818 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
part of the United States. Indeed, Mr. Guyot, to whose book 
we have already referred, argues strongly in favor of every¬ 
where adopting the method of training the fruit-bearing vine 
horizontal with the ground and very close to it. We ought, 
however, to note here that the fields where this mode was more 
particularly noticed, or connected with good results, were in 
gravelly deposits of nearly level surface. Manure is freely 
used in Germany, much more so than in France, and is prepared 
and applied with mneh care and system. Cow manure, largely 
composted with straw, is the only kind thought fit to manure 
vines. They sprinkle the heaps almost daily to keep them 
moist, and allow the mass to rot at least twelve months before 
being used. It is applied every three years. As to quantity, 
it is certain that some soils, like the poor and unretentive grav¬ 
el beds of the Pfalz, should receive more than those of the 
neighboring slopes, and that the calcareous earths of France 
need less than the sandstone and the basaltic earths of the 
Khine valley. 
Guyot, arguing strongly in favor of manure, recommends 
the French cultivator to put on at intervals of three years a 
quantity of manure that will be equivalent in weight to that 
of the fruit he has taken off at vintage, while Mr. Herzraans- 
ky, the steward at Johannesberg, who tills some fifty acres of 
vines, keeps about forty very large cows in his stables. But 
will not manuring hurt the quality of the wine ? 
In our former report we say that this is an open question as 
yet, and so it is in France, and Mr. Guyot treats it as such in 
arguing upon it. Of course, none will doubt that were a vine¬ 
yard to be treated in this respect as we treat the soil of a 
grapery, very poor wine would be produced ; and the only 
question is, will a moderate quantity do harm ? This is pre¬ 
cisely the question the committee put to Mr. Herzmansky, the 
intelligent and thorougly experienced director at Johannisberg, 
where the best wine in the world is made. His answer was : 
“ No. As we apply it on this soil it does not impair the qual¬ 
ity of the wine in any degree ; on the contrary, it improves the 
flavor.” Then he led the way to his well-ordered cow stables, 
