254 



The Grape Culturist. 



EDITOE'S LETTEE BOX. 



KiNSTON, N. C, July 23, 1870. 



George Husmann, Esq.: 



Dear Sir: I have received two 

 numbers of the Grape Culturist ; 

 am ah'eady more than compensated 

 for the price. Your article, "■ Wine 

 Cellare/' in the July number, is par- 

 ticulary interesting, as I had felt con- 

 siderable anxiety on that subject. 

 How do you build the ground floor 

 and foundation ? Do you press off 

 your wine in this cellar or store-house? 

 Or do you have a separate apartment 

 for pressing ? Do you mean by 

 ''planting in holes," not entirely fill- 

 ing the holes ? If not, how do 3'ou 

 plant your vines without " planting in 

 holes?" I have some vines growing 

 on old land : vines grow luxuriantly, 

 but grapes rot. Would you advise 

 manuring with leaf-mould this winter 

 to prevent it? Is Norton's Virginia 

 easily propagated by grafting ? Is 

 Elsinburg good stock to graft into ? 

 Is golden willow the kind used in 

 making baskets ? Do you tie with 

 twigs or bark ? Please answer the 

 above questions in your journal, and 

 oblige, Yours very respectfully. 

 W. L. Kennedy. 



[We have pressed our wine in the 

 same room, but that can also be done 

 in a separate building. We have left 

 the ground floor as it was, only scat- 

 tered gi-avol from a creek bed over it. 

 The foundation of the walls is made 

 of stone. By ''planting in holes" we 

 mean only making holes in the un- 

 plowed ground, without stirring the 

 ground all over by plowing or digging. 

 These form sinkholes for the water, 



and give the vines " wet feet," as the 

 common phrase is. You will prevent 

 the rot by pruning longer, giving the 

 vines more to do ; and early summer 

 pruning, giving the vine better circu- 

 lation of air — not by manuring. The 

 very fact that your vines grow luxu- 

 riantly shows that tbey need no ma- 

 nure. It would only increase the rot. 

 Norton's will graft well on Elsinburgh, 

 or any of the Aestivalis class; but we 

 would advise you to graft Cynthiana 

 instead, as it makes a still finer wine, 

 of the same character, but more deli- 

 cate, and of finer flavor. Golden wil- 

 low is better adapted to tying than 

 baskets, as it makes numerous small 

 branches. The best basket willows 

 we know are the green and brown 

 osier. AYe tie the old canes in spring 

 with willows, the young growth with 

 pawpaw or basswood bark. Corn 

 shucks, pulled into strips and kept 

 moist, are also good tying material 

 for the young growth on trellis. — Ed.] 



Derby Faum, Aikkn, S. C, June 22, 1870. 



Geo. Husmann, Esq. : 



Dear Sir : Inclosed please find 

 $5.00 (five dollars), for which send me 

 by mail to- this place addressed as 

 above. The " Grape Culturist " Vol. 

 1 and 2. " Ilusmann's Cultivation of 

 JSative Grapes." If the amount is not 

 sufficient I will forward the balance 

 on receipt of bill. 



This is a great grape growing rC' 

 gion. I have forty thousand vines in 

 full bearing chiefly Catawba, Bur- 

 gundy, Warren, Clinton, Black July, 

 Concords ifcc, besides about one mile 



