GRAPES AND WINE. 



435 



GRAPES AND WINE. 



THE CULTURE OF GRAPES AND MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC WINE IN OHIO. 



BY H. LONGWORTH, CINXINNATI. 



(From Communications made to the American Institute, in relation to Agriculture and its Products.] 



I HAVE selected for the cultivation of the 

 grape for wine, hills on the Ohio River, or 

 within a few miles of the river, planting the 

 vines on the tops and the sides of the hills, 

 without particular regard to the exposure. 

 The tops and sides of our steepest liills are 

 rich, and little or no stone near the surface. 

 The north sides of our hills are the richest, 

 and as our seasons are long and warm, I con- 

 sider the north sides equally favorable to the 

 cultivation of the grape as the other points 

 of the compass. Where the sides of the 

 hills are so steep as to occasion \vashing of 

 the soil, I trench the ground from 18 inches 

 to 2 feet deep, and lay it off in benches, usu- 

 ally sodding the benches, but where, in 

 trenching, stones are tllrov\^a up I give them 

 the preference. The cost of benching is 

 about $.50 per acre, done in the best mamier. 

 The depth to which I trench depends on the 

 depth of the soil. The substratum is usually 

 clay, and I trench deep enough to biing from 

 4 to 6 inches of the poor soil on the surface, 

 wishing to keep the roots that far below the 

 surface. When I first commenced my vine- 

 yards, to meet the views of my tenants, who 

 must do it as they \vere accusiomed to do it 

 in Germany, the ground was ti-enched 3 feet 

 deep, even where the good soil was less than 

 a foot in depth, and the stiff clay throwni on 

 the top. The consequence was the vines 

 did not flourish, for the i-oots are generally 

 inclined to keep near the stirfice, and never 

 reached to the good soil. 2 i'eet below the 

 flurface. Where the ground is not so steep 

 ■as to wash, deep plowing is all I deem ne- 

 cessary. 



On the benches on the side hills, I usually 

 place the rows from 4 to 4^ feet apart. I 

 leave a distance of 3^ or 4 feet between the 

 plants, and tie them to the stakes, generally 

 of locust, from 5 to 6 feet high. On the 

 benches we never use the plow. On level 

 ground I should plant the rows 5 or G feet 

 apart, and leave 4^ feet between the plants. 

 Our soil in general requires little or no ma- 

 nure. We use occasionally all kinds of ma- 

 nure, but always have it well rotted before 

 \re api>ly it. 



In planting cuttings, I plant two in each 

 hill, placing them within 2 or 3 inches of 

 each other at the lop, and widely separated 

 at the bottom, to enable me to remove one 

 of them without disturbing the roots of the 



(835) 



other, should both grow. If the growth has? 

 not been sufficient to produce well-ripened 

 wood, I cover it with earth the first winter. 

 Early in the spring I head down the plant to 

 two or tlu-ee eyes, as soon as I discover which 

 is the strongest shoot, break the others off, 

 and permit one only to grow. I break off 

 three or four of the first lateral branches, and 

 after that give the plants no attention till the 

 spring following, when I again head them down 

 to four eyes, and permit two of the strong- 

 est to grow, taking off the lateral branches to 

 such point as I expect to prune to the next 

 spring. The spring liillowing, (the third 

 year,) I expect a small crop of fruit, and 

 prune the strongest branch from 2 to 4 feet 

 long, according to the growth of the plant, 

 for bearing, and prune the other shoot, leav- 

 ing five eyes, three of the strongest of which 

 I allow to grow, Ijreaking off lateral shoots as 

 usual, and the following spring cut out the 

 bearing wood of the preceding season, always 

 pursuing the cane priming, and leaving none 

 of tlie two-year-old wood ; and thereby al- 

 ways have all my shoots within a foot or 

 IS inches of the ground. In breaking off 

 tlie lateral shoots, it must not be done till the 

 wood begins to ripen ; for if done too soon, 

 it forces out the fruit buds of the next season, 

 which brings a crop that is usually killed by 

 the frost of the next fall, before fully ripe. I 

 have frequently had the tops of my vines 

 broken off by a heavy wind, and numerous 

 fruit buds of the next season forced out ; and 

 when the fall was favorable, which is often 

 the case on the Ohio, had a fine show of 

 grapes fully ripe the last of October. 



As a matter of curiosity, I have on the 

 same vine had fruit not only of the current 

 year, but from the buds of four succeeding 

 years. Say in May, 1847, as soon as the 

 plant is in blossom, I cut off the extremity of 

 the shoot, and force out the fruit bud, de- 

 signed for fruit in 1848. As soon as the fruit 

 bud of 1848 is in blossom, I again cut off its 

 extremity and f irce out the bud designed for 

 fruit in 1849, and so continue to clip the ex- 

 tremities, till the growing season is over. In 

 a grape-house properly heated, the fruit of 

 the different years may all be brought to ma- 

 turity. IMy Gennans are averse to prunin"- 

 till spring, as such was the practice in Ger^ 

 many. This often interferes with sprin" 

 work. I would recommend pruning in the 



