SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
289 
S.— Cannot you or some of your correspondents give | 
us some good recipe for making cider, from beginning to | 
end. The great quantities of apples raised liere should i 
be put to some use. 
Rem.^rks.— The article in our August number was sim- 
ply intended to set forth the views of Mr. Axr, (who | 
writes English with difficulty,) on Vine culture, in the 
South, and if it contained any errors, our columns are 
open for all proper correction. We confess to much 
faith in Mr. Axt’s system of Grape culture ; but it is quite 
possible that his estimates are over-full, and do not make 
sufficient allowance for probable contingencies. Mr. A. 
is a man of indomitable energy and perseverance— an 
enthusiast in Vine Growing, to which he is entirely de- 
voted, He started 3 or 4 years since as an itineroMt 
Grape JMmioMary through Georgia and the adjoining 
States, and by his system of setting out and superintend- 
ing Vineyards, (for all who desired them on his terms) 
has already given the cause a new and vigorous impulse. 
He is now settled near Crawfordville, Ga., where he has 
already a very promising young Vineyard of 5 acres, and 
is preparing to plant hundreds of acres more. He plants 
the Catawba exclusively, as a Wine Grape, and those 
who saw and tasted his Grapes and Wine last year, need 
no assurance of his^ success thus far. He may be disap- 
pointed in the yield of his Vineyards, but if even one- j 
quarter of his expectations are realized, the business of 
Vine Growing will “pay'' better than any other rural en- 
terprise with which we are acquainted. We receive the 
strictures of “A. C." and our friend Bucii.4Nax with all 
the deference due their long experience, deep interest in, 
and undoubted knowledge of the subject, and must leave 
to time and Mr. Axt the task of establishing the claims 
(as to quantity, &.c.) set forth in our August number. The 
long and arduous efforts of Hr. McHonnald and our cor- 
respondent (“ A. C."), and the success which they have 
achieved, entitle them to the thanks of the South — the ca- 
pacity of v/hmh, for the production of the finest Grapes and 
Wine may now be considered as settled beyond all con- 
troversy. 
The Cider Mill, figured and described in present num- 
ber we have now in use, and think it will fully meet the 
wishes of our correspondent. It is also a capital Wine 
Press. Orchard of Howe’s Virginia Crab should be plant- 
ed exclusively for Cider-making, upon which we will give 
an article hereafter. — Eds. So. Cult. 
GRAPE CULTUEZ IN THE SOUTH— REPLY TO MR. 
AXT. 
Editors Southern- Cultivator— I am much pleased 
'.o observe that the vineyard cultui-e of the grape is 
attracting the attention ofSouthern agriculturists so large- 
ly. It must ere long form an important item in the pro- 
duction of their prolific .soil. 
That it will be profitable, I cannot doubt, when the ! 
grapes best adapted to the soil and climate are discovered j 
and the proper treatment found out. These facts can only 1 
be ascertained by the test of experience, and the experi- j 
ments should be conducted patiently by careful, intelligent I 
and prudent men ; otherwise they may fail, and a cry of ; 
“Morus Multicaulus humbug" be got up against this new ! 
-rultivatior.. i 
These remarks are induced by an article in your July 
number, based on the estimate of Mr. Axt, giving some 
very flattering accounts of grape culture in your region of 
country. 
It is with much diffidence that I venture to difter with 
Mr. Axt in his estimates of the product of the grape in 
South Carolina and Georgia, for he has had some experi- 
ence there and I have had none except in this vicinity; 
but in all my reading 1 can find no account, in any part 
of the world, of grapes producing, for a series of years, 
2,U00 to 2,500 gallons of wine to the acre. One-fourth of 
that quantity would be a good crop for an average yield, 
and 1 should want no better success. Here we plant our 
vines 3 by 6 feet apart generally and an acre contains 
2,420 vines. We train each vine to a .single stake, and 
usually adopt the spur and bow method of training. Our 
average crops do not exceed 300 gallons to the acre. Our 
principal "wine grape is the Catawba, which is a great 
bearer. 
Grape culture with us, like other fruit crops, is subject 
to casualties — frosts, insects, hail storms, mildew, but 
worst of all, the rot. • 
This latter disease usually occurs in July, and destroys 
from 2 to £ of the crop. Still the business pays, and is 
largely on the increase. 
I have always thought that the upland and mountainous 
regions of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and 
Tennessee were more favorable Wine regions than the 
valley of the Ohio and Mississippi. Here I agree with 
Mr. Axt ; but in his estimates of the product per acre and 
the cost of cultivation I beg leave to differ with him. I 
should say, under favorable circumstances the product 
might be set down at one- half, and the cost of attending to 
the crop, at three times his estimates. 
I will now ask the favor of Mr. Axt to state through 
your columns, the number of vines he plants to the acre, 
and his mode of training. I understand his favorite grapes 
to be the Catawba and the Warren, and that on these he 
has based his estimates. Very respectfully, 
R. Buchanan. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, l85b. 
SOUTHERN FRUIT AND POMOLOGICAL CRITICS. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — Permit me to express 
my satisfaction for the gentlemanly manner in which Mr. 
Van Bcren noticed my late article on the Mangum and 
other apples. These friendly interchanges of thought must 
ever be productive of good, even though they occur be- 
tween learned professors and inexperienced seekers after 
truth. I profess simply to be one among the latter, and I 
hope always to make my inquiries and suggestions in 
such a manner as to give no offense to the most fastidi- 
ous. Still. I perceive that I have been unfortunate in 
awakening the displeasure of Mr. Nelson, who, without 
good reason as I conceive has misunderstood and misrepre- 
sented the plain tenor of my remarks. But being averse 
to newspaper tilting, I will lejave my communication to 
defend itself. It has already been productive of good in 
calling from the gentlemen above named a few important 
facts: that the Mangum and Carter apples are nearly or 
quite identical, and that the Nickajackand Summerour are 
one and the same. It is the first time that I have seen 
either of these facts in the Cultivator. The latter 1 learned 
first a few weeks ago, from Mr. White’s new work on 
Gardening. It was no longer ago than last spring that I 
sent to a nursery for the Nickajack while I had tlie Sum- 
merour in my own orchard, and was sorry to learn that 
it could not be had. 
Though in many particulars my labors in the way of 
Fruit Culture have not been successful,! by no means dis- 
pond. Others before me have tried experiments and failed 
and tried again ; and, as a general rule, people keep their 
