Proceedings of tiie Farmers' Club. 497 



in corn, a fourth in fodder crops, a& peas and oats, rye for early feed 

 in spring, clover or lncern, and the other quarter in hay. Experience 

 will soon enable any necessary changes to he made to suit such cir- 

 cumstances as will arise from unknown conditions. Read " Quincy 

 on Soiling Cattle." 



Grape-growing and Wine-making 



was the subject of the first matter commanding the attention of the 

 Club, and was comprised in a paper by Mr. R. II. Williams, of Penn 

 Yan, N. Y., who stated that this interest had become of great, import- 

 ance in the lake region of western New York, and added — The last 

 two years have proved beyond a doubt that we are able already to 

 overstock the raw fruit market ; and that the glut causes non-paying 

 results to the producer on the whole crop, including what is appro- 

 priated to the wine-press and for distillation within their present 

 capacity to manufacture, which being so meager in comparison to the 

 supply and demand, it is necessary to make large importations from 

 foreign countries, thus the subject becomes one of national pride as 

 well as interest. The solution of this difficulty must be looked for 

 mainly in the extended capacity and number of our wine-presses and 

 distilleries and the improved quality of the fruit produced, to meet 

 the demand of consumers. May we not yet do this, or at least to a 

 vastly greater extent than now ? And does it not present a wide 

 field for the advance of this branch of home production both from 

 the soil as labor? It would seem that the wonderful increase in 

 variety of the grape, and the improvement in quality as well, within 

 a decade, holds out a promise to the utilizers of the fruit beyond that 

 in the natural state which should inspire capitalists with confidence in 

 increasing the pressing and distilling, and the grower with renewed 

 energy in the production of the higher qualities of the grape. To 

 the latter there appears one serious obstacle, viz. : the occupation of 

 our best vineyards and grape-lands already by the inferior and non- 

 paying varieties, involving a complete transformation from common 

 to the higher qualities of fruit, and a long and expensive process of 

 uprooting and regrowing, unless the old and established roots. can be 

 utilized, as we do with apple and pear, by some process of grafting 

 that is both practical and certain. What say the Club ? By favor of 

 Dr. Edward Young, chief of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, 

 D. C, I find that we imported during the fiscal year ending June 30, 

 1871, 9,3S0,266 gallons of still wines, 759,889 gallons of brandy, and 

 232,963 dozen of sparkling or champagne wines, at a European cost, 

 [Inst.] 32 



