THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



pretty little city of Vevay, Indiana. This spot is 

 about 45 miles below Cincinnati. The colonists still 

 held the vineyard in Kentucky, and cultivated it hope- 

 fully until 1804, and some of the party did not leave 

 it even then. But all eyes were turned to the north. 



The settlers not only 

 thought that the 

 new location was the 

 better one for the 

 grape, but tradition 

 says that they chafed 

 under the presence 

 of slavery, and de- 

 sired to escape it. 



John James Du- 

 four petitioned Con- 

 gress to pass an act 

 authorizing him and 

 his associates to 

 enter upon lands, 

 with an extended 

 credit, for the pur- 

 pose of introducing 

 the culture of the 

 vine into the United 

 States. ^ Congress 

 responded, and on 

 May 1st, 1802, 

 authorized them to select four sections of land on a 

 credit of twelve years. The settlers selected 2,500 

 acres, and called the place New Switzerland. The 

 country was a dense wilderness. There were very 

 few settlers in the region. The first settler within 



tig. 5. Old pear tree on site of First Vineyart 

 plantation. 1895. 



