Curiosities and Gleanings of Grape Literature. 



99 



CURIOSITIES AND GLEANINGS OF GRAPE LITERATURE. 



[Written for the Ohio Farmer.] 



advertisement extraordinary i 



4^780,723,425 grape vines ! 



The above small number of extraor- 

 dinaiy vines are nearly ready for sale. 



They embrace 500,000 distinct varie- 

 ties. All these have been raised from 

 crossed eyes, in a manner peculiarly 

 my own, as suggested by my long ex- 

 perience. No vines in the world are 

 equal to them, since no man has so long 

 been in the business as myself. What 

 good variety is there or what well grown 

 vine, in all the country, that has not 

 been sent out and saved from everlast- 

 ing neglect b}' my skill and the admir- 

 able management of The Ego Mihi 

 establishment ? Clearly none at all. 



Small, cheap, insignificant concerns, 

 got up in imitation of mine, are all mis- 

 erable failures. 



I am free to say all my vines are 

 started in pots. I first use small ones, 

 holding two hogsheads filled with sand 

 from the Sahara Desert ; it being ascer- 

 tained by microscopical examination, 

 that each particular grain is rightly 

 formed, and by chemical analyses that 

 the constituents of that sand alone are 

 adapted to m}- purpose. I then trans- 

 plant to pots four times as large filled 

 with the bone-dust from the Catacombs 

 of Egypt. A fter thus transplanting ni}' 

 vines forty times, root pruning them 

 each time, and each operation giving 

 them four times their former room, I 

 plant them in the open ground where 

 they are finished off. When read}^ for 

 market, the roots are usuall}' 420 feet 

 long. I have, at great expense, pro- 

 cured the services of 1,000 men from 



Brohdignag, who have over 500 years' 

 experience in grape propagation. It is 

 with their aid, added to my skill and 

 experience, that The Ego Mihi estab- 

 lishment is able to produce such aston- 

 ishing plants. And here I wish it dis- 

 tinctly understood^ that I do not conduct 

 business to make money — that is sec- 

 ondary. Good vines and vines for the 

 million are what I am aiming for. All 

 my costly adveitisements are simply 

 philanthropic eflTorts. I will probably 

 never get my money back ; but still I 

 shall go on doing good ! 



Besides the standard varieties, all of 

 which would never have been heard of 

 but for me, I am happy to offer several 

 new varieties, the first of which is my 

 seedling the Ipsa — vine extra hardy — 

 has been fruited successfully on the 

 north side of Greenland — exceedingly 

 vigorous, making 640 feet of cane the 

 first 3^ear — very prolific, bearing 3,000 

 pounds of fruit per vine the second year 

 — never drops its leaf — never mildews, 

 and is very easily grown from cross- 

 eyed cuttings. Bunch, veiy large, round, 

 long shouldered, loose and very com- 

 pact. Berries oblong, ovate, globular, 

 round, reddish, blue, black, with a deli- 

 cate touch of invisible green. Flavor, 

 delicious, very sweet, slightly tart, sub- 

 acid, agreeable. Must yields 220 per 

 cent, of sugar. 



I propose to sell to individuals collec- 

 tively or to clubs of one or more, at the 

 following remarkably low rates : 



Ipsa, 1 year old, forty times trans- 

 planted, fifty times root-pruned, ready 

 to bear the firstyear, $40. 10 each, $5,000 

 per 100; 2d-class, $30.50 each, $4,000 



