Editors'' Letter Bo.r. 



217 



far as my own experience in gi*ape 

 culture is concerned, I must say that 

 I have oxperimenled in different parts 

 of the United States, but have never 

 found soil and climate so Avell adapted 

 to the culture of the grape, as hero in 

 this part of Arkansas. The soil of 

 our hills is mostly derived from sand- 

 stone, lime and slate^ and is easily 

 cultivated. The principal growth of 

 timber on the higlands consists of 

 white, red and black Oak, Hickory 

 and Gum (intermingled in some parts 

 with Pine, but this is very seldom the 

 case). The grape, particularly the 

 Aestivalis family, j'ou find every- 

 where, and of the most luxuriant 

 growth. By visiting some parts of 

 Arkansas you Avould almost fancy 

 you were in some Italian vineyard; 

 great black and white grapes, of most 

 luxuriant growth, cover trees and 

 hillsides, and luscious clusters hang 

 everywhere in profusion. This is our 

 Lord's own vineyard. 



I have noticed particularly one 

 vine resembling much the C3'nthiaua 

 grape — at least the description I 

 found of the same in the January 

 number of the Grape Cultiirist. I 

 am fully convinced that we can culti- 

 vate the following varieties with great 

 success : Herbemont, Devereaux, Nor- 

 ton's Virginia, and others of the same 

 family. 



1 visited a friend of mine a few daj'S 

 ago, who is also a warm friend and 

 great admirer of the grape, and has 

 planted 900 vines, mostly Ives' seed- 

 ling, Norton's Virginia, Concord and 

 Hartford Prolific. I found his little 

 vinej-ard in excellent condition, prom- 

 ising a fine crop this season. The 

 vines are now four 3'ears old, and of 



luxuriant growth. I found the vines 

 mostly in full bloom, some few 

 already past. It Avas a beautiful 

 sight; and to me a plain proof of what 

 can be done here in the way of grape 

 growing. Lands suitable for vine- 

 yards can be purchased for almost 

 nothing, as all those beautiful hills 

 have been so far entirely valueless to 

 the planter, and can be purchased for 

 one to three dollars per acre, conveni- 

 ent to river and market. 



I made efforts to organize a com- 

 pany for the purpose of introducing 

 the culture of the grape, but have a 

 great many difficulties to overcome 

 3'et. People here have little energy 

 and enterprise. A few responded to 

 my call, and those are mostlj' men of 

 foreign or eastern origin. I shall not 

 give up. If I cannot come out very 

 formidable, I shall try it on a small 

 scale, and hope to send you an order 

 for some of j'our vines next fall, as I 

 intend to plant at least from five to 

 ten acres. 



Hoping that 3"0U will excuse me 

 for taking up so much of your valua- 

 ble time, I remain 



Yours, respectfullj', 



Theo. Jacobi. 



[We trust yon are in receipt of all 

 the missing numbers by this time. 

 We have immediateh' mailed them. 



We have never doubted, from what 

 Ave have heard, that a large proportion 

 of your State is splendidly adapted 

 to grape gi'owing. The Cynthiana, 

 as far as we can trace it, came from 

 there ; also the Arkansas, a variety 

 of the same class. 



If you could send to us next fall a 

 few scions of varieties of Avild grapes 

 which you think especially promising. 



