58 



years past wheat in Stearns County has not averaged over 14 bushels 

 per acre, nor over 70 cents per bushel, making the average money pro- 

 duct per acre $9.80. The average cost of cultivation — including 1^ 

 bushels of seed, $1.40; plowing, $1.75 ; seeding and harrowing, $1 ; 

 harvesting, thrashing, and stacking, $5.30 ; and hauling to market, 

 $1.25 — amounts to $10.70, showing a net loss of 90 cents per acre, with- 

 out allowing for interest on investment, wear and tear of machinery, 

 &c., which would enlarge the debit balance still further. To work a 

 farm of 60 acres on this principle would bring the farmer in arrears 

 annually $114. " Is it any wonder that mortgages are accumulating and 

 western farmers are complaining of hard times ?" Our correspondent 

 thinks that this destructive system is passing away, and that a new 

 era is dawning in which farmers of that region, by diversifying their 

 industry, will place the balance on the other side of the ledger. 



Antidote for smut in wheat. — Our correspondent in Douglass 

 County, Oregon, fully indorses the recommendation of our correspond- 

 ent in Sonoma, Cal., in the October report, in regard to soaking seed- 

 wheat in a solution of sulphate of copper. The only amendment he 

 suggests is to increase the proportion from six to eight ounces of the 

 drug to the cental of seed. 



Wine PRODUCTION in Southern France. — At the session of the 

 International Viticultural Congress, in October, 1874, at Montpelier, 

 France, M. Saint Pierre, professor in the medical school of that city, by 

 invitation, gave some facts in regard to the fabrication of imitated wines, 

 a branch of business which had of late rapidly developed in Herault, 

 especially at Cette and M^ze. The product of this manufacture is 

 mostly exported, the bulk being sent to Russia, Denmark, Holland, Eng- 

 land, and North and South America. Cette alone makes nearly 8,000,- 

 000 gallons per annum, worth about 15,000,000 francs. Two-thirds of 

 this aggregate are consumed in America. The only wines that can be 

 successfully imitated are those rich in alcohol, such as the wines of 

 Spain and Portugal. It is not true that grape-juice is the only thing 

 omitted in the composition of these wines, as that is the cheapest ingre- 

 dient. Nor is coloring matter used to any extent, as the wines to be 

 imitated are white. The Portuguese formerly colored their wines with 

 elderwood, but abandoned it on finding that it injured the wine. The 

 imitation of Spanish wines utilizes a large amount of cheap wines in the 

 south of France, the production of which has been stimulated of late 

 years. These wines show scarcely 11 degrees of alcohol, but with the 

 addition of sirup of mulberry and alcohol the strength is raised to 21 

 degrees. The professor, with great 7iaivete, pleads for the encourage- 

 ment of this industry. 



Some difference of opinion was manifested in regard to the use of sul- 

 phuric acid in fermentation. It was contended that in very small propor- 

 tions it could be used with advantage and without danger. Others 

 thought that it should be combined with gypsum, thus securing a double 

 decomposition, in which an equivalent of tartaric acid was evolved, 

 which is the natural acid of the wine. It was objected that the sulphuric 

 acid of commerce is too often charged to a dangerous extent with arsen- 

 ical principles. 



The members of the congress visited Cette and M6ze, and inspected 

 several manufactories. One of the largest at Cette had then stored over 

 280,000 gallons in cellars containing from 80,000 to 100,000 gallons each. 

 The total value of the whole deposit is stated at a million francs. The 

 cost of storage, including casks, &c., amounted to 650,000 francs, at 10 



