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Missouri - The Great Southern Vineyard

Debow's Review

June 1859

Notwithstanding the true principles of grape culture are so little understood by the community at large, no department of agriculture has been more carefully investigated, more distinctly defined, and reduced to scientific principles. Since Virgil wrote his masterly treatise upon the habits and cultivation of the vine, the principles which should govern its culture have been within the reach of all who would investigate the structure of this plant, and learn the soil and climate adapted to its perfect development. And, indeed, it could scarcely be otherwise, as the vine has occupied so prominent a position in the husbandry of almost all the enlightened nations of ancient and modern times Since Noah planted a vineyard, the vine has followed the progress of husbandry and civilization throughout India, Arabia, Palestine, and Southern Europe. It holds an important place in the history of those seats of ancient civilization and progress. The "vine-clad hill" occupied a conspicuous position in every landscape, and the juice of the grape had its place at the social board and ruled the joys of the banquet hall. While it held so important a position among the nations, its value led the ablest minds to investigate its habits and the vast importance of this subject, induced me to make a most thorough examination of all the facts showing the adaptation of the soil and climate of this region to the culture of the grape. The results of these investigations are most satisfactory deduce the best modes of culture from the experience of the many engaged in the pleasant pursuit. Solomon investigated the properties of the vine, and Virgil gave so excellent a treatise upon its habits and culture, that the investigations and experience of the last two thousand years have added but little to the knowledge then possessed. Since then the habits of the vine, and the modes of culture best adapted to it, have been so carefully determined, and so thoroughly established by the experience of the last four thousand years, it only remains for the cultivators of our times to investigate the modes of culture so long and so successfully practised in India and the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean; to inquire how far the varieties there cultivated, and the culture there adapted, will succeed in other localities; to determine whether some new varieties may not succeed better in other climates and soils; and what modifications of culture will secure the highest degree of success in the various soils and climates to which we would introduce the vine. It is obvious that the success of the grape depends upon the mutual adaptation of both soil and climate. In places where the soil has all the requisite properties, the climate may be such as to prevent full success; as in many parts of New England, where the climate is too cold, and in England, where it is too moist. In many localities in Southern Europe, the soil is such as to prevent the full success of the vine, though the climate is all that could be desired. Soil.-According to Virgil and the best authors who have followed him, the soil should be warm, light, dry, and rich in alkalies and alkaline earths, especially potash, soda, lime, and magnesia. The best vines have been grown upon soils of this description; and when any of these qualities have been wanting, the most skilful vine-growers have supplied the deficiency by artificial means. Hence Virgil directs to place " porous stones and rough shells" in the trenches-the stones and shells to loosen the soil and perfect the drainage, the shells to supply the deficit of lime. The vine has ever succeeded the best, other things being equal, in a calcareous soil. The best vineyards upon the Rhine, the Ohio, and the Missouri, are upon soils rich in lime; and, according to D'Orbigny, the wines from such vineyards in France are "more lively and spirituous." Geor, lib. ii., lines 217- 221 and 262-" Optima putri arva solo." t The great vine at Windsor Park was planted fifty years ago.': In 1850," says Prof. Lindley,' it produced 2,000 large bunches of magnificent grapes, filled a house 138 feet long and 1l wide, and had a stem two feet nine inches in circumference. The border in which it grows is warm, light, dry, and shallow."

The chemical composition of a plant also gives us sure indications of the mineral ingredients of the soil required for its perfect development. These analyses show that potash, soda, lime, magnesia, and phosphoric acid, enter largely into the composition of the vine, and that grapes will succeed best on soils rich in those materials. The other ingredients are such as are found in nearly all soils, and may be left out of our investigations. It is a well-established principle of vegetable science that lime may supply the place of soda and potash, in part at least, in some plants. The following analyses of vines from two localities show this to be true of the vine also: I II. Alkalies...........................45.82.....27 98 Lime.......... 29.95...... 40.70 If, therefore, soda and potash be deficient in a soil, their places may be partially supplied by lime, should it exist in sufficient quantities. Climate.-The success of the grape on the islands and the shores of the Mediterranean, show their adaptation to a climate in which the winters are short and mild, and the summers are temperate and equable. In the Ionian Islands, where the grape attains great perfection, it is never exposed to pinching cold or burning heat, or to any very sudden changes from one to the other. But the great profusion and the excellence of the grapes in India, at Candahar and Cabul, "the sunny home of the grape," indicate an ability to reach perfection in spite of sudden changes from extreme cold to burning heat. "In no part of the world," says Lindley, " are the grapes more delicious than in Candahar and Cabul;" and yet the traveller speaks of the "bitter cold wind and blazing fires at night," and the "burning sun by day," in March, and the sun's heat at 140~ in May, where the grapes ripen as early as June. We may conclude then that the grape will, under favor. able circumstances, reach the greatest perfection, though exposed to sudden changes and extremes of heat and cold. Having ascertained the conditions of soil and climate best adapted to the successful culture of the vine, it has been my aim to determine how far these conditions are fulfilled in Missouri; to what extent and with what success the vine may be cultivated in our State, and the advantages to be derived from its cultivation. In order to secure the most accurate data for our conclusions, our investigations have been directed to the following subjects: 

1. The characters and habits of all our native vines, and the soils on which they succeed best, have been carefully noted. 

2. Five persons have been appointed to make meteorological observations: one at Springfield in the southwest, one at Cape Girardeau in the southeast, one at Palmyra in the northeast, one at St. Joseph in the northwest, and one at Columbia in the centre, in the valley of the Missouri river. These observers have been supplied with the very best instruments, and they have made and recorded their observations according to the plan adopted by the Smithsonian Institution. 

3. The experience of our most successful vine-growers has been collected, and the results carefully compared with the conclusions derived from our examinations of the climate, soils, and wild vines of the State. 4. The soils of the State have been carefully observed, and the varieties collected and committed to a most skilful chemist for full and accurate analyses. It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the disinterested labors of those who have 0so faithfully observed and recorded the meteorological phenomena at the stations above named. Our State will be under many obligations to the Rev. G. P. Comings, of St. Paul's College, Palmyra; James Knoud, of St. Vincent's College. Cape Giraideau; J. A. Stephens, Esq., of Springfield; E. B. Neely, A. M., of the St Joseph High School; and Miss M. B. Hill, at Columbia, who have made the observations at their several localities Native Grapes.-The growth and fruit of our native vines give us most important indications of the adaptation of our soil and climate to the cultivation of the grape. The following species have been observed, and the growth, habits, and fruit of each variety, have been carefully examined. 

1. VITIS LABRUSCA, Linn. Fox Grape of the Northern States. This vine is abundant in all parts of the State. It attains to a very large size, in our rich alluvial bottoms and on our best upland soils; but the vines of a smaller size, which grow upon the dry ridges, on the declivities of the bluffs (especially those of the Magnesia Limestone), and on the talus of the debris at their bases, exhibits a healthy, firm growth, and produce an abundance of fine fruit. The grapes found in these localities are larger, and the pulp is more juicy and palatable. :Many well-known and excellent varieties of grape now in cultivation were derived from this species. The Isabella, Catawba, Schuylkill, and Bland's, are the most esteemed. 

2. VITUS AESTIYALIS, Michx. Summner Grape. This, like the preceding, is found in all parts of the State, and is doubtless the largest of all our vines. It is one of the most striking objects in our magnificent forests. While the stem, like a huge cable, hang suspended from the limbs of the largest trees, the branches, clothed in rich foliage, and often loaded with fruit, hang in graceful festoons over the highest boughs. But the vines growing on the thin soils of our limestone ridges and bluffs, and on the loose debris at their bases, where they are more exposed to the air and the sun, produce a greater abundance of the very best fruit. 

3. VITIS CORDIFOLIA, Milliclix. Winter or Frost Grape. This vine is widely diffused through the State; but it is not so large as the Fox or the Summer Grape. Its fruit is small and acerb.

 4. VITUS RIPARIA, Michx. Rarer Grape. This grape is partial to the alluvial soils along the margins of our streams. It grows to a large size. Muscadine of the West, and Fox Grape, 

5. VITIS VULPINA, Linn. according to Elliott, of the Southeastern States. It is most abundant in the southern part of the State. It grows very large and produces abundantly. Its fruit is very much esteemed. The cultivated Scuppernong Grape is a variety from this species. 

6. VITIS BIPINNATA, Michx. This plant was observed in Cape Girardeau and Pemiscot counties. 

7. VITIS INDIV1SA, Willd. This vine abounds in the central and western counties. From this list it will be seen that Missouri possesses all the native grapes of our country save one, the Vitis Caribea? (D. C.) of California. The vines are so abundant and so large as to form an important and conspicuous part in every copse.  This vine often attains to a diameter of 10 inches, ascends the loftiest trees, and spreads its branches over their highest boughs. and thicket throughout the entire State. They are every where present, lending grace and beauty to every landscape, and indicating with prophetic certainty that the day is not far distant when the purple vineyards will cover our hills, and the songs of the vine-dresser will fill the land with joy, the generous juice of the grape will improve our moral, intellectual, and physical powers. Experience of our Vine-Dressers.Several vine-dressers in our State have been engaged in the cultivation of the grape during the last twelve or fourteen years. Their success has been fully equal to their expectations, and they are full of high hopes of the most useful and profitable results, even of entire and permanent success. Their experience in cultivating the vine has led them to the same conclusion that we have deduced from our scientific examinations of the soil, climate, and native vines, viz.: that the vine can be cultivated with entire success in favorable localities in all parts of the State. It should be borne in mind that these results have -been derived mostly from vineyards in the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, which are not, by far, the most favorable localities in the State; for the "mildew" and the "rot," the most formidable obstacles they have had to contend with, may be partially or entirely obviated in localities where the atmosphere and soil are not so densely charged with moisture. " The rot," says one of our most successful vine-dressers, Mr. Haas, " attacks the berries when the soil is in a wet condition in July and August." "It is most severe on the low and wet parts of the vineyard." Mr. Husmann says: "The principal cause, all are agreed, is an excess of moisture about the roots, and damp, moist weather." Now the larger part of our vineyards are located upon a stiff, cold, clayey subsoil, which, of necessity, retains the excess of moisture, and produces the injurious results. This evil may be obviated by thorough draining, or what is better, by selecting some of the millions of acres in the southern part of the State, where the soil is warmer and lighter and richer in the ingredients most favorable to the vine, and where the subsoil is so porous as to permit a free passage to the excess of moisture. The mildew appears in June, and all agree that it is caused by "foggy, damp, and hot weather after rains." Now our I am indebted to Mr. William Haas, of Boonville, Mr. George Husmann, of Hermann, Mr. Frederic Mnclt, of MaIrthas ille, and Mr. Joseph Stuby, of Hamburg, for valuable information respecting the cultivation of grapes in our State. observations prove that hot, damp weather, accompanied by mists, is much more prevalent in the valleys of the Missouri and the Mississippi than on the table-lands to the south. The characters of the two regions under comparison, show most conclusively that the excess of moisture in the valleys must be considerable and permanent. The valleys are covered with numerous and extensive lakes, sloughs, and forests of rank growth and vast extent, besides the broad rivers which flow through them; while the table-lands are almost destitute of lakes and ponds, and but partially covered by a very sparse and much less vigorous growth of timber; and besides, they occupy an elevation several hundred feet above the valleys. No fears, therefore, need be entertained that these obstacles will prevent the entire success of vine culture in Missouri, should our atmosphere even continue as moist as at present. But we may expect much improvement in this respect, as it is fully established by past experience that the settlement of a country, and the opening of a soil to cultivation, lessen the amount of rain and moisture in the atmosphere. Notwithstanding the many difficulties our vine-dressers have had to contend with, and notwithstanding some of their vineyards are not, to say the least, in the most favorable localities in the State, their success has been very flattering. The vineyards of Boonville have yielded, the present season, about six thousand gallons, worth twelve thousand dollars. Five acres gave a clear profit of two thousand dollars, or four hundred dollars per acre. Mr. Haas made one thousand five hundred and fifty gallons from three acres. The vintage of Hermann was about one hundred thousand gallons, from less than two hundred acres. At one dollar per gallon-which is much less than the value-it will give a profit of at least four hundred dollars per acre, or of eighty thousand dollars on the two hundred acres in cultivation. One small vineyard at Hamburgh, Mr. Joseph Stuby's, yielded over one thousand gallons per acre. The entire cost of vineyards, preparing the soil, setting and training the vines until they come into bearing, varies from two hundred to three hundred dollars per acre. Annual cost of cultivation after.... $50 to $60 per acre; Ten per cent. on first cost........ 20 to 30 per acre; Total expense for each year....... 70 to 90 per acre; so that an income of one hundred dollars per annum for each acre is sufficient to pay the interest on the first cost and the expense of cultivation.

Judging from the statistics before me, I would suppose all our vineyards have yielded an average of at least two hundred and fifty gallons per acre since 1849, which, at an average price per gallon of one dollar and sixty cents, would give an annual income of four hundred dollars, and a yearly profit of three hundred dollars per acre. So that the vine-dresser, even in the poorest seasons, can scarcely fail of a handsome profit, while in good years his gains will far surpass those derived from any other department of husbandry. But the profits of our most successful cultivators have been much greater. Mr. Peschel, of Hermann, is said to have made over four hundred gallons per acre for the last ten years, and an annual profit of more than five hundred dollars for each acre. Such are the favorable results legitimately derived from the experience of our vine-dressers in their early efforts in a new country, with a soil and climate unknown to the cultivators of the grape. All must admit that they are most satisfactory. Even if our climate does not become more dry, if no more improvements are made in the modes of culture, and if no more favorable localities are obtained, grape culture must increase very rapidly, and become an important element in our agricultural and commercial interests. Soil.-Nearly all the soils of Missouri possess all the ingredients necessary to the complete development of the vine; but some of them are too heavy, wet, and cold, unless improved by artificial means. This is true to some extent of those on the bluffs of the Mississippi and Missouri, where nearly all the vineyards of our State are located. Still they produce an abundance of large native grapes, on vines of the Fitis labrusca, and other species. The character of this variety of soil is indicated by the analysis made of a specimen taken from the bluff of Boone county. It has already been shown that it covers large areas in the region under consideration. The superior native grapes growing upon this soil, and the success of the vineyards above named, prove its adaptation to the vine. Its greatest defect is a capacity to hold and retain an excess of water, which must be remedied by trenching, and a proper admixture of vegetable matter, sand, pebbles and broken rocks. But the action of the elements upon the rocks of the Magnesian Limestone Series, has prepared a soil, as if by design, to invite the vine-dresser to possess and cultivate it. The following analysis shows the properties of this variety of soil:

Analysis of a Magnesian Limestone Soil from the Southern Bluffs of Callaway County, by Dr. Litton.-Soil No. 14. Water expelled by heating to' 

This soil is all that could be desired for the culture of the grape. It contains an abundance of all the mineral substances which enter into the composition of the vine, as shown above by its analysis. While it is warm, light, and dry, it contains large quantities of magnesia and vegetable matter, or humus, giving it great capacity for absorbing and retaining a sufficient quantity of moisture, even in the droughts of summer. This is a fair representative of the soils on the magnesian limestone ridges and slopes throughout Central and Southern Missouri. These slopes and ridges occupy millions of acres, now deemed worthless, which are, in fact, by far the most valuable lands in this part of the Stitte for the cultivation of the grape. Especially is this true of those located upon the southern highlands, away from the vapors and sudden changes of our large rivers and their broad valleys. The magnesian limestone series, from which this soil is derived, occupies a large part of the poor portions of the country on the Southwestern Branch. The magnesian limestones, sandstones, porous chert, and the thin beds of reddish brown marly clays that usually overlie the limestones, all combine to form a soil light, dry, warm and rich in all the elements needed for the grape, as shown by the foregoing analysis. In many places this soil is underlaid with a sufficient quantity of pebbles and fragments of porous chert to constitute a most thorough system of drainage, while in others the fragments of chert are disseminated through the soil in such quantities as to injure it somewhat for ordinary cultivation, but which gives precisely the preparation so highly recommended by Virgil and late authors, and the best cultivators of the grape. It is true that the native vines do not grow so large and sappy in this, as in the deep, damp soils of the State; but they are, nevertheless, strong and healthy, and produce finer clusters of larger and better grapes. This improvement was particularly observed in the Muscadine, the Northern Fox, and the Summer Grapes.

This variety of soil also extends over other portions of the State. It occupies large portions of nearly all the highlands in Southern Missouri, the counties on both sides of the Osage, and over the southern part of Boone, Callaway, Montgomery, and Warren, on the north side of the Missouri, occupying, in all, an area of some 15,000,000 acres. Of these, at least 5,000,000 acres might be selected in the most desirable localities, much of it on the line of the Southwestern Branch, and devoted to vineyards, without encroaching upon the lands most desirable for other departments of agriculture. And, so far as we can judge from the characteristics of soil and climate, and the indications of the native vines, these 5,000,000 acres in the highlands of Southern Missouri present rare inducements to the vine-dresser-such a combination of favorable circumstances as will not fail to attract the attention of those who would engage in this most pleasant and profitable department of husbandry. And so important will be the results, that every effort should be put forth to hasten the time when these 5,000,000 acres shall be covered with flourishing vineyards; giving profit able employment to 2,000,000 people; yielding more than 1,000,000,000 gallons of wine; and an annual profit, at the lowest estimate, of $500,000,000. And, what is still more important, the pure nourishing juice of the grape would take the place of the vile, maddening compounds used in the names of wine and brandy; drunkenness would give place to sobriety; and our people, nourished by the grape, and its pure wines, would become as robust and hardy as they are now daring and indomitable. Natural Terraces.-The bluffs of the numerous streams in Southern Missouri usually slope back into knobs and ridges, which are frequently surrounded by numerous natural terraces, so regular and uniform that they appear like the work of human hands. These terraces are produced by the decomposition of the strata of magnesian limestones, which form the bluffs. Their height varies from one to six feet, and the width of the top from two to twelve, according to the angle of the slope and the height of the terrace. Their surfaces are nearly level, and are usually covered with a light, warm, and rich soil, containing fragments of chert and the decomposing limestone, all wonderfully prepared by nature for the planting of vineyards. These terraces generally surround high, France has about 5,000.000 acres in vineyards. They yield 925,000 000 gallons of wine, besides the 95,000,000 gallons distilled into brandy, and give profitable employment to 2,000,000 people, mostly women and children. open ridges and knobs, exposed to the free circulation of the dry atmosphere of the region under consideration. We have, as yet, observed but one objection to their use for vineyards. In some places the soil does not appear to be sufficiently deep to secure the vine against the effects of droughts. But, as an offset to the want of depth, it always contains large proportions of carbonate of magnesia and humus, which give it great capacity for absorbing and retaining moisture, as these substances possess this capacity to a greater degree than any of the other ingredients of our soils. And, besides, the thinnest soils on these terraces sustain a vigorous growth of prairie grasses, flowers, shrubs, and vines, which produce the finest quality of grapes in great profusion. Caves.-There are numerous spacious caves in all parts of this interesting country. The temperature of those measured, ranges between 50 and 60~ F. Many of them would make most excellent wine-cellars, as their temperature is sufficiently low and uniform to prevent that acidity to which the wines of all temperate latitudes are predisposed. These facts, respecting the native vines, the climate, the experience of our vine-growers, and the soil, clearly prove the capacity of Missouri to become the great vine-growing region of our continent. They should encourage those noble spirits who have so faithfully devoted their labor and their money to promote this important department of husbandry in our midst; for the time is not far distant when the "poor flint ridges" and terraced slopes of Southern Missouri will be as valuable for vineyards, as some of them are now for their rich mineral deposits; when the vineyards of Pulaski and La Clede will compete in golden profits with the hemp farms of Lafayette and Platte; and the vine-clad hills of the beautiful Meramec and the Gasconade will vie in wealth with the leaden veins of Potosi and Granby. It will thus be seen that even the poorest soils and those in the most broken parts of this country will become very valuable for the culture of the grape. And I might add that their value for vineyards will increase in about the same ratio as their fitness for the other departments of husbandry decreases.