90 



TRANS. OF N. Y. S. AGR. SOCIETY. 



est are rubbed off'. Little other attention is 

 given this season, except breaking or pinch- 

 ing off, towards the close of summer, the 

 three or four lower lateral shoots, (second 

 groAvth.) 



The following spring, the vines are head- 

 ed down to four buds. The two strongest 

 of these are permitted to grow, and all the 

 laterals that start out of them, from the 

 ground to three or four feet high, are pinch- 

 ed off: 



The next year, (the third of growth,) a 

 small crop of fruit is expected. The strong- 

 est branch is now pruned from two to three 

 feet long, according to the growth of the 

 plant, to prepare it for bearing. The other 

 branch is cut back lower, so as to leave but 

 five buds, three only of which, the most 

 vigorous, are allowed to grow — the laterals 

 being taken out as they appear.* 



The next year, the whale bearing wood 

 of the previous season is cut out, leaving 

 none of the two year old wood. The other 

 shoots are allowed to bear this year, while 

 new shoots are brought up from the base of 

 the shoot, cut out,, to replace the bearing 

 ones next season. In this way — the re- 

 neioal mode — the fruit-spurs are always 

 pushed out from young canes, and all the 

 shoots come out within a foot or eighteen 

 inches of the ground — the vines being 

 trained, as in the greater part of Europe, 

 on single poles, five or six feet high. 



In making wine, the grapes are gathered 

 as soon as fully ripe, it being found that 

 over-maturity, though it adds saccharine 

 matter, injures the flavor and aroma of the 

 wine. If red wine is desired, the grapes 

 are mashed and partially fermented before 

 pressing: if a light wine, then they are 

 crushed and pressed at once. Mr. Lonr- 

 woRTH has no faith in the doctrine, current 



* " In breaking out the lateral shoots, it should not be done 

 till after the wood begins to ripen. ]f tioiie too soon, it forces 

 out the fnijt buds o( the neii year." 



abroad, that in the quality of wine all de- 

 pends on soil and exposure, so that the pro- 

 duct of one man's vineyard is worth a dol- 

 lar a bottle, while that of his neighbor is 

 comparatively valueless. With us the qua- 

 lity depends chiefly on the care and atten- 

 tion of the manufacturer. Wine requires 

 much greater skill and care in the manu- 

 facture, than cheese or butter, yet one ten- 

 ant, on a given farm, will make butter of a 

 superior quality, whilst that made perhaps 

 by his successor, on the same farm, and 

 with the same facilities, is scarcely fit for 

 use, and will not command half price in 

 the market. In Europe, it is a standing 

 proverb, that " a poor man cannot make 

 good wine." He is compelled to sell his 

 wine when new, and cannot devote the ne- 

 cessary attention, and wait till it attains 

 sufficient age to bring out its character. 



The Ohio wines command a ready sale 

 in Cincinnati, at prices from SI to $1.50 

 per gallon. Mr. Longworth gives it as the 

 result of thirty years experience, that the 

 average full crop per acre there is 200 gal- 

 lons. His vintage last year was 300 bar- 

 rels, less by 200 barrels than was antici- 

 pated, owing to a partial failure in the crop. 

 Formerly he used to add, before fermenta- 

 tion, from six to ten ounces of sugar to the 

 gallon of juice, of the Catawba grape. But 

 the practice now, when the grapes are well 

 ripened, is, to add neither sugar nor spirit. 

 Mr. Longworth's success in vineyard 

 culture, is partly owing to his sagacity and 

 generosity in employing poor, hardworking 

 German families, familiar with the culture 

 of the grape, but having no means. Mr. 

 L. started these poor emigrants, by furnish- 

 ing the land, the grape cuttings, and the 

 small outfit necessary in the beginning. In 

 return, he receives half the wine, at the 

 press, and half the amount of any fruit 

 sold. Most of his tenants have occupied 



