314 



WINE-MAKING IN THE WEST. 



about six feet long, which produces the crop 

 (which shoot is always bowed or bent, to 

 check the circulation) : in old and strong 

 vines, two of these shoots are left. Care 

 should be taken that. a spire with two or 

 three eyes is left, near the ground, to supply 

 bearing wood for the next year, the bearing 

 wood of this year being then cut away : 

 thus a succession of new and vigorous wood 

 is secured. 



During the summer, the vines are thinned 

 of superfluous branches and suckers two or 

 three times. Many of the German vine- 

 dressers here cut off the surface roots, in 

 order to force the vine to draw its subsistence 

 from below the influence of drouths ; for- 

 getting, perhaps, that it is sometimes de- 

 sirable to be above that of the flooding rains. 

 Physiologically this practice must be in- 

 jurious. It is believed by many here (of 

 whom I am one), that the strong growing 

 native vines will do better if allowed more 

 room and more wood. The vineyards are 

 cultivated, during the spring and first part 

 of summer, with the plough and cultivator, 

 and kept clean from weeds. Many persons 

 crop the ground with cabbages, &c. : when 

 this is done, the manure must be given 

 much sooner and more plentifully, as a 

 bearing vineyard requires much food. 



The grape crop suffers principally from 

 these two things, the spring frosts and the 

 summer rot. In a climate like this, where 

 the summer is long and the sun powerful, 

 planting on the iwrthern slopes is some 

 protection from the frosts, as the vines do 

 not break their buds quite so soon. The 

 " rot " is the great evil, and, for the past 

 three years, has been more destructive than 

 for any previous three years. It is possible 

 that this may proceed from one of three 

 causes : the loss of some ingredient in the 

 soil, say potash ; the sting of some insect. 



like the curculio ; or the excess of rain, 

 with or without great heat. As to the first 

 conjecture, it is hardly possible, as the new 

 vineyards have rotted nearly or quite as 

 badly as the old. As to the second, the 

 only fact bearing upon it is the discovery in 

 the must, by Mr. Myers (spoken of by Mr. 

 Longworth), of a large number of mucitic 

 worms. As to the third, the rot, for the 

 past three years, has followed excessive 

 rains in July and August. Dr. Flagg, two 

 years since, found a small part of a vineyard 

 where the rot was very slight : this had 

 not been worked after the spring, and the 

 ground was in such a state that most of the 

 rains passed off on the surface. Vines 

 planted in rows eight feet apart, in one in- 

 stance, were found to be affected by rot but 

 very slightly. Vines growing on trellises, 

 higher from the ground and with more 

 wood, in one case this year, held their fruit 

 much better than the common vineyard 

 plants. The subject has been but little 

 investigated, and therefore all can speculate. 

 The varieties now used, are the Catawba 

 and the Alexander's, known here as the 

 " Cape " (or Schuylkill Muscatel) : the for- 

 mer makes a white, and the latter usually 

 a red wine. The Isabella is inferior to 

 either of these for Avine-making, and rots 

 badly. The Ohio, Lenoir and Missouri, 

 are not used for wine-making ; though quite 

 the best [native] wine which I have seen 

 (and which was really excellent), was made 

 from the Missouri. The care necessary be- 

 fore pressing the grape, is to pick out the 

 unripe and decaying berries ; the bunches, 

 of course, being fully ripe before being 

 gathered. The juice should be carefully 

 strained (if through flannel, the better) into 

 sweet casks ; and after the first strong fer- 

 mentation, the casks should be closed, and 

 left to ferment slowly in a cool cellar until 



