State Agricultural Society. 485 



Clayton; Samuel Dodd, of Lincoln; D. Chamberlain, of Yuba; Dr. Lock- 

 wood, of St. Helena; C. G. Carpenter, of Diamond Springs; I. N. Hoag, 

 of Yolo, and John II. Carroll, of Sacramento. 



On Classification of Grapes — J. A. Lockwood, of St. Helena; J. Strent- 

 zel, of Martinez; J. E. Nickeson, of Lincoln, and J. DeBarth Schaub, 

 of Los Angeles. 



At the last meeting, on the twenty-first of February, among other 

 business, the following reports were read and discussed: 



REPORT ON CULTIVATION OF THE GRAPE AND PRUNING 



OF THE VINE. 



Mr. President and members of the Association : Your committee on 

 the cultivation of the grape and pruning the vine, have the honor to 

 submit the following report: 



LOCATION AS TO CLIMATE. 



The vine does so well in all portions of the State, when on proper soil, 

 that your committee feel called upon to say but little on the subject 

 of climate. From the northern to the southern extremity of the State, 

 and from the seacoast counties almost to the summit of the Sierras, the 

 vine is at home and flourishes well, bearing an abundance of luscious 

 fruit. The rule of success is general and the exceptions are local. The 

 damp and foggy atmosphere of the immediate seacoast is to be avoided, 

 as not congenial to the grape, and any locality where the cold winds 

 direct from the ocean prevail to a considerable extent must be set down 

 as unfavorable to the success of the vineyard. With this single exception 

 your committee can recommend the climate of California as universally 

 favorable to the cultivation of the grape for all the purposes for which 

 that delicious fruit is used, and would only recommend different locations 

 for different varieties and for different uses. For instance: late-ripening 

 grapes and rapid wood-producing vines should be planted on a southern 

 exposure, while those that ripen early and produce but a small growth 

 of wood, do better when less exposed to the direct rays of the sun. 



SOIL. 



In selecting soil for the vineyard, California presents an abundance of 

 varieties, so that there is no necessity of planting the vine in soil not 

 adapted to its growth and perfection of fruit. Avoid the stiff, impervi- 

 ous clay and the loams, too rich in vegetable matter, as unsuitable to 

 give healthy vines, or fruit of a high degree of delicate flavor and the 

 proper quantities of saccharine matter. The earthy taste so perceptible 

 in some of our California wines, has its origin, to a great extent, if not 

 entirely, in the too great predominance of decayed vegetable matter in 

 the soil on which the vine is grown. No vineyard should be planted 

 on the rich alluvial soil of our river bottoms with the expectation of 

 producing good wine, nor are the small valleys in the foothills as favor- 

 able for this purpose as the less fertile soil of the surrounding elevations. 

 A subsoil of broken decomposed lime or sandstone, slate or granite, 



61 



