8 



said to have already eclipsed the reputation of the 

 St. Michael's and the St. Germain's. 



Our barren soil and wintry climate do not admit 

 of a very luxuriant vegetation, and we can never 

 hope to naturalize among us the magnificent products 

 of the tropical climates, which either perish at once 

 or dwindle into comparatively dwarfish shapes. We 

 possess, however, most of the flowers and fruits 

 which thrive in the corresponding temperate regions 

 of the old world. The Queen of Flowers presides in 

 our gardens, as in those of Greece and Persia ; and 

 the King of Fruits, as the vine has sometimes been 

 emphatically called, covers our rocks with a royal 

 mantle of spontaneous verdure. In improving these 

 natural gifts to the utmost, we have ample scope for 

 the exercise of skill and taste. The culture of the 

 Vine may, perhaps, be mentioned as one of the 

 branches of your art, which deserves more attention 

 than it has yet received. The best European wines, 

 such as Champagne, Burgundy, and the various sorts 

 of Rhenish and Moselle, which have recently become 

 such general favorites among us, are all produced in 

 latitudes considerably higher than ours. Where the 

 Vine grows spontaneously with great luxuriance, 

 there is reason to suppose, that, with proper care, its 

 fruit may be brought to any degree of perfection. 

 When the northern navigators from Iceland visited 

 the coasts of this country, seven or eight hundred 

 years ago, and made a settlement on a spot, probably 

 not very distant from the territory we occupy, they 

 were so much struck with the luxuriant growth of 



