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AGRICULTURAL MATTERS AT SALT LAKE CITY. 
Great Salt Lake City —The soil of the valley in which this city is situated 
is varied; on the eastern portion of the city, which reaches within three miles 
of the eastern mountains surrounding the valley, we have a rich black soil, and 
about two feet below, solid beds of clay; in the northeast portion we have the 
gravel for twenty or thirty feet down; in the western and northern sections, 
black alluvial soil, reaching water in from one to five feet; and in the southern, 
more loamy or clayey, and accordingly in patches. In the western and northern 
parts of the city wheat and root crops grow prolific; in the eastern and north- 
eastern, corn, cane, grapes and other vines, and peaches and other fruit trees 
grow luxuriantly. In fruit-growing I think we stand unrivalled. Many of our 
apricots fruit in one year from the bud, peaches in two years, apples from two 
to three years, and pears from four to five years. * * * The city embraces 
about five miles square, and each house lias its surrounding patch of one and a 
quarter acres or less. We have in progress a canal on the east side of the val- 
ley, and one on the west also, to convey water from the Jordan river, which, 
when completed, will secure the irrigation of many thousand acres. 
WINE-MAKING IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 
Hammondsport, Steuben county, N. Y.—Grape-growing was first undertaken 
here as a means of subsistence and profit by a few individuals in 1854, the 
fruit being sold as a luxury for eastern city consumers. The adaptation of the 
soil and climate about Crooked lake to vine culture proved so good, and the re- 
muneration so constant and abundant, the attention of men of enterprise and 
capital was soon arrested, and the production swelled to such an extent that 
apprehensions were entertained that it would fail of profitable sale as fruit only, 
and the necessity for a market nearer home was felt. The possibility of mak- 
ing good, healthy wine from our native grapes, Isabella and Catawba, had been 
established by Nicholas Longworth and others, of Cincinnati, and it was believed 
it could be done here. Consequently, in 1860, a company was organized, wine 
vaults and press-house were constructed, and the business commenced with a 
capital of a few thousand dollars. An abundance of well-ripened fruit, a ready 
sale of their pure native wine and unadulterated brandy showed clearly that 
the Pleasant Valley was a success, and warranted an extension of the enterprise 
and an increase in their capital stock to meet the wants of producers and con- 
sumers, which was done, and, in addition to brandy and dry wine, the manu- 
facture of sparkling wine was commenced, rivailing in perfection of flavor the 
best European brands of champagne. * * * Within twelve years grape- 
growing in this vicinity has increased from a few hundred pounds, sold in New 
York city and Boston, to car-loads for these and other eastern cities, and from 
the area of a few acres in 1854-55 to 3,000 acres in 1866;- and the capital:em- 
ployed in the manufacture of the fruit into healthful and delicious wines and 
pure brandy increased, in six years only, from $10,000 to over $300,000. One 
establishment now puts up and sells 40,000 bottles of sparkling wine, in addi- 
tion to a largely increased amount of dry hock wine. There are two other 
companies organized, but not yet in full operation. ; 
THE FREEDMEN IN VIRGINIA. 
Powhatan county, Va.—No complaints of want of labor reach me. Freed- 
men are employed generally, and conduct themselves with propriety. If let 
alone, they will need no other protection than that of the law. It would seem 
that there is more crime among them than prevailed formerly, from the fact of 
many being committed to jail for minor offences. These were more mercifully 
