Editor's Letter Box. 



:]01) 



tion of sugar depends on circum- 

 stances. Good Catawba must gener- 

 alUy contains sugar enough to keep, 

 but very often a superabundance of 

 acid, tannin, and flavor, all of which is 

 ameliorated by adding water and su- 

 gar. If your wine once contains 

 acetic acid, (as 1 suppose, from your 

 description,) you can do nothing with 

 it but make vinegar of it. — Ed. 



\iN£i,\M), Xii«' Jehsky, Oct. rilh, 187U. 



Gr. HusMANN, Esq.: 



Dear Sir — For the benefit of the 

 grape growing fratornit}^ I send you 

 an article on '• Grape Culture in Na- 

 ples A'alley," which please publish in 

 the JSToveinber Grape Culturist, with 

 your own criticism on the new sys- 

 tem, ^'ours, respectfully, 



J. LOEWENDAHL. 



[If our friend will refer to January* 

 and February Xo. of Grape Cultur- 

 LST,1870, he will find an article, ^'Treat- 

 ment of the American Grapevine/' by 

 the same writer, and embodying about 

 the same ideas, with our comments on 

 it.— Ed.] 



CilAKi.ui lESVil.LE, N':'. , Sept. lltll, l.srO. 



Mr. Husjiann : 



Excuse my liberty in addressing you, 

 but information is wanted, and I must 

 ask it from such as I suppose can give it. 



Since 1865 the culture of grapes has 

 engaged the attention of this section, 

 which promises to be a success. We 

 have now in tliis neighborhood some 

 100 acres growing, most of which will 

 bear next year for the first time, and 

 more is ):)eing planted evej'y spring. 

 This requires a stock company for 

 building a wine cellar, and here is 

 where I desire information. We want 

 to start Avith a cellar of at least ;")0,000 



gallons capacity. What is the best 

 plan, considering economy, permanency 

 and ability to enlarge? — from what 

 source can I learn what is required for 

 such a cellar, form, substance and plan ? 

 — what the probable cost of construc- 

 tion and outfit ? — what laborers will 

 it require to manage it properly? — 

 what is a fair or the usual salary or 

 hire for each of these in their respec- 

 tive capacities ? — where can they prob- 

 ably be gotten from ? Are the above- 

 ground wine-houses desirable, or do 

 they answer the purposes of a regular 

 cellar ? 



These are the leading points on 

 wliich I would beg you to inform me. 

 If there be books published which 

 would answer iny purpose, give me 

 their titles ; but I should prefer, besides 

 this, to get your personal and practical 

 answers on the above points as well as 

 any other points which you know from 

 experience would aid me in mj^ under- 

 taking. I again beg your lenient judg- 

 ment for addressing you, and trust you 

 will favor me witli an answer at an 

 early date. Yours truly, 



Oscar Reierson. 



[We send you the Grape Culturist, 

 which we trust will give you the infor- 

 mation you want about cellars. If you 

 want to make annually about 50,000 

 gallons of wine, it would take four 

 good hands regularly to rack and man- 

 age them, with additional help during 

 wine-making time. You should have 

 one competent man to manage it ; he 

 can soon teach good common laborers 

 to do the rest of the work. You can 

 probably obtain one for about SI, 000 

 to $1,500 annuall}-, and should adver- 

 tise for him in the Grape Culturist. 

 — Editor.] 



