230 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



sorts. He prefers the mulatto to the black prairie soil. He thinks the 

 Diana has been overlooked, that the Delaware must be one of the best for 

 some parts of the State, and, with special manures, for all parts. Should 

 Mead's seedling* prove what it is claimed, it must be the grape. This is so 

 similar to the Catawba that judges cannot tell the difference, and all the 

 difference claimed is in the vines, which do not rot and will not grow from 

 cuttings. He thinks the Concord and Hartford desirable at present; that 

 in time they must give place to better ones. In planting, he would not 

 trench, but would subsoil a foot deep; set six feet each way, and train on 

 trellisis. He thinks it important that only one shoot should grow the first 

 year, and that it be tied to a stake, particularly the Delaware. 



The prairie soil of Illinois is of two kinds, one as black as coal, the 

 other much lighter, and it is divided by a line running east and west ia 

 about 39 degrees 30 minutes. North of this line it is dark. That on the 

 south has been called the fruit region. Properly the fruit region is tim- 

 bered, which extends eighty miles north of Cairo. Here are a succession 

 of hills, many of which, of late years, have been planted with peaches. 

 Some have raised grapes, and most kinds have done well, but the Catawba, 

 under the Cincinnati treatment, is a nuisance. If grapes grow best or 

 well, on hills, there are awful hills bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi 

 rivers. They are fully equal to those at Hermann, and the soil is similar. 

 In the towns, on the light prairie soil, grapes do uncommonly well, but 

 they are in thick arbors. Almost all kinds of grapes when dwarfed, rot in 

 Southern Illinois. There is good reason to believe that grapes require 

 more foliage in a warm than in a cold climate. I doubt whether leaves 

 enouo-h to shade them will hurt them in any clinjate. 



I could not visit all the vineyards at Cincinnati, for they have 3,000 

 acres. Here first the Catawba was cultivated; it is their staple vine, and 

 it is hard to make them believe there is a better. Mr. Mortier, a German, 

 has, perhaps, the best vineyard. He has good success. He is largely en- 

 gaged in propagating the Delaware, still is in doubt whether it is equal to 

 the Catawba. 



I have mentioned Mr. Buchanan's vineyard. He says that after the first 

 few years of planting, the Catawba does well; when six or seven years old 

 it beo-ins to rot; hence it will take this time, at least, to test a new variety. 

 Their success is various in different vinej'ards. Mr. B. said that last year 

 some with fifty acres did not do as well as he did with seven acres. Bear 

 in mind that all the vineyards around Cincinnati have been trenched two 

 feet deep. He has come to the conclusion, after many years experience 

 and observation, that they plant too thickly and prune too close. He 

 thinks that the rot is caused by a sudden change from heat to cold; that 

 the vine takes cold and becomes diseased. I believe all careful observers 

 have concluded that the rot follows a change in the weather. The gi'eatest 

 \drawback they have is a want of labor. Grapes need manure; that from 

 the stable is good; ashes are best. Too much manure gives an unhealthy 

 growth on sandstone soils; lime is good; here grapes rot less than on 

 limestone. If he were going to plant a vineyard he would put two cut- 

 tings where he would have the vine grow — he would trench or plow 



