PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE. 11 



wliicli can no longer be viewed as merely an article of luxury, but 

 rather one of necessity. It has been clearly proved that the juice 

 of the sorghum, when properly grown, is as strong as the juice of 

 the cane in Louisiana ; and Mr. J. Levering, of Philadelphia, and 

 others, have produced white sugar direct from the juice equal in 

 quality to the refined sugar now in general use. 



No. 13. California wines. Numerous specimens were shown at 

 tlie Club, and the special report of the meeting may be read with 

 interest. The quality of these wines was far better than that of 

 any wines before made in our country, while the extent of their 

 manufacture promises to equal that of any well known wine districts 

 of Europe. The sparkling wine shown resembled the celebrated 

 sparkling Clos de Vouguet, while the clarets resembled the 

 Chateau wines of France. One sample was of the general character 

 of Madeira wine, another of Sherry wine ; all the above of fine 

 quality. The Tinto wine, offered as resembling the wine of Oporto, 

 ■\\MS the only failure, as this was quite inferior to the result from 

 the Portugal grape grown in Madeira, and known as Tinto Madeira. 

 Late accounts from California state that one grower made last year 

 200,000 gallons, another 140,000 gallons, while the smaller opera- 

 tors were very numerous. 



No. 15. Drain tiles and draining. This subject has occupied 

 much of the time of the Club, and particularly in connection with 

 sub-soil plowing. It is now very generally admitted that under- 

 drained and sub-soiled lands never sufier from drought, while grass 

 lands so prepared may be kept in grass, yielding full crops of hay 

 for a long term of years, without being taken out of grass ; such 

 fields, with judicious and not expensive top dressings, may be kept 

 at their highest rate of yield indefinitely. And when we remember 

 that the hay crop of the middle, northern and western States has 

 a larger value than the cotton crop, and that the foreign demand 

 for our hay is steadily on the increase, too much importance can- 

 not be given to a system which, wherever fairly tried, materially 

 increases the amount of this and other crops, at the same time 

 deepening the available soil permanently and efficiently. 



No. 16. Management of manures is also a most important sub- 

 ject. This has been fully reported, and will add interest to our annals. 



No. 17. Preparation of food for cattle has been fairly treated, 

 and your committee have taken great pains to jDlace all reliable 

 information on this subject before the Club. During the remaining 

 portion of the term of service of your committee, they intend to 

 bring the various details of this subject separately before the 

 meetings, with a view of exciting members to settle all vexed 

 questions connected therewith by experiment. 



