545 
THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 
its effects, as some conditions that are inseparable from a rich, 
fertile country, with a variable climate. Wisconsin, with a 
sterner climate and a less exuberant soil, will probably be 
found more uniformly productive of all the staple varieties of 
fruits than Illinois. She will not probably succeed so well 
with some of the half tropical, (the pear for instance,) as Illi¬ 
nois, but the apple, pear, plum, cherry, and grape, in their most 
substantial varieties, will be as sure with you as with use ; 
and the trees more durable. It seems now very probable, that 
all our apple trees that were in bearing in the summer of 1855, 
will struggle along for a few years, till death kindly takes them 
off, and makes room for us to plant more. 
The pear, in nearly all of its varieties, has suffered very 
badly. The plum has fared worse than either of the above.— 
Of Cherries, the Heart and Bigarreau varieties are wholly cut 
off. The Peach, north of 39° latitude, was only left in very 
favorable situations. The smaller garden fruits, except some of 
th q fancy Raspberries, escaped unharmed. The Grape, with 
me, suffered far less than it did at Cincinnati. I made a mod¬ 
erate crop in ’56 and ’57, and in ’58 came (after one of the 
mildest winters we have had for many years,) as near having 
no crop as was at all desirable—say about five per cent of a 
crop. 
The failure of the Grape was owing to causes that took 
place (as I judge,) in the summer of the preceding year. In 
the two winters preceding the last, the vine had been somewhat 
pinched, but still yielded a fair crop, under the disadvantage of 
very dry summers. The drought of ’57 was very rigorous, 
and, perfecting the crop, so exhausted the vine, that it did not 
even make the germ of fruit in the bud ; and of course with¬ 
out blossoms we could have no fruit. What few little clusters 
did set fruit, were so sparse and ragged as to be poor apologies 
for grapes. 
The Isabella has thus far succeeded so very well with us, as 
table and market fruit, that we we have not been induced to 
seek for any thing to compete with it. The Catawba does as 
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