288 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
Tillotson or Early York, a few days later, though I have 
known it as early as June 7. 
I have, now Early Tillotson, Early York, Grosse Mig- 
nonne, a seedlin.g, Barrington, Magruder, a Mississippi 
seedling, yellow, free, Heine’s Early Red, Livingston, New 
York Rareripe, YanZandt's Superb and othe^ now ripe. 1 
1 have had fine specimens of Early Harvest, Sweet 
Bough, Red Astrachan, and several other apples. 
Of Pears, Dearborn’s seedling. White Doyenne, Belle de 
Bruxelles, large, fine and beautiful. Beurre Gobalt one of 
prettiest fruits I ever saw, with at least halfa dozen others. 
I thing I have at least 100 varieties of pears, but unfor- 
tunately I am from home so much that I cannot take the 
interest necessary to make any reliable examination. 
Some specimens of the Jargonelle were good, but most of 
them have a stringency of the green persimon character, 
I have a large native plum, rather of the Chickasaw 
family, that I deem worthy of culture; it is budded and 1 
know of but the one tree, not even where the graft came 
from now, as I have cut up and lost all others. This plum 
ripens every year, and I have measured specimens even 
5 and 6 inches. 
The cotton crop of this section is now in a very pre- 
carious condition — many planters have had already large 
portionsof their crops ruined. Isaw K)-day myriads of the 
worm, eating weeds and grass, and being little of that now 
here I do not know what they will do, 1 brought 4 to the 
house, and one of these was eaten up in a few minutes 
after putting out to examine. There are worms enough 
in my field to eat up my crop of cotton in 3 or 4 days. 
The worms are, to all appearance, the same we have had 
before, dark striped, with occasional short hairs from a 
dark spot, and a yellowish red head. 
The frequent x-ains for the past 10 or 12 days have been 
great aid to the corn crop, which promises now to be 
good. My own corn crop promises to be very abundant. 
Yours truly, M. W. PniLiPs. 
Edv:ards, Miss., June 10, 185G, 
SOUTHERN GRAPE CULTURE. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— All articles written 
for the public are open to criticism, and in making use of 
this privilege I hope I will give offence to no one, as none 
is meant. In all courtesy allow me, then, to make a few 
remarks which appear to me indispensable for the promo- 
tion of a cause in which you and I and many others feel 
a deep interest. 
We are all aware that when too sanguine hopes have 
been excited in the success of an enterprise, the least dis- 
appointment of these hopes will cause a reaction, and make 
us reject as worthless, resulto which, under different cir- 
cumstances, would have more than satisfied us. An ar- 
ticle, partly editorial, in the July number of the Cultivator, 
is, I much fear, calculated to raise such hopes, and conse- 
quently to discourage many and turn them from warm ad- 
vocates into deadly enemies of a great undertaking. In a 
conversation you relate as having had with Mr. Axt, this 
gentleman affirms that the 3rd year after planting the cut- 
tings we can reap 1000 gallons per acre and after that time 
from 2000 to 2500 gallons, and moreover that one hand 
can with ease attend 10 acres, with additional help during 
the harvest. 
We do not know what is Mr. A.’s experience in the 
business ; indeed it is only within the last year that his 
name has reached us ; but we suppose he has had a long 
experience in this country, as you claim for him the leader- 
ship in the business. 
Seventeen years since, when wine making at the South 
was considered an impossibility. Dr. McDonnald and I 
commenced planting our vineyards from cutiingsgathered 
in every direction. Struggling against sneers, doubts and 
difficulties of every kind, with no precedents to go by, no 
encouragement from any, we have steadily advanced, 
slowly but surely, testing different species of vines, select- 
ing some and rejecting others, and experimenting upon dif- 
ferent modes of culture and of wine making, and meeting 
with a vast amount of reverses and disappointments. But 
i we have succeeded ; we have convinced ourselves and 
others that success will crown the efforts of all who will 
devote themselves to this culture, which we say, after an 
experience of over 16 years, will pay better than any crop 
that can be planted at the South. But I must caution per- 
sons against being too sanguine, lest they be disappoint- 
ed and disgusted. ' 
Mr. Axt promises too much. Let us see; 2000 gallons 
per acre, which he considers moderate ; one hand ten 
acres ; that is 20,000 gals, for one hand, and as we suppose 
his wine will be at least as good as ours, for which we readi- 
ly get S2, we thus have the snug little sum of ^40,000 per 
annum for each hand — at 7 per cent, this represents a 
capital of nearly $600,000. Thus any man possessed of 
10 acres of land and one negro, with the small outlay of 
$400 and a fee to Mr A. will in two years be worth over 
a half million. [7] Surely this requires comment. 
Now for our experience. Vines like all other crops are 
subject to failures, although not as much so as other fruit. 
All the species cultivated for wine in this country are 
liable to the rot and mildew, as well at the South as in 
Ohio — some years more than others, owing in part to at- 
mospherical phenomena which are beyond our control. 
Birds, insects, boys, &c., &c., will have their share at 
the South as svell as elsewhere, thereby diminishing the 
crop. 
The richer the soil the stronger wdll the vine grow, the 
more fruit will it put out, but the more will the fruit rot, the 
more is it subject to insects and the more will the juice 
contain of watery substance, thereby causing the quality of 
the wine to be much inferior to that grown on poorer soil. 
These are facts which hold good here as well as every- 
where else, and which cannot be denied. If Mr. Axt 
plants his vineyards in lands sufficiently rich to produce 
the enormous, nay, fabulous quantity above named, his 
vines must be exhausted in a very short time; his fruit 
must rot more, especially when the vines are a few years 
old, and the juice must contain a vast proportion of water, 
notv/ithstanding the thorough preparation of the soil. This 
is not theory — it is certainty. 
With me, as with the vine growers in Ohio, the vines 
as a general rule only begin to bear a few bunches the 
3d yetir. Mr. Axt promises 1000 gallons per acre that 
same year. With us, as in Ohio, the average crop per 
acre is from 300 to 400 gallons. And yet our vines are 
healthy, have grown well, are well taken care of and we 
suffer as little from rot as any I have ever seen or heard of. 
Our land is not rich by any means, it is light, sandy and 
easy of cultivation ; the growth of the branch cannot be 
as unruly as it must be in Mr. Axt’s vineyards; nor do 
I suppose grass and weeds can grow with us as rapidly as 
with him. And yet we find it a hard task for a hard and 
fast worker to cultivate, tie the branches, &c., of 6 acres. 
But W’e consider here that 6 acres per hand, and 300 gals, 
per acre, making 1800 gallons per hand, will pay well at 
$2 or even $'l. This, surely, offers sufficient inducements 
to reasonable men, although, when compared with the 
$40,000 promised, it dwindles into insignificance. 
I hope, sirs, this will not be considered in any way 
personal. I am willing to render full justice to Mr. Axt, 
who is, no doubt, a man of energy, and deserves credit, 
but his figures are, in my opinion, calculated to do more 
injury than good to the cause. For a similar reason have 
theShangl^i fowls fallen now into such disrepute, although 
they ai’e really valuable on a farm. 
Yours truly. A. C 
Aiken, S. C., July, 1856. 
