of Rural Art and Taste. 



123 



ling, or Pinedus), the resulting seedling would 

 probably furnish us with wine producing 

 grapes of a superior order. 



The color of the Scuppernong prevents the 

 possibility of producing high-colored wines ; 

 but this could be overcome by the cultivation 

 of the Linta grape, the fruit of which is used 

 to color some of the continental wines. I am 

 prepared to admit that the must of the Scup- 

 pernong, like most of our native grapes, con- 

 tains an excess of acid, which can be disposed 

 of in a simple manner, without the necessity 

 of adding water or making the wine sticky 

 with sugar. The process to effect this object 

 I described in the columns of The Horti- 

 culturist some years since. 



It will be urged as an objection to vine 

 growing in Florida, that there are no experi- 

 enced persons to purchase the fruit from the 

 small growers, as in France. In Australia, 

 superior wines are produced by vineyardists, 

 without the assistance of the large manufac- 

 turer, and I see no reason why American en- 

 terprise cannot accomplish the same end. If 

 the large operator is necessary, he will be 

 found, if a sufficient inducement is offered in 

 any particular locality. We will not pretend 

 that, for many years to come, that the pro- 

 duct of Florida would equal the wines of the 

 Rhine, Rhone, Loire or Garonne, or entirely 

 supersede the produce of Oporto, Xerxes, Si- 

 cily or Madeira, but the State is capable of 

 furnishing an excellent beverage for those 

 who cannot afford to pay for such expensive 

 vintages ; and who will not be dissatisfied to 

 exchange so-called French brandy, rum, or 

 Jersey lightning, for the less injurious or more 

 palatable products of the Scuppernong. 



Some of your readers will ask why it is 

 that the grape has not been more extensively 

 cultivated and tested in Florida. It is a his- 

 torical fact that, in West Florida, the French 

 governnjent ordered a suppression of the vine- 

 yards, lest their success might injure those of 

 France ; and, according to Vignolles, similar 

 restrictions as to the olive, and perhaps the 

 grape, were imposed by the Spaniards over 

 the Florida colonies. Although these decrees 

 are ancient and have perhaps long become 



dead letters, yet they must have prevented 

 the spirit of enterprise that in the first in- 

 stance suggested such establishments, which 

 once quenched, was not easily revived. 



After Florida became a portion of the Uni- 

 ted States, it was settled by persons from the 

 southern States, who were unacquainted with 

 grapes or their culture. They had been ac- 

 customed to the culture of cotton, corn and 

 tobacco, and continued in the old rut after 

 settling in Florida. Since the war, the want 

 of funds has prevented residents from experi- 

 menting in vine culture to any great extent. 



In conclusion, we may remark, that we 

 would not advise anyone to engage in vine- 

 growing east of the eighty-first parallel. It 

 is probable that the grape would prove suc- 

 cessful at Clear Water Harbor, Manatee and 

 Tampa, but of this we have no positive evi- 

 dence. That it will prove a successful and 

 remunerative crop on the high lands of central 

 Florida, we are convinced from actual obser- 

 vation and reliable data. 



Best Sir JPears.— The following is a list 

 recommended by J. J. Thomas : 



For Market. — Bartlett, Beurre Bosc, 

 Duchesse D'Angouleme, Howell, Beurre D'- 

 Anjou, Lawrence. 



For Table.— Qiffurd, Tyson, Seckel, Belle 

 Lucrative, Dana's Hovey, Josephine de Ma- 

 lines. 



Our List.— Of the above list, for market, 

 we would throw out the Howell (too soft for 

 market, splendid as a family sort) and Beurre 

 Bosc (not productive enough for the orchard). 



For the Table. — We would substitute 

 Mount Vernon, in place of Dana's Hovey, and 

 retain all the rest. We now have 2,500 pear 

 trees growing thriftily, and from a miscellane- 

 ous collection of over fifty sorts, we have, by 

 grafting, thinned down to the following : 



Standards for Market. — Bartlett, Beurre 

 D'Anjou, Lawrence. 



Dwarf. — Duchesse D'Angouleme, Beurre 

 D'Anjou, Lawrence, Vicar of Winkfield. 



All of these sorts are capable of a double 

 market, either for sale in the city as fresh 

 fruit, or to the canners for preserving. 



