140 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



five acres of this season's setting of root grafts was not excelled by any yet 

 examined. A Concord vineyard of two and a half acres attached to the nur- 

 sery, and another of five acres adjoining, and loaded with luscious clusters of 

 grapes, were timely approached by your committee. 



The nursery establishment of Reynolds, Lewis & Co., although not entered 

 on our books, must not be forgotten, nor be passed over without a word in its 

 favor. This establishment is next to the Messrs. Ilgenfritz's in size, and much 

 of it adjoining, with nothing, apparently, to mark the dividing line; and one 

 had to be told when they were leaving the one and trespassing on the other. 

 Notwithstanding the committee gave it no formal examination, enough could 

 be seen to warrant us in saying that, in most respects, it was fully up to the 

 demands of the times. Any persons visiting Monroe in quest of fruit trees 

 would hardly fail, among three such establishments as those mentioned, to 

 find a supply to their satisfaction. 



THE ORCHARDS AND VIN'EYARDS OF MONROE. 



The vineyards of Monroe cover upwards of 200 acres. The first planted 

 Tvas by Joseph M. Sterling in 1863, and it consisted of 2,050 vines, mostly 

 Concord. It stands to-day among the best in the Raisin Valley. The late 

 Christopher Bruckner next planted about 300 vines in 18G4, and from the suc- 

 cess of these beginnings many others have been induced from time to time to 

 embark in the business until it has reached its present magnitude, and bids 

 fair to be doubled and perhaps quadrupled within the next five years at least. 

 There were six vineyards on the committee book, and entered in five difierent 

 classes. The soil of these vineyards, like that of the Ilgenfritz nurseries, is a 

 rich alluvial, with heavy clay subsoil, underlaid with the limestone rock at 

 a variable depth of from one to five feet. I think none of the vineyards 

 examined were an exception in this respect. The management throughout, 

 from the planting of the vine, the after culture, the varieties planted, to the 

 disposition of the fruit, seems to be nearly the same among all these vineyards, 

 and what may be said of one may appropriately apply to the rest, with few and 

 slight exceptions. They are planted eight feet apart each way, and trained to 

 wire trellis, using three wires stretched from heavy posts set thirty feet apart and 

 subdivided into sections by cross alleys 300 feet distant from each other, thus 

 each wire is 300 feet long; the end posts which receive the strain of the wires 

 are set at an angle adverse to each other. The first wire is fastened 22 inches 

 from the ground, the other two 16 inches from each other ; this brings the 

 top wire 4^ feet high, which is found to be so nearly the proper height as to 

 be universally adopted. The renewal or long-cane system is generally prac- 

 ticed here in pruning. The varieties are largely Concord and Delaware ; per- 

 haps three-fourths are of the former variety, the Delaware following next, then 

 •Catawba and Norton's Virginia. This latter is grown especially for coloring 

 the wine of the Concord and Delaware. Some others of the older varieties were, 

 to a limited extent, found, and many of the newer sorts were on trial. About 

 seventy-five per cent of the grapes grown are manufactured into wine. The 

 cultivation is constant through the summer months, — no grass or weeds are 

 allowed a place in these vineyards. Some use the two-horse wheel-cultivator, 

 but most use a single-horse pattern, manufactured in the city, an excellent 

 implement, and well adapted to the heavy soils of that locality. 



