FARMERS' REGISTER— WINE MAKING IN THE UNITED STATES. 471 



vises — could not your copper kettle, if you have one 

 be protected from rust by soldering some zinc here 

 ami tiiere? Zinc is cheap and easily procured, 

 and n.ay be renewed, when by shielding the cop- 

 per it shall become thoroughly oxidized iiself. 

 JMay not }'our~scylhc, your hoe, your ploughshare 

 hare a patch of zinc upon it, and thus be pirevent- 

 cd li'om rusting when laid a. way? Could not your 

 chisels, your axes and tools have a little put upon 

 them by way of an aniirustmatic, and thus be kept 

 bright? could it not he applied in a thousand useful 

 waj's not now ihougiit oi'l Ponder upon the sub- 

 ject — try the experiment, and let us hear the re- 

 sult. 



Fromtlic Aiiioiican Fanner. 



ON Tlin CULTURE OF TIIK VIAE, AIs'D ON 

 ^VIKE MAKING IJS THE UMTED STATES. 



By N. Heiibemont, of Columbia, S. C. 

 On the culture of the vine. 



That the culture of the vine does not involve 

 any great mj sterv, and that it is not carried on 

 tiirough very difficult processes, is abundantly evi- 

 dent hy the great variety oi' methods used in the 

 different parts of the world where that culture is 

 attended to; lor, not only do the practices of va- 

 rious countries differ from each other, but perhaps 

 also there are no two sections of the same country 

 where^ the practice or mode of culture is precisely 

 the same. Although we cannot doubt that some 

 of tiiesc are preferable to others, yet all are attend- 

 ed with a success more or less perfect; besides 

 vvdiich it is most probable that the infinite varieties 

 of sites, soils and climates, as also tl# most innu- 

 merable varieties of the vines themselves must 

 render some difference necessary for the variqus 

 particular circumstances. ^ Admitting these obser- 

 vations to be correct, the choice of the particular 

 method of culture, and of all the cares it requires, 

 must rest chiefly on the judgement of the owner 

 of the vineyard, or of the practical man that works 

 it. It necessarily iollows, from these [)reniises, 

 that the culture of the vine is not only unattended 

 with difficulties, but that any variation from the 

 best mode may not necessarily be followed by 

 ruinous consequences. General principles are 

 then all sufficient with persons possessed of any 

 judgement, and it is useless to write lor others. 

 An enlightened cultiv^ator of this or any other 

 plant, ought to be acquainted with the doctrines of 

 vegetable physiology, and from his practice form 

 his cwn judgement of the peculiar habits of the 

 plant he cultivates, and of the various circum- 

 stances that may properl}' modify its culture. 



Plants grow, increase in bulk, and are kept in a 

 healthful stale from the abundance and nature of 

 thetbod that nourishes them, and this they extract 

 from the earth by means of their roots, and from 

 the air by their leaves and other tender parts. The 

 vine is nahirally disposed to push shoots of very 

 great length, so that in rich soils it climbs to the 

 tops of very high trees. The rooLs of plants are 

 usually proportionate to their tops; hence it follows 

 that the vine thrives best in a soil that is loose and 

 easily penetrated by its long roots which go to a 

 considerable depth in search of moisture as a ne- 

 cessar}' supply for the great expenditure of it, 

 which it must suffer by its very extended ramifica- 

 tion and abundcmt lijliagc. The latter, however, 



imbibes ff'om the air, particularly in the night, a 

 great proportion of the moisture necessary for its 

 supjiort, and also to furnish lor this expenditure 

 during the day. The abundance and quality of 

 its fi-uit depend, in a great measure, on tlie just 

 equilibrium between this supply of food and mois- 

 ture and hs due evaporation. If there be a super- 

 abundance of it, the grapes are two watery and de- 

 ficient in saccharine matter and other necessaiy 

 ingredients to form a perfect fruit, and it is more- 

 over very liable to rot under these circumstances. 

 To obtain good, sound and rich grapes, it is proba- 

 bly better that the supply of moisture be rather 

 deficient than over-abundant, and under any cir- 

 eumstance, the soil and situation for a vinejard 

 ought to be selected with this object in view, and 

 a.!so. that the supply of moisture be as regular as 

 the nature of things w-ill admit, and that as much 

 as is practicable, independently of the seasons, 

 whether these are dry or wet. A light, deep and 

 permeable soil seems to offer these conditions; for 

 in such, the roots of the vines, if these have been 

 planted at a sufficient depth, will reach to where 

 water is never very greatly exhausted, nor ever 

 greatly superabundant. In a severe drought the 

 moisture of the earl h is only diminished, but never 

 exhausted, below a icw inches of the surface; and 

 this is rendered evident from this, that during such 

 a season, when most other plants are deficient in 

 dew in the morning, a little drop of it is usually 

 found at every point of the leaves of the vine, 

 which shows either that its roots furnish the sup- 

 ply from the great depth to which they descend, 

 or that the leaves by their temperature, probably 

 occasioned by this very supply, condense during 

 the night, what little moisture is in the air; though 

 during such periods of great drought, the neigh- 

 boring plants seem not to have this property, at 

 least in an equal degree. On the otherhand, when 

 the season is uncommonly wet, particularly when 

 this is not so much caused by the frequency of the 

 rains as by the great quantity of water that some- 

 times falls in a very short time, the roots of the 

 vine which are at a considerable depth, are not 

 suddenly affected by it; for rain does not sink ra- 

 pidly and deep. On the contrary, it may be ob- 

 served by any person, that affer a sjiell of wet wea- 

 ther of several days continuance, the water has 

 penetrated only a few inches, at least in any con- 

 siderable quantity. The roots, then, are not drench- 

 ed with a superabundant moisture, unless they 

 are within a short distance from the surface. The 

 management and culture of the vine milfet then be 

 whh a view to these effects, and the same precau- 

 tions tend to guard against both cases. It is en- 

 deavored to attain these desirable objects by va- 

 rious means. First, in planting the vines, the 

 holes or trenches should be made much deeper 

 than its present roots will reach, and if manure is 

 used, a portion of it should be sp-aded in the bot- 

 tom of the hole for the purpose of inducing them 

 to grow downwards. The. vine is also planted 

 somewhat deeper than it was in it natural situation 

 taking care not to fill up the hole even with the sur- 

 face, fest the plant should suflijr after its trans- 

 plantation from the want of the due influence of 

 the air and other atmospherical action on its roots. 

 It is thought best to leave the holes unfilled by 

 eight to twelve inches, and gradually to fill them 

 up in the course of one, two, or even three years, 

 according to th« dei>th to be thus filled up. By 



