Notes and Gleanings. 37 



aggregate leaf-surface, from which evaporation is continually going on, is much 

 greater than the surface of the ground. We advise keeping the ground free of 

 weeds, and the surface well loosened, so as to give the young runners a chance 

 to root immediately, of course avoiding any disturbance of those already 

 rooted. — Edr\ 



American Wines. —It is a good while since John Bull asked, "Who 

 reads an American book .f"' but, though that question has been answered, there 

 may be persons on both sides of the Atlantic ready to ask, " Who drinks 

 American wines .'' " and we have the fullest faith that the latter question will 

 receive as satisfactory an answer as the former, and the inquirers will be as 

 effectually silenced. It is not to be denied that much wine of inferior quality 

 has been made in this country, which has caused much prejudice against native 

 wines ; and another obstacle which they have had to encounter is, that manufac- 

 turers of native wines have been sometimes guilty of selling spurious articles. 

 This, however, proves that there are good native wines ; for nobody ever thinks 

 of counterfeiting a worthless article. 



Among the best American wines are the sparkling wines of Messrs. Ryck- 

 man, Day, & Co., of Brocton, N.Y., of which we were particularly pleased with 

 the " Diamond Wedding " brand. We shall give in a future number some 

 account of their establishment and operations. Tlie Urbana Wine Company 

 of Hammondsport, also, give the greatest care to the manufacture of their 

 wines ; and we think their " Imperial " unusually free from the objection of too 

 much sweetness, which is apt to be a fault of American wines. 



We liave a few statistics of the business of the latter company, which will 

 give an idea of the rapid expansion of the wine manufacture in this country. 

 They commenced in 1866, and have made a specialty of sparkling wines, having 

 bottled in that year twenty thousand bottles ; in 1867, forty thousand bottles ; 

 and in i863, seventy thousand bottles : and they have ordered a hundred thou- 

 sand bottles tor filling the present season. Ten years ago, there were less than 

 a hundred acres of grapes in that region, and now there are about four thousand, 

 nearly one-half of which are in bearing. The principal progress has been made 

 within the last five years. 



We need only allude to the Longworth Wine-house at Cincinnati, which is 

 well known as the pioneer in the manufacture of American wines. There is no 

 part of our country better adapted to the grape than Missouri ; and, among the 

 enthusiastic grape-growers and wine-makers of that State, one of the most en- 

 thusiastic is Mr. Husmann of Hermann. We thought one of his white wines 

 niade from the Herbemont Grape the best of that class that we have ever had 

 the pleasure of tasting. 



" Can't afford it." — This is the answer too often given by nursery-men, 

 when asked to subscribe to a horticultural journal. It is impossible for us to 

 understand how any intelligent nursery-man can make such an answer ; for, in 

 years of experience in this business, we have never seen the time when we could 

 afford to do without one. A progressive, intelligent nursery-man is known at 



