36 



The Grape Culturist, 



Hence saccharoraeter, acidimeter and 

 gallizing. Things not unknown at Her- 

 mann in your time, and I presume at 

 Bluffton now. Mr. Ilusmann, in his 

 book on "The Cultivation of Native 

 Grapes and Wine/' says: (page 169.) 

 "After my purchasers have tasted 

 my wines they generally, with very 

 few exceptions, choose those which 

 either have been gallized in pai't, or 

 entirely." Having read that book 

 (with great pleasure) on that subject I 

 am a little surprised, after so much is 

 there said and quoted in favor of it 

 from Dr. Gall, at being pitched into so 

 roughly, because I put sugar in at the 

 first, without the water. 



As we approach the warm equato- 

 rial regions, fruits and flowers increase 

 in the richness of their taste and hues, 

 and vice versa, as we go toward the 

 poles. By this, nature engenders and 

 fosters a diff'erent taste in the inhabi- 

 tants of Northern and Southern coun- 

 tries. Thus the people of Italy and 

 France love sweet wines, champagne, 

 etc., whilst the more northern Ger- 

 mans luxuriate in sour wines and lager 

 beer. The people of the southern 

 States ridicule the northern taste for 

 sour and weak wines, and they ours 

 for sweet wines with great body. You 

 place the Delaware at the head of your 

 list for sweetness, we the Scuppernong 

 as tii'st, and the Delaware as second. 



You say the perfume I ascribe to the 

 Scuppernong is "too much of a good 

 thing, deeidedl3\" There are some 

 perfumes which are sickening, some 

 feminine,but others which seem divine. 

 Of this latter character is that of the 

 Scuppernong. It never clogs nor tires. 

 I never met but one man who was 

 not fond of it. 



On the subject of fermenting, you 

 are a little severe. There are G*^ of 

 latitude between 3'our place and mine. 

 Your Summers are consequently 

 shorter, and most of your gi-apes 

 ripen in August and September. Our 

 Summer grapes, (vinifera festivales) 

 ripen in June and July, and will 

 not remain on the vines, and 

 August and September are our hottest 

 months. Without great body it can 

 not, during that time, resist acetic fer- 

 mentation. Mr. II. (page 141), says 

 the temperature of the fermenting 

 cellar should be 60^. Others say 80°. 

 And all agree, after fermentation, wine 

 should be kept in a cellar of 45*^. The 

 temperature of my cellar in Summer, 

 though seven feet deep, protected by 

 my residence and a dense shade, 

 ranges from 62° to 75°. I have no 

 remedy but to give my wines greater 

 body. To do this we must use sugar 

 or spirits. The sugar we have in its 

 purity, and prefer to use it to gallized 

 whisky or brandy. Our people have 

 been accustomed to the highly spiritu- 

 alized and sweet wines of Europe, and 

 such is agreeable to them. 



The difference in the tastes of your 

 section relishing weak and sour wines, 

 and that of our relishing sweet wines 

 with great body, will, in all proba- 

 bility, exclude our wines from your 

 markets, and yours from ours for all 

 time. The two sections will scarcely' 

 be rivals. 



You say, "few people can wait eight 

 or ten years for a crop, and yours 

 scarcely three." This is apparently a 

 home thrust. We have been in the 

 practice of setting our vines thirty to 

 thirty-two feet each way, and it takes 

 the vines eight to ten years to cover 



