VINEYARDS ABOUT CINCINNATI. 115 



Professor Mitchel. The highest street is called Celestial 

 street. Commanding as the view is, the name surely 

 equals it. ^^ ^ 



N. LONGWORTH. 



P. S. I have just returned from a visit to the vineyard of 

 Mr. Langdon, on the bottom of the Little Miami, eight miles 

 above the city, in a sandy soil. That porous soil is not 

 subject to the rot in grapes, is exemplified here. His misfor- 

 tune is in fact too large a crop of fruit, an unusual complaint 

 this season. Yet he will have a poor vintage, arising from 

 two causes, which prevent the fruit from ripening. The first 

 and least cause is too much fruit, from leaving too much 

 bearing wood. There was more than the vine could give a 

 supply of sap for, in a favorable season. The second and 

 great cause is the same as at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. 

 The fruit has no shade, few leaves, and but little young wood 

 on the fruit branches, to carry sap to the grapes to ripen 

 them. The wood is life, and the circulation of the sap 

 stopped, not one-fourth of the grapes will ripen perfectly; 

 many of them shrivel and drop, and many of them scarcely 

 change color. A favorable fall will aid them. 



I observed in the vineyard of Mr. Langdon, that the Ca- 

 tawba vine is much closer jointed than in our richer land, 

 where there is a subsoil of clay ; and one of my German vine- 

 dressers assured me this is always the case. This would indi- 

 cate an increased crop, and the change probably depends on 

 the richness of the soil. An important inquiry is, will the 

 grape, in a sandy soil, yield an equal amount of sugar ? I 

 wish our vine-dressers to direct their attention to this subject. 

 In some of our vineyards, they have both soils, and the ques- 

 tion will be easily decided. The color of the Catawba grape 

 is no certain evidence of its ripeness and richness. They are 

 often of unusual dark color, this season, yet the juice has one- 

 eighth less sugar. N. Longworth. 



Septemher. 1849. 



