74 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



The most approved method of preparing the ground for a vineyard is by trenching with the 

 spade two or three feet in depth during the fall and winter, previous to planting. Cuttings 

 are mostly used, and are by many preferred to roots, even at the same price ; the argument 

 in their favor being that the roots which are produced from the foot of the cutting, when once 

 disturbed, will not readily grow again, and these lowest ropts are for the grape admitted to be 

 the most important. The cuttings are planted two in a hill in the place where they are in- 

 tended to remain; and if both grow, one is cut off or removed to fill vacancies; the usual 

 distance being about three by six feet apart. The cost of trenching a vineyard varies, with 

 the nature of the soil, the amount of stone encountered in the subsoil, and the amount of under- 

 draining, from sixty to two hundred dollars per acre ; and the planting, including the cost of 

 cuttings, from fifteen to twenty dollars more. The labor required during the first three years 

 is very slight ; thorough hoeing two or three times in a season, and spring and summer pruning, 

 are all that is necessary. In the second year the vineyard is supplied with stakes, usually of 

 good white-oak heart, costing about twelve to fifteen dollars per thousand. Locust stakes 

 are better, and cost about double that sum. The common practice is to have only a single 

 stake to each vine ; although some very successful cultivators use two stakes with two "bows" 

 to each vine. The " bow-and-spur" method of trimming is the most general method, although 

 many prefer, instead of bending the branch in the shape of a "bow" or circle, to train each 

 vine across to the next stake in the row. 



The great enemy of the vintner is the rot. Of this there are two kinds ; although some 

 persons think there is but one, with a slight variation in its manifestations. The first makes 

 its appearance in the form of a spot of yellowish-brown upon the berry, and is called the 

 "spot rot." This spot rapidly enlarges, so that in twenty-four hours from its first appear- 

 ance in a vineyard, one-half of the crop is often blackened, and presents the appearance of 

 having been for weeks affected with decay. The other variety of this disease first shows a 

 slight discoloration under the skin of the berry, sometimes in veins or blotches, and has hence 

 derived the name of "blue rot." All the searching and experimenting of the best vine- 

 growers have failed thus far to discover aught of its cause or remedy. Some have in despair 

 given up the attempt to make any discoveries in this direction, and are in hopes to escape the 

 difficulty by finding new varieties not subject to the disease. 



The following statistics furnish some idea respecting the products and profits of the grape- 

 culture in Europe and the United States. In 1828, the aggregate number of acres devoted 

 to the culture of the vine in Europe was estimated at 72,537,500 acres, producing 1,574,680,000 

 gallons per annum. This gives an average per acre of 137 gallons. According to a careful 

 French estimate, the profits of vine-culture, after deducting all charges, amounted only to five 

 per cent, on the capital employed. The total amount of capital employed was estimated at 

 200 per acre ; this includes the price of land, machinery, improvements, permanent labor, 

 etc. In regard to the profits and products of the vine in the United States ; Mr. Robert 

 Buchanan, one "of the most experienced vine-growers in Ohio, has furnished reliable statistics, 

 basing his estimates on the cost of getting a vineyard of six acres under thorough cultivation 

 and bearing at Cincinnati, and upon its subsequent produce. 



The price of land from fifteen to fifty miles from the city of Cincinnati is estimated at $50 

 per acre: 



Price of six acres $ 300.00 



Trenching two feet deep 370.00 



Cuttings, sodding, and planting 205.00 



Cutting and setting 14,500 hickory stakes 490.00 



Labor of vine-dressers and attendants for first year 231.00 



" " second " 256.00 



Hauling cuttings and contingencies 238.00 



Interest on capital 180.00 



Total cost of six acres 2,270.00 



Actual capital, per acre 378.33 



This estimate from experience, it is found, can be relied on by those wishing to plant vine- 

 yards for profit. 



The products, according to a careful table prepared by Mr. Buchanan, average of six years, 

 were about 490 gallons per acre. The results of other experiments correspond so nearly 



