108 CULTIVATION OF THE 



of its flavour the exquisite aroma of this freak 

 of nature. It appears as though she gives us oc- 

 casionally such an evidence of her exhaustless 

 resources to cheer the pride of the horticultural- 

 ist, and cast into the shade the most laboured 

 efforts of his art. In Europe, where for centu- 

 ries the vine has constituted a prominent feature 

 of agriculture, the same necessity for experiment 

 does not exist. The influence of each climate, 

 the effects of different exposures, and the vintage, 

 are in a measure anticipated, and general results 

 foreseen. Occasionally, however, some amateur, 

 some enthusiast in the cultivation of the vine, 

 produces a new variety, which, if esteemed, is 

 eagerly sought by the neighbouring vine dresser. 

 The mass, however, of cultivators, who, from a 

 want of pecuniary resource, to indulge in untried 

 experiment, or an absence of that public spirit 

 which promotes the sacrifice of present interest 

 to their own, or the public good, prefer to tread 

 the beaten path, and manage their vines as their 

 fathers have done before them. 



But in every land are aspiring minds, ambi- 

 tious of fame or of wealth, who leave the travel- 

 led highway, and seek the gratification of their 

 restless desires in the pursuit of their favourite 

 theories. Our own country furnishes a striking 

 illustration of this fact. While we were pursu- 

 ing the systems familiar among us, navigating 

 the waters by the aid of the capricious elements, 

 one active spirit toiled among theories, rejecting 

 this as a better suggestion to a comprehensive 

 mind, labouring amidst models and machines, 

 successively cast aside to give place to the amend- 



