324 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



ing- in relation to magnesian soils as being' very superior for water melons. 

 I have seen water melons g-rown by Dr. llosack that weighed forty or fifty 

 pounds each. 



Dr. Trimble. — Water melons can be raised on drift sand. I have seen 

 them g-row on sand screenings as large and as fine as I have seen grown 

 any where. 



Mr. John G. Bergen. — Long Island was once famous for producing the 

 best melons; but of late j'ears we are not able to raise any. It maybe 

 that the magnesia has been all exhausted from the soil; after we manure 

 and fertilize our soils, the melon doea not seem to grow in such perfec- 

 tion; therefore the remarks of Dr. Trimble verify my opinion that the soil 

 of J\Ionmouth county, N. J., is so poor that melons can be raised. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — I liave a piece of ground, the soil of which is 

 part cla}' and part sand. I grow melons on it, the finest I have ever seen, 

 by adopting tlie following plan: All over this piece of ground I dig large 

 holes, which I fill with manure and cover over with about six inches of soil; 

 on this I plant melons and raise some of the finest seen in our markets. The 

 next year this well-rotted manure is removed to other parts of the ground, 

 and the holes again filled with manure, and covered with earth as before. 

 I have grown melons on this piece of ground for the last ten years. 



Mr. W. J. Townsend. — We cannot grow melons in Onondaga county. I 

 have tried the plan recommended by Mr. Carpenter, but still our melons 

 are small. 



Potato Rot. 



Mr. W. J. Townsend. — Previous to leaving home I was engaged in tak- 

 ing the statistics of my school district. There was a great complaint in 

 relation to the potato rot in our section. We have discarded the Mercer 

 potato entirely. 



Dr. S. J. Parker. — I had hoped while in the city to have had a full 

 discussion with the members of the Club on the best way of making wine out 

 of American grapes. This is an important subject, and one in which the 

 experience of wine makers ouglit before long to lead us to some practical 

 results. 



The best wine I ever made I made last fall, and that w^as by an analysis 

 of each kind of grape juice. This readily assumes a shape sufficiently 

 accurate to allow certain instruments to determine what is to be done, and 

 they can be used by any one. The best rule, in a word, is to have the 

 grape juice for sugar stand at sixteen degrees of Beaume's hydrometer, for 

 liquids heavier than water. The acid at five pounds in one thousand 

 pounds of juice. The flavor cannot be improved only by ripeness or adul- 

 teration. 



By this rule Catawba has, even when not fully ripe, ample flavor, and 

 makes a choice wine. 



Rogers Hybrid, No. 1, the white grape, makes a good champagne wine, 

 remarkably rich. If always as good as my sample, then no grape in 

 America equals it, both for sparkling and still champagne; and as soon as 

 the public know the fact no one can supply the demand for it. For vine- 

 yards, Rogers No. 15 also inakes a very fine, dry wine; and his Nos. 4, 3 

 and 19 are wines with a peculiar delicate bouquet and fancy flavors. 



