Reports on Grapes. 



245 



I insist on having the June number 

 of the Grape Culturist. My wife 

 lo\'e8 to read it as well as I do. 

 Very trul}-, 



John M. Dyson. 



[We have sent your missing June 

 number, and are glad to find from 

 manifold communications, that our 

 readers do not like to miss a single 

 number. It has been our constant 

 aim to make our little periodical in- 

 dispensable to them, and we are glad 

 to sa}' we have not lost any of our 

 subscribers, except by death, since we 

 started. 



We can not see how so strong a 

 grower as the Herbemont could be 

 trained on the stem or souche system. 

 We should think it would rot, if 

 trained so low. — Editor.] 



New Frankfokt, Saline Co., Mo , } 

 Aug. 8, 1870. $ 



Mr. Geo. Husmann : 



Dear Sir : Being at leisure, I con- 

 cluded to write a few lines on grapes. 

 The grape crop up here will be, on an 

 average, a medium crop. Some few 

 vinej'ards are just loaded down with 

 delicious fruit; but there was some 

 rot, some of the Catawba principall}', 

 the Concord next, and some other va- 

 rieties less. I have noticed that the 

 rot is far less where the wind and air 

 can strike the vineyards fairly. Tiog- 

 er's Hybrids, Mary Ann, Martha, 

 Cj^nthiana, Norton's Virginia are not 

 suffering by the rot. The rot com- 

 menced with a small black speck, 

 skin-deep, and gradually enlarged. In 

 about a week the berry drops off. 

 The loss by rotting this year will not 

 amount to more than one-sixteenth, 

 with the worst rotting kinds. 



The area of ground in grapes in and 

 around New Frankfort is twenty-fivo 

 acres. They are located principally 

 on the bluffs of the Missouri river, on 

 limestone. The Concord, Catawba^ 

 and Norton's Virginia, are cultivated 

 more than any other varieties; but 

 Nicholas Schmidt cultivates some 

 twenty-five varieties. All of the 

 plants were bought of the Bluffton 

 Wine Compan}^, and seven-eighths- 

 were choice plants. Next year there 

 will be some 300 barrels wine made in 

 this vicinity. Most of the vineyards are 

 planted too close, 5 by 4, 5 by 5, 5 by 

 6, some 6 by 6, and 6 by 7, and a little 

 6 by 10. Close planting with thrifty 

 vines is a great annoyance. Wire 

 trellises are getting much in vogue 

 here now, people are quitting the 

 stake system. Wine sold here at 

 $2.00 per gallon. Hardly any grapes, 

 sold, worth 10 cents per pound. 



GRAFTING. 



I think a few lines to the Grape 

 Culturist might be beneficial to such 

 people as are relying on grafting as 

 a mode of changing or propagating 

 new and valuable kinds in a short 

 time. I grafted a lot of Catawbas 

 last February and March, and did not 

 save more than five per cent, of 

 what I grafted, and I did it as well 

 as any one could do it. And I had 

 grafting done with similar bad results 

 for several years in succession. I 

 grafted on five year old roots and 

 mulched with straw. The grafts 

 looked like they would grow for a. 

 long time. Last year 1 had tolerable 

 good success with April grafting, say 

 four inches under the ground. If I 

 ever graft again I shall mulch with 



