144 TB.ANSACTIONS OF THE 



vine occupies the same space (six feet square) as a larger one, and the 

 soil can only give up what it has received and has been kept there 

 by keeping the soil in a favorable condition to retain its water— 

 naniel}', cultivation. Agricultural chemistry is becoming a more 

 important science every day, and many scientists ,are now devoting 

 their lives to its study; and much benefit is now derived from them 

 by the " book farmer." 



By reading the results of the experiments as to how plants grow 

 and feed, by such men as S. W. Johnson, Professor of Agricultural 

 Chemistry of Yale College, but mostly by the Germans, who have 

 many experimental stations for the employment of many chemists 

 engaged in theoretical investigations of manures, the analysis of soils, 

 and how to grow various plants and crops, it is found that plants 

 receive from 95 to 99 per cent, of all their food from the atmosphere, 

 and consequently, only from one to five per cent, from the soil; that 

 the conditions of the atmosphere are substantially the same all over 

 the world, and cannot be changed. For this reason man has no con- 

 trol over that part, but only what is received from the soil. 



There are those who contend that this climate .is too warm to make 

 a light wine. Let me say to them that you can i)ick your grapes 

 earlier, pick them before they are over ripe, and you will have more 

 tartaric acid and bouquet for your wines. Picking the Mission grapes 

 before they are fully matured makes a better dry wine than picking 

 later. There is something peculiar about the Mission grape when 

 made into a dry wine. It has a peculiar taste and flavor, which is 

 misnamed "ground taste," and the riper and sweeter the grape the 

 more decided is this taste and smell. It is a misnomer, for the 

 ground has nothing to do with it, but it is a peculiarity which belongs 

 to the Mission grape and may be called its aroma, if a disagreeable 

 smell can be called an aroma. Why this is so; whether it is because 

 the wine carries so little tartaric acid, or for some other reason, I 

 know not. It is a fact, however, that everj^ varietj^ of grape has some 

 peculiar aroma of its own, in some cases a very pleasant one; and, it 

 would seem, in some otherwise. 



Now, in making sweet wine, there is very little, and often no fer- 

 mentation at all. Fermentation is stopped, and then we have no 

 earthy taste, and this is why the Mission sweet wine is good. The 

 degree of fermentation can be told with certainty by the presence of 

 more or less of this peculiar smell. All this goes to show that the 

 Mission grape is not adapted to the making of fine light dry wines. 



That we can make a fine light dry wine, the equal of that of Sonoma 

 or any other place, is to me a certainty, for I have sold it side by side 

 with their products; I have had critical comparisons with theirs, 

 among themselves, and came off, by their own admission, with honors 

 even. 



It is with much hesitation that I write this letter. In fact, the 

 oftener I put it off, the less positive I become of my facts. It will 

 alwaj^s be well for the reader to remember that Avhat I have said, and 

 what follows, is true and proven only in this locality; and grapes 

 that would be of the best quality for wine making and healthfuiness 

 on the dry uplands, like those of my locality, may be entirely differ- 

 ent, rot and mildew in low and wet localities. With the present 

 demand and short supply, finer qualities will not be appreciated nor 

 paid for, and the Mission grape is well known and tried in all kinds 

 of locations. For me it has less value than other kinds, and I will 



