I^'dito?''s Letter Box. 



23 



though ivine and politics may. Here 

 after, I am going to give my "own 

 business " the pi'eference over that of 

 the ungrateful public. But enough. 

 I am rcspectfull}', j-ours etc., 



G. K. Gilmer. 

 [You must be in a favorable region 

 for grapes, if Black Hamburg, Diana 

 and lona succeed there. Please let 

 us hear from you again. \Ye hope 

 your vineyards will remunerate you 

 better than politics. — Editor.] 



Beaver, Dec. 24, ISOO. 



Mr. Geo. Husmann : 



Dear Sir : I wish you to inform me 

 whether you have any dub rates for 

 the Grape Culturist, separate from 

 the one you publish. I wish to get 

 up a club for the Culturist alone. 



I believe I was informed, by a friend 

 of yours in St. Louis last week^ that 

 you charged less for clubs. I will 

 take 3^our valuable monthly for myself 

 at any price. The information is for 

 others. I have been in the habit of 

 pruning my vines at all times during 

 the winter, when I had an hour to 

 spare. Do I injure the vines by so 

 doing, or had I better put oif my prun- 

 ing until late in the winter, say month 

 of February ? B}' answering this, j^ou 

 will oblige Yours respectfully, 



M. Darragii. 



Beaver C. H., Beaver Co., Peuu., Box 17. 



[For our club rates, we refer you 

 to our advertisement. You can safely 

 prune your vines during mild spells 

 in the winter, though we prefer and 

 recommend fall pruning. — Editor,] 



Hamilton, Caldwell Co., Mo., | 

 December 21, 1869. j 



Editors of Grape Culturist : 



Enclosed I send you S3. 00, as sub- 

 scription for the Grape Culturist and 

 Journal of Agriculture, to commence 



with January, 1870. So far I have 

 read the Grape Culturist with much 

 pleasure, and wish you success to j'our 

 undertaking. As you desire to hear 

 from all your grape-growing friends, 

 I will give you my experience, so far. 



In the fall of 1868 I prepared two 

 and one-fifth acres, by plowing and 

 subsoiling, for a vineyard. The land 

 had been under cultivation about eight 

 years, and was once partly heavy-tim- 

 bered and parti}' brush land, yielding 

 some years as high as 75 to 80 bushels 

 of corn to the acre. It is sloping some 

 to the south, and protected in the 

 north and west by timber, and lays 

 about 150 feet above Grand river bot- 

 tom. I planted last spring one acre 

 of it with two year old Concords, the 

 balance with Norton's Virginia, Hart- 

 ford Prolific, and 150 Ives'. I bought 

 the plants from Henry Michel, St. 

 Louis, and can recommend that firm. 

 I planted the vines last April, 6x10 

 feet, and gave them the best cultiva- 

 tion during the summer. Most of the 

 vines made a gi'owth of from 15 to 20 

 feet, and a few grew as much as 2.3 

 feet. I pruned back to from 4 to 6 

 buds in November, and intend to se- 

 lect 3 of the strongest buds next spring 

 for new canes^ if you think the strong- 

 est vines could stand it. Just for cu- 

 riosity's sake, I let about a half dozen 

 bunches stand, although a great many 

 of the vines set as many as 4 to 6 

 apiece. Those that I let stand ripened 

 nicely. 



Intending to try a few more varie- 

 ties, I askj'ou the following questions : 



1. Will Cynthiana, Goethe and Max- 

 atawney ripen early enough for me ? 



2. Where could I get cuttings of the 

 Martha, and at what price ? 



