1706, 7<>7, 708] (.'RAPE CULTURE IN THE "CANE hills". 325 



706. Grape Culture in Cane Hills.— I cannot dismiss the 

 subject of tlio upland soils of the Cane Hill Region, without expres- 

 sing my conviction that they arc most peculiarly adapted, both by 

 their chemical and physical features, and by their surface conform- 

 ation, to the successful culture of the Vine. This fact might be 

 inferred from the circumstance alone, that the native grape-vines 

 do not anywhere in this State flourish more luxuriantly — some- 

 times attaining enormous dimensions— than they arc known to do 

 wherever, in this region, cultivation and the ranging of cattle have 

 not destroyed all but the larger timber. 



The latter is, in kind, cither the same, or substantially equivalent, to that, 

 which characterizes the best vineyard lands of Illinois and Missouri ; for it 

 appears in this State at least, that the same soils which, in the southern latitudes; . 

 are characterized by a luxuriant growth of Magnolia, bear large Sassafras and 

 Linn, wherever the mean temperature is too low to favor the growth of tho 

 former. The analyses, also, are significant on the same point ; a " warm ", deep 

 soil, containing abundance of potash and lime, and proper proportions of all other 

 ingredients, is generally deemed to be peculiarly adapted to the culture of the 

 vine. It might be doubtful whether the soils formed chiefly, or exclusively, 

 by the calcareous silt of the bluff formation, would by themselves be suited to 

 the purpose ; but the hillside soils, formed by a mixture of the silt with the 

 brown loam, would seem to be admirably adapted in all respects. 



707. The cultivation of the hilly lands is necessarily more expensive than 

 that of level tracts ; great care must be bestowed on accurate and deep horizon- 

 talizing, and in many cases, nothing short of actual terracing will effectually 

 prevent the denudation of the soil. These operations are too expensive to allow 

 of raising cheap crops on large areas, wherever they are involved ; we must 

 attempt, therefore, to realize the highest profits on the smallest possible area, by 

 keeping the land in a high state of cultivation, with crops of high value. In 

 experiments made in this State, on uplands much inferior to those in question 

 (^649), the yield of grape-juice, from Longworth Catawba, was at the rate of 

 seven hundred gallons per acre, the minimum market value of which may fairly 

 be assumed at $1.50 per gallon. A higher yield, and a higher price also, may 

 reasonably be expected to be obtained on a more generous soil, and it is plain 

 that with crops like these, considerable pains may be taken in the improvement 

 of the lands which bear them. In this manner, not only the hilly lands of the 

 counties just treated of, but also the fertile, but broken lands bordering the Mis- 

 sissippi bottom further north, in Warren, Yazoo, and Holmes counties, and little 

 valued thus far, might be doubtless made, not only available, but highly 

 profitable. 



708. The climate of South Mississippi is admirably adapted to 

 the culture of the vine, closely approaching as it does in the fea- 

 tures essential for this purpose, the climates of the Mediterranean 

 coast. Rainy winters, not cold enough to frost the vines (as fre- 

 quently happens in Missouri and Illinois); dry summers, with only 

 occasional showers ; and a warm, unclouded autumn sun to develop- 

 the grape into sweetness and maturity. Indeed, it may be ques- 

 tioned whether even the production of raisins might not be prac- 

 ticable in South Mississippi, depending as it does solely upon the 

 occurrence of a fortnight's warm sunshine at the time of maturity. 



I know of no reason, apparent at the present time, why these anti- 

 cipations should not be capable of realization, and why, if there be 

 no other analogy between the two, the hills of the lower Mississippi 



