The Vineyards of Vineland. 329 



A very successful and attractive vineyard is owned by Seaman R. 

 Fowler. It has an arhor trellis, and was planted in 1867. It occupies 

 a piece of land which formed part of a large form brought under cultiva- 

 tion about four years before the inauguration of the Vineland settlement. 

 I regret that at this moment I am without the details as to the mode of 

 planting, distances apart, fertilizers, etc. ; but the number of vines in 

 bearing last season was about seven hundred, and the yield about four 

 thousand pounds of superior fruit. The artistic effect of the arbor 

 trellis was universally remarked by those who saw this fine vineyard 

 last August and September. To heighten the effect still more, ]Mr. 

 Fowler had thrown a graceful rustic arch of cedar poles, some fifteen 

 feet high, over a drive-way through the centre of the vineyard, leading 

 from his house to a grove ; and up and over this arch the vines were 

 rapidly climbing, and in a year or two more will, no doubt, completely 

 cover it. Along the uprights and braces supporting the trellis, and 

 everywhere along the horizontal poles overhead, and to a considerable 

 distance up the central arch, were depending thousands of clusters of 

 the very finest proportions' and coloring, which, contrasted with the 

 healthy green of the foliage, formed a picture not easily forgotten. Pre- 

 vious to removing to Vineland, Mr. Fowler had been engaged in 

 business in New York city for twenty years, and his success in fruit 

 culture is evidence additional to much already furnished, that when a 

 business man applies business principles to the cultivation of the soil, 

 his success is almost certain. Mr. Fowder's success in pear culture has 

 also been marked ; his Bartletts at our fair last fall taking the first pre- 

 mium without hesitation, and winning universal admiration. 



My own vineyard consists at present of eight hundred and eighty 

 vines, planted in eight rows, nine feet apart, the vines seven feet in the 

 rows. Of this number, two hundred and sixteen were planted in 1866 ; 

 twenty-four of them were Delawares, one dozen each of Rebeccas and 

 Dianas, and the rest Concords, two years old. The ground had been 

 cultivated to round potatoes, buckwheat, etc., in 1864 and 1865 (before 

 I owned it), and fertilized to some extent with marl. These vines oc- 

 cupied thirteen thousand six hundred and eight feet of land, — less than 

 one third of an acre, — and, after pulling out the stumps, I applied 



