TO THE 



CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



THE cultivation of the Grape in vineyards, for making wine, is 

 now so important a branch of horticulture, in the valley of the Ohio, 

 and especially in this vicinity, that a brief Treatise on the subject 

 may perhaps be considered useful. 



The one now presented, has been compiled from several valuable 

 articles on grape culture, published within the last ten years, in horti- 

 cultural periodicals, by able writers and practical men members of 

 your society; Mr. LONGWORTH, Dr. MOSHER, Dr. FLAGG, A. H. 

 ERNST, J. E. MOTTIER, C. W. ELLIOTT, WM. RESOR, JOHN SAYERS, 

 T. AFFLECK, and others the greatest number being from the pen of 

 Mr. LONGWORTH ; also from Mr. SCHUMAN'S pamphlet, published in 

 1845, and a book on the same subject, by JOHN JAMES DUFOUR, of 

 Vevay, la., 1826 ; aided by the observations and practical experience 

 of the writer. 



After all that lias been done, and written, grape culture and wine- 

 making in this country, is as yet but imperfectly understood, and it 

 is only by experience and a free interchange of opinions, that we shall 

 arrive at a better knowledge of it hereafter. 



Our climate, and the native grapes we cultivate, differ so much 

 from those of Europe, that the intelligent vine-dresser from the old 

 world, finds he has much to learn in the new, and that a wide field 

 is presented for observation, in which all must here work and think for 

 themselves. 



At the time Mr. DUFOUR wrote, in 1826, the Cape Grape was then 

 the only kind cultivated in the Ohio Valley, for wine. About that 

 time the Catawba was brought into notice as a wine grape, by Major 

 ADLUM, at Georgetown, D. C., and by Mr. LONGWORTH, in the 

 West ; and it is now so great a favorite as to be almost the only 

 variety planted. To these gentlemen, as public benefactors, the 

 country owes a lasting debt of gratitude for introducing into vine- 

 yard culture, this noble grape. 



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