AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
151 
plants were, and many were the inquiries 
after the state of the “ poor bottle.” 1 ought 
to mention, that it hung in my cabin in cold 
weather ; at other times, on deck. 
I hope you will pardon me for “ running 
my yarn ” to such a length ; if it shall be 
the means of adding pleasure to any of your 
readers, especially to the sick and infirm, 
the object of their humble servant has been 
attained. Alexander Burnett. 
Philadelphia Florist. 
PROFITS OF THE COLD GRAPERY. 
BY WILLIAM CHORLTON. 
In the Horticulturist of February, 1852, at 
the request of the late A. J. Downing, I gave 
a practical account of the Cold Grapery at 
this place which was planted in March, 1850, 
and, as the question, “ will it pay,” has often 
been put to me during the interval of time 
which has elapsed, I have thought that an 
estimate based upon the produce and ex¬ 
penses up to the present time, might be of 
service in your journal. I would here pre¬ 
mise that there is nothing extraordinary in 
the amount of fruit, more than what others 
are obtaining by skill, care, and attention. 
The average weight of the respective crops 
given, if taken collectively, would be one 
pound per bunch, all of which would have 
readily sold at from fifty to seventy-five 
cents per pound ; the lowest price, however, 
is only calculated. The following number 
of bunches of good quality have been cut in 
the respective years: 1851, 262 bunches; 
1852, 618 bunches; 1853, 918 bunches; 1854, 
1147 bunches; making a total of 2945 
bunches. 
The following calculatisn, which is as 
correctly stated as can be, will show the 
balance side of the question : 
2945 lbs., al50cts.$1472 50 
Deduct labor, 1st year.$50 00 
“ “ 2d “ .100 00 
“ “ 3d “ 150 00 
“ “ 4th “ 200 00 
“ “ 5th “ .225 00 
Yearly dressings of manure, at $20....100 00 
Repairs, planting, &c.200 00—1025 00 
$447 50 
By the above example it will be seen that 
there is $447 above the lowest wholesale 
market prices, and as the house, border, etc., 
cost about $2000, it leaves a surplus profit of 
4^ per cent per annum upon invested capital, 
which, in the present position, looks some¬ 
what iovv; but it must be understood that, in 
this'case, profit was not the object—every¬ 
thing was done regardless of expense, to 
make a good and handsome structure. The 
best French crystal glass was used, and all 
labor paid by the day ; besides which, in the 
first year, there is no return profit, and the 
last season is the only one in which a full 
crop has been allowed. Take into consid¬ 
eration, two, that the labor account for man¬ 
agement is reckoned at $2 per day, and it 
will be readily seen that a good and suitable 
house may be built and tended so as to give 
a large return profit. A house of equal di¬ 
mensions, and well finished, can be erected 
at $12 per lineal foot, with the exception of 
cistern, force-pump, hose, and tank ; and if 
we make an estimate of all incidental ex¬ 
penses on a house equal to the above, and 
fifty feet long, it will stand thus : 
House, 50 feet long, furnished with two coats 
of paint, at $12.$000 00 
Brick cistern, cemented. lOfeetsquare. 70 00 
Tank, Force-pump, and Hose. 90 Oil 
25 tuns of manure for borders, at $2. 50 00 
Material for drainage. 20 00 
90 bushels of bones, at 50cts. 45 00 
100 bushels of charcoal, &c. 15 00 
Labor—making borders, &c. 20 00 
48 vines, at 50 cts. 24 00 
$934 00 
As, in the first example, the house is 74 
feet long, and, in the latter, 50 feet, the com¬ 
parative weight of fruit that may be taken 
will be about two-thirds, or 1964 lbs., at the 
same prices, making the total value for the 
five years $982 ; and making the same com¬ 
parison in labor, expenses, &e., in both cases, 
we may put down $298 gain upon a capital 
of $934, which shows a profit of about six 
per cent per annum, and this, too, at the 
commencement. If we were to calculate 
upon seven years, the per centage would 
amount to nine per cent; and continued fur¬ 
ther, it would be still greater, as the vines 
will continue each season to produce a full 
crop. 
From these illustrations it will be readily 
seen that, with good management, there is no 
loss in having a Cold Grapery, even though 
partial failure may occur.— Horiliculturist. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
GRAPES AND WINE. 
In your paper of last July I observed a 
valuable piece on the use of the grape as 
a food or medicine, which was too good to 
pass unnoticed. 
The most eminent physicians, and men 
who have traveled in grape countries, agree 
with you. It is a common saying, that in 
wine countries there are but few drunkards. 
The writer in the Observer finds an excep¬ 
tion in Paris. What less could be expected 
of a city like Paris ? There is a wonderful 
difference between a man’s sitting under his 
own vine, eating the fruit and drinking the 
juice, and going to grogshops and other de¬ 
testable places, and taking their wines and 
other intoxicating poisons. 
Alcohol,whether clear or adulterated, tends 
to create unnatural thirst, till, like a poisoned 
rat, he drinks himself to death. The pure 
juice of the grape, or the fruit, tends direct¬ 
ly the other way, and also to give strength 
and health and vigor to the system. 
The grape is of the easiest culture, by 
slips, cuttings, grafting, or transplanting 
from the swamps. There is in this region 
the best of table grapes, and the best of wine 
grapes of native growth ; the former ripen¬ 
ing in August, and being sweet, productive, 
and free from pulp. I suppose they may be 
found elsewhere. There are families in this 
place who have made and kept for years ex- 
-cellent wine for medical purposes, of fine 
flavor and color, and without adding alcohol, 
spirit, or coloring matter to the wine. There 
are two skillful physicians near by, who use 
this wine, and no other, for medicine. 
One of the greatest pleas for using intoxi¬ 
cating liquor is, the idea that our Savior 
used, directed it, &c. A very great mistake 
and absurdity. The wine he made was that 
which he distinguished by calling it the fruit 
of the vine. Pliny, who lived at the time of 
our Savior, says good wine was that which 
was destitute of spirit. Plutarch calls that 
wine best which is harmless, aiid that the 
most useful which has the least strength, 
and that the most wholesome in which no¬ 
thing has been added to the grape. 
The Commisioner of Patents has had a 
bottle of excellent wine presented to him, 
which, he says, has no intoxicating power. 
I apprehend no difficulty in making such 
wine, and having it improve by keeping. 
The grape can be kept the year round, and 
the juice pressed out. when wanted. Every 
family, or physician, or church officer can 
make what is needful, and keep it in small 
quantities easier than in large, and know 
what they are using. Phineas Pratt. 
Deep River, May 8, 1855. 
Study of Flowers. —It is very common 
with men who think there is nothing ration¬ 
al that is not connected with dollars and 
cents, to ridicule the study of flowers.— 
“ What good can come of it V' they ask. 
“ Will it improve a man’s fortune or advance 
his interest ? Will it render him a shrewd¬ 
er calculator 1 Will it earn him his bread 
or make him a fortune 1” They are greatly 
mistaken who believe that no actual utility, 
in the common niggardly sense of the term, 
can be derived from the pursuits of taste. 
But granting that they will accomplish none 
of these useful purposes, we would encour¬ 
age such studies, as tending to fill up many 
hours of idleness with an interesting and 
agreeable employment. Every new amuse¬ 
ment which can be participated in without 
danger to the health or the morals, provides 
an additional means for the moral improve¬ 
ment of society, inasmuch as it serves to di¬ 
vert many minds from pleasures which are 
liable to be accompanied with vice. Though 
to a mere plodder in the common business 
of life it may seem almost ridiculous to be 
engaged with enthusiasm in naming and pre¬ 
serving a few insignificant wild flowers, yet 
this very zeal may preserve many a youth 
from corruption and ruin, whose passions 
might otherwise lead him to seek the haunts- 
of vice. There are many pursuits which 
are useful in no other way than by contrib¬ 
uting to our pleasures. Let plodding misers 
and conceited sensualists ridicule them, be¬ 
cause they neither fill one’s coffers, nor 
spread his board—they forget that one dis¬ 
tinguishing mark between men and brutes, 
is, that the latter pursue only the useful , 
while the former are about equally employed 
in the fanciful. — Hovcy's Mag. 
Osage Orange Trees. —Mr. H. P. By*am, 
the editor of the Louisville Journal, writes 
to that paper from Dayton, Ohio, under date 
of September 9th, 1854 : 
In the vicinity of this city I saw some of 
the most perfect specimens of the Osage 
Orange hedge that 1 have ever before met 
with—more perfect, indeed, than I supposed 
nature could produce, even with all the aid 
that art and industry could lend her. The 
plants seem to withstand the blighting ef¬ 
fects of this unusually dry season, better 
than any other species of vegetation. The 
leaves still present the most rich glossy 
green that characterizes this plant in our 
most favorable seasons. 
From a somewhat extensive acquaintance 
with the character of the Osage Orange 
plant, I have often pronounced it the hedge 
plant of America, but I had no idea of the 
degree of perfection to which I find it sus¬ 
ceptible of being trained in the hedge. The 
oldest of the hedges here now is about four 
years. It is four feet high, and three feet 
broad at the base, and as dense, compact 
and uniform from the ground to the top, as if 
it had been molded by hand from some 
plastic material. My attendant remarked 
that it was “ so close at the bottom that a 
snake could not find its way through it.” 
There were several other specimens in the 
same vicinity, from one to two years old, all 
presenting the same beautiful appearance. 
The great and only secret in producing 
this living American prairie fence is, clean 
culture for four years , .and a relentless , un¬ 
sparing shearing , Irom the period of setting 
the plants to the endfjof four years, and then 
to maintain it in its proper form by semi¬ 
annual clippings 
