No. 6. 



Grape Culture. — Rot in Sheep. 



195 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Grape Culture in the United States. 



It cannot but surprise all thinking per- 

 sons that so little has been done in this coun- 

 try in the grape culture, compared with what 

 might have been done. This state of things 

 can only be accounted for from the fact that 

 there are so many pursuits in our widely 

 extended country, that the grape culture has 

 been overlooked. It has also generally been 

 supposed that there was some great mystery 

 in cultivating grapes, and particularly in 

 making wine. 



Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, commenced 

 the culture of the grape twenty-five years 

 ago, with what is there called the "Cape 

 grape." At Philadelphia it is called the 

 "Alexander;" at Flushing, N. Y., " Schuyl- 

 kill Muscatel;" at York, Pa., "Madeira;" 

 at Vevay, Indiana, " Constantia." Mr. Long- 

 worth by pressing out the juice as soon as 

 the grapes were mashed, produced a wine 

 resembling Teneriffe. He also cultivated 

 the Isabella extensively — but this grape rots 

 badly in the vicinity of Cincinnati: — it does 

 the same thing at Brinckleyville, North Ca- 

 rolina, and these are the only locations in 

 the middle, western, and southern States 

 that we know of, in which thi>: happens. 



A short time after starting the grape cul- 

 ture, Mr. Longworth obtained the Catawba 

 from Major Adlum, of Georgetown, D. C, 

 and this is now the favourite variety at Cin- 

 cinnati. 



Major Adlum appears to have had a pro- 

 per appreciation of the value of the Catawba 

 grape. In a letter to Mr. Longworth, he 

 remarks, "In bringing this grape into public 

 notice, I have rendered my country a greater 

 service than I would have done had I paid 

 the national debt." Mr. Longworth concurs 

 in his opinion. 



Mr. Longworth next imported many thou- 

 vSand grape vines from Madeira, France, and 

 Germany. His last importation was five 

 thousand vines, comprising twenty-two va- 

 rieties from the mountains of Jura, where 

 the vine region suddenly ends. Mr. L. says, 

 "I gave them the best southern exposure on 

 sides of hills, and expended two hundred 

 dollars on one-eighth of an acre of ground, 

 on a side hill with a southern exposure, in 

 my garden. I took out the natural soil to 

 the depth of three feet; laid a layer of gravel 

 in the bottom, two inches thick, and over it 

 a layer of thin paving stone, and filled it up 

 with rich earth with a portion of sand added, 

 and a drain to carry oflT the rain from the 

 bottom. They grew slowly, were subject 

 to mildew, and though covered in winter, 

 would not succeed in our climate, and not! 



a solitary plant of them is left in my garden 

 or vineyard, except one plant of the Meunier 

 (Miller's Burgundy.)" 



Mr. L. has also made wine from the Ohio, 

 Lenoir, and Herbemont varieties. The two 

 first named do not produce a fine wine. The 

 Lenoir and Herbemont are loth liable to rot 

 — both are fine table grapes, and the Herbe- 

 mont makes a fine wine. The Missouri is 

 tender at Cincinnati, while in the poor soil 

 of New Jersey it grows luxuriantly, bears 

 well, and is hardy. 



For some years Mr. Longworth and other 

 vinegrowers at Cincinnati, have made from 

 the Catawba several varieties of wine, per- 

 fectly resembling the best Hock wines of 

 Europe, and when one year old, command- 

 ing one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. 

 Five years ago, Mr. L., partly by design 

 and partly by accident, produced a fine arti- 

 cle of Champagne. All wines, except the 

 Champagne, are made without any sugar or 

 alcohol. Mr. Miller and Mr. Selves sell 

 their Champagne at twelve dollars per do- 

 zen — bottles returned — and thus far have 

 found a ready sale. 



In our next we shall give an account of 

 the grape culture and wine making at Read- 

 ing, Pa., and also what has been done in 

 North Carolina and Georgia. 



B. G. EOSWELL. 



Philartelphia, Jan. lltli, 1S48. 



Rot in Sheep. 



This disease is classed among those of 

 the liver, because, except when the animal 

 dies perfectly worn out by the malady, the 

 most striking and the supposed characteristic 

 mischief is found in this organ. 



Happily for the American farmers, this 

 destructive malady is, comparatively, of un- 

 frequent occurrence in their flocks; but in 

 Great Britain, on the authority of Mr. You- 

 att, more than a million of sheep and lambs 

 die every year by this disease. "In the 

 winter of 1830-31 this number was more 

 than doubled; and had the pestilence com- 

 mitted the same ravages throughout the 

 kingdom which it did in a few of the middle, 

 eastern, and southern counties, the breed of 

 sheep would have been, in a manner, extir- 

 pated." Many of the farmers lost their en- 

 tire flocks, not an individual sheep escaping. 



It appears, however, the disease is not pe- 

 culiar to England. Many sheep are destroyed 

 by it in Germany. In the north of France 

 they are frequently swept away by it; and 

 in the winter of 1809, the ravages were 

 terrific throughout the kingdom. It has 

 prevailed at some periods nearly over all 

 Europe, as far north as Norway. 



