VI REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER.

upward of one hundred varieties of native grapes. More than half of these are susceptible of being converted into a wholesome wine, either alone or with the addition of sugar. and amorfg these only some ten or twelve varieties are sufficiently palatable for table use. All, doubtless, would flourish near their native sites, and many of them, probably, would succeed well, and improve in the qualities of their fruit, if transferred to other States. It has been recommended that the best varieties of the Northern grapes, which mature early in August, might be cultivated in the Middle and Southern States, with the view of obtaining them several weeks earlier than the varieties already existing in those regions.

One of the greatest checks to this species of culture in this country has been the time required for the grapes to produce well, often being from three to six years. Farmers and others, who could conveniently engage in it, have been impatient to have yearly returns in their crops, and have been unwilling to wait for the vines to come into bearing. Another obstacle has been the difficulty and expense of procuring cuttings or roots. Were they to propagate vines from seeds of the wild grape, they would never be sure to produce fruit of the same quality, as a new variety will often be the result; and, besides, many of those thus cultivated would prove sterile or male vines. Moreover, a seedling vine, unless grafted, will not bear fruit until it is five, ten, or perhaps fifteen years old, while cuttings will bear in from three to five years. Again, the process of hybridizing the European grape on our native species is a somewhat difficult one, as well as long and tedious. And finally, the greatest discouragement has arisen from the want of a knowledge of the principles of vinification, which has so often resulted in the production of inferior or worthless articles— not wines, but unwholesome factitious mixtures.

The entomologist employed by the Office confined his researches during the past season principally to the insects frequenting the cotton plant, and the diseases affecting it in Mississippi and Tennessee. At present, he is employed in Florida, in the regions of St. John's River, in prosecuting his inquiries and experimenting upon the insects which infest the orange groves and cotton fields. His labor, it is believed, will be fraught with much benefit to planters, and to the country at large.