1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
277 
wine. Whether others will agree with him generally 
or not, remains to be determined—the wine is certainly 
marked by a beautful “bouquet,” and may need only 
time and custom to render it a favorite. 
The hill on which the vines are grown is terraced 
around, the terrace following the sweep of the declivi¬ 
ty and varying in width according to its steepness, 
being generally wide enough for two or three rows of 
the vines, which are five feet apart, and the vines in 
the rows three and a half from one another. Seven 
acres are now in bearing, and five more coming on, at 
Mr. S.’s place. The preparation of *the land is some¬ 
times very expensive, but the cost of course varies 
widely with the circumstances of each case—it is sta¬ 
ted by Mr. Longworth at from two to five hundred 
dollars per acre, but I inferred that these figures were 
rather large from the representations made by Mr. S. 
He puts out two cuttings to a hill, although only one 
vine is desired, in order to have a surplus for those 
that fail to grow. The first year they grow without 
training, just as they will, the land being kept free from 
weeds. The second year a stake is driven in about 6 
feet high, and the vine cut back to two or three good 
eyes on its strongest shoot. It is kept tied up through 
the season, and the young shoots branching out from 
the main vines, of which two are permitted to grow, 
are I understood rubbed off as they appear; the land 
is cultivated or hoed thoroughly to keep clear of the 
weeds. The third year the two stalks are cut back in 
spring—one to within a couple of eyes, and the other, 
which is depended upon for the crop, to within five or 
six eyes of the bottom. These are allowed to produce 
about three clusters to each eye permitted to grow, 
any larger number being probably thinned away. The 
next year it is the shoot that was left the shorter (cut 
back within 2 eyes), which is depended on for the 
second crop, and each subsequent year this system is 
substantially repeated—the old wood cut away, and 
the two best and strongest shoots reserved for succeed¬ 
ing crops. Mr. Schnicke’s largest crop was obtained 
in 1850, when he pressed out the large quantity of 
2,200 gallons from the grapes produced on 3 acres. 
The average value of the crop would not, of course, be 
nearly as much as this—it has been stated by Mr. 
Longworth as about $200 per acre. Care is taken 
when a vineyard is prepared, that the soil should be 
in good order as regards fertility, although so far as I 
could learn, it is not much enriched by manure. Once 
in eight or ten years, when the vines begin to show 
symptoms of needing it, Mr. S. recommended the ap¬ 
plication of fresh soil, or watering with manure water, 
which he thought the best way of manuring, or a 
dressing of street dirt, or one of river mud, provided 
the last be not too stiff, but loosened and dried after 
exposure to frost. One good man will perform the la¬ 
bor necessary on two acres of vines. 
The grapes when gathered are carefully picked over 
to reject green or decaying or injured and imperfect 
berries. The press employed will yield 300 gallons a 
a day, which is strained as it goes into the cask. The 
cask is filled to within four inches of the top, and the 
bung stopped with a cork pierced by a crooked tube 
the outer end of which passes under water. The gas 
evolved during fermentation readily escapes through 
the water, while no air is admitted in return. The 
fermentation lasts from eight to fourteen days. The 
color of the juice is at first red, it then becomes gray, 
and finally settles clear; in the succeeding February 
during good weather (at which time the wine is clear¬ 
est,) it is racked off, the last eight or ten gallons con¬ 
taining the sediment serving for distillation into brandy. 
I should have stated that the last squeezings from the 
grapes are kept separate from the juice that first flows 
off, as they injure the quality of the wine, and may be 
used either for an inferior kind or for distillation. Mr. 
Schnicke brought forward for trial some samples of his 
vintage in different years, also of a fine Peach Brandy 
of his own making. 
And now there is one inquiry, with which I wish to 
close. Will the gra,pe yield more upon a given area, 
where each vine is trimmed down into the small limits 
I have described above, or where, on the other hand, 
each is allowed to spread itself over a wider surface, 
and there are consequently fewer vines to the acre? 
If the former is true at Cincinnati, why should it be 
untrue at the east, where I think a contrary opinion 
prevails 1 And, whether true or not, what are the 
reasons in its favor ? 
Sheep and Cows Together—Changing Pastures, etc. 
It has been said that “no grazing farm should be 
without, at least, a small flock of sheep—for it has 
been found that as large a number of cattle and horses 
can be kept with as without them, and without any in¬ 
jury to the farm for other purposes.” Under a proper 
system of management this may be true, but it will 
not hold good if sheep and cows are allowed the range 
of the whole pasturage at the same time during the 
summer. Although there may be abundant forage for 
their supply through the season, it will be found that 
certain portions will be closely grazed, while other spots 
will remain untouched until too ripe or rank for use. 
Upon this point a variety of opinions have been en¬ 
tertained, but practical men join in the views above 
expressed—that sheep and cows should not be pastured 
together. Sheep have as great a relish for the best 
pasturage as any animal kept by the farmer, and per¬ 
haps a greater dislike to coarse, rank grass than cows, 
and consequently they run over that which might other¬ 
wise be eaten by neat stock, and on which they would 
thrive freely. It is true that they consume some 
plants refused by cattle and horses, but this advantage 
is of little comparative importance under the system of 
pasturage which we would commend to the reader. 
Cattle and: horses, if allowed a large range of pas¬ 
turage, show the same preference for certain portions 
of the same, and the fields so treated have a spotted, 
unhandsome appearance at midsummer. 
By changing pastures frequently, so as to keep ani¬ 
mals enough in each at the time to consume the grass 
in its fresh state, a considerable advantage in amount 
is obtained, and the force of the objections to sheep 
obviated. Sheep might follow horses or cows for a week 
or two, and by a sufficient division of fields, certain lots 
remain unoccupied, so that a fresh, fair bite should al¬ 
ways be afforded. The present year we shall obtain a 
larger amount and much better quality of clover pas¬ 
ture for our calves, from having fed it closely with 
sheep just before beginning to blossom the first time, 
than we should had we allowed it to remain untouched, 
or had it been mowed when fit for hay, a few weeks 
later. Had our horse pasture been treated in the same 
