DIGEST OF STATE REPORTS. 485 



winter temperature, and 10^ above Fort Dodge, the difference in lati- 

 tude between tlie three places being very little. The growing season 

 begins at Grand Haven from three to six days earlier than it does at 

 Milwaukee, and continues from five to eight days later in the autumn. 

 A still greater contrast exists between Grand Haven and localities far- 

 ther removed in the interior of Wisconsin. The coldest point ever 

 touched by the thermometer at South Haven was in the winter of 

 1850-57, when it recorded 0^ below zero. Since that time the lowest 

 temperature recorded was 7^ below zero. In ordinary winters the mer- 

 cury does not descend to zero. Summers following severe winters al- 

 ways bring an abundance of fruit. The uniformity of heat and moisture 

 is well adapted to the growth and productiveness of the fig. The fruit- 

 buds start with the leaf-buds, and after the first year yield two crops. 

 Cuttings, taken from bearing-stocks, yield a crop the first year. The 

 Vitis BordlfoJm, (winter or frost grape,) having the lowest vital temper- 

 ament, thrives with little care. The F/f /.s ^stivalis, (or summer grape,) 

 of whichtheDelavrareisthe lowest-tempered variety, though less hardy 

 as a class, also does well. So of the earliest varieties of the Labrusca 

 family, of which the lona is the highest type. 



Point de Peau vineyard is situated on Lake Erie, a few miles below 

 the mouth of the Detroit Piver. It is one of several points which here 

 jut out into the lake. The area of land is about 25 acres, but the whole 

 is not planted with grapes. The vines are six years old, and the varie- 

 ties include Delaware, Concord, Catawba, Ives's Seedling, Norton's Vir- 

 ginia, and Hartford Prolific. The system of cultivation followed is the 

 renewal, and has proved very successful. During the first two years a 

 stake vras used for the support of the vines, but after that time the 

 trellis was found necessary. The gi^apes raised in this vineyard are 

 principally used in wine-making. The crop of 1870 was found to yield 

 wine at the rate of a gallon to every 17i^ pounds. An acre averaged 

 about C,000 pounds, and therefore produced about 350 gallons of wine. 

 A test of the wine-making qualities of this crop showed the following 

 result: Catawba yielded 83° of sugar and O^o of acid, with the ther- 

 mometer stauding^at 00° ; Delavrare, 91 '^ of sugar and 8i|^ of acid; Ives's 

 Seedling, 78'^ of saccharine and 0?>^ of acid ; Norton's Virginia, 07"^ of 

 sugar and 13^ of acid. A mixed must, composed of one-half Concord, 

 one-fourth Norton's Virginia, and one-fourth Ives's Seedling, gave the 

 elements of a first-class vrine of about the strength of ordinary Bur- 

 gundy, viz, 84^0 sugar and Glf acid. The whole vintage reached 

 G7,00b pounds of grapes, and produced about 5,000 gallons of wine. 



The aggregate amount of grapes raised in the vicinity of Spring Lake 

 this year will reach 140 tons. The largest vinej'ard in this section is 

 that of Mr. Hunter Savidge, which contains 2,000 vines. jMr. Martin 

 Walsh has 1,42G Concord vines, from which he shipped 280,550 pounds 

 of grapes, or 14 tons 550 pounds, for which he realized 3 cents per pound 

 net, or SS41.C5 from the product of 2 acres and 36 rods. 



Pear-culture has not been fairly tested, but peaches seem to do well 

 in almost every section of the State. Mr. George H. Lovell, of Spring 

 Lake, has 4,500 peach-trees, from which he shipped 7,000 baskets, re- 

 ceiving for same $3,500 ; Mr. Charles E. Soule, of Paint Orchards, has 

 299 bearing peach-trees, mostly Early Crawfords, vrhich produced 2,241 

 baskets, the gross sales of which amounted to 81,410.93; Mr. J. B. 

 Soule has 2,000 three-years- old peach trees, of early varieties, from 

 which he shipped 1,000 baskets; Mr. Hiram Beckwith, of Spring Lake, 

 gathered 10 bushels of pears from two trees. 



The number of bearing-trees and vines, and the production of fruit in 



