The Air Treatment. 



369 



at the present date much like humbug, 

 or making capital. You may be per- 

 fectl}' honest in 3'our convictions, but 

 it behooves the public to be very cau- 

 tious, and it is our duty, though some- 

 times not a pleasant one, to warn them 

 against taking such hasty assertions 

 as testimon}'. 



You are unjustly liard upon the 

 Martha. As to its bearing qualities, 

 we think they have been sufficiently 

 demonstrated ; it is productive even 

 to a fault. We do not know of any 

 grape, nor do we believe you know of 

 one, which sets all perfect, lai*ge 

 bunches, and the bunches on the Mar- 

 tha are certainly a fair average. We 

 guard against imperfect bunches 

 by pruning long enough, and taking 

 off the small imperfect bunches at the 

 first pinching in June. Thus man- 

 aged, we can have an abundance of 

 fine perfect bunches upon the Martha, 

 and upon most varieties Avhich are not 

 seriously damaged b}' rot and mildew. 



The Maxatawnej', you say, '* is 

 now hardly to be heard of." Here it 

 bids fair to become one of the leading 

 grapes, and we predict the time will 

 come when it will be much more 

 " heard of" than it is now. You say 



it "took no position" at Philadelphia. 

 Our coi-respondent "Hippie" seems to 

 think otherwise, and even concludes 

 that "its merits have been strangely 

 overlooked." So think others. Here 

 it proved perfectly healthy in fruit and 

 foliage the last \evj unfavorable 

 summer. 



What you say of the Autuchon may 

 be, with as much justice, said of the 

 Croton. We doubt whather the pub- 

 lic have seen as much of the latter 

 even as the former. " Oh, consisten- 

 cy, thou art a jewel." 



" All the Eogers' numbers must 

 eventually go to the wall." Wo do not 

 think so. Some of them have already 

 a justly established reputation, and 

 among them one which you have 

 strangely overlooked, although it is as 

 white as many of those you name at 

 the East, the Goethe, or Xo. 1, which 

 bids fair to be one of the leading 

 grapes for wine and for the table. 



Among those you have forgotten 

 are the Cassad}', Clara, and Lorain, 

 although each and all may have as 

 good a claim as many of those you 

 mention, and which all came out with 

 as good 'promise as 3'our pet, the 

 Croton. — Ed.] 



THE AIR TREATMENT. 



Our wine makers have not 3'et be- 

 come alive to the advantages of the 

 d'Heureuse air treatment of wines, 

 partially through the skepticism of 

 human nature, and partiall}' on ac- 

 count of the first cost of the appa- 

 ratus — two hundred dollars — so that 

 M'hile many would like to experiment 



a little first, they do not, as the ex- 

 periment involves the same cost as 

 the full use of the method. However, 

 a few fire-bellows have been resurrect- 

 ed, and a few sober citizens have be- 

 come " blow-hards," at the end of a 

 rubber hose, in their attempts to test 

 the principle, or to hurry along their 



