Having no new theory to advocate, or any disposition to attack the opinions of others, I merely propose, in a short article, to give you an account of my own mode of raising grapes, which you are at liberty to make known to your readers if you deem it of sufficient value. A liberal interchange of ideas among cultivators can not harm any one, and may do much good. I confess to having received my pay in advance for all the information which I am about to impart.

My vineyard is situated on the west side of the Hudson River, sloping to the southeast. The land is a yellow clay loam, with plenty of stone of every size, from a man's fist to boulders of many tons' weight; it is what is termed hard land, and not inappropriately named : better for building sites than for cultivation. My beginning was under discouraging circumstances, which it is not necessary to state. I set out my first hundred Catawba vines seven years ago, without any extra preparation of the soil. The ground was plowed as for a crop of corn, the holes were dug, and the vines set ten feet apart in rows twelve feet asunder; the spaces between planted with potatoes. The vines were otherwise neglected for three years; they were then pruned and trained to the trellis, and rows of strawberries set between the rows of grapes. From that time to the present the two kinds of fruit have been cultivated, the weeds kept down, and the ground frequently stirred. No manure of any kind was used until 1859, when a sprinkling of bone dust of about six quarts to every square rod of ground was sown broadcast, and has been repeated every year since.

These vines in due time began to bear; the first crop was purposely small, and was consumed near home, though a small portion of the fruit was sold for eighteen cents a pound. In 1858 I sold to the amount of one hundred and sixty dollars. The following year to the same amount, besides using all that my family needed and making some wine. The year 1860 but few grapes ripened any where. My sales were but little in excess of the two former years, and in 1861, owing to the unripened canes of 1860,1 had not over a quarter of a crop. Observing a tendency in the long arms to generate strong shoots at the extreme ends, I headed in the five feet arms, to three feet, in the spring of this year, and thus produced strong canes near the stem of the vine, where most needed for the coming years; but with these disadvantages, it will be seen that the product was about equal to the other seasons, though it should have been double or more. Any grape planter can readily estimate what may be expected from these vines under good treatment in future years.

Profiting by experience, in the spring of 1858 I prepared the ground for one hundred more Catawba vines; plowed the ground thoroughly, and picked off and removed large quantities of stone; dug trenches three feet wide and twenty-six inches deep, continuing the rows twelve feet apart; laid the top soil on one side and the subsoil on the other; filled in about two inches of small stone, upon which were placed dry corn stalks to keep the ground loose, and on this returned the top soil. This left the trench about eighteen inches deep; the roots, which were good strong layers of Catawba, were then carefully placed, and covered with about six inches of the subsoil, leaving the trench ten to twelve inches deep after planting the vines, and remained so until the fall of the same year, when the ground was plowed and harrowed to a level. It was then planted with strawberries between the rows, and the grape growth cut down to one bud. In 1859 the ground was kept well stirred and free of weeds, still cultivating strawberries, and using no manure of any kind.

The growth of this season was cut down to three buds.

In 1860 there was a small show of fruit on many of the vines. Kept the weeds out and stirred the ground often. In the fall removed the ground around each plant, and cut away all surface roots to the depth of eight inches; filled in again, and put on a dressing of six wheelbarrows of top soil to one of hen manure, well mixed, spread over the surface, but not within two feet of the stem of any vine. This was the first manuring. In 1861 I gathered the fruit from four vines, and weighed each separately; the average product was nineteen lbs., and not an inferior cluster among them. The whole hundred vines averaged fifteen pounds, which was sold, together with the product of the original hundred vines, at twelve to sixteen cents per pound. Some sales were made at twenty cents; these are the New York wholesale prices; and the crop marketed was twenty-five hundred pounds. In addition to this, we reserved a liberal supply for family use up to Christmas; gladdened the hearts of many friends with baskets of fruit, and made a barrel of choice Catawba wine, all from two hundred vines.

I shall discontinue the cultivation of strawberries or vegetables between the rows, and in their place will set a row of vines, so as to have my rows six feet apart instead of twelve, and then use the cultivator and hoe to keep the ground clean and mellow. I have increased my vineyard to three acres, a part of which is Delaware, though 1 am quite well satisfied with the Catawbas.

My training is on the renewal system. I raise three caues, two of which, forming the arms or side canes, are tied to the lower wire; the middle one extends up-right, and is pinched in at the top of the trellis. Eight feet apart for the vines is better than ten. I pinch the fruit-bearing shoots two leaves beyond the fruit, and do not disturb the laterals. I always remove the secondary shoots, and allow not more than three bunches of fruit to grow an any one shoot If much fruit is grown, I reduce the clusters on each shoot, endeavoring to avoid all extremes in pruning. My vines have never been covered or protected in winter, and don't seem to need it. The thermometer has frequently been as low as fifty-four degrees below freezing point.

[There are so very few who, in making a vineyard, keep an account of the expense, or are able to tell how many pounds they have raised on a given number of vines, that our readers interested in grape culture will consider themselves under obligations to Mr. Murdfelt for his important facts and figures. Even on his own showing the results might have been larger; yet they have been such as would satisfy most men under like circumstances. We shall present statements, from other reliable parties, all going to show that native grapes may be grown with profit; a fact in regard to which we never entertained a doubt. All will not succeed alike, owing to various causes, and some few may even fail altogether, but the great fact will still remain. - Ed].