



ng his estimate- on the cost of getting a vineyard of six acre* under thorough cultivation 

 and bearing at Cincinnati, and a] it- sub-e.|iient produce. 



The price of land from fifteen to fifty miles from the city of Cincinnati is estimated a! 

 per acre: — 



Pries of six acres $ 300.00 



Trenching (■.%.. feel deep .'iru.nu 



Cuttings, loddlng, and planting 2" 



Catting and .-ell in u 1 I,. SOU hickory - 190.00 



Labor of vim- .iic-.-ci s and attendants for lir-t year 231.00 



" •• •• second'" L'..n.00 



Hauling Battings and contingencies 



rest "u capital 180.00 



I I Of six acre- 2, IT"."" 



Atiial capital, per SON 87C 



This estimate from experience, it is found, can bo relied on by those wishing to plant vine- 

 yard- for profit. 



The pp. duct-, according to a careful table prepared by Mr. Buchanan, average of -ix j 

 were about 4'JO gallons per acre. The results of other experiments correspon ,rly 



