TificttffMtfl 
BEST VARIETIES OT GRAPES. 
Editor of Skmi Troi'k in your num¬ 
ber for September headad “ The bo&t 
varieties of (irapee,” you ailviaetbf plant¬ 
ing of the Mission variety very strongly as 
l/ir best May then* not be some mist alee 
about this ? 
It if true the Mission grape is a good 
g rapo and has much to re twin mend and 
perhaps it was fortunate that that wt»a the 
first grape which wn* almost exclusively 
planted, for it makes u great variety of 
wines, of fair to indifferent quality, and it 
is healthy and a good bearer It is doubt¬ 
ful whether any one variety would make 
eueh a range of varieties of wine, but it is 
equally trim I think that I could name 
varieties that would excel it for making 
any kind of wine or brandy that was ever 
made from Mission. If it is adapted fur 
anything it is for sweet wines. 1 et the 
( ’liarlmiieau will make a better port, the 
I'edros and San IVters will make a better 
sherry, the Hlaue Klbeii ami Omrhnnean 
will mnke a belter brandy, /infaudel and 
Charboneau will make h better red wine, 
whirl her i larct or Burgundy, and as til hocks 
or white wine Blanc Ell.ien, Burger, Zin- 
fandel and many other* are far its superior 
As regard* the tpiatiiilv that grapes pro* 
dime, the Burger, Hliuie El ben. or /bnfandel 
will yield twenty-five percent, mure grspoa 
per ucjo on any upland adapted for the 
raising of grapes and will produce at an 
earlier turn—will ledvr Invorsble ciretitn- 
vtances yield something of u crop the sec¬ 
ond year thnt w ill pay fur picking, Again, 
these grapes will do better where there, i, 
no irrigation, fur they mature earlier. 
As regard* disease- of the vine we may 
elaiui to be free from them yet, for there is 
nothing which affects the crop materially 
except It is mildew and in that the Mission 
would have the preference, and in low, vret 
localities the Mission would have the prof 
i rein n. But to plant- supIi low, wet places 
with grapes w iU be of very doubtful Imn* 
• In to the reputation iff our wines; in fact, 
t will bu an it.jury, although fur the pres 
It wilt i.«■* it.._i..J:...-]_i ■ " .1 
liav 
SEMT-TROPTC CALTF0RK1A. 
why ia it that (Jen. Nagloo who makes! dryer the soil tlm ilryer the atmosphere, 
brandy a specialty, has grafted all his Mis (and the more heat, the mure sugar and the 
.k with Charboneau, nr why ia it j stronger the wine. 
* I.. . 1 . Rose, 
that Sonoma and Nnpn who already havi 
three-fourths of their vineyards in foreign 
varieties, only plant foreign varieties now, 
and pay id.V » ton for foreign varieties— 
sueli varieties as they believe in—und only 
fi‘v’0 for Mtssinii y Of course it will not tin 
plant all kinds of foreign varieties, f 
Sunny S/ojii 
ORANGE WINE 
"t it will p B y t|„. individual, as lie will 
. larger crop#, and as yet there 
EutTitH Semi-Tropic — I 'lease excuse 
in tieglcnt in nut complying with my 
ruxhv iff them are trash, not one out of ten j promise in the last- mnilth's ituiulier of your 
is desirable, but that « few tried and proven , valuable paper ill regard to an utricle about 
kinds are the superior t-> the Mission is the matt it but lure of oriuige wine. Mv limn 
equally trim. I was mi much occupied with tny own private 
We have our Mission vineyards and affairs that I could not fparo one minute fur 
they are useful and profitable; nut one vine | the. fniuo /nt/i/ico, ami tlm “ better late than 
■should he th-siroyed: all ate ti.-'e«sary anrl j never ” will probably Satisfy you ami the 
warned tor aweei wine*, and brandy, etc., I readers nf your excellent paper, 
but if we ever expect- to make nil kinds nf| J was a resident of the atute of Florida 
wine nf tlir first quality, then we must have I for *i.\ years, and followed there and in lire 
turtni foreign grapes, more Hlaue Elbcn, adjoining Smithuru Slates the neeupatioii 
Xinfandel, Botger. Charboneau. We rani,if wine-making for live years. All tny 
make na line a table wint>, ft* film buck or wines, still and effervescing, which 1 
claret, a* can Surtnina or Napa (there an-1 matin from the riff* sul/iitvi or i i7t> ni/«a<A 
twenty times as many wines of these kind *) ifulia varieties- were ncknowludged by emu 
nil to all other kinds of wine that we j naitseurx to he of excellent quality. K ti¬ 
ke). This I ford 1 know, that th.-ro i- no cottraged In mv success as a wine-maker, I 
ext ion about it. yet the world will nut I tried t»> make wine from the sour and bit- 
believe it unlit we prove it by showing and ] ler-sw. et oranges, which are indigenous to 
•elliog it in competition with Soruma ami i Florida, and my labors were crowned with 
Nup* counties' products. 1 am now selling, Nueces*. The first orange wine, which 1 
a limited way, to private parties in the made from sour oranges at Sanderson, Ba- 
»nd Sun Franrisco such tn- hers cmmty, Florida, was sold »t JnoitBnn- 
y wines have by eniijpun-1 ville, Furida, fur three dollars per gallon, 
son suffered nothing. It is supposed , and the wine was then only eight months 
by those nut ex per /iced in onr climate 1 old, and will probably coniinnuij by this 
that hemp south, ours is a very warm cli-1 lima doublo the value, a» tlm nrntige wine 
mure We lure know that this is not true, e«nuot be surpassed by any other wines for 
»ml they, too, would know differently were ! medical purposes. 
they to give the matter thought, f.»r then In .Southern California ate a great nutil 
vintage begins its early as ours arid the first her of orange groves, the y ield nf nil the 
ImiiU m San I-rtuicivo market come from tree* of tho citrus family is very great the 
the north. As regards strength of the mis JomH.nI fot orange* along the IWul const 
s.on wine, ti ts strong, but that is not the .* far behind the production, and the cv 
.ea-on why it does not make a good buck i pollution of orange* to tile East will never 
or drinkable time. I here is* something j be a lucrative business fur California, cm 
f, j there ts tm acidity, no Untune uenh account nf the great distance by rail, hh all 
the .aste 'indaroinaan-not pleasant; ,, i- the Eastern States can procure their or- 
coarso, if I may use the expression. Hies- ,„gc 8 *, » lesser oust from Florida ami 
hng and I,hum Hlbeu are equally strong. Louisiana. But wo have to utilize o„r 
hut they hate iarlnr and at.. and th- surplus oranges and cut, do it only bv mak- 
strengtl, docs not go to the head. It warm.; mg wine from t|„.„. which diu.inislms tlm 
n ; a e* r ,. 1 , ; , , y rM | happy and nut! hulk .. ear, be transported to any part. 
upper country a 
bio wines, and n 
rjr l;s^: n r;tL ,i ?r^ 1, i, 1 wi " «**•* a m*. 
and only v,„ ordmorre | iWiont., which are fui.ndadupon ,„y uwt, 
where they , The 
|‘||- img-i iTopa, ami y.-l there i» bu, I are light. Tlm finest am) Imdwxt-nru v.|:. ,' #,e «'tunried upon " 
hulo d,at,ncuun made Utwe.ni the ,,ual I wines have M ,engtl, and ,|„ J I r ' , e **" !nuneo . howto make 
Zl‘ rn f, ' r yet [ vintagi * <ff Europe aru V.!»‘ I ^ ^ 
equa to tlm demand. But I think 1 can I have little 
see tm- <l.i y coining when lilia will nut b«, I mature th- 
ami when grape* grown un our uplands will 
U» mu <h,t «U l„. in dmnainl | to l,« » mll-l.od,nd „i,„. ,o ,,luu, 4h, 
i.uat year J ' . ... 
A* regard* mildew I have only known 
'ranety, the Burgor, which l.». mil- 
d-«.'d on „ur upland*, and that *uch a 
*iii*ll per uant that it ha* not been of anf 
*"““'■t importance to take into account, fur 
Her,.** and not loligthvs i»e nf t|„. 
, - . . , - . lighlcr c.all, 
than usual. I made wins only carrying s [„(, 
. "bubol.yel even now coiwp]niut | arc 
i 'he cutting must be d.,„n ah. 
-o nn nut ri. Uu any juice; both l.atv 
pruwd hard by rhe 
,, , :., | have to mix it with a Mrougur” wbm Lf The I *" rM,lun Mn »»*• •“|«««« 1*0ora'ng,, 
l U |mn 1, anv"Tl j ■*»,«« quality and kind to nfake it de*i,al,l,. A ‘ ,l "’ 1 " 1 ' f " !1 
' V *"«‘V. \«\\ uu say the inland valleys « ril | i ^ «'*oln mas* j. 
tl. -r disease., o, ca*.rallies, I I ■Itattiel- produce les, (he acre than the ‘V I 1 '" 1 '*" ^ ‘ Kh mi,#t b ‘* *" olfMI that 
ar vet nothing to chm»w luwe, roLi. section-., hit //i, U m/,,! , V . ; °f * »iu-d« can esuapa into the iiiiihI 
x-.m *„d ihc MiHrion. i t’-nnir tui-iUii,n if liiild,!,-, iir. I„ this Wu !' 1,1 R' T0 the wine a bittc’ 
If ‘he Miwtion vine ha« the pride of place 
. in . in mi- \„u inst,.| •I', i o , , " ‘"’.'o 
erior, lor the reverse is a f«ct. T|,,. . ' V t, 11 F all " n ul Of tlm *ou» 
| oranges I „ddad two pounds of tho best 
