SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
88 
GRAPES, NATIVE WINE, «fec. 
Every season, (s-.ys the Working Farmer,') gw ts rxfw 
evidence that many parts of our country are suited to 
grape culture, wine making, &c. Ramsay Crooks, Esq , 
•f New York, is now selling a Hock Wine, made by the 
American Wine Co , ofSt. Louis, which is not inferior to 
^e belttr class of imj.ortcd Hocks, while the wine makers 
®f Cincinnati, headed by the pioneer, Nicholas L )ng- 
worth. Esq , are gradually displacing the Champaignes 
and sparkling Burgundies of France, by the sparkling 
Catawba, at least in the west. Cheap wines do not tend 
to drunkenness ; and all the wine making countries of 
Europe fully establish this fact, while in those districts 
where distilled liquors take the place of wines, drunken- 
Bessis common. The wine drinking peasants of France 
and Germany are not drunkards. From the following, it 
is evident that California promises to become a great wine 
growing district : 
Grapes from the garden of Mr. Dearborne, of Sandy 
©ulch, about thirteen miles above Mokelumme Hill, were 
brought into market at that place, last week, which for 
superior excellence, far surpassed anything of the kind 
we have seen of out door cultivation. Mr. Dearborne 
kas three varieties of foreign grape-vines, three years old, 
in full bearing; the Black Hamburg, Muscat of Alexan- 
dria, (the best grape known in the world) and the White 
Hamburg, (so called) but bearing a very striking resem- 
blance to the White Syrian. One bunch of the latter on 
exhibition at the Union House, Mokelumne Hill, weighed 
seven pounds. It is truly astonishing to see such bunches 
©f the Muscat of Alexandria, a grape so shy, naturally in 
setting its fiuit, grown to such perfection in the open air ; 
the first of the variety, true to the name, which we have 
seen and known to have been grown in our country. 
The bunches of the Black Hamburg variety were compact 
and well-formed, and the berries exceedingly large. The 
bloom on the berries, which professional horticulturists 
pay great regard to, was certainly noticeable and com- 
plete 
We have now substantial evidence of the adaptability 
©fmuch of our mountain soil for grape-growing. As a 
proof of this, we would direct the attention of visitors to 
the above vineyard, and to the gardens of Judge Thomp- 
son, Dr. Holbrook, S. W. Brockway, Wm, Higby, A. P. 
Dudley, and others in Mokelumne Hill, the garden of Dr. 
Sober, Big bar Bridge, as well as other nicely arranged 
gardens and vineyards in and around almost every ramp 
in the country. Tne garden of Mr. Schrack, of the Gol- 
den Gate Ranrh, is certainly entitled to cred'table men- 
tion. This vineyard, which is quite extensive, is com- 
pletely burdened with fruit, presenting a spectacle of no 
common interest. A few miles south of Mokelumne Hill, 
is the garden of Madame Catae, where the “fruit of the 
vine” gracefully hangs through the lattice-work of tasteful- 
ly constructed arbors. — San Andrea'^ Independent. 
Very gratifying indeed, to us, comes the oft-repeated 
intelligence of success in grape-growing in the mountains, 
for it must be recollected that we have for years urged 
the cultivation of our mountain land ; our hill-sides for 
vineyards being the very best soil and position for their 
culture. The Independent is ever alive to the interests of 
the country, and this excellent journal contains continued 
proof that it deserves the support of the industrials of our 
State. 
Gro.pes in Toulumnc. — So abundant is the grape crop 
ef this country getdng to be, says the Sonora Herald , 
that the cultivators will shoitly be compelled, for v/ant 
©f a market for their fruit, to turn their attention to the 
manufacture of native wine. We shall, when it arrives, 
hail that time as an auspicious period, because the gener- 
al use of native wine will, in a great measure, supersede 
the consumption of poisonous manufactured liquors, and 
thus abate drunkenness. 
THE GRAPE CULTURE. 
We have no apology to make for the liberty we take in 
presenting this subject to the consideration of our readers. 
'Ihe lime is now near at hand, when those who are dis- 
posed to embark in this pursuit, should be preparing their 
plants and cuttings for the ensuing Spring. Our enter- 
prising fellow- citizen, Mr. H. Muhlenbrink has, for some 
time past, in connection with Mr. Axt of Craw ford ville, 
been engaged in this business. They have a vineyard of 
seven acres in this vicinity, besides a large one at Craw- 
fordville, where Mr. Axt has, for some time past, been 
making the finest Catawba wine in the United States, 
which can be bought at Mr. Muhlenbrink’s store, in this 
city. We might, if we had time and space, moralize a 
little upon this subject. A great deal has been said and 
written about the evil consequences of the use of ardent 
spirits, and very justly said. 
Let the culture of the grape, and the making of wine 
in its purity, be inaugurated in this country, and there 
will be no need of temperance societies, In France and 
the German States, where the pure juice of the grape is 
the common drink of the people generally, drunkenness 
is almost unknown. Strychnine and othei drugs, which 
make up the principle part of our drinks at this day, are 
the fruitful sources of the most of the evils which flow 
from the use of ardent spirits in this day and generation. 
Let every man in Georgia have his own vineyard, and 
make his own pure unadulterated wine, and the price of 
strychnine would fall fifty per cent. “We speak as unto 
wise men, judge ye.” — Atlanta Inlelligencer. 
LIME AS A MANURE FOR GRAPES. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— -There being many 
inquiries as to the proper mixture and use of lime as a fer- 
tilizer, I will give you the substance of what was publish- 
ed in 1857 in connection with the article on grape culture. 
Take one bushel of salt, dissolve it into a barrel of 
water ; with it slack one barrel (or two and a half bushels) 
of lime; mix the slacked lime with three cords of leaf 
mould, muck, rich top soil from virgin woods, or any 
vegetable matter ; spade it well till it is thoroughly mixed ; 
I put it under shelter, and in a few weeks it can be used as 
it may be needed. Any quantity can be made by taking 
the same proportion of the different articles. 
This is a good compost for corn and cotton as well as 
for the vine. It may be used broadcast or in the hill or 
drill. Sprinkle in the drill as cotton seed is sprinkled for 
manure ; half a spade full to a hill, or ten, twenty or thirty 
cart loads to the acre broa dcast. D. P. 
Wine prom the Chinese Sugar Cane. — We Itarn from 
Col. Wash. Crawford that Mr. Wood, of Washington, is 
patting up a distillery f)r the manufacture of wine from 
the Chinese Sugar Cane, with just enough of the juice of 
the native grape to give it color. We received a bottleofthis 
wine some time since, after so long an interval from the 
receipt of the letter, that we had forgot the description 
given us of this wine, but atiributed its superior quality to 
the age it had acquired before it came to hand. The truth 
is, we suspected some alcohol, sugar, &c , had been ad- 
ded. But we now learn that this wine was made, as 
stated above, from the Chinese Sugar Cane, and that 
nothing whatever was added but a little of the juice of 
the Mustang grape. We predict Mr. Wood will meet 
with complete success in his enterprise, in which case he 
will be entitled m the tliands of the country — Texaspaper. 
