American grape growing and wine making

Preface To The New And Enlarged Edition

The progress of horticulture is so marked and rapid, that those who do not keep even pace with it, are soon left behind. This is especially true with grape culture, which has perhaps progressed more rapidly than any other branch. When I look over the first edition, issued only a few years ago, I find that it has already fallen behind, although its aim was to present the most recent experience. New varieties of grapes have since made their appearance, while old ones have been dropped from the lists, the taste of the public having become more refined and critical. New areas have been opened to grape culture, which is spreading into every State and Territory, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the all-important question, one that is asked every day, in every locality, is : *^ What grapes shall we plant ?" This is as it should be ; progress is the watchword of the age, and no one can be more willing to acknowledge its claims than I, who have wished for it and believed that it would come, when others thought that these hopes were but the dreams of an enthusiast.

Especially since my removal to the Pacific Coast (in the fall of 1881) have I become aware that a book which I aimed to make as cosmopolitan as possible, in the experience it sought to impart, can not claim to be a guide unless a large share of its pages are devoted to grape culture and wine making in California. A visit to this shore, in the summer of 1881, convinced me that this was the true home of the grape, and that California, with her sunny and dry summers, and her mild winters, was destined to be the vine land of the world ; that promised land where every one '' could sit under his own vine and fig tree." Diseases of the vine are here comparatively

(III)

IV PKEFACE.

unknown, the rainless summers, when no showers are expected from May until September, allow nearly all of the crop to ripen every year. Even in the unusually cool summer of 1882, with early and abundant rains in September, the crops ripened sufficiently to make a fair wine, perhaps only the more agreeable because not too heavy. These fai^orable climatic conditions simplify the culture and training of the vine, the gathering of the fruit, and the operations in wine making. Gallizing and Petiolizing became superfluous, and would not even pay, as grape juice is cheaper than sugar and water would be. In this climate it becomes possible that one man can own and superintend hundreds of acres of vineyard, and that a fair Vv^holesale price for the wine, when three months old, is from twenty to thirty cents per gallon. At this rate it pays the producer well, as it costs him on the average about twenty dollars per annum per acre to cultivate the grapes and make the wine ; and five hundred gallons per acre is considered an average yield. That, under all these favorable circumstances, California must become the first grape-growing State in the Union, seems to be but natural, especially when we consider also the raisin industry, perhaps still more profitable, and the extended shipments of table grapes to the Eastern States, and other sources of profit.

But, easy as are grape culture and wine making here, there is a vast field for improvement ; and nowhere else perhaps are rational knowledge and proper skill more needed. The very ease of the pursuit, which allowed any one, even with the simplest culture and the most common treatment, to raise a fair crop and make a drinkable wine, has led many, in fact a large majority, to embark in grape growing who knew but little about it, and did not try to learn more. They followed the pursuit negligently and mechanically, without proper study and observation. The results were, the culture of varieties

PREFACE. V

which produced tlie most, without regard to quality, and a great amount of inferior wines were made from them. These poor wines, of course, obscured the merits of the really fine wines, and brought them into bad repute. For a number of years California wines were almost unsalable, even at twelve or fifteen cents per gallon. But this state of affairs has changed for the better, and the improvement still continues. The old Mission grape, which was almost the only variety cultivated at first, and which gives a very heady and heavy wine, but of little fineness and delicacy, is generally cast aside for better varieties, of which nearly all the new plantings have been made. Wines are now beginning to be appreciated according to their merits, the habits of the choicer varieties of the grape are studied more, and their pruning and treatment changed accordingly. Dealers begin to discriminate in their purchases betweeii cellars filled with ordinary wines and those of superior grades; they pay higher prices for the latter, and are reluctant to purchase the former at any price. That this change is as inevitable as it is desirable, must become clear to every one whose judgment is unbiased. It is the ^^old, old story," which rei)eats itself in every branch of industry, that only those whose motto is, ^^ Excelsior," who work with brain as well as hand to achieve the best, will eventually win the day. California has wines already, which can take their place with the choicest productions of the Rhine, France, and Burgundy, and we may safely claim for our wines, that a better article can be bought in San Francisco to-day, from some of our leading firms, at from six to nine dollars per case, than can be purchased in St. Louis or New York, of foreign importation, at from fifteen to twenty-four dollars per case. That these wines are often shipped to the East in bulk, and then sold under French and German labels, detracts nothing from their merits ; that this is even done in San Francisco, is indeed to be deplored. But

YI PREFACE.

this will change; I hope to yet see the day in which California may proudly claim a place in the front rank in the production of fine wines, and when they will boldly sail under their true colors.

To accomplish this change, we need a closer study of the best varieties for each location, and rational treatment according to their habits ; we need more skill in the making and handling of wines ; more especially do we require a free and unshakled expression and interchange of experience and opinions among grape growers. The State Viticultural Commission, created by act of Legislature approved in April, 1880, with an annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars, have done a great deal to spread information, and to gather it. The first Convention of grape growers, held in Dashaway Hall, San Francisco, in September, 1883, brought together perhaps the largest and finest exhibition of grapes and wines ever held in the State, and elicited much valuable information. But unfortunately it was also characterized by a dictatorial and arbitrary spirit, which did not allow as free and liberal an interchange of experience as could be wished, and a great deal of time was consumed in learned essays and impracticable theories, which could have been more profitably devoted to experience from practical men, who were in a measure shut out from the discussions, if their views did not happen to coincide with those of the ruling spirits. Let us hope that a more liberal spirit may prevail in the future, and that the next convention will give us a full and free expression of the views of all practical men.

We need close attention to insect pests, and especially to the Phylloxera, which has already made serious inroads in many sections of the State, and may become as destructive to our vineyards in the near future, as it has already been in France. We want to j)revent its ravages, not by costly insecticides, or by quarantine, but by the only rational method, the planting of vines able to resist

PREFACE. YII

it; tliis will establish our vineyards on a permanent basis.

To do my share in this great work, to contribute my mite to the fund of general knowledge, has been the aim of the additional pages, devoted mainly to grape culture and wine making on the Pacific Coast. It is true that my experience here is but limited, but I have observed closely, and have quoted the experience of others wherever I could obtain it. I do not claim to be an authority, nor do I acknowledge any. We are all workers in a common cause, liable to err, but also gathering experience as we labor, which may be of service to others, if imparted. Let me hope, that my brother vintners will receive this new edition as kindly as the former one.

In this, as in the first edition, it has been my object to be a guide to the beginner, the small producer and wine maker, rather than to those who already own establishments large enough to employ skilled labor, and who, with large capital, are able to bear reverses and mistakes with equanimity. But the beginner who works from hand to mouth, who must struggle on for several years before he can realize enough to make a comfortable living, can not aiford to make serious mistakes, either in the varieties he plants, or in the wines he makes from them. If such find anything in the pages of this little book which is useful to them, which will cheer their labors and further them, making them more easy and profitable, I shall have attained my object in revising it. What we all need, is practical and useful information, more than elaborate, impractical theories. This I have tried to give, based upon my own experience, and that of other practical vintners from whom I have been anxious to learn, fully realizing that I was entering upon a new field, where I had to learn from those who preceded me.

George Husmakn.

Talcoa Vineyards, Napa, Col.; Nov. 9, 1883.

Contents

Page,

Introduction ^

CHAPTER I.— The Classification of Grapes , 11 " II.— Propagation of the Vine— By Seeds 16

" III.— Propagation by Cuttings in the Open Air, 19

" IV.- Propagating the Vine by Layers 21

" v.— Graf ting the Vine 22

" VI.— Tlie Vineyard-Location, Aspect, and Soil 28

" VII.— Preparing the Soil 30

♦' VIIL— What Grapes to Plant— Choice of Varieties. 31

" IX.— Labrusca Class, With their Hybrids 35

" X.— The ^stivaiis Class— For General Cultivation 54

" XL— The Jistivalis Class— Varieties Promising W^ell 61

" XII.— Cordifolia Class (or riparia according to Engelmann) . . 65

" XIIL— The Cordifolia Class— Varieties Promising Well 70

" XT v.— Varieties Difficult to Classify, etc 77

" XV.- Varieties for Different Localities 79

" XVI.— Planting the Vine 81

*' XVII.— Treatment of the Vine the First Summer 84

" XVIII.— Treatment of the Vine the Second Summer 87

XIX.-Treatment of the Vine the Third Summer 91

" XX.— Treatment of the Vine the Fourth Summer 96

" XXL— Training the Vine on Arbors and Walls 98

" XXn.-Other Methods of Training 99

" XXIIL— Diseases of the Vine 102

" XXIV.— Insects Injurious to the Grape 105

" XXV. -Frosts— Winter Protection 115

" XXVL— Girdling, Thinning, and Miscellaneous Matters 117

" XXVIL— Gathering and Marketing the Fruit 121

" XXVIIL— Grape Growing in Southern Ohio 127

" XXIX.— Grape Culture and Wine Making in Ohio ..135

" XXX.— Grape Culture at Kelley's Island, Ohio 138

" XXXL— Grape Growing, etc., on Lake Keuka, N. Y 142

" XXXIL— Grape Growi ng in Southern Texas 145

" XXXni.— The Grapes of Southern Texas 151

XXXIV.-The Vineyard in Texas 154

" XXXV.— Grape-Growing in Western Texas 159

XXXVI.— The Culture of the Grape in California 162

" XXXVrr.— Viticulture in Sonoma Valley, California 166

" XXXVIII.— Viticulture in Napa Co., California. 169

*' XXXIX.— Grape Culture in Maryland— Cashin's Trellises 174

" XL.— Grape Culture in Missouri 180

" XLI. -Grape Culture Near Chattanooga, Tennessee 182

" XLIL— White Elk Vineyards, Iowa 184

" XLIIL— The Phylloxera Problem 186

" XLIV.— Egg Harbor Wines.— Early Winter Grape.— Cost of a

Vineyard 190

" XLV.— Wine Making 195

" XLVL— Dr. Gairs and PctioVs Methods of Wine Maldng 213

" XLVII. —Wine Making Rendered Easy— Conclusion 236

—Grapes and Wine in California 240

VIII

Part I. The Culture Of American Grapes And Varieties

CHAPTER I.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF GRAPES.

It is only within comparatively few years that much attention has heen given to the parentage of our cultivated varieties of native grapes, as it was formerly thought to be of little or no importance whether a variety was derived from one or another of the few native species. More recent experience has shown that the varieties of a species, however widely they may differ from one another in some respects, agree in other points, and however far the varieties may be removed from the native type, they retain certain characters which indicate a common parentage. On the other hand, if we know from which species a variety is derived, we can, with a fair degree of certainty, predict its general behavior in cultivation, and in a great degree its value. This is so generally true that the experienced viticulturists of the present day regard the origin or parentage of the cultivated varieties as a matter of the first importance. It is riot in the character of the fruit alone that our varieties differ, as they are derived from one or another of the native species, but the foliage, the wood, the tendrils, the roots, and other parts of the vine retain their peculiarities ; and hardiness not only as regards the ability to endure cold uninjured, but the ability to resist the attacks of both parasitic plants and insects, or whatever else affects the health of the plant is now known to be transmitted with as much certainty, if not, indeed, more surely, than are the form and quality of the fruit.

In classifying the numerous varieties now on the lists, they are grouped according to the species of Vitis (the 11

12 AMEBIC AK GEAPE GEOWIN-G

botanical name of the grape genus), from which thej are known to be, or supposed to be, derived, and the name of the species is given to the class. Thus, when a yariety is spoken of as *^ belonging to the wstivalis class," it is to be understood that it descended from, or is derived from, the native species of grape called by botanists, Vitis CBstivalis. So, when in speaking of a variety we, for the sake of brevity, say '^it is an wstivalis,''^ it is equivalent to saying that it belongs to the class of varieties derived from the species of that name.

All of the European grapes are regarded as having their origin in Vitis vinifera of the old world, a species which, though it has been cultivated from the earliest recorded time, is nowhere known in the wild state. The varieties of this, while generally unsuccessful east of the Eocky Mountains, succeed admirably in the climate of the Pacific Coast, and, until very recently, have been cultivated there to the exclusion of all others. It is of interest to our grape-growers principally on account of the hybrids which have been produced between it and our own native grapes. The varieties of the European gra^Q differ from ours in their leaves, which are " smoothish," and, when young, shining ; they are more or less deeply 5 to 7-lobed, the lobes pointed and sharply toothed ; the flesh of the berry adheres to the skin, while the seeds have a narrow and usually proportionately longer beak than in any of the native varieties.

There are throughout North America, eight or nine species admitted by botanists as distinct, four only of which have yielded varieties of cultivation ; these are :

1. Vitis Labriisca, The Northern Fox Grape.

2. Vitis wstivalis, The Summer Grape.

3. Vitis cordifolia, or | The Winter or Frost Grape, or

V. riparia, ) The Riverside Grape.

4. Vitis vidjmia, The Southern Fox Grape.

Without attempting elaborate botanical descriptions, we give here a few brief popular notes on each species ; the varieties derived from them will be found grouped together in their proper places. It may be remarked here that the species vary to a great extent in their wild condition, and it is often the case that those most familiar with grapes find it very difficult to decide to which species to refer a given specimen. That most thorough botanist and keen observer, Doct. George Engelmann, of St. Louis, Mo., found that the seeds give, in most cases, more constant marks by which to distinguish the species, than could be found elsewhere. Those who are interested in the botanical aspects of grape culture are referred to an illustrated article prepared by him for the " Bushberg Catalogue," published by Bush & Son & Meissner, Biishberg, Mo. .

1. ViTis Labrusca, Linn. — The specific name, Lahrusca, is the ancient Latin one for a wild vine. This species, the well known Wild, or Fox Grape, extends from Canada to the Gulf, but is rarely found in the Valley of the Mississippi. It is common in moist woods or thickets, and sometimes reaches the tops of the highest trees. The leaves are large and thick, often entire, and coated on the underside with a thick, whitish, or rusty wool : berries large, dark-purple, or amber-colored, with a tough pulp and a strong, ^^foxy," or musky odor; the most common grape of the Northern woods, and presents a great variety in the wild state ; has given rise to an important series of table grapes, of which the best known are the Concord, and several useful hybrids.

2. YiTis ^STiVALis, Michaux.— The term Summer Grape is the equivalent of the specific name. This has large leaves, which are clothed on the underside with loose cottony or woolly down, which is bright red or rusty, *'smoothish" when old ; the clusters slender, com-

14 AMEKICAN GRAPE GROWIKG

pact, dark-blue or black, with a bloom. It is the latest flowering of all the Northern species ; its range is more Southern and Western than the preceding, and it reaches great perfection in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. Norton's Virginia and Herbemont are prominent among the varieties, as will be seen at the proper place, in the '' cestivalis class."

3. ViTis coRDiFOLiA, Michaux ; and Yitis riparia, Michaux. — Michaux described two species of the Winter or Frost Grape, one as V. cordifolia (the heart-shaped leaved), and the other as V. riparia (of the river banks). The two were kept distinct by Torrey & Gray in the '' Flora of North America" (1838). In the '' Flora of the State of New York" (1813), Doct. Torrey gives both species, and says of F. riparia: ^^This species is most readily distinguished from the preceding ( V. cordifolia), with which it is often confounded, by its incisely serrate leaves." Doct. Gray in his "Manual of the Botany of the Northern States " (1856), unites the two under F. cordifolia, Michaux, and says : " Var. riparia has the leaves broader and cut-lobed." ( F. riparia, Michx). Doct. Chapman in his "Flora of the Southern U. S." (1860), follows the same arrangement as Gray, Later, Doct. Engelmann in Eiley's " Report on the Insects of Missouri" (1871), and in the "Bushberg Catalogue," again restores Michaux's arrangement, and gives both Viiis cordifolia and F. riparia. Those who are aware of the acuteness he brings to the investigation of obscure subjects, and the high esteem in which he is held in the botanical world, will attach great importance to Doct. Engelmann's views.

According to him, besides the difference in the leaves, the fruit of F. cordifolia is black, without a bloom, ripens late, and has a " strong and very fetid aromatic taste, which unfits it for making into preserves, or for pressing wine." In F. riparia he says that the berries are usually larger than in the last^ mostly with a bloom, ripens much earlier, and is much pleasanter. While no cultivated varieties of V, cordifoUa are known, V. riparia gives several, the best known of which is Clinton. In a strict botanical classification it might be necessary to keep these two species distinct, but in a viticultural arrangement, where the cordifoUa class has become established by usage, it seems hardly worth while to insist upon calling it the ^^ riparia class." As the F. cordifoUa, as understood by Engelmann, affords no cultivated varieties, no confusion is likely to result from the nse of the term cordifoUa, to designate that class of grapes of which the Clinton and Taylor are best known, and which the Elvira promises to bring into greater prominence than it has heretofore enjoyed. The remaining species :

4. ViTis VULPINA, Linnasus (^* the foxy"), has been called F. rotundifoUa (the ^^ro^nd-leaved") by some later authors. It is not found narth of Maryland, and extends into Florida. It rambles to a great distance, has a close, smooth bark like a beech tree, heart-shaped leaves, shining on both surfaces ; the berries, one-half to three-fourths inch in diameter, are very few in a cluster, dropping as soon as ripe, bluish-black (with light-colored varieties), with a very thick and leathery skin and a strong and peculiar flavor. This is the parent of the much talked of Scuppernong, Mish, and others. It is called Bullace, and also Muscadine.

The important hybrids are mentioned under the class to which the native parent belongs. The term hybrid is properly used only where the variety results from the union of two other varieties from distinct species ; the ■ Catawba and Clinton, or the Concord and Black Prince, by their union, would in each case produce a hybrid ; an Ives fertilized by the pollen of Martha, would produce, not a true hybrid, but merely a cross, as both varieties belong to the same species, the Lahrusca.

16 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWIl^G

Chapter II. Propagation Of The Vines.— By Seeds

While the raising of grape vines from the seed is more a labor of love, than of actual profit, yet its influence on grape culture generally has been so great, and we are already indebted so largely to its zealous followers, that it cannot be entirely omitted in a work like this. We can not gain further perfection in varieties without this, and the success which has already attended the labors of Rogers, Wylie, Campbell, Ricketts, Muench, Miller, Weydemeier, Langendoerfer, and especially Mr. Jacob Rommel, in giving to us the Elvira, and other varieties still more promising, affords hopes of even more important results.

To begin then at the beginning : choose your seed from a good stock. I am inclined to believe that only the cestii^alis and cordifolia (or riparia, as Engelmann has it) species will give us the true wine grapes of the country, and if we can increase their size somewhat, they will also be the best table grapes. We have them already as large as the Catawba, and they are more juicy, of finer flavor, and less pulpy than the varieties from the Labrusca species, while they are much more healthy and hardy. Remember that we have already too many varieties, and that every new one we add should have some decided merit over any of the old varieties, or else be discarded at once.

Choose the best berries and the most perfect bunches, from which to take the seed, and either sow in autumn, and cover, or keep them over winter, mixing the seeds with moist sand, when separated from the pulp, to insure ready germination. Sow early in spring, in well pulverized clay soil, in drills one foot apart, and drop the seeds about an inch apart in the rows, covering about three-quarters of an inch deep, with finely pulverized soil. When the young plants appear, keep them clean and well cultivated through the summer; in the fall take them up carefully, and put in well drained fine soil, so as to preserve their roots in the most perfect condition. It will be well, during the summer, to look over them frequently, and if any of them show disease in the leaf, pull them up at once, as it is useless to save such as are feeble and unhealthy. It may also be well to shade the young vines for the first month or so, to prevent the sun from scalding them while yet young and tender, and if any of them grow remarkably strong, give them small sticks for support. In the following spring they may be transplanted to their permanent location in the vineyard or garden. The ground for their reception should be moderately light and rich, and loosened to the depth of at least 18 inches. \/

Make a hole about 8 inches deep, then throw in soil so as to raise a small mound in the center of the hole, about 2 inches high ; shorten the top of the young vine to about 6 inches, and then place it on the mound, spreading its roots well in all directions; fill up with well pulverized soil, until the upper eye is even with the surface of the ground. Then press the soil lightly, place a good stake about 4 feet high with each vine, and when the buds start, allow but one sprout to grow, which is to be tied neatly to the stake. The vines may be planted in rows 6 feet apart, and 3 feet apart in the rows, as many of them will prove worthless, and have to be discarded. Allow all the laterals to grow on the young cane, as this will make it stocky and short- jointed. Cultivate well and frequently, keeping the soil loose and mellow.

The second season the seedlings will generally make from 3 to 4 feet of short- jointed growth ; in the fall of that year they should be cut back to about three buds, and have the ground drawn up around them for protection in winter. Should any of them look very promising, fruit may be obtained a year sooner by grafting the wood of the seedlings upon strong vines. Young vines thus grafted will generally bear the next season (see " Grafting," on another page). Next spring, which will be their third, remove the covering, and when the young shoots appear, allow only tivo to grow. After these have grown about 18 inches, pinch oif the top of the weakest of the two shoots, so as to throw the growth into the strongest shoot, which is to be kept neatly tied to the stake or trellis, treating it as the summer before, and allowing all the laterals to grow. At the end of this season's growth they should be strong enough to bear the next summer. If they have made from eight to ten feet of stocky growth, the leading cane may be cut back to ten or twelve eyes, or buds, and the smaller one to a spur of two eyes. If the vines will fruit at all, they will show it the next summer, when only the most promising ones should be kept, and the barren and worthless ones discarded. Seedlings have this peculiarity : both the berry and bunch will increase in size every year for the first three or four years ; therefore, if the quality of the fruit is only good, the size may come in time. The fruit of the Elvira (of which more hereafter), which is now about as large in bunch and berry as Catawba, was at first not more than half its present size, it having increased in dimensions every year for the last eight years.

AND WINE MAKING.

Chapter III. Propagation By Cuttings In The Open Air

The easiest and most simple mode of propagating the vine is by cuttings planted in the open ground; it can be successfully followed with the majority of the Labrusca and cordifolia varieties, and a few of those from the (Bstivalis, although the latter will not take root readily, and had better be propagated by layering and grafting.

The most general method is the following : In fall, when pruning the vines, choose the best ripened wood of medium size, which is better than either the very large or very small, and cut it into lengths of from 9 to 12 inches, cutting close below the lower bud, and about an inch above the upper, as in figure 1.

Figure 2 shows a cutting with part of the old wood attached ; cuttings of this kind will generally root more readily than the other.

These cuttings will mostly average three to four buds each ; tie them in convenient bundles of 100 to 250 each, taking care to make their lower ends even, and keep them either in a cool, moist cellar, or bury them out-doors in well drained ground, with the upper ends downwards, covering up well with finely pulverized soil. The making of

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

CUTTINGS — ALL TSEW AND PART OLD WOOD.

cuttings may be continued during winter, although they will root more readily if cut early, and there is also no danger of frost injuring the buds.

In spring, so soon as the ground is dry enough, the cutting bed should be prepared. Choose for this a light, rich soil, pulverized at least a foot deep ; if not light and rich enough, it can be made so by welUdecomposed leaf mould. Make a cut along the whole length of the bed with the spade, deep enough to receive the whole length of the cuttings, and press these wall down into it, so that the upper buds are even with the surface of the earth ; fill up with loose soil, and press it down firmly with the foot along the line, so as to pack it well around the cuttings. The cuttings may be put close in the row, say 1 to 2 inches apart, and the rows 2 to 3 feet apart, so as to allow of cultivation either by hand, plow, or cultivator. After the bed is finished, mulch with spent tan, sawdust, or leaf mould, so as to protect the young shoots from the sun; maintain a moist and even temperature during summer, and keep the soil open and porous.