S12 
STAfE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Steam entering at one end and the condensed vapor escaping 
at the other ; but heat is only applied in cold seasons and when 
the grapes are badly ripened. 
In France, the fruits of different varieties are commonly 
mixed together, and generally but little account is taken of 
cesaye (variety) as compared with the quality of soil. Well 
informed persons, however, are disposed to complain of the 
introduction, which has been quite general of recent years, of 
coarse varieties grown for quantity rather than quality. 
There is one variety of vine commonly seen on rich soil, 
and deemed unfit for poor ground, except where grown for 
brandy, as in Cognae, that may possibly be of value to us. It 
is called “ la folle blanche enrage ” (enraged crazy white). Ex¬ 
cept in its infancy it needs no stakes, but holds itself erect by the 
strength of its stalk, whieh is trained about one foot high, and 
from which the cane or branches shoot out with great vigor, 
like those of the osier willow pruned low. Every winter all 
the branches are eut back to two or three eyes, and during the 
season the ground is cultivated in the usual manner, but fur¬ 
ther than this it demands no attention. There is no summer 
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pruning, nor any tying winter or summer. It is never hurt by 
frosts, is proof against all disease and is unfailing in its fruit¬ 
ing, and yields, when in good condition, 1,200 to 1,500 gal¬ 
lons of wine per acre. Its most favorable soil is a sandy loam, 
and when grown on such its wine, which is quite strong, is 
worth forty cents per gallon. Of that produced about Bor¬ 
deaux a good deal is mixed with coarse red wine and made 
into claret for American consumption. Of itself, it will not 
make red wine. It is possible that this hardy vine or grape 
will stand our severe winters, and, with or without winter cov¬ 
ering, obtain a footing in American soil. If so, every farmer, 
or whoever else can command a quarter of an acre of land, 
might raise for his own table an abundance of good sound 
wine at a trifling cost. Generally it is bad policy to introduce 
a coarse plant of any sort, but we have so vast a spread of 
land that is too rich for growing delicate wines, no matter what 
variety of plant is tried, and of late the mildew and rot have 
