98 



The Grape CuUurist. 



ESSAY, EEAD AT THE GEAPE GEO WEES' MEETING AT PEOEIA. 



7)7/ G. C. Elsenmeyer, Mascoutah, III, 



Mr. President and Gentlemen : It 

 seems that enough has been said on 

 grape culture, enough essays Avritten, 

 and books enough printed, and to say 

 any more would bo a useless effort. 

 Still there is room for discussion, and 

 from 3'ear to year there are new ideas 

 developed and new improvements 

 made. There are only a few outlines 

 to be laid down as general principles. 

 In grape culture, the great secret of 

 success depends, in a great measure, 

 on the locality, selection of kinds of 

 grapes, and the exactness and industry 

 of the grape culturist. The old adage, 

 " Plow thorough and deep while slug- 

 gards sleep, and you will have corn to 

 sell and to keep," applies bettor in 

 grape culture than in any other avo- 

 cation. 



We know of but few varieties that 

 can bo recommended for general cul- 

 tivation. The Catawba has lost its 

 pre-eminence by its being too subject 

 to defoliation before the grapes are 

 ripe, and to mildew and rot. The 

 Concord is at present the grape for 

 the million, but we must have a better 

 grape than it is, because it cannot, 

 under all circumstances, be recom- 

 mended. It is deficient in saccharine 

 properties by 10 to 15 degrees on the 

 scale, according to season and localit}'. 

 Norton's Virginia cannot be well 

 recommended for a northern latitude, 

 neither will it do well on the Islands 

 of Lake Erie, nor on the Lake Shore. 

 It is reaching its northern limit about 

 this region (Peoria) of country. Iler- 

 bemont, Lincoln, Elsinburg, and a 

 few others, arc evidently best adapted 



to a dry southern climate, and reach 

 their northern latitude about Alton. 

 Taylor Bullitt is not a prolific bearer^ 

 as a general and almost universal ex- 

 perience teaches us to our sorrow. I 

 did, however, see it produce an abun- 

 dant crop last year, on a place in 

 Clinton county, on the slope of an 

 Indian mound. Should the same 

 vines bear as abundant a crop this 

 year, then I will send some of the soil 

 to Champaign and Washington for a 

 closer examination and analysis. That 

 splendid little gi*ape called Delaware 

 will only do well in few peculiar locali- 

 ties. Diana partakes of the same na- 

 ture and diseases as the Catawba. 

 Hence our valuable varieties are nar- 

 rowed down to but few kinds of grapes. 

 However, I should have mentioned 

 Hartford Prolific as one of our hardy 

 and earl}^ valuable table grapes. Of 

 the Ives we know too little as yet. It 

 is believed to be a valuable grape. 



Preparation of Soil. — ^^lliis is an 

 open and wide question. The Euro- 

 pean mode is, as a general thing, too 

 slow and costly in tJiis countv}-, where 

 labor is, and will be, high ; and for 

 Concord, Clinton, Hartford Prolific 

 and Ives, not necessary ; on the con- 

 trary, the ground, plowed fifteen to 

 eighteen inches deep, is better for 

 those varieties tlian when the ground | 

 is trenched twenty-four to thirty inches ' 

 deep. Those varieties are inclined to 

 root near the top soil, and near the sun. 

 While Norton's Virginia loves to go 

 down deep ; and I would invayably 

 say, trench for the Norton, and plant 

 on a southern or eastern slope. 



