The following are copied from the report of a special committee appointed by the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, to inquire into the condition of vineyards, and report whether or not grape-growing was still profitable. I regret to say that our Cincinnati friends have not, generally speaking, paid as much attention to the introduction and testing of better varieties—and there are but few vineyards in that neighborhood—where any other variety than the Catawba has been planted to any extent. It is to be hoped that the signal failure of that variety last season will do much to open their eyes to the full importance of the subject, and to abandon the Catawba, which evidently will not pay any longer.
But, as we have already said, there are other varieties of grapes being successfully grown in this vicinity, and we have extended our researches to some of those vineyards, and give the results as follows:—
Ives' Seedling is a grape of much promise, not addicted to mildew and rot. Col. Wahring, of Indian Hill, in this county, has a small vineyard, only two acres in bearing, which made, the past season, 650 gallons of wine. The season previous, only one acre in bearing, yielded 560 gallons. The Colonel makes his account for the past season's business stand as follows:—
| 650 gallons of wine, sold at $4.10 per gallon, | $2,665 00 |
| Sale of cuttings, | 1,500 00 |
| $4,165 00 | |
| Deduct cost of taking care of vineyard, | 100 00 |
| Leaving net product of vineyard, | $4,065 00 |
| Or over $2,000 per acre. |
Norton's Virginia is another promising grape that is being grown considerably hereabouts.
The Messrs. Bogen have given us their figures for the product of this grape, as follows:
| 1863—From 1½ acres, first year in bearing, they made 500 gallons, sold at $3 per gallon, | $1,500 00 |
| Sale of cuttings, | 400 00 |
| Sale of roots from layers, | 800 00 |
| $2,700 00 | |
| Deduct from this, for cost of culture, | 100 00 |
| Leaves net, | $2,600 00 |
| Or $1,733 per acre. | |
| 1864—Yield of same in wine and cuttings, | 2,300 00 |
| Or about $1,500 per acre. |
Delaware is another grape of very great promise and profit, now being extensively grown throughout the country. The Messrs. Bogen, from one-third of an acre, first bearing year, give us the following figures for the past season:
| 87 gallons of wine, sold at $6 per gallon, | 522 00 |
| Sold cuttings, | 450 00 |
| Sold roots from layers, | 2,050 00 |
| $3,022 00 | |
| Deduct cost of culture, | 22 00 |
| $3,000 00 | |
| Or $9,000 per acre. |