38 



The Grape Culturist. 



ardent spirits, North or South, and 

 the more the taste becomes purified 

 and cultivated, the more readil}' will 

 it accustom itself to true wine, whether 

 the individual lives North or South. 

 On the contrary, there are more spirits 

 used in Northern climates than in 

 Southern. 



You may admire the taste and flavor 

 of the Scuppernong; we do not. The 

 only taste we had of it, was on vines 

 of our own growing, and the berries 

 they ripened reminded us of the bugs 

 wo sometimes get in our mouth acci- 

 dentallj', when picking Raspberries or 

 Strawberries. We will admit that this 

 perfume (?) may, with you, be much 

 refined, as the grape ripens fully, but 

 can hardly think we would find it 

 •^'exquisite," even then. 



As to the temperature of j^our cellar 



during fermentation, if it is at 65° or 

 even To'^ it will only hasten fermen- 

 tation, and need a little more care. 

 But it will not hurt a must oi! ordinary 

 sweetness. 



We did not design any ''• home 

 thrusts;" if aecidentall}' a ''tender 

 spot " was hit by our remarks, we as- 

 sure you it w^as uniiitentional. We 

 could not gather from your remarks 

 that the Scuppernong produced a fair 

 crop sooner, and only imagined to 

 ourselves what our people here, as we 

 know them, would do if they had to 

 w^ait for a crop eight to ten years. 

 We sincerely wish that the Scupper- 

 nong may be the "Divine gift" you 

 consider it, to you, but you have not 

 yet convinced us that you should not 

 tr}' to get something better if it could 

 be found. — Editor.] 



CAN GRAPE GROWING BE OVERDONE? 



In the December number of the 

 Grape Culturist, in an article under 

 the above caption, the editor, in the 

 course of his remarks, uses the follow- 

 ing language : 



"There" (on our sunn}^ southern 

 hillsides with decomposed limestone 

 soil) " the Norton, Cynthiana, Herbe- 

 mont, Rulander, Louisiana, Cunning- 

 ham, and similar varieties, will alone 

 yield their best results ; and friend 

 Engelmann need not expect anything 

 like it on his soil. The Norton's Vir- 

 ginia grown on the prairies of Illinois, 

 and the loine of the same grape grown 

 on the Missouri bluffs, will bear about 

 the same relative merit as the common 

 French claret when compared ivith 

 choice Burgundy." 



This is interesting and rather start- 

 ling news to me ; and the question, on 

 what evidence so disparaging an asser- 

 tion is made, naturally presents itself 

 to my mind. Mr. Husraann fails to 

 adduce any evidence ; does he consider 

 himself so high authority that his 

 assertions require no further proof ? 



I am not blind to Mr. llusmann's 

 merits in furthering grape culture and 

 wine making, and am always ready to 

 recognize him as an authority in mat- 

 ters pei'taining thereto, but there are 

 certain limits, which ought not to be 

 approached, still less transgressed 

 without sufficient cause and ample 

 proof, and it appears to me, that Mr. 

 Husmann in making the above state- 

 ment has lost sight of these limits, 



