GRAPES IN LOUISIANA. 



205 



Dracut Amber, Mansula, Woodruff Red, and even ' ' wild 

 fox -grapes," put up as above, are good and palata- 

 ble, while they could scarcely be eaten fresh from the 

 vines. — J. Stayman, Lcavemcoi-tJi Co., A'a>isas. 



[Another successful method of preserving grape-juice 

 fresh and unfermented is that recommended by The 

 American Garden some years ago. It consists simply 



in boiling down the juice to a thick syrup and bottling. 

 This keeps for years. When wanted for use, mix a table- 

 spoonful in a glass of water. Nothing that we have ever 

 used is a more refreshing drink than this, which of course 

 is entirely harmless, being simply unfermented grape 

 juice. It is likewise wholesome and nutritious. A good 

 sale might easily be worked up for the syrup. — Ed. A. G.] 



ABOUT GRAPES IN LOUISIANA. 



THE CROP PROFITABLE EVEN 



ID SEASONS. 



ERHAPS this portion of Lousiana — 

 Tangipahoa parish — is better adapted 

 to the cultivation of the vine than. 

 Georgia, and indeed is not behind the 

 most famed portion of the United 

 States. My own experiments in this 

 direction afford better results than 

 those mentioned by your Georgia or 

 Michigan correspondents. A wide- 

 spread interest is developing in this part of the country 

 for the cultivation of grapes, which I hope will not be 

 short-lived. 



My experience dates from March, 1888. In that year 

 I planted i, 300 one-year-old vines, consisting of 250 Wor- 

 den, 250 Catawba, 750 Concord and 17 Niagara. These 

 were set in typical soil — a sandy clay with a sprinkling 

 of pebbles. The land had been cropped with strawber- 

 ries for several years, and was consequently in good 

 heart. The vines were set out in March, a warm winter 

 having started the buds very early. Shortly after they 

 had been set, the new shoots, then six or eight inches 

 long, were killed by a late frost ; but those that were- 

 dormant when put out made a magnificent growth, some 

 canes making as much as 30 feet. Concerning the after- 

 treatment, most of the vines were allowed three canes, 

 which during the season attained the size of a man's 

 finger. They were cut back to the second wire of the 

 trellis the following spring (1889), and during the season 

 entirely covered the trellis with a dense foliage, yielding 

 about 20 cases, of 20 pounds of fruit each, which sold 

 in the New Orleans market for I15 net. But the fruit 

 was inferior, as it cracked badly and the birds had in- 

 jured the bunches. 



The following is a statement of the yield in iSgo-i : 



1890 — 300 cases, 20 pounds each, net proceeds $600. 



1891- 71 ", 50. 

 These results were obtained in very bad seasons, in both 

 of which the entire first crop was totally destroyed by 

 the untimely frosts of March, 1890, and April, i8gi, re- 

 spectively. But in 1890 the vines started dormant buds 

 and made nearly a full crop, many single vines yielding 

 20 pounds of magnificent grapes ; the bunches were per- 

 fect in form, and some weighing over a pound each. In 

 1891 the vines were slow to recover from the shock of the 

 late freeze in April, and it was some time in May when 

 the dormant buds started. Then they went with a rush, 

 so that my trellises in mid-December, 1891, were a mass 

 of magnificent vines. 



The after-effects of the freeze on the vines differed in 

 the varieties. The Concords came out in full vigor, and 

 made a free growth ; but the Wordens and Catawbas 

 both showed that they had been badly hurt, some vines 

 being killed outright, and others lingering during the 

 season until they finally died. The small lot of Niagara 

 showed great vitality and recuperative force, even more 

 than the Concord. My 17 vines yielded a net profit of 

 $20 in 1890 ; but in 1891 they yielded nothing, as I cut 

 them back severely to get a fresh start. To-day they are 

 a marvel of splendid growth, and I expect a large yield 

 from them next season. Many bunches of this variety 

 weighed one and one-half pounds apiece. But for the 

 freeze last year (an unprecedented season), I feel confi- 

 dent that my 2^2 acres would have yielded over five tons 

 per acre, and I could have sold every pound of them in 

 New Orleans for from 5 to 7 cents per pound. 



Louisiana. H. R. Buck. 



