Eli.t<>r3 Letter Box. 



Wi 



fall, I want to ask j'ou a few more 

 questions, for fear I should make a 

 mistake. I have three acres now in 

 bearing, the third crop, and they are 

 line and healthy — mostly Concord. I 

 have set tive acres more this spring, and 

 intend to plant five more, making thir- 

 teen acres in all ; and I want to ask 

 you if pine will answer for fermenting 

 ■casks as well as oak ; or could I, through 

 yoU; have such casks shipped from your 

 place, or St. Louis, as you think I will 

 need for the present 'Top. I would like 

 at least one or two 500 gallon casks 

 furnished b}' you of oak, the balance I 

 ■could get here. If you can furnish them 

 please give me the probable cost, de- 

 livered here by boat or rail. Please 

 say whether 1 could get along without 

 the must scale, and if not, where I can 

 obtain them best. I also want a press, 

 and am not able to bu}- any larger one 

 than will answer my purpose ; please 

 sa}^ where I can do the best, and also 

 Avhat you think I can wholesale the wine 

 at next March, if good. Please answer 

 the aboce ; and if j'ou can furnish the 

 casks I will send you the money. [ 

 would be pleased to have any sugges- 

 tions you will be pleased to make. 

 Verj- truly yours, 



A. S. BONHAM. 



[We do not trade in ca^ks, but 3'ou 

 •can not do better than by addressing 

 Mr. Tobias Weigold, whose address 

 you will find in our advertising columns. 

 He has furnished ns with casks for 

 3'ears, and they have always given 

 satisfaction. Pine will not do to keep 

 wine in for a longer time than a few 

 days, (See article in this number on 

 "Wine Cellars and their Furniture." 

 You can not do without the must scale. 

 y addressing Jacob Blattner, St. Louis, 



and sending §3.50, you can obtain one. 

 The press of Geiss & Brosius. Belleville, 

 Ills., will answer your purpose, price 

 $45. The price of new Concord wine 

 at wholesale last tall has been from 80c 

 to 61 at Hermann ; of course we cannot 

 tell what it may be worth wiili yoii next 

 spring. It depends on the quality, and 

 the market 3'ou have. — Ed.] 



Memphis, Tenx., July 16th, 181J9. 



George Husmann, Esq. : 



Dear Sir: Being a vtny attentive 

 reader of your highly valued Grape 

 CuLTURisr, and perceiving that any- 

 thing appertaining to grape culture is 

 always welcome to you, I take the 

 liberty to trouble you with a few lines, 

 in a matter of great importance (at 

 least to me). 



I have started a vineyard of two 

 acres this spring— Concord, Norton's 

 Virginia, Ilerhemont and Ives — have 

 also set out about 26,000 cuttings ; do 

 not know yet how many of those I shall 

 save. Have spoken to some Germans 

 here about starting on a larger scale, 

 but they think the climate here is too 

 hot. The land is so situated that it 

 has the sun all da}', is protected from 

 north Avinds by a strip of timber run- 

 ning alongside of the land, is hill}', un- 

 derlaid with gravel, the upper strata 

 being a kind of reddish-white clay. 

 Planting time is about four weeks ear- 

 lier than in Southern Missouri. The 

 thermometer hardly ever falls belov/ 

 zero, and during the summer months it 

 ranges from 65 to 105 degrees in the 

 shade. 



Now, what I would like to know is 

 this : whether, under those conditions, 

 it would be safe, in your opinion, to go 

 on and plant some more vines ; or 



