280 



The Grape Culturist. 



Your article, "What Shall We 

 Plant," in the Mai*ch number, is of 

 great value to young grape planters 

 like m^'sclf. It is worth, b}' itself, a 

 year's subscription to the Grape Cul- 

 turist. I respectfull}^ suggest that 

 you might make an article equally 

 interesting b}" publishing a list of the 

 varieties recommended, in the order 

 in which they ripen at Blufi'ton, and 

 with the usual dates ; for it is very 

 desirable that the}^ should be so 

 planted that 3'ou may gather the fruit 

 conveniently. 



M3" vines (eight kinds) I have suf- 

 fered to trail on the ground, without 

 stake, this first year, plowing them 

 six or seven times, the first four with 

 the bull tongue and the latter with a 

 sweep. The season has been dry, and 

 yet all have never stopped, advancing 

 in a vigorous, stocky growth, except 

 the lona, which has mildewed badly. 



I have also an acre of young Scup- 

 pernongs. This is a safe grape to 

 plant South, but I do not award to it 

 the merit which manj^ do, on account 

 of its deficiency in sugar. A friend* 

 of mine in Chapel Hill, North Caro- 

 lina, who is a good chemist, analyzed 

 the must in 1867, and made it 12 per 

 cent, of sugar and 4-thousandths of 

 acids. The proportion of acid was so 

 small that I asked him to repeat the 

 test in 1868, which he did, making the 

 following report: "As regai'ds the 

 Scuppernongs, my a3say was correct. 

 I have determined the acid (4) in four 

 different samples this summer. It 

 was the same ; if an3'thing, it was less 

 in two samples. Oiie lot of grapes 

 was sent from Fayetteville. The 

 amount of sugar was ascertained in 

 only one sample 11.2 per cent., a little 



less than it was last year, which was 

 owing in part to a heavy rain just 

 before the grapes were gathered. I 

 made a small quantity of the wine, 

 and it was totally different from any 

 specimens of it I ever saw. It was 

 very much like the Rhine wines, of a 

 beautiful golden or straw color, and 

 as good as the " hock " I paid |17 a 

 box for before the war. Scupper- 

 nong wine, as made in this State, is 

 a failure. A party in Baltimore wrote 

 to see if I could purchase 3,000 gal- 

 lons for him. I found any quantity 

 of it— 5,000 in AVashington, 3,000 in 

 Fayette, 5,000 in Wilmington — but it 

 was not marketable, I think on ac- 

 count of the manner in which it was 

 made." 



I am satisfied of the correctness of 

 the above test. The must is very 

 deficient in saccharine matter, but the 

 small proportion of acid gives it great 

 apparent sweetness. The reason why 

 it is so diflficult to make good wine of 

 it is not explained. An experiment 

 I made with its congener, the " Mus- 

 cadine," which grows to great perfec- 

 tion in the bottoms of the Tennessee 

 river, suggested the obstacle to my 

 mind. I found a gum in it which, 

 instead of sinking during fermenta- 

 tion, swani on the surface ; and it 

 required frequent shiftings to make a 

 good table wine. May not the best 

 way of handling this and the Scup- 

 pernongs be, to make the first violent 

 fermentation over ? 



Yer}' respectfully^ 



James E. Saunders. 



[We will try and give such an arti- 

 cle as 3'ou desire in the October num- 

 ber. Have sent you the missing 

 number. We are glad to see that the 



