224 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



Horticultural Societies. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



A CONVENTION OF CALIFORNIA 

 GRAPE GROWERS. 



BY CHARLES H. SHINN. 



A few weeks ago three hundred viticulturists of 

 Napa County, California, met in Napa city, and 

 held a convention that seems to have been highly 

 interesting. They first discussed preparation of 

 the ground, proper soil, &c. The hillsides were 

 preferred by many, and the northern exposures 

 often produced the best grapes. Among the va- 

 rieties of wine-grapes recommended were those of 

 the Rhenish, Burgundy, Medoc and Sauterne dis- 

 tricts, including the Pinots Reislings, Verdor, San- 

 vignon, Mallec, Semilon, &c. The Petit Pintor 

 was excellent. The Mattereaux was hardy and 

 made a good claret. The Lenoir was desirable for 

 its coloring qualities. The Black Burgundy, Black 

 Reisling and Chabronet are choice wines. There 

 was a great deal of talk among the members on 

 the subject of table-grapes, for shipment East. 

 Last year table-grapes of the best quality 

 brought $50 or |i6o per ton, while wine grapes 

 were only $25 or $30. The flame colored Tokay, 

 and the Black Morocco were good shipping va- 

 rieties. The white Tokay, and the Emperor were 

 great favorites -for this purpose. Among early 

 grapes, the white St. Peter is notable. One gentle- 

 man reported obtaining eight tons to the acre from 

 the second crop of this variety — and probably 

 twelve tons from the first crop. His vineyard is 

 on the richest of soil, and is highly stimulated with 

 bone dust and other fertihzers. The most import- 

 ant piece of work the convention did was to take 

 up the subject of "unequal and unjust freights" on 

 their wine. The grape-growers and wine-makers 

 of the State say they are charged too much to 

 carry their products to market. The attempt 

 is being made to organize a union throughout 

 California, to petition Congress, and to take proper 

 legal steps to ascertain the rights of shippers. 



Reports so far received, from various parts of 

 California show that the viticultural industry is 

 being organized in almostevery county where vine 

 yards thrive, and the local societies prosper, as a 

 rule. The Riverside horticultural society, and 

 those of Pasadena, Pomona and other points in the 

 southern counties often discuss raisin-making, as 

 well as the wine industry. The centers of the latter, 

 in the South, are at Los Angeles and in San Ga- 

 briel valley. There is no wine, to speak of, made 

 at Riverside or Pasadena. Anaheim is the wine 



colony, par excellence, of the southern counties. 

 Napa county is the wine region of the central 

 region, as Los Angeles is of the south. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. — 

 The Fifty-fourth Annual' Exhibition will be held 

 at Horticultural Hall, Broad Street, above Spruce, 

 in connection with the nineteenth biennial Sv^s- 

 sion of the American Pomological Society, to 

 open on Tuesday, September nth, at 8 P. M., 

 and continue on Wednesday, Thursday and Fri- 

 day, I2th, 13th, and 14th, 1883, from 10 A. M. to 10 

 p. M. All contributions to be entered on or before 

 Tuesday, September 4th. 



American Pomological Society. — Essays 

 to be read at the meeting in Philadelphia, on 

 September 12th to 14th. The following named 

 gentlemen ( the list is alphabetically arranged ) will 

 prepare papers: — Hon. P. J. Berckmans, President 

 of the Georgia Horticultural Society; Prof. T. J. 

 Burrill, Illinois Industrial University, on Diseases 

 of Plants; Prof. J. L. Budd, Iowa Agricultural 

 College, on Experimental Horticulture west of the 

 Lakes; Col. N. J. Colman, Editor of the Rural 

 World, Missouri, on Utilizing our Fruits; Prof. J. 

 Henry Comstock, Cornell University, on Insects of 

 the Orchard ; Dr. W. G. Farlow, Professor of 

 Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University, onUre- 

 dineae (rusts and mildews); Charles A. Green, 

 Editor of the Fruit Grower, on Certainties and 

 Uncertainties; Samuel Hape, Esq., Atlanta, Geo., 

 on the Effect of the Evening Sun on Fruit 

 Trees; Byron D. Halsted, D. Sc, Editor of the 

 American Agriculturist, on Fungi ; Josiah Hoopes, 

 Ex-President of Fruit Growers' Society of Penn- 

 sylvania, on Peach Culture in Pennsylvania; 

 Prof. W. R. Lanzenby, Ohio State University, on 

 Dichogomy in Cultivated Plants; /. e., noting ex- 

 amples where the stamens of a flower mature 

 before the stigmas, or the stigmas before the sta- 

 mens; Hon. T. T. Lyon, President Michigan State 

 Horticultural Society, on How can we best main- 

 tain a high standard of quality in fruits, as against 

 the tendencies of commercial pomology; J. C. 

 Plumb, Milton, Wi'sconsin ; Prof. C. V. Riley, 

 U. S. Entomologist, on Recent advances in Horti- 

 cultural Entomology; Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, 

 Director of the New York Experiment Station, on 

 Some things the Station can do for Horticulture; 

 Prof. S. M. Tracy, Missouri University, Secretary 

 of the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



