334 



The Grape Culturist. 



no manure, either before or after 

 planting. Vines make a more succu- 

 lent growth on rich soil, and are more 

 subject to rot on it, than on rather 

 poor soil. Hartford is a very abund- 

 ant bearer, and hardy and healthy 

 everywhere. Clinton is the poorest 

 stock for grafting we know, for two 

 reasons : first, its dissimilarity to other 

 varieties, and, secondly, its habit of 

 suckering from the lower eyes. The 

 reason why vines (not grapes) need no 

 waxing in grafting is because they are 

 grafted below the surface of the 

 ground. Waxing is done to protect 

 against air and sun. Our new method 

 of grafting is very similar to budding. 

 It is simply grafting under the bark. 

 The scion is cut with a long oblique 

 cut, to one side of the scion ; the 

 stock is then cut off, the bark lifted 

 with a knife, the scion pushed down 

 between wood and bark, and the whole 

 tied with matting. Of course, this 

 must be done when the bai'k parts 

 readily from the stock, not before 

 April, and we have had fair success 

 with it as late as June. 



The Mary Ann is as strong a grow- 

 er, as healthy and hardy as Concord. 

 The fruit is somewhat smaller, but still 

 a good-sized uniform bunch, and of 

 fair quality. — Ed.] 



Mahiox Hill, nkau Richmond, Va., ) 

 September !)th, J870. i 



Dear Husmann : 



Though the season for grapes here 

 has not been good, I have made some 

 wine — mostly Concord. Some of my 

 wine nas been made more than two 

 weeks; and, fermentation having 

 ceased, it has been closed up to await 

 the time of pressing. 



I had no experience in wine-making, 

 save as an amateur, and on a very 

 small scale, and, therefore, tried to 

 follow your dii'ections as best I could, 

 believing you to be about the best 

 teacher I know of in such matters. 

 But I found you differing with your- 

 self, and this puzzled me no little. In 

 your book on "Native Grapes and 

 Wines," your directions were plain 

 enough, and but for your subsequent 

 " Hints on Wine-Making," page 260, 

 of Grape Culturist, I would have 

 had no difficulty. In your " Cultu- 

 rist, however, you say, experience 

 has taught you that it is best to 

 ferment each variety on the husks 

 until the wine is clear and finished." 

 This rule I undertook to follow, and 

 have followed, though not in every 

 particular, for I was not fully equipped 

 for the business, and used make- 

 shifts to considerable extent, because 

 I thought they "would do," and did 

 not like to go to the expense of doing 

 what ought, perhaps, to have been 

 done. 



I had lai'ge casks — old whisky, 

 brandy and gin casks, and these I used 

 by taking out one head and setting 

 them on end. It was a difficult mat- 

 ter to fit anj'thing in the headwa}^ to 

 hold the husks down under the fluid 

 mass, as anything that would go in at 

 the top would be too small by the 

 time it went down sufficiently far to 

 serve the purpose. Besides, my want 

 of experience led me to fill up my 

 casks too much, and the result was, 

 I had to take out several gallons of the 

 mash from the first and put it into 

 the second, and again from the second 

 into the third, for I made the same 

 blunder twice. The first and second 



