254 Vineyard Culture on the South Shore of Lake Erie. 



and frantic evolutions of a robin in tlie same tree ; and, on running up, I saw Mr. 

 Squirrel coming down the tree with a half-fledged young robin in his mouth, the 

 old bird darting at and about him in an agony of distress. On seeing me, he 

 dropped his game, and made off; and on picking up the young bird, which seemed 

 to be uninjured, and replacing it in the nest, I found it was the only one left : 

 which fact, joined with the readiness with which he had made his way to the 

 nest, afforded strong circumstantial evidence that he had called upon the same 

 family before. It was found necessary, several years since, to banish the gray 

 squirrels from the squares of Philadelphia, on account of their destroying the 

 birds ; but I did not know till the above evidence was given me that the red 

 squirrel was chargeable with the same habit. H. W. S. C. 



Dan VERS, Mass. 



VINEYARD CULTURE ON THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE ERIE. 



THE LAKE-SHORE GRAPE-GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 



Much has been said within a few years past of the success of grape cultiva- 

 tion on Kelley's Island and a few points adjacent, owing to the favorable influ- 

 ence of the lake atmosphere on the climate ; but few people are aware of the 

 extent and rapid progress of vineyard-planting along nearly the entire range of 

 the South Shore of Lake Erie. 



The grape district may be regarded as commencing at Dunkirk and Fredonia, 

 near the eastern end of the lake, and extending westward to Port Clinton, in- 

 cluding the peninsula and the islands off Sandusky Bay, — a belt of territory, 

 say, two hundred miles in length, and about five in width. In this district, grape- 

 planting has been going on for the past five or six years, at the rate of one 

 thousand to twelve hundred acres per year, till there are now found to be not less 

 than eight thousand acres planted. Of this, about one-half may be counted of 

 bearing age. The oldest vineyards are mostly on Kelley's Island ; but a few are 

 found at different points along the shore in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. 



Much of this planting has been done by persons who had no previous knowl- 

 edge of grape-culture ; and many mistakes were made in the selection of soils 

 and localities, as well as in cultivation, so that some failures have occurred : still 

 the general results have been so satisfactory, that it is the general belief we have 

 seen but the beginning of grape-planting in this region, especially when we take 

 into account the benefits likely to result from the more general diffusion of in- 

 telligence, and the adoption of superior varieties of grapes like the Delaware 

 and the lona, which seem to be quite at home here, and are being planted ex- 

 tensively. 



The Lake-shore Grape-growers' Association has been organized only two 

 years. It numbers over two hundred members, most of whom are directly en- 

 gaged in grape-growing ; and many, having been formerly engaged in professional 

 or mercantile life, have minds trained to the calculations affecting profit and loss, 



