Editors' Letter Boa: 



283 



foriHation 3'ou want. Oeschles' Saccha- 

 rometer can be procured by addressing 

 Jacob Blattner, St. Louis, Mo. The 

 price, we think, is $3.50. It is the 

 instrument 3'ou want. 



We shall be glad to receive a sample 

 of your wine, and will report on it 

 through our columns. — Ed.] 



GrKANiJY, July -20, 1SG9. 

 <.EORGE HuSMANNj ESQ. : 



Dear AVr.- I enclose a little article 

 from the Southu-est Independent. It 

 will give you some idea about the pros- 

 pect of grape culture in our county. 

 A¥e have no Grape Growers' Associa- 

 tion here, but we work together in the 

 greatest harmony, and are perfect 

 communists in ever^'thing concerning 

 •• grapes and wine." 



Our hills here are covered with wild 

 grapes of the -^Estivalis family, many 

 of them of fine quality. The soil is 

 very gravel 1}^, and exactly suits the 

 description of the best grajje lands, as 

 Mr. Muench gives it on page 1 7 of his 

 •' AYeinbauschule." Do yon know of 

 any plow that will loosen such soil to 

 the depth of 12 or 14 inches? The 



deepest we ever could work it with 

 common turning plow and bull tongue 

 is from 6 to 8 inches. All kinds of 

 grapes planted in ground thus prepared 

 have grown well, and are now full of 

 fruit, but we are afraid that in a few 

 years they will give out. What do you 

 think of it? Many of our vineyards 

 are on our high situated prairies, and 

 they all seem to do well ; the subsoil is 

 a rather stiff clay. The Concords have 

 nearly reached full size. About twelve 

 da^'s ago I found the first rotten ber- 

 ries on them. Something like 300 

 berries rotted so far in a crop of 1,200 

 lbs. Yours respectfully, 



Hermann T^ger. 

 [If you will tr}- Deeres' subsoil stirrer 

 plow, we think you can get somewhat 

 deeper than with the bull tongue. If 

 your land is gravelly and loose, we 

 think there is no danger of your vine- 

 3'ards giving out. If the roots of your 

 vines find congenial food in the soil, 

 they will penetrate it. Glad to hear 

 suGh a favorable report from Newton 

 count}'. Your article was crowded out 

 of this number. We will try and brii>g 

 it in a future one. — Ed.] 



OcR Club Rates. — To any person 

 who will send us 6S 00 we will send 

 five copies of the Grape Culturist, for 

 one 3'ear, to such address or addresses 

 as he may designate. 



Any one of our fi lends may thus, by 

 a little exertion, form a club in his 

 neighborhood, and obtain his paper 

 free. 



By special agreement with the pub- 

 lishers, we are enabled to club the 

 Grape Culturist with either the Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture or Rural Woi^ld, at 

 83 00 per annum, and will, should an}- 

 of our readers wish it, tr}^ and eftect a 

 similar arrangement with an}' of the 

 horticultural or agricultural journals in 

 the countr}'. 



