SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
These, however, should always be pulled out. Some per- 
sons would perhaps try to raise their own seed, but I can 
assure them, that they will raise but very inferior flow'- 
ers from such seed. In order to raise good seed, that will 
produce superior and double flowers, the plants must 
have a very peculiar treatment. Gilly Flower seed should, 
therefore, always be obtained from the most reliable 
sources. 
All Gilly Flowers require very rich and deeply dug soil 
well manured, and chicken manure is preferable; frequent 
and copious waterings will greatly benefit them. I 
“Ten Weeks Stock,” in its wild condition, produces a j 
rather indifferent flower. By skill, high cultivation, and I 
artificial hybridizing, it has not only been made very 
double and of much larger size, but such a diversity of! 
colors and shades have been obttiined, that more than I 
fifty different colors are enumerated. Between many of j 
these colors, however, the difference is but slight. j 
The seed should be planted either late in the fall or | 
early in the spring, very thinly, and if there is any danger j 
of frost when they make their appearance, they will need j 
a slight protection — a few pine tops will answ’er. If the j 
plants come up too thick, they should be transplanted one | 
foot apart. In eight or nine weeks they will begin to 
bloom, and if the flowers are constantly cut off for boquets 
they will continue flowering nearly all summer, unless the 
season should be too dry. The more the flowers are cut 
off the better they will bloom. This is also the case with 
the “Stock Gilly Flower,” which resembles the former, but 
is biennial and a much lai'i^er shrub. It must be sown 
early in the spring and transplanted on a bed eighteen 
inches apart. In the fall they will bloom a little, but their 
main period of flowering is early next spring and sum- 
mer. 
Thus, by raising these two species in several of their 
varieties, they will form an exceedingly fragrant orna- 
ment to the amateur’s garden from early in April until 
Christmas. 
Should the winter be too severe for them, a few pine 
tops or other shelter will afford sufficient protection. 
Robert Nelson. 
Ga., Nov., 16.56. 
VTNEYAUDS IN THE SOUTH-REPLY TO MR. AXT. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— I must offer a few re- 
marks on an article in the last Cultivator, purporting to 
be a reply to my doubts and Mr. Buchanan’s, upon the 
accuracy of some calculations concerning Mr. Axt’s vine- 
yards. Before proceeding any further, I must request 
that gentleman not to get out of temper for any comments 
made upon statements he gives to the public. I meant 
nothing personal, and offer an apology for differing in 
opinion with him, although it seems to me I had a right 
to be astonished at an assertion, that any man possessing 
ten acres of worn out old fields, and sufficient cash to pro- 
cure Mr. Ayt’s services, would, in two years and a half, 
realize the interest ofacapitsi of nearly a half million of 
dollars. Mr. A expected theory of “humbug,” as, indeed, 
he had a right to do, and bad prepared for it by commit 
tees of gentlemen, etc., which, of course, leaves no doubt 
about the enormous yield ; and I sincerely congratulate 
the ov/ners of the three vineyards mentioned in the report, 
on their profitable investment. Between the three, I sup 
pose they now have ready for sale 9,000 gallons. Will 
they apprise me whether it be so or notl for I must ac 
knnwkdge a great distrust in paper calculations. 1 once 
had a friend, a city gentleman of course, who purchased 
a firm, with the iiitemion of making a fortune in twoyears, 
by raising g« ese ; his calculations weie very plausible ; 
each goose v;as to lay so many eggs; each egg was to 
hatch a gosling, arid eacJi gosling was to be sold at the 
end of the year for so much, making a grand total of so 
much. But he soon found out that sometimes the geese 
would not lay, at others the eggs would not hatch, or the 
goslings would die, &c., &c., and he finally gave up in de- 
spair, still maintaining to the last that a fbitune could be 
made, if the confounded geese would only do as they 
should. 
By Mr- A.’s calculation, he puts down so many cuttings 
per acre; each cutting must, of course, succeed; (with 
others, one in ten is considered good;) then each cutting, 
in two years, will have forty bunche.s; each bunch must 
ripen thoroughly, and weigh so much : no rot or mildew 
is to curtail the quantity; birds, insects, &c , are to be 
excluded; hail storms, higli winds, rainy seasons, are not 
to be tolerated ; in a word, the calculation is reduced to a 
simple rule of arithmetic ; 40 bundles equal 6 lbs.; 1,600 
times 6 lbs. are 9,000 lbs , which, at 9 gallons per 100 lbs,, 
will make over 1000 gallons. This is as plain as day to 
any one who has never indulged in paper calculations: 
and who has not ! 
Mr. Axt tells me I have been laboring all this time on 
the wrong track, when I fancied I was doing right well; 
as well or better than the average of wine growers in the 
wide world, — that I have been trimming for wood, while 
he wa.s converting wood buds into fruit, and yet the com- 
mittees tell us of the wonderfui growths of their vines • 
vines 2 years old measuring U inch in diameter, and this, 
too, we are to understand, on worn out old fields. This, 
I suppose, acts upon Homoepathic principles: a little bit 
of nothing at all turned in to the depth of three feet be- 
comes a mine of wealth. Mr. A. claims the discovery of 
a method to prune vines in such a manner as to make 
them bear so enormously. I would, in all humility, ask 
what is the object of pruning vines? I have alway.^^ 
thought it was intended to modeiate the tendency of the 
vine to overbear, to regulate it in such a way that it will 
produce equally every year, and to diminish the quantity 
in order to enhance the quality of the wine. Mr. A.xV 
cannot be ignorant of the fact, that in his old country, 
where a vineyard is leased out, one of the conditions is, 
that the vines will be so pruned as not to overload them 
with fruit, as this over-production is well known to be 
the destruction of the vines and of the reputation of the 
wine. But Mr, A, has perhaps made other discoveries 
to obviate this difficulty. ' 
As to the challenge thrown out for comparing IVIr. A.’s 
wines of 1856 with those of the different wine growers 
in November next, I must for one decline. I am com- 
pelled to admit, that I have not yet discovered the mode 
of rendering “ must ’ six weeks old a fit beverage for the 
delicate palates of real connoisseurs. It may be pleasant 
to the taste of some, as it always possesses a strong 
fruity taste, but all who have ever made wine or read on 
the subject, must be aware, that the juice of the grape 
undergoes a springy fermentation which makes it wine 
or destroys it; and no wine (hat I have ever heard of be- 
fore, has been thought fit to test as urine under two or 
three years of age, notwithstanding all the repoi’ts of the 
committees. 
We are not ambitious about here of committee reports; 
our wines are liked by those who taste them ; the demand 
for them is already equal to the production, and like (lie 
production, is constantly increasing. 
I hope the few facts contained in the above discussion 
will not be valueless to your readeis engaged in 'he Grape 
culture, and this mu.st be my apology for publish ng it. 
A. C. 
S<nd\ Carolinn, 1^.56. 
All SubscripiioLS tu Lire Sv-tJAeru Cidtivedor begin 
with the Januar)' number. 
