FARMERS REGISTER— WINE MAKING. 



351 



his trees. He says the seed were brought from 

 Algiers. I recollect seeing some account of^the 

 nut-bearing pine, (perhaps in the "American Far- 

 mer") sent to this country by Commodore Porter 

 fi-om Constantinople, but whe'ther any attempt was 

 made to propagate it, and with what success, I 

 have not learnt. 



In speaking of the skinless oat at the springs, 

 after Mr. Rose left, some gentleman put into my 

 hands "Atkinson's Saturday Evening Post for the 

 country," m which Avas a history of that grain; 

 which stated that it was brought from "Chang- 

 tang," I tliink, an interior province in China, to 

 Amsterdam, and from thence to England. But 

 the oat I have received from Mr. Rose, dopf? not 

 come up to the description of it given in that paper. 



Whilst writing on the subject of oats, I beg 

 leave to inquire, whether there are on James 

 River, either above or below Richmond, a kind ol 

 oat called the winter or spring oat. A gentleman 

 from Baltimore, who has an extensive acquain- 

 tance in Virginia, informed me that there was such 

 an oat grown on Jame.s River or some of its wa- 

 tei-s. If I understood him correctly, I inferred that 

 the oats were sown in the fall of the year, and were 

 fit to cut in the spring, or at least much earlier than 

 the common oat. I have a kind of oat known 

 here, indifferently, by the names of the ruffled and 

 feather oats. I think they are preferable to the 

 common oat, but about ten days later. I divide 

 my crop about equally between them and the 

 common oat, which I think is an advantage. I 

 saw but fexv of them growing in Virginia, and 

 ii-om the limited quantity, I inferred that they were 

 either not generally known, or were considered to 

 be inferior to the common oat. 



The crops of cotton in this section of the coun- 

 try, wear a gloomy aspect, owing to an unpre- 

 cedented drought, which caused the cotton ])lant 

 to shed its Ibrms or squares, blooms and incipient 

 bolls, in a great degree, after the last working; 

 succeeded by series of wet and warm weather, 

 which produced the rot to an alarming extent, and 

 which continues up to this time; and, I think, I 

 am warranted in saying, that there will not be half 

 the quantify made in this quarter, as last year. 

 The same may be said of the com crops, with the 

 exception of the high fertile lands, and the alluvial 

 bottoms of the Roanoke — the latter being subject 

 to freshets, we feel alarm in consequence of the 

 continued rains. 



W. B. I.OCKHART. 



P. S. I have concluded to enclose a few of the 

 skinless oats, for the purpose of comparing with 

 those 3'ou have. 



I find that the Chinese province of Chang-tang, 

 or Chang-tong, is described as being a fertile re- 

 gion, but subject to long droughts. It lies in about 

 the same latitude as part of North Carolina, and 

 the adjoining, and other parts of Virginia; perhaps 

 in the same as the whole of North Carolina and 

 Virginia — the capital, Toi-nan-fbu, being in lati- 

 tude 38° 30', north longitude 117-^ 25', eas!. 



ty of Richmond. We have already noticed the 

 exertions of Mr. John Carter — the various grapes 

 which he has cultivated, and the wines he has 

 made. 



We have also been much gratified lately by a 

 visit to Mr. William Anderson's vineyard. It is 

 enriched by a variety of vines — fijreign and do- 

 mestic. The Catawba, the Isabelld, and the 

 Schuylkill particularly, flourish in great perfection 

 — and the vines are this season loaded with the 

 most delicious fruit. He will probably make three 

 or four pipes of wine. 



We have been happy to visit the vineyard of 

 Dr. Norton, and to taste his wines. Among the 

 various specimens of the vine, to which he has 

 directed his attention, we saw the Catawba, the 

 Isabella, the N. Carolina Scuppernong, but espe- 

 cially "the Norton's Virginia Seedling," which 

 seems to us to possess some very fine qualities. — 

 We understand it has been produced by his im- 

 pregnating the Bland grape flower with the pollen 

 of the genuine Burgundy grape. The new fruit 

 has the advantage of unidng the abundant saccha- 

 rine character of the Burgundy with the never- fail- 

 ing productiveness of the Bland. The vine is a 

 great bearer; and when the fruit is pressed, it pro- 

 duces a rich, luscious wine, which resembles the 

 Burgundy Madeira. The Doctor was also kind 

 enough to show us his wines that had been extract- 

 ed from the Catawba and the Isabella — both of 

 which are very agreeable. But, as the three vari- 

 eties are the pVoduce of the last vintage, theyfof 

 course want the benefit of age to impart to them 

 all their excellence. These wines are the pure 

 juice of the grape, unadulterated with any foreign 

 spirit. The fermentation which they have passed 

 through, has produced alcohol enough to preserve 

 them in their strength and purity. 



The Doctor has also in his vineyard, a fine red- 

 dish grape, a native of Prince Edward, which he 

 has broufiht into notice. It promises to do well. 



The experiment of Dr. Norton, of impregnating 

 one grape with the pollen of another, and of rais- 

 ing a new vine from the seed, and then engrafting 

 the slips on the wild vine, opens a field of discove- 

 ry to the vine-dresser, to which no perceptible 

 bounds can be assigned. It may lead to some of 

 the finest varieues, both for the use of the table, 

 and for the making of wine. 



We confess we were sceptics before, about the 

 art of making good Virginia wine. We are so 

 no longer; and we congratulate our enterprising 

 neighbors on the results which their experiments 

 are calculated to produce. 



CULTURE OF THE VIIVE, AND WIXE-M AKING 

 KEAR UlCHMOND. 



From tlie Richmond Enquirer. 



W^e are happy to see the attention, which has 

 been paid to the culiure of the grape in the vicini- 



INSECTS AND THEIR DESTROYERS. 



Prince Edward, July 9th, 1834. 

 To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Worms, bugs, and other insects, do incalculable 

 injury to the whole circle of vegetation. Scarcely 

 a tree or plant is exempt from their ravages. Like 

 time they hold their destructive course almost un- 

 seen, or but little observed, except in cases of ge- 

 neral prevalence of some particular species, that 

 carry manifest destruction wheresoever they ap- 

 pear. Yet it must be certain, that such infinite 

 numbers as occupy almost every foot of the earth, 

 must consume and injure a very large portion 

 of its vegetable productions. Ev^ery means that 

 can be devised to lessen their numbers, or to pre- 



