AND WINE MAKING. 231 



is shared by all of the prominent grape-growers of the 

 State, so far as I know. It is this, that the grape-grow- 

 ers of the State, if they turn their attention chiefly to 

 the best of the cestivalis, the Cynthiana, Norton's Vir- 

 ginia, JSTeosho, and others, which have not been so fully 

 tried, will, at no distant day, excel the products of the 

 choicest vineyards of the European Continent, and may 

 safely challenge the world in the production of the 

 choicest Burgundies, Clarets, and Sherries, and the 

 sooner we turn our attention to them the better. Cali- 

 fornia, and even the East, may excel us in the quantity, 

 and rival us in the quality of white wines, but from a-H 

 the information I can obtain, they can not come near to 

 our red wines, which are even now the equals of the 

 best wines of Burgundy. This is our proper field, and 

 the sooner we concentrate our energies upon it, the better 

 will it be for us. They are, at the same time, Phylloxera- 

 proof, and we need not fear that they will " go back " 

 upon us. 



In the cordifolia we have still another material. The 

 grapes of this class may be said to occupy a position be- 

 tween the Labruscas and the c&stivalis class. Nearly all 

 contain considerable acid, and an abundance of flavor, 

 and are much improved by judicious Gallizing ; but as 

 their skin and pulp is tender, they need not be fermented 

 on the husks for any length of time. Twenty-four hours 

 of lively fermentation will generally be sufficient for the 

 Elvira, Taylor, and Clinton. They promise to furnish 

 us another class of wines, and as they are also Phylloxera- 

 proof, we may consider these two classes as the founda- 

 tion of future grape growing. We have but just com- 

 menced experimenting with this class, but the great 

 success achieved by Mr. Rommel and others justify the 

 most sanguine hopes. I was particularly struck with 

 some wines shown me by Mr. James Ricketts, from sev- 

 eral Clinton seedlings, foremost among which are the 



