The Papers of John B. Minor, 1845-1893

Some few vines have been planted, and another year may give us fruit.

The number of plants proper to be set on an acre, will of course depend upon the distance between the vines - Circumstances must control that - If the Vintager has but little land &high price, he will be justified in crowding the vines closer than if the reverse should be the case - Nearly every one will have his own ideas & be governed by different reasons in setting his plants - The thrifty vigorous growers such as the Concords & Ives, require more room than would the Delawares or Rebeccas - The better rule to observe will be to give room, and in for- ming a vineyard have a pass way at convenient distances for carts or waggons to convey off the fruit, as well as to supply the land with manures. I think 7 feet by 7 feet, ample, leaving each alternate tenth row for a pass way - say 10 feet wide - The accompaning table will give you the number of vines planted pr acre, according to the distance there indicated.

The expense pr acre of planting & cultivating will vary according to prices of labour & condition & preparation of the land - If you trench the land as done in Germany, France & by some Vintagers in the U.S. a very large sum may be so expended - and the longevity of the Vine may be then promoted - I do not believe the advange of trenching (unless upon wet soil which should never be selected [selected] for vines) will justify the increased outlay & trouble - We have fully demonstrated that grape roots planted as you woould an ordinary shrub not only fruits well but lives longer than the time biblically allotted to man of three score and ten . You want a deep, loose soil - which preparation can be attained by the use of a heavy plough drawn by three horses, followed by a subsoil plough & [?] drawn by two or three horses - which if well done will give a depth of 16 or 18 inches.

which will be ample - I reason from nature - The wild grapes grown upon our mountains & in our forests, where no ploughing or preparation was made - and do well - why should the grape domesticated & improved, acquire so much better attention?

The ground being properly prepared two good hands will open the holes & set 500 hills pr day & do it well - I had rather more than that done. The expense of cultivating, after planting, the 1st & 2nd year, will be equal or a little more than the same quantity of land in corn - The use of the hoe, in keeping the young plants free from grass will be needed. After the second year, it will be unsafe to use a plough, as it will disturb the young roots - which run in every direction -A small harrow to lighten the surface may be used -

If thrifty & properly managed your vines will bear the third year - The better plan is not to suffer them to do much of that, as they may overtax themselves, and consequently dwarf them for succeeding years - If properly pruned they will continue to improve & increase in qantity & quality for several years - The seasons being favourable, with proper treatment, the yield may be estimated from 500 gallons to 800 galls pr acre - No vinyard, unless extraordinarily managed, will produce grapes exclusively suited for market - especially as the competition in the Market increases, hence, you must prepare for wine as well as the table - selecting the largest and best bunches for the latter, and using the residue for Wine - Unless you have a cellar prepared for the purpose and your grapes shall be thoroughly ripe, too much so for table use, it will be necessary to use a pound of brown sugar to the gallon of must or juice,- Wine Connoiseurs will differ with me in the use of sugar- I am satisfied a little improves the wine & secures its keeping -

We have had no failures in grapes here, since that interest has elicited any attention. Last season was the most unpropitious we have had - The [Catawbas?] rotted some - a fair crop was raised not withstanding, the season.

[column 1] LA VERSAILE, 25 cts. 3 dolls. per hun. 10 dolls. per hundred. CHERRY, BLACK ENGLISH, and BLACK NAPLES, same.

GOOSEBERRIES. AMERICAN and HOUGHTON SEEDLINGS.—Entirely free from mildew; an enormous bearer. This fruit is most excellent, and greatly superior to many kinds. 1 and 2 years old 15 cts. each, 1.50 per dozen, six dollars per hundred, fifty dollars per thousand.

RASPBERRIES. DOOLITTLE. PURPLE CANE, HUDSON RIVER, ALLENS, COL, WILDER, RED ANTWERP, BRINKLES ORANGE, WHITE ENGLISH, BELLE DE FONTENAY, MARVILLE of the four Seasons, OHIO EVERBEARING, 10 cents each, one dollar per dozen, two to six dollars per hundred. CATAWISSA, eight dollars per hundred. DOOLITTLE, improved Black cap, four dollars per hundred, and only eighteen dollars per thousand.

RHUBARB. MYATT'S LINNAEOUS, is so much superior to all other kinds, that we cultivate it exclusively. $1,50 per dozen, $5 per hundred.

STRAWBERRIES. WILSON'S ALBANY, 1 dol. per hun 5,50 per thousand. McABOY'S SUPERIOR, 1.50 per hundred, 7,00 per thousand. RUSSEL'S PROLIFIC, 1.50 per hun 7,00 per thousand. EARLY SCARLET, 1.50 per hun. 7.00 per thousand. WASHINGTON, 1.50 per hundred, 7.00 per thousand.

[column 2] PINES, 1.50 per hundred, 7.00 per thousand. IUCUNDA or 700, 2.50 per hundred.

Flowers and Bulbs. Roses—Of more than a hundred varieties, the best in the country, From 20 cents to 75 cents each, 1 dollar to 3 dollars and fifty cents, per dozen, 16 dollars per hundred, 100 dollars per thousand.

PAOENIES.—A very fine assortment, 25 to 75 cents each, 2 to 6 dollars per dozen, 10 to 30 dollars per hundred.

Peach, Pear, Cherry and Plum Trees. I have a small number of fine selected Plumb, Cherry, Peach and Pear Trees, which I will sell cheap, extra selected, 1 dollar each.

Hedge Plants. OSAGE ORANGE.—One year old, No. 1, 3 dollars per thousand. Osage Orange Seed 1 dollar and 50 cents per pound.

WINES. WINE—The purest and best kinds from one to four years old for sale by the Gallon, Dozen or Bottle. Also sparkling wines of my own production. Samples of Deleware, Concord, Clinton, Norton's Virginia, Herbemont and Catawba, 15 dollars per dozen bottles, packed well.

When the parties are not known to us, orders must be accompanied by the Cash, or a suitable reference. We keep the right of substituting varieties if we have not exactly the ordered sorts, without otherwise ordered. [end of column 2]

Special Notice! In order that my friends going into the Wine Business may know the quality of wines of different leading varieties, and to have a taste of the same, I will sell 12 bottles of the different sorts well packed in a case at $15. Half a dozen bottles $8. ADDRESS,

Dr. H. SCHRODER, Bloomington, Illinois.

Bloomington, Illinois, January 24 1868. Mr. John B. Minor

My Dear Sir: [Concurring?] [?] & after a little sickness come to your Kind letter to answer the Same. Pardon me for not having done the Same before. I have a very extensive Business all over the U.S. and my Correspondance is immense. My Stock of Vines & Cuttings is the largest ever offerd by one man in the U.S. Now than to your letter I have answered all your Questions as good I [out?] and if not satisfactory send me more to answer. I assure you that it shall make me only Pleasure to do so. And if you have any orders for me send them along and you shall find out that I always try to please my Customers. over

{right} claim to his info's Chattels in possession, and his title by the courtesy. The English author' which seem adverse to this last propositions are not applicable. (2 Bl. Cem. 130; 1 Th-Co-Lit Bog_, because they refer exclusively to cases where the marre is annulled ab initio, for a cause [sub?] when it was contracted, there being at Com. Law no [?] cause whatsoever for [who?] a marre might be dissolved. [1 Bl?]. [C?]. 441: [b?]. [Alr?]. Marrege (p). 3/

But I do not deem it necessary to elaborate this point, deeming it to be practically certain that L's estate is to deemed separate one.

4

lands to whom she will. If she should leave no will, the lands would pass to her next heir. {But} And if L obtains a divorce dissolving the marriage of course H's marital pretensions would not be advanced thereby. In short in no event (upon the supposition stated), can H claim any interest in or benefit from the trust_estate, except in so far as he may enjoy it by L's acquiescence.

But the lawsof Alabama like them of Virginia, probably submit in casesof divorce the [dispertion?] of the property of the parties to the discreton of the Court; which however it is presumed, wd never in a Case like this, be exercised in favor of the husband, unless possibly where the [?] was helpless & needy, & the wife's estate was {?] more than enough for the support of herself & child.

3. If L obtains a divorce, is H entitled to be re-imbursed out of the trust_estate, for his expenditures in the way of 'improvements' thereon.

I assume that the 'improvements' contemplated are of a permanent character, and even upon that supposition I am of opinion that H is entitled to no allowance therefor.

When one person makes improvements upon another lands, he has no right to expect to be indemnified therefor, [?] under one or other of the following circumstances:

1st where a [passed?] has been {perpretated?} practised upon him by the [owner?] of the property;- as if {the true owner} he stands by and suffers the improvements to be made, without giving notice of his title. [illegible] 1237 Green v Biddle, 8 Wheat. 1.77.78 [Cawdor?] & [Lewis? 1 [illegible] & Coll. 427. Pilling v Armitage, 12 Ver.84,85: Wells v [Barrister?] 4 Mas. 574.

2d Where the true owner seeks the aid of a Court of Equity to euforce his title. In such a case, upon the principle that he who asks equity, must do equity, the applicant must submit to pay for the melioration & improvements in good faith made by the occupant, so far as the same are beneficial to the real owner. This would happen where an equitable claimant files his bill to assert his right; and also where one of several joint owners having been in exclusive possession, a bill is filed by his [co-tenant?], for a partition, & an account of {p.a.?} rentss & profits. He cannot in the one case, recover the land by virtue of his equitable title, nor in the other, have the rents & profits decreed him, without paying for the beneficial improvements made by the occupant. 2 [illegible] S. 1237, 79a, 799b, Swan v Swan, [illegible], [578?], Green v Biddle, 8 Wheat.[illegible] Putnam

6 Control his judgement; "but he certainly cd not allow the child to be [?] friend to the views of the father'.

In [?] v Cleaver, of 2 Bro. C.C., 501, 510, the father was not permitted to interfere with the education of his son, to whom a maintenance & a con- siderable portion had had been bequeathed, on condition that the trustees appointed by the testator shd have the same, guardianship, tuition & manage mnt of him, during his minority.

In Ex-parte Warner, 4 Pro, C.C, 101, a father was restrained from exercising his paternal authority on his children, who were educated at the expense of their relations, & mother not of his own estate, the father being insolvent, and cruel in the treatment of the mother who was living apart.

In Lyons v [Bleakin?] Jac. 255, Ld Eldon (C) held that a father shd be restrained from interfering with the custody of his children to where their gr. mother had left a maintenance in discretion of their aunt, & a considerable estate, the father having a very small compentency (£400 a year), & having for many years left his children to their Aunt's control.

In Colston v Morris, Jacob 257, n(a), a father was restrained from interfering with his child's management & control, in consequence of a [portion?] of £ [pounds] 10,000 being left her, on condition that father shd leave her to the control of the trustees.

In Jackson v. Hankey, Jac. 264, n(a), it was held that where the father & mother find separate, the income of the father was small, the father's control might be divided, in favor of the mother if she could and would make permanent & irrevocable permission for the infant childcare.

In Shelley v Westhrope, Jac, 206, note, it was held that a father's authority on his children might he controlled on the ground of his profession & acting on irreligious & immoral principles. He had deserted his wife, & cohabit with another woman [??] himself an atheist, & published blasphemous work, denying the truth of the Bible & the existence of a God.

In Kiffin v Kiffin, cited in Duke of Beaufort V Berty, 1 P Wms

705, Ld Ch. Macclesfield said the ct wd remove a child from a fathers cuutody, where the child had an estate, & the father who was insolvent, & of an its character would take the profits.

However, is in no doubt competent to the Chancellor by the law which give him jurisdiction on the subject of divorce, to make any order which he may deem proper touching the custody of the Child, whilst it is probable he would feel bound to prove himself in the exercise of his discretion by the principles also stated.

As to the remaining part of the enquiry, whether the father can properly demand, supposing the custody of the child to be awarded to him, that an allowance shall he made out of the trust - estate, for the child's support; - the doctrine seems to be that where a fund is to be enjoyed by several persons jointly, as a husband & family, or wife & family, that none has a right to any separate share, can the creditors of any one subject any portion thereof. In persuance of this doctrine, I apprehend the portion of the child is not separable from the bulk of the trust-fund with out [?] consent. The boy is entitled to a maintenance in his mother's family, but not elsewhere. Scott [?] a Gibbon [?], 5 [?] 90; Roanes v Archer, 4 Liegh 550, 568: Perkins v. Dickinson [?] 3 Grant. 337: Nickell &al v Handley &als, 10 Grat. 336, 340 &c: Crawford's Ex'or v Patterson, 11 Grat, 370: Johnston v Lanes Trustees, 11 Grat, 552, 570: Armstrong's Advr &als v Pitts &als 13 Grat. 241.

5. Supposing an allowance proper to be made to the child, how & to what extent ought it to be made.

The very fact of the difficulty of assigning a share to the child upon any reliable principal is an argument against attempting it, at all. The leading intent is to secure a support to their family. This necessarily requires unequal expenditures for the different members. He will obviously contemplate that the property shall be kept together during [his?] life-time, & its products are charged with the unequal & varying amts

necessary to support the beneficiaries. The products of {the whole} every part are charged with the whole burden, the amt of wh can only be known from time, whilst the trust is in the process of execution. But if, in behalf of one beneficiary, his share may be withdrawn, it must be held that in behalf of another the same thing may be done, and thus a share designed to rest upon the whole property may be devolved upon a part of it. By keeping the whole together, the Whole family may be supported, when it divided the share of each would be inadequate to his or her {support} maintenance. If the testator had intended to give equal benefits to his daughter, & to each child that L might have, nothing was easier than to say so; yet he has not only not said so, but in the contrary has confined benefits which in any event must be unequal [& varying] from time to time; and which in certain contingencies may become greatly unequal. Nickell etal v Handley etal 10 Grab. 341.

Upon the [?] stated however, I presume that the Court would first of all direct a maintenance for L (as the first object of the Testator's [bounty?] to be proved for according to the terms of the {a similar provision} if sufficient income was left, or as far as the [?] wd go, that a simialr provision of food clothing & all the comforts of life, suitable to his condition and circumstance to be made for the boy, by the trustees. It would not be proper to turn on the property or part of it, to H {lest that} nor even to pay him the portion of the income for the purpose above, but the trustees should themselves provide the articles. Nor can anything be allowed, without [L's] consent, for education , or for anything but food, clothing, & corresponding comforts if life etc.

In respect to the supplemental questions above referred to:- - (1) whether the case is altered {by} or H's rights materially or [afr]

Chas. H. Harman, President W. W. Flannagan, Cashier. PEOPLE'S BANK

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA., Aug. 20. 1877

Dear Sir, By comparing, act approved April 9th 1874, - page 182. acts of assembly 1874.-, with section 63. chapter 59. code 1873, you will find the latter is amended so as to omit the following words - "and for all debts which shall be due + owing by the Co, the persons comprising the Co, at the time of its dissolution, shall be individually responsbile to the extent of their respective shares of stock in said Co. + no [faultes?] -"

Yours very respectfully Prof. Jo B. Minor University. P.S. I beg you will excuse me for missing Saturdays Lecture. I was called away Friday, a midday train + did not return until this morning at 2.a.m.

Best Mode of Religious instruction

"God, the only wise God, who having made us, know what is in man, & what is necessary to him. has given us the largest proportion of the Old & New Testaments in the form of history & [biography?]. Is it not, therefore, strange that public instruction should lose sight of God's method, & be always getting into the commonness of declaration, or the dryness of speculation dis= cussion? "A story" says [Cesil?]," will hold a child by the ear for an hour together", and "men are but children of larger growth"_" Dr [W'?] Jay's autobiography- Vol. 1. p 164.

Death of [Mr?] [J. Foster's?] son John- his only son.

He was about 16, and until the last stage of the disease (consumption), of which he died, had made no profession of religion, nor was known to have thought made about it, though remarkable for the [?] of his conduct.

His father, some weeks before his death, informed him in express terms that his life was drawing infallibly to a close "I never shall forget" says he "the delight not unmingled with a degree of surprise, which was caused by his reply." "With the most entire calmness, & easy simplicity of manner, be said he had her for a good while pat convinced in his own mind that he could not recover; and that his thoughts had been deeply exercised with his solemn prospects, & that he had an humble hope in the divine mercy. He talked with perfect freedom; his long & invincible [?] second to have left him all at once, without an effort; and it appeared as if a new, or hitherto latent character was suddenly developed before me." [?]'s life & [?]

"His three or four immediate relations, the physician, & the old affectionate servants, was assembled in the room, & he spoke continuously for considerable time, with apparently little dificulty of utterance, & with the most perfect composure & command of mind & language; addressing, or admiting to each of us, expressing a grateful sense of the kindess he had experienced; his request to be forgiven anything in which he had ever been blameable towards any of us; his wish that each one might receive one more religious admonition from his death; his trust that we shall all meet again in a happier world; and his hope in the divine mercy through Jesus