39S 



AMERICAN VINEYARDS. 



eign nations less favorably situated than 

 ourselves. The God of nature placed no 

 edible species of the Grape in Europe, and 

 the varieties of the Persian species, ( Vitis 

 vi?iifera) when first introduced to France, 

 could scarcely sustain the winters of her 

 Mediterranean shores. Gradually, however, 

 the Vine has become acclimated through- 

 out that country, and we now see flourish- 

 ing vineyards every where on the shores of 

 the Rhine, and even extending much far- 

 ther to the north. All the numerous varie- 

 ties of the Grape, which comprise the diver- 

 sified vineyards of Europe and Asia, are the 

 seminal productions of a single original 

 species, which was the only one nature be- 

 stowed on the Eastern hemisphere. 



Turning to our country, we find that our 

 bounteous Benefactor planted on our soil 

 six edible species of the grape, with hundreds 

 of native varieties, scattered through our 

 forests from Maine to Texas. Many of these 

 varieties are highly estimable as table fruit, 

 and all are susceptible of making wine, and 

 with the exception of some few varieties of 

 the Fox Grape, all are well adapted for that 

 purpose, and the different varieties of the 

 Fitis (xstivalis, and of the Scuppernong ( Vitis 

 vulpina) are pre-eminently so. It is also a 

 remarkable fact that 2000 gallons of wine 

 per acre have been produced in various sec- 

 tions of our country, when one-third of that 

 quantity would be deemed an enormous 

 yield in Europe. The cause is obvious, 

 and is plainly attributable to the intensity 

 of the summer's heat throughout our land. 

 In France, and the more northern parts of 

 Europe, the Grape vine is cultivated as a 

 small shrub, this peculiar mode of culture 

 being rendered necessary to counteract the 

 inappropriateness of climate to an exotic 

 brought from a much warmer climate ; and 

 the necessary adoption of this course renders 



the crop diminutive, when contrasted with 

 the product, which a more congenial climate 

 would afford. But an active movement has 

 recently taken place, both in France and 

 Germany, to counteract this evil, by the in- 

 troduction of the hardy varieties of the 

 Grape from America, and by producing 

 seminal hybrids of a similar robust char- 

 acter. We already see the Isabella, Alex- 

 ander, and Catawba Grapes, announced in 

 their publications, as estimable varieties, 

 and as imparting to their wines *' un gout 

 particulier ;" and we find enumerated in 

 their nursery catalogues, fourteen varieties 

 of American Grapes. 



Three years ago, the Margrave of Baden 

 formed a vineyard composed of above twen- 

 ty varieties of American Grapes, which he 

 obtained from our nurseries, and recently, 

 Mr. Vibert, an eminent writer on the Vine 

 Culture, has translated and re-published at 

 Paris, the " Treatise on the Vine," written 

 by myself in 1830. The vigor of this nevw 

 race of the Vine, is commented upon with 

 astonishment by their writers, and they no 

 longer deem it a fable, that some American 

 vines spread over a quarter of an acre in 

 Carolina, and that they may be extended 

 equally in other localities. 



Here, partaking, as it were, of the general 

 character of our country, the Vine extends 

 its tendrils far and wide, impatient of re- 

 straint ; whilst nurtured and warmed by the 

 richness of our soil and the glowing rays of 

 a bright and unimpeded sunshine, it presents 

 to the mind in its wide expansion and ample 

 development, another emblem of the ge- 

 nius of our country. It has been remarked 

 by highly intelligent observers, that the 

 growth of trees in North America when 

 contrasted with Europe is as 5 to 3 ; but this 

 is intended to apply to the natural produc- 

 tions of both continents, and it may be ap- 



