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GRAPE-CULTURE NEAR WASHINGTON.—A correspondent furnishes 
for this Department an account of a successful experiment in grape cul- 
ture made by himself. The location is on the south bank of the Potomac, 
about two and a half miles above Washington, on a tract of land pur-. 
chased by him since or during the late war. He says: 
I found upon this land that had been stripped of timber by the Army during the 
war, growing in the greatest luxuriance, thousands of wild grape-vines. As some of 
them had attained an enormous size, running to the tops of the highest trees, it occurred 
to me that the soil must be especially adapted to their growth, and if so, the cultivated 
varieties ought to do at least equally well. I consulted such men as Dr. Warder, of 
Ohio, and William Saunders, of your Department, wha, after examining the soil, pro- 
nounced it “a perfect grape-soil.” I therefore resolved to try it, and, in the spring of 
1866, planted one thousand vines, half of which were the Concord, and the balance other 
popular varieties. I procured first-class vines, and planted them with great care, as 
follows: Selected ground sloping to the southeast and east, plowed it from 8 to 10 
inches deep, harrowed it fine, and planted in rows 8 feet apart both ways; set an 8-foot 
stake at each plant, and mixed with the soil, about the roots, one quart of ground bone 
and a shovelful of old, well-decomposed stable-manure; pruned the roots, also cut the 
top or vine back to. three or four buds; and when the buds had grown from 1 to 2 
inches, rubbed off all but one, the strongest; trained that to the stake by tying, and 
pinched off at second leaf all lateral shoots, thus concentrating the growth in the one 
cane; gave them clean cultivation. The next February, when there was no frost in 
the wood, I cut it back to three or four buds of that year’s growth, and let only two 
buds grow ; trained and managed these two canes the same asthe one the year before. 
During the following February I cut the two canes back to 3} feet long, removed the 
stakes, and built a trellis over each row, in the following manner: I set 8-foot cedar posts 
half way between each vine, commencing with one set 4 feet from each end of the rows, 
and nailed to these posts white-pine strips full Linch thick by 4 inches wide, the first 1 
foot from the ground, and the second 4 feet above that, from lower edge to upper edge; 
then nailed to these strips good white-pine laths, 9 inches apart. I then tied the two 
canes, on the two-arm system, to the lower bar; trained and tied the shoots from these 
canes to the trellis. Each shoot bore this year from three to four bunches of grapes; 
pinched each shoot off at from three to four leaves above the last bunch of grapes, and 
as it grew again, pinched it off at second leaf; and so on to top of trellis. When the 
clusters ripened, I was well repaid by the beautiful sight they presented. Both bunches 
and grapes were very large and perfectly formed. I readily sold the entire crop at 15 cents 
per pound on the vine. Some of the vines yielded 15 pounds each, and as beautiful and 
perfect as those grown under glass. My success attracted attention. Many enterpris- 
ing farmers and citizens of Washington came to see my vineyard, and pronounced it 
the finest, as to growth of wood, foliage, and grapes, and as to training, trellis, &c., 
they had ever seen. The Concords surpassed all other varieties in all the desirable 
qualities. Having occasion, several weeks after my grapes had been disposed of, to 
visit central New York, I found many Concords grown there just in the market, but 
they were much inferior in point of perfect maturity, flavor, and sweetness. The crop 
of last season was the fifth I have grown, and was the largest ; and although the aver- 
age price realized was but about half that received for the first crop, it amounted to 
over $800 per acre, or about $700 net. I am annually enlarging my vineyard, which 
now comprises about six acres; expect to enlarge it to ten next fall. The soil and sub- 
soil prove to be perfectly adapted to the growth of the grape, being composed of about 
equal parts of sand, loam, and clay, and containing considerable quantities of mica, 
with a subsoil of rotten rock, into which the grape-roots penetrate several feet. It is 
also just porous enough to absorb the rains; consequently no draining is required. In 
short, nature seems to have prepared this locality expressly for vineyards, as was 
plainly indicated by the spontaneous growth of so many wild vines. The extent of 
this natural vineyard-land is quite limited. It commences about one and a half miles 
above Georgetown and extends back from the Potomac say about one mile, but how 
far up the river is not known. While it is so well adapted to grape-growing, it proves 
equally good for all the small fruits—strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, &c. 
SUCCESS OF SEEDS FROM THE DEPARTMENT.—Our correspondent 
in Troup County, Georgia, reports: 
The Italian rye-grass sent by the Department of Agriculture is doing finely; sown 
the 8th of February, it will make good grazing now. The two quarts of spring barley, 
sown the. 8th of February, is now in “the dough,” averages about 3 feet in height, 
and will yield, I think, two or three bushels. The black-eye marrow-peas are fully 7 
feet high, and we are eating peas from them daily; have never seen a variety do better 
in this section. The potato-oats will prove a failure. My black winter and yellow 
