449 
and in all this sad state of things the laborer is not so much at fault as the em- 
ployer. Almost the entire mode of culture must be changed under our new 
status. Before the downward career of our prosperity can be arrested, the 
white population must become inured to habits of industry; they must learn how 
to manage free labor by offering the rewards of good wages to the faithful 
laborer, and must get rid of the old idea that the whip is,the only real incentive, 
and must learn to bring out free, voluntary and spontaneous labor by those 
nobler and sublimer incentives that will make it pleasing in the eyes of the 
laborer, and which a just Providence can bless; then, and not till then, will 
this once great Empire State of the south begin to emerge from her sinking 
condition; to develop her mighty resources, and again become not only the 
Empire State of the south, but the Empire State of the Union. 
THE SCUPPERNONG GRAPE. 
The following letter has been received from Louis Froelich: 
Kenansville, N. C., November 1, 1868.—It gives me pleasure to send, in 
accordance with your request, my 10 years’ experience in the culture of the 
Scuppernong grave. I will first give the several points, from one to six, and then 
present a general view of the subject. 
1. The vines should be planted 45 feet apart, or 21 vines to the acre. 
2. The vines should be planted in December or January. 
3. We have the White and Black Scuppernong, and the Flower, the Mish, 
and the Bullace. 
4. One hand is required for each 10 acres under cultivation, and in the gath- 
ering season one hand to the acre. 
5. The yield this year has been equal, in quantity and quality, to the crops 
of the preceding 10 years. This variety is the only grape entirely free from 
disease, and the vines are not troubled by insects. They sprout very late in 
the spring, and are, therefore, never injured by frost, and their hardy wood, and 
the thick, leathery skin of the grape exempt them from injury from hail-storms, 
&c., rendering the Scuppernong the surest crop of grapes I have ever found or 
heard of in any wine-growing country. At my old home on the Rhine we had 
in each five years two entire failures, two seasons of inferior wine, and only one 
perfect crop; and I found nearly the same results in Austria, Hungary, France, 
and Italy, and in the northern or western part of the United States. Indeed, 
_ we have not in this country a single variety, except the Scuppernong, which is 
not liable to injury from frost, or in danger of not ripening through unfavorable 
seasons or the various grape diseases. With this variety, however, we may 
calculate with certainty each year, in both quantity and quality, and with the 
fifth part of the labor and expense attending the cultivation of other varieties, 
the average yield for a three year old vine is one peck; five years old, two 
bushels; full grown, ten year vine, 25 bushels. 
6. Expenses per acre the first year are as follows: 21 plants, of good size 
and well rooted, $5; planting and staking, $10. Third year, 84 arbor posts, 
and 21 dozen fence rails, $15. Fifth year, 336 posts and 1,000 rails, $60. 
Tenth year, 500 posts and 1,500 rails, about $100. From the fifth year it takes 
one hand for cultivation and the extension of arbors, and from the first to 
fifth year about two years labor of one hand is requisite. After the tenth year 
it costs very little to manure the vines every two years, and gathering expenses 
and repairs of arbors may reach $10 per year. When 15 years old, and kept 
in the highest cultivation, the vine will yield 35 to 40 bushels of grapes. We 
have a good many single vines that bear 50 to 75 bushels. A full ripe bushel 
