THE GENESEE FARMER. 



155 



AMERICAN WINE. 



As an evidence of the possibility of making wine 

 in countries previously believed to be unsuitable to 

 the culture of the vine, we may instance the case 

 of the United States, where considerable progress 

 is being made over a large extent of territory, and 

 in widely dissimilar climates. Mr. Eeskine, our 

 Secretary of Legation at Washington, in a report 

 recently submitted to the Foreign Office, furnishes 

 some interesting details. It is a generally received 

 opinion that in Europe good wine can not be pro- 

 duced in regions where the mean temperature of 

 the year does not exceed 50 degrees of Fahrenheit; 

 and it is deemed essential that the summer heat 

 should be of some duration, with a mean tempera- 

 ture of not more than 70 or 71 degrees; that the 

 atmosphere should generally be clear and dry, the 

 cold in winter not excessive, and the soil dry. 

 Along the seaboard of the United States, most of 

 these supposed requisites are wanting; and so far 

 back as the year 1817, Humboldt predicted that 

 the vine could not be cultivated in America north 

 of the 40th degree of north latitude, the climate of 

 which, it was assumed, would bear a close resem- 

 blance to that of the 50th parallel in Europe. But 

 on the settlement of the regions lying to the west 

 of the Allegany Mountains, it was found that the 

 vine might be there grown with greater prospect 

 of success, in consequence of the climate being less 

 moist than on the coast ; and accordingly a palata- 

 ble red wine was made from the native grape in 

 Indiana and Missouri, toward the end of the last 

 century. About the year 1826, the Catawba, a 

 native American grape, was first brought into 

 notice, having been found growing in Georgetown, 

 near Washington. This vine, which- is derived 

 from the wild fox grape, has gradually supplanted 

 all others, and is now adopted almost universally 

 throughout the United States for making wine. 

 It imparts a very peculiar musky flavor to the wine, 

 displeasing, when first tasted, to many palates ; but 

 this dislike is easily removed by habit, and the wine 

 is much relished in Ohio and Missouri, where it 

 sells readily at prices which would be deemed exor- 

 bitant in tiie wine countries of Europe. 



The Catawba is at present almost the only grape 

 cultivated on a large scale in North America for 

 wine. In time, however, other varieties will doubt- 

 less be discovered, better adapted to the widely 

 diftering soils and climates of the Northern and 

 Southern States. In southern Missouri alone, 

 5,000,000 acres might be selected, admirably calcu- 

 lated for vineyards, without encroaching upon the 

 better lands adapted to other crops. This single 

 State has an area available for vine culture more 

 than equalling that of all Europe. In the Caro- 

 linas and Georgia also, there are said to be hun- 

 dreds of thousands of acres of poor and partially 

 exhausted hiU-sides, which are unfit for the growth 

 of either cotton or maize, which might easily and 

 cheaply be converted into vineyards. 



Even in California, the vine grows in great per- 

 fection, yielding an abundance of good wine. The 

 banks of the Ohio are now studded with vineyards, 

 between 1,500 and 2,000 acres being planted in the 

 immediate vicinity of Cincinnati, with every pros- 

 pect of a vast increase. In at least twenty-two 

 out of thirty-two States in the Union, vineyards, of 

 more or less promise and extent, have been planted. 



The extent of vineyards is thus returned at the 

 present time: In Ohio, 3,000 acres; in Indiana, 

 1,000 ; in Missouri and Illinois, 500 each ; Georgia, 

 100; North Carolina, 300; and South Carolina, 

 200. It is calculated that at least 2,000,000 gallons 

 of wine are now raised in the United States ; the av- 

 erage value of which may be taken at 6s. per gallon. 



Large quantities of sparkling wine are made both 

 at Cincinnati and St. Louis, in imitation of cham- 

 pagne, and fetch, under the name of "Sparkling 

 Catawba," about $1 a bottle. It is made by exactly 

 the same complicated process and with as much 

 care as in France, which will account for the high 

 price. At no distant period, wine will be produced 

 as cheaply and abundantly in the United States 

 as in Europe, although not eqiial to the best quality 

 of European wines. Whether American wines 

 will ever become an important article of export, 

 must depend mainly upon the price at which they 

 can be produced, but the home market is already 

 so extensive that many years must, at all events, 

 elapse before wine can be raised in sufficient quan- 

 tities to turn the current of trade, and convert the 

 United States into the exporters of an article which 

 has hitherto been chiefly derived from abroad. — 

 London Marh Lane Express. 



A CHEAP AND SPEEDY WAY TO SET A GRASS PLAT. 



To attempt to secure a good sod upon a door- 

 yard, or gi-ass-plat in the garden, by sowing the 

 seed, is a somewhat slow and uncertain business. 

 To secure a good " stand " of grass in a field requires 

 a good preparation of the soil, good seed and a fa- 

 vorable season ; but to secure this in a small yard, 

 exposed to shade, and liable to be scratched up by 

 fowls, and trod down by children and injured, as it 

 is liable when sown in a yard near the house, it is 

 still more iincertain than in field culture. Hence, 

 most people prefer to incur the expense of securing 

 tiirf from the fields and commons for sodding their 

 yards. This is an expensive process, and too fre- 

 quently somebody's grounds in the neighborhood 

 are made to sufler a depredation to supply the turf. 



At diflferent times during last season, in improv- 

 ing the grounds about the homestead, we had oc- 

 casion to sod several pieces, but no rich, thick-set 

 grounds were convenient where we could procure 

 the turf entire, we therefore adopted another plan. 

 We procured less perfect sods, cut without care 

 and threw thera into the cart promiscuously ; and 

 after plowing the ground well to receive them, we 

 chopped them up into small pieces, say from one 

 to two inches across, more or less, and worked 

 these under the surface, barely covering the roots, 

 etc. After the first rain these small pieces of turf 

 sent up numerous blades, and in a short time the 

 ground became entirely covered with grass. These 

 experiments were tried several times from July to. 

 September, and always with perfect success, though 

 of course the latest planting did not become so 

 thickly set before cold weather set in. In all ordi- 

 nary cases we should prefer this method to entire 

 seeding, even if turf was at hand, on account of 

 the saving of time and expense. 



Blue-grass roots are very tenacious of life, and 

 when scattered in the way we have named, so as to 

 cover one-quarter of the ground, will soon spread 

 so as to make a thick-set lawn." — Valleij Farmer. 



