THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 197 



large pea, and the seeds are large, but its flavor is pleas- 

 ant, the pulp melting, and it has less of the foxy flavor 

 than any of our native grapes. The grape which I have 

 called the Black Madeira, I am inclined to think, must 

 bo the Lenoir. A gai-dener, who worked for tlie ibrmer 

 owner of my farm, told me it was ' Black Madeira,'--- 

 but I can find no description of such a grape, and it cer- 

 tainly is not ' Bland's Madeh-a,' which is but a synonyme 

 of the Alexander. Downing's description of the Lenoir, 

 answers to the grape which I have called Black Madeira. 

 It ripens a week or ten days before the Isabella, and is 

 a sweeter grape. Norton's Seedling is third rate with us: 

 it bears well, and ripens well, but is foxy and sour. 



" I planted a new vineyard last spring, (1847,) near my 

 old one, and on a similar soil, though the ground has a 

 very gentle slope to the southwest. Six months ])revi- 

 ously, I advertised, in our village paper, for bones and 

 refuse animal matter of every description, which set the 

 boys to collecting them, and before spring I had procured 

 about three tons. I had a pit prepared, in which they 

 were thrown, and every fresh deposit immediately covered 

 with old sod, of which I had collected a great quantity, 

 from along fences, &c., before the ground froze. The 

 field where my vines were to be planted, had been in 

 clover the previous year, and all the second crop of the 

 clover had been suffered to die on the ground-. As soon 

 as the ground would do to plough, I spread the contents 

 of the pit, bones, sods, &c., as evenly as possible over 

 the ground, breaking the skulls and largest bones with a 

 sledge. I then run a furrow across the field, as deep as 

 the plough could go, and then another plough in the 



