AGRICULTURE. 



the benefit of as much suu as possible. The 

 wines produced in these districts are generally 

 light in body or in the per cent, of alcohol they 

 contain, and somewhat acidulous, resembling 

 the Ehenish wines and clarets in strength. 

 In the Missouri district the vines are trained 

 on trellis, and the Norton's Virginia and Her- 

 bemont grapes are preferred. The wine is 

 stronger, and resembles Port in color, astrin- 

 gency, and percentage of alcohol. In Cali- 

 fornia wines of all grades are made ; most of 

 their best wines, however, have considerable 

 body, and some of them a decided astringency. 

 The California Port and Sherry are not inferior 

 in quality to their European congeners. The 

 Muscatel and Angelica seem to be rather cor- 

 dials than wines, containing from 22 to 30 per 

 cent, of alcohol, and, it is said, are made by 

 adding brandy to the unfermented must, and 

 clarifying. They contain about 16 per cent, of 

 grape-sugar. 



Careful investigations have been .made with- 

 in the last year, to ascertain the aggregate 

 number of degrees of heat requisite during the 

 season or cycle of growth to perfecting our 

 best known varieties of grapes, and the tem- 

 perature necessary at the commencement of 

 growth, the average mean of the summer, the 

 mean temperature of the hottest month, and 

 the mean temperature of September, required 

 by each. These particulars are of great im- 

 portance to vine-growers as a guide to the 

 variety of grape best adapted to their purpose. 

 They have been made the subject of an elabo- 

 rate and able paper by Mr. James S. Lippen- 

 cott, of Haddonfield, New Jersey, in the Gov- 

 ernment Agricultural Eeport for 1863. "We 

 can only briefly notice the conclusions at which 

 he arrives. " Those places which have a sum- 

 mer temperature of 66.5, a hot month of 70, 

 and a September of 60, will ripen the Dela- 

 ware, Clinton, Perkins, Logan, and some other 

 very hardy varieties. The temperature of 

 their growing season corresponds to a mean of 

 65 and upwards, and an aggregate of heat of 

 about 8,000 F. This district includes many 

 parts of New England and New York, North- 

 ern Pennsylvania, Northern Michigan, Wiscon- 

 sin, and Iowa." 



" Those places which have a summer of 70, 

 a hot month of 72, and a September of 63, 

 will ripen the Concord, Hartford Prolific, Di- 

 ana, Crevelling, &c. Their season of growth 

 corresponds to a mean of 67*, and an aggregate 

 of 8,500 and upwards. This district covers 

 part of the southeast and south coast of New 

 England, valleys of Hudson and Mohawk, neigh- 

 borhood of the minor lakes in "Western New 

 Tork, southern border of Lake Ontario, South- 

 ern Michigan, Southern Wisconsin, etc." 



" Those places which have a summer of 72", 

 a hot month of 73, and a September of 65, 

 will ripen the Isabella and Eebecca. Their 

 growing season corresponds to a mean of 70, 

 and an aggregate of 10,000 of heat. They are 

 uot found in the State of New York, except in 



the southeast extremity, lower valley of the 

 Hudson, and near some of the minor lakes, but 

 appear on the southern border of Lake Erie, ic 

 Northern Indiana and Northern Illinois." 



" Those places which enjoy a summer mean 

 of 73, a hot month of 75, and a September of 

 65, will ripen the Catawba and Anna. Their 

 growing season corresponds to a mean of 72, 

 and an aggregate of 11,000". They are not 

 found north of New York City and vicinity, 

 or the southeast counties of Pennsylvania, Mid- 

 dle New Jersey, or Southern Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, or Missouri. There is one exception 

 to these localities, viz., the islands and peninsula 

 near Sandusky, in Lake Erie, where the Cataw- 

 ba, owing to the effect of the water on the 

 temperature, will ripen completely during most 

 seasons." 



" Those places which bask under a glowing 

 summer of 74, a hot month of 75, and a Sep- 

 tember of 75, like Los Angelos County and 

 some other portions of California, other cir- 

 cumstances being favorable, may ripen the most 

 tender European wine grapes to perfection." 



In 1862, at Waterloo, N. Y., the Delaware 

 grape and the Hartford Prolific were 122 days 

 from leafing to ripening ; the Union Village, 

 125; the Clinton, 127; the Diana and Concord, 

 133; the Eebecca, 138; the Isabella and Cataw- 

 ba, 142 ; the To Kalon, 144 ; while the Anna 

 was still unripe at the end of 154 days. The 

 average temperature from leafing to maturity, 

 was about 64. 6 D , that from leafing to blooming 

 about 59, the hottest month about 69, and 

 from bloom to ripening about 67.5. 



There is, however, another element which 

 must enter into the possibility of the successful 

 cultivation of the vine, viz., the amount of hu- 

 midity in the climate. If the period from leaf- 

 ing to blooming be sufficiently humid to de- 

 velop favorably these processes, the vine will 

 succeed in maturing its grapes perfectly with a 

 very slight amount of rain thereafter, provided 

 only the heat is sufficient. The dry, and during 

 the summer almost rainless, climate of Califor- 

 nia is better adapted to the cultivation of the 

 grape than the rainy districts of Southern Ore- 

 gon, or the lower portion of the Apalachian 

 chain in East Tennessee, Western North and 

 South Carolina, and Northern Georgia. In these 

 the grape matures with difficulty, and lacks 

 sweetness. Yet, from the greater equability 

 of its temperature, an inland climate is prefer- 

 able for the lighter wine-grapes to the main- 

 land, notwithstanding its greater humidity, bu 4 . 

 will hardly produce the strong wines of a dryer 

 and more tropical latitude. There are many 

 indications that portions of Louisiana, Arkan- 

 sas, and Texas, will yet prove the finest wine 

 regions of the Atlantic slope, possessing, as they 

 do, the qualifications of rich soil, genial tem- 

 perature, and moderate humidity. 



The following table exhibits the exports of 

 produce from New York for 355 days of 1863" 

 and 1864, and the prices ruling in December, 

 1864, in New York and Chicago : 



