CHAPTER XXVIII. 



GRAPE GROWING IN SOUTHERN OHIO. 



BY GEO. W. CAMPBELL. 



Delaware, 0., Nov. 25, 1879. 

 George Husmann, Esq. : 



Dear Sir. — Your favor of last month, asking from 

 me some notes upon grapes, reached me at a time when 

 I was so much occupied that I was unable to give it the 

 attention I desired, and it has, therefore, lain unanswered 

 longer than I intended. 



My experience with grapes, as you know, though ex- 

 tending through many years, and including a large num- 

 ber of varieties, has been mainly that of an amateur or 

 experimentalist ; for though I have grown the vines 

 largely in a commercial way, I have never made the grow- 

 ing of grapes an important consideration, beyond what 

 was necessary to ascertain their character, quality, and 

 comparative value. 



This portion of Central Ohio is not specially favorable 

 for grape growing, being subject to great extremes, and 

 often sudden changes of temperature. Frosts, late in 

 spring, often injure, and sometimes quite destroy the 

 grape crop about the time of blooming and setting of the 

 fruit. And we usually have frosts so early in autumn that 

 only the early and medium-early varieties can be relied 

 upon to mature. I have never seen either Catawba or 

 Goethe perfectly matured here in fully exposed, open-air 

 culture. A range of temperature from 98° in the shade 

 in summer, to 25°, and even 30° below zero in winter, is 

 also extremely trying, and none, except the hardiest vari- 

 eties of grape vines, can endure such a climate without 

 winter protection. 

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