Your correspondent Mr. Miller, in the June No. of the Horticulturist, speaks of visiting some vineyards in Berks Co., Pa., and says in substance that those vineyards which received the least care produced that year the best grapes; that they were the freest of the rot and mildew, and intimates that we prune and care too much for our grapes.

Beware friend Miller, what you say, as this is bad doctrine, and I must beg leave to differ with you; as such treatment would not produce good grapes in New York, and I doubt if it would for a series of years even in Pennsylvania.

As regards the point where the fox flavor begins or ends, I am not connoisseur enough to say; but in my youthful days I have spent much time in hunting in forests and swamps for fox grapes, and have feasted on them to my heart's content, and "desired nothing better," for in those days the Isabella and Catawba were almost unknown in this locality.

But in this age of progress when we have so many choice kinds of Native grapes, it does to me seem strange that any one acquainted with the better varieties should retain a fondness for the wild grape; perhaps you have better kinds in Pennsylvania than we have here.

I believe that no one here ever succeeded with a vineyard unless he trenched or dug large and deep holes. Where the vines are a good distance apart, the latter way is perhaps as good as any and less expense.

The largest and oldest vineyards in New York, are at Croton Point; the soil and subsoil is a porous sand, yet they trench two feet deep and work in composted manure, etc, etc, and plant about two feet deep, leaving a depression about the young vine, 6 or 8 inches in depth, which is filled up after it is established. They prune the vine, and thin the fruit with care, cultivate the ground enough to keep down the weeds and grass, and encourage no lateral roots to grow within six inches of the surface; yet these vineyards produce annually fine grapes, free of rot and mildew.

R. T. Underhiil, Esq., in speaking of the last crop, says, "The past season though the coolest and most unfavorable for grape maturing, we have had in twenty years, he ripened his whole crop finely".

In clearing up "hedges," I frequently have had occasion to "dig" out, and in all cases the top roots were the largest and strongest, penetrating the subsoil boldly, no matter what its nature; sometimes they had lateral roots but often none.

This spring I had arranged to take up a lot of about 100 bearing Isabella's; they were too thick in the rows and I removed every alternate one; they are now twelve feet apart, which is about the right distance. Some were planted on a drain which was dug three feet deep and filled in the usual way; these vines were raised from cuttings and always grew finely; on taking them up I was surprised to find the largest and best roots bad struck badly to the bottom of the drain, amongst the stones in all directions, the deeply dug subsoil affording them an easy entrance.

Others were planted in large holes filled with good surface soil; they too had powerful roots penetrating far in the subsoil beyond the original hole.

The root of the grape is perhaps more sensitive end liable to be hurt by extreme cold or dry weather, than any tree or plant that we cultivate; hence the importance of using every possible means to encourage it downwards.

I am happy to state that the mildew of the fruit is almost unknown here, and no variety suffers from the rot except Catawba, and he who plants and cares properly for his vines may rely on a crop of good grapes annually.

There is a kind of mildew which attacks the foliage of vines in the nursery, but is not troublesome elsewhere.

I am surprised to learn that you experience so much difficulty in growing the grape in Pennsylvania; being in a lower latitude than we are, I supposed that the climate was admirably adapted to it.