Grape Culture in Florida. 



11 



vine louse (Phylloxera) attacking the leaves 

 and roots and completing what the former left 

 unfinished. Still they come : for the past 

 summer has fully developed in some localities 

 another pest — the Thrip {Thrips Ocracous). 

 In some localities the insect existed in such 

 quantities as to destroy the epidermis of the 

 leaves, thereby limiting growth, and prevent- 

 ing the ripening of the wood and fruit. In my 

 garden, the leaves of many varieties, more 

 especially the Senasqua, appeared as though 

 they had been seared with a hot iron. 



On th» shores of our lakes, and in a few 

 favored localities east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and north of the 36th parallel, the 

 grape is successfully cultivated ; but the 

 areas are so limited that we must look 

 farther. During our visits we have care- 

 fully examined the capabilities of portions 

 of the Southern States regarding vine cul- 

 ture ; and we shall communicate such infor- 

 mation as we have derived from observation 

 and inquiry. Several years since we made 

 a summer tour through Kentucky, Tennes- 

 see, North and South Carolina and Georgia, 

 and in no instance did we find any variety 

 of grape, except the Scuppernong and Con- 

 cord unaiFected by mildew. In July '69 we 

 visited Florida, and at St. Augustine found 

 the Isabella, Delaware, Concord, Black 

 Hamburgh and other varieties growing lux- 

 uriantly and unaffected by any disease. 



During the course of last winter we made 

 an extended tour through Florida and en- 

 deavored to obtain all the information pos- 

 sible regarding the vine, native or foreign ; 

 and to our great surprise could not find one 

 of either variety in some of the older towns. 

 I visited Tallahassee, and found that a gen- 

 tleman named Bradford owned a small vine- 

 yard a few miles from town ; and in com- 

 pany with my friend. Col. J. J. Williams, 

 visited it. Mr. B. informed me, that he 

 had tested a large number of varieties, native 

 and foreign, and that the majority had been 

 unsuccessful — but that the Concord and 

 Scuppernong had succeeded admirably. He 

 attributed the injury sustained by some of 

 the varieties tested to the ravages of the 



phylloxera. We questioned him closely re- 

 garding the condition of the foliage during 

 the summer months, and carefully exam- 

 ined the roots of a number of varieties ; and 

 arrived at the conclusion that the true cause 

 of failure was the oidium and not the phyl- 

 loxera. Mr. B. submitted for my inspec- 

 tion a sample of his Concord wine, and for bo- 

 quet, absence of acid, and color it excelled 

 any sample of Concord wine we ever tested 

 — reminding us of the Burgundy wine made 

 in Australia. Owing to the length of the 

 season, the fruit of the Concord attains 

 greater perfection, and coptains less acid 

 and more saccharine matter than in our 

 Northern States. 



Since our return to our northern home, 

 we communicated with Col. J. J. Williams, 

 of Tallahassee, and requested him to hand 

 our communication to some reliable grape 

 grower, and solicit replies to my queries. 

 My letter was handed to Mr. John A. Craig, 

 who kindly replied as follows : 



Tallahasseee, Fla., ) 

 Sept. 6th, 1873. j 

 Dear Sir : 



Your letter of July 30th to Col. J. J. 

 Williams was handed to me by him to an- 

 swer. Mr. Bradford and myself being the 

 only persons at present in the county who 

 are growing grapes, I will give you state- 

 ments of what B. and I have done. Our 

 plantations join each other, and I believe 

 you visited his place with Col. Williams. 

 Six years ago, Mr. B. and self's attention 

 was turned towards grape growing from some 

 statements we had read in some agricultural 

 papers, and believing we had the climate, 

 and could select soils well adapted to its 

 culture, we planted each eight acres of 

 scuppernong vines. The next year we 

 planted several acres of the Clinton grape, 

 being led thereto by the success of J. P. 

 Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., and the low 

 price of the vines compared with other varie- 

 ties. Mr. Bradford planted, at the same 

 time, 100 Concord vines. The Clinton 

 grew rampant, and the third year, from its 

 number of bunches, bid fair to yield us a 



