FARMERS' REGISTER— CULTURE OF THE VINE. 



25 



the letter which mentioned it reached me here 

 wlien they had not yet began their vendages, and 

 were not expecting the grapes to be sufficiently 

 ripe for several days to come. You must consi- 

 der that I am here in that celebrated country for 

 fruits, Touraine, which is in the centre of France. 

 They were much more backward in those coun- 

 tries I had just left and mentioned above, and in 

 some parts of which wine is made in quantity. 



You know how uncommonly severe and Ion"- 

 was last winter in the state of New York, and 1 

 must observe that in this country it was one of the 

 mildest; and the spring very tine, as well as the 

 summer ; this last season was, however, rather too 

 dry. I Avas still more astonished at the compara- 

 tive quickness of the growth of the vine, and the 

 abundance of its production. It is so much in our 

 favor, that I not only created wonder, but yet a 

 sentiment bordering upon entire incredulity, when 

 I mentioned the produce of a cutting planted along 

 the house of Major Brown, late in 1827, and which 

 had produced above one hundred fine clusters, per- 

 fectly ripe in the middle of September, 1830, and 

 more than three hundred the following year ; at 

 the same period, equally good and fine flavored; 

 a fact which has been v/ell ascertained by tlie ag- 

 ricultural society of the county, and published af- 

 terwards in their transactions. 



My great objection and I must say the only one 

 which I had, and even published formerly, to the 

 cultivation of the vine, with a view of making 

 M ine, is removed by the happy result of many 

 inquiries and observations I have made, in examin- 

 ing attentively a method very different from the 

 one which is uniformly adopted in all the vine- 

 yards of the middle and northern parts of France. 

 There nine-tenths of the work, at least, is made 

 by the hand of man, and part of it so painful and 

 hurtfid to the body, as to injure materially the 

 workmen ; while in many parts of the south, and 

 in some parts of Switzerland, where very good 

 wines too are made, the most painful and more la- 

 borious part of the cultivation of the vine is achiev- 

 ed by the work of horses and cattle. The differ- 

 ence is such in favor of this country, between the 

 two methods, that I do not hesitate to say, that 

 every thing considered and calculated, this last 

 method, with some improvements I will suggest, 

 will not occasion you more expense than in France, 

 to produce the same quantify of wine that Avould 

 be obtained by the other method, which would cost 

 you nearly three times as much as in France. 

 This result is not only occasioned by the difference 

 of the price of labor of men in the two countries, 

 which in the preferred method is substituted for 

 the greatest part, by the work of animals, that do 

 not cost more in the state of New York than in 

 France, and which can be fed cheaper ; but because 

 this preferred method owes principally its greater 

 produce to its having a much greater proportion 

 of land consecrated to the same quantity of vine- 

 stalks, and that the land is considei-ably cheaper 

 than here. Mr. Thiebault in comparing the two 

 methods, to prove the iimnense advantage of the 

 one he recommends, does not calculate the pro- 

 duce of an acre, but of the number of stalks. He 

 says "that 2000 stalks trained according to this 

 method, will protluce nearly 26,000 gallons of 

 wine ; while on the other hand, 6000 stalks trained 

 in the ordinary way, produce, in common seasons, 

 only from 780 to 1300 gallons, and in the very best 



Vol. 1.-4 



seasons only about 2600 gallons." This enormous 

 difference of thirty to one, I do dot warrant, but 

 only that there is a considerable one. Mr. Thie- 

 bault adds, that the increase in quality is also con- 

 siderable. 



Considering the comparative value of the land 

 you would appropriate to the cultivation of the 

 vine, with the same nature ©f land in Europe, and 

 that there is a difference of at least nine-tenths in 

 favor of the United States, I would propose an al- 

 together different and more economical method in 

 the first planting of the vine. I would set the 

 roots and wooden posts a rod apart, instead of eight 

 feet, as recommended by JMr. Thiebault, leaving 

 as he does, the space between for the cultivation of 

 grain or other productions, as preferred by the 

 farmer. The trenches two feet broad and one foot 

 deep, should be made with the plough and the 

 scraper, which can be equally useful and conveni- 

 ent in covering the roots. Some alteration and 

 economy could be made in the hand labor, when 

 we take into consideration that a considerable part 

 of it can be done by children during the vacations. 

 On the line of that plantation I would recommend 

 planting, in an eastern and western direction, a 

 mulberry tree alternately with the grapevine. 

 The wooden post will for several years be the sup- 

 porter of the grapevine, but it will probably be 

 rotten and rendered useless when the vine will 

 have sufficient strength to need no support for its 

 stalk, but would require soiTie aid to keep its lateral 

 branches in the desired position. The mulberry tree 

 will then answer the purpose : It must be well ta- 

 ken care of at all times, and will pay not only the 

 expense but yield a handsome benefit for those who 

 will pursue the cultivation of silk, or who have in 

 their neighborhood some one cultivating it. At all 

 events, their cattle would relish that food which 

 would come for them in a very good season. The 

 tree must be trimmed in such a way as to have one 

 single stock and a very small head, which when ar- 

 rived at the height of about eight feet, must be re- 

 gularly trimmed twice in tlie fine season, when its 

 foliage is most suitable to the feeding of worms. In 

 that way the mulberrj' will give no injurious shade 

 either to the vines or to the grain or plants which 

 are to be sown between the ranges. You will ob- 

 serve that in that Vt'ay of planting and cultivating 

 the vine, the cattle, as I have stated in the begin- 

 ning of this article, will do the essential part of the 

 work; and that they not only afford the greatest 

 help for cultivation, but yet come in for the hard- 

 est share at the time of collecting the fruit. I will 

 one day give more details upon what is to be done 

 in the years which will follow the planting and 

 first growth ; and you may rely upon my readi- 

 ness to transmit to tlie society what further infor- 

 mation they can ask from me. I intend to exam- 

 ine more minutely this kind of cultivation, and as- 

 certain as near as I can the real produce. Mean- 

 while, I think the society may boldly recommend 

 the cultivation of the vine, chiefly in the west and 

 north of the state. To support this advice I can- 

 not better conclude this article than by quoting, 

 what I notice Avith pleasure, in a letter I have just 

 received from the respectable secretary of the 

 agricultural society of Jefferson county. Among 

 tiie different valuable details he gives me of the 

 cattle show and fair which took place the 26th Sep- 

 tember last, I find the following : "A curious ex- 

 hibition of the process of silk-making was interest- 



