SALE OF THE WINE. 67 



ber), wlio had a wife, daughter, and three stout boys. I 

 gave him a hard bargain. I required him to trench nnd wall 

 with stone, six acres for grapes, in three years, and nine acres 

 in five years. He was also to plant out a peach orchard, and 

 tend an apple orchard I. had on the place. The wine and 

 proceeds of the orchards were to be equally divided. I care- 

 fully avoided climbing the stony hill for three years, expect- 

 ing the same result as formerly. When I visited the hill, at 

 the end of three years, I found the six acres handsomely 

 trenched and walled, and set with grapes. There are now 

 nine acres in grapes. The tenant complained, this year, of 

 the rot in his vineyard. I am in the habit of selling to the 

 tenants, my share of the vintage, at a price that enables them 

 to sell at a profit. I this season sold at seventy-five cents per 

 gallon at the press, for the Catawba ; sixty-two and a half 

 cents for the Cape, and fifty cents for the small amount of 

 Isabella made. He has paid me nj661 for my share of the 

 wine ; and for his share, and the profit on my part, has real- 

 ized the sum of ^'$1,392,50. The Catawba he sold at -$1,25 

 per gallon. 



*' The best crop, for the extent of ground, this season, was 

 at the vineyard of Mr. Rentz, about four miles from town. 

 Two acres yielded 1,300 gallons. This is as large a yield 

 as I have known, taking two acres together. To select 

 particular spots, I have raised at the rate of 1,470 gal- 

 lons to the acre. The grapes at the vineyard of Mr. Rentz 

 would have ripened better, had one-third of the bunches 

 been cut off early in the season. Where the crop is very 

 abundant, it requires a very favorable season to ripen the 

 fruit well. 



" Six hundred and fifty gallons to the acre, is a large yield, 

 and the season must be favorable, or they will not ripen well. 

 A large crop is often occasioned by leaving too much beai'ing 

 wood. This should always be avoided ; for even if the crop 

 ripens thoroughly, too much of the sap is taken by the fruit 



