THE CULTURE Or THE GRAPE. 217 



man inhabitants. I am told, there are about one hun- 

 dred and forty acres planted with vines, in that neighbor- 

 hood ; some of the vineyards are fifteen years old. Tho 

 soil is a red slate ; limestone soils are avoided, as, they 

 say, the grapes on such soils are more apt to mildew, 

 and do not ripen so well. This, I have been assured of, 

 by men of much experience in vineyard culture, and it 

 certainly is a very important fact, if it is a fact. The 

 aspect is the southern side of a hill, often a very steep 

 mountain side. Before planting, the land is trenched, 

 by running three ploughs, successively, in the same fur- 

 row. The rows of vines are five feet apart, and the vines 

 six feet in the rows. The vines are trained to stakes, five 

 or six feet high, and are cut close to the surface of the 

 ground, raising new shoots from the stump, every year 

 for fruit, which are left two or three feet long, and then 

 cut off at the stump, after fruiting. They prune any 

 time between the fall of the leaf and first of March. 

 The only grapes cultivated, are the Isabella and Cataw- 

 ba. Till within a few years past, they have only used 

 the grapes for wine, which is universally drank by the 

 Germans in that vicinity, and sells readily, at wholesale, 

 for seventy-five cents the gallon. They calculate that 

 twelve pounds of grapes will make a gallon of wine, and 

 an average yield will givG twenty barrels per acre. No 

 spirit or sugar is added to the liquor, which is therefore 

 nothing but the pure fermented juice of the grape. 

 Within a few years, some of the cultivators have begun 

 sending the grapes to Philadelphia, for the table, where 

 they sell them, at wholesale, for eight cents per pound. 

 They are packed in boxes holding one hundred pounds 



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