480 



FARMERS' REGISTER— NEW VARIETIES OF GRAIN. 



must be had; but having the proper kind of vines 

 planted in a suitable soil, the ditficultieH! all vanish, 

 or none remain but such as any man with a little 

 practice and a common understanding, can usually 

 overcome. 



The instabiUty of our climate is undoubtedly a 

 great obstacle to our cultivating the vine in this 

 country, in any situation indiscriminately. The 

 last season is a very striking example of this. We 

 had here, frost as late as the 17lli of May, — much 

 later than I had ever known it. The weather con- 

 tinued cold sometime longer; antl when the tem- 

 perature changed, it rose at once, or rather in the 

 course of a ihw days, to almost the highest degree 

 to which it usually rises in the hotter parts of our 

 summer. Although that very late frost was not, 

 in many places, sulRciently severe to kill the young 

 shoots of the vine, yet it must have checked vege- 

 tation very greatly: and it seemed to me to ha-i'e 

 produced a sort of paralysis, if plants are ever sub- 

 ject to such a disease. The quantity of fruit 

 thrown out by the vines was very great, and there 

 never was a prospect of a greater crop. It seems 

 however, that the vigor of the vines was insuffi- 

 cient to nourish the ii-uit; and this high degree of 

 temperature producing a great exhaustion of mois- 

 ture from them, greater than their capability to 

 Bustain the due ecpiilibrium, the grapes withered 

 and perished in a shorter time, and to an extent 

 never known to me before. We have usually, in 

 the first great heat in June, a period of rot or decay 

 like this; but never so destructive, and always leav- 

 ing a qua,ntny sufficient to have such a second pe- 

 riod of rot, and still leave enough for a tolerably 

 good crop. I have several times, I may say, or- 

 dinarily, after two such periods, obtained from my 

 vines in my garden, at the rate of from one thous- 

 and to one thousand five hundred gallons of wine 

 per acre, on about the sixth part of an acre. The 

 vines at my farm being much more exposed and 

 in still more sandy soil, have never done as 

 well as this; but it is an undoubted fact that the 

 wine produced from the more sandy and poorer 

 Boil of my flirm is of a superior qualitj^ to that made 

 from my garden. 



It is worthy of notice, that wherever vines are 

 protected by houses, &c., they are proportionably 

 free from the effects of these periods of rot or de- 

 cay. Situations, therefore, sheltered by mountains, 

 hills, &c., are likely to prove the most advanta- 

 geous lor the vine, particular!}^ where the soil con- 

 tains calcareous matter, oris otherwise suited. 



How far these views of mine may be correct, 

 it is very difficult to say; for, I iiave fiad generally, 

 very strong reasons for attributing the rot to the 

 great rains which we usually have in the latter 

 part of June, after a long and sevei-e drought. 

 The operations of nature require a very close and 

 accurate observer, who has time, and knowledge 

 to bring to his assistance, or else the results of his 

 observations will scarcely be anything but a chap- 

 ter of contradictions. 



You ask mo, sir, what is the origin of that vine 

 which is called "Hcrbemont's Madeira." Ij; is a 

 vine which I found cultivated by the name of "Ma- 

 deira" in this place when 1 first came to it. I had 

 for a longtime, reasons to believe it a native vhie; 

 but a gentleman of Georgia, to whom the culture 

 of the vine is very greatly indebted, (Mr. Thomas 

 McCall,) assures' me that he knew it (o have been 

 imported from France. It is so viu-o/ous in its 



growth, so well inured to the climate; besides 

 which, I had received it several times tr-oni differ- 

 ent quarters as a native, that I was warranted in 

 my supposition; but I iiavc no doubt now of its 

 being an imported one. 



]V. ilERBEMONT. 



ON OBTAINING NEW AND laiPROVED VARIK- 

 TIES OF GRAIN BY CROSSING. 



To the EJitor of Uu; Fanners' Register. 



In sending my monied contribution to the Far- 

 mers' Register, which I am sure you will consider 

 the best evidence that I could offer of its merits, 

 I beg leave, very briefly, to suggest a few thoughts 

 on the subject of seed corn. I believe, then, that 

 there is but one genus of wheat, and one of maize, 

 or Indian corn — and that all the varieties of either, 

 known to me, are the results of climate, cuUure, 

 seasons, soil, &c. &c. — and I believe, that by the 

 agency of man, these results may be still further 

 diversified, and made subservient to his good. By 

 the agenc}' of man, in the simple act of' selecting 

 from existing varieties of Avheat, the agricultural 

 community have been furnished with that called 

 the Lawler, generally admitted to be less liable to 

 injury by the Hessian Ry, than any other known 

 varietv' — and from the fact, as I believe, that its 

 lower leaves, commonl}' called the boot^ do not 

 adhere closely to the stalk; but like the same leaves 

 on rye, fade as the stalk begins to form, lea\'ing 

 any deposite of eggs which would have been sus- 

 tained to the injury of the stalk, by a gentle pres- 

 sure of the boot, to perish lor want of that pres- 

 sure. But whilst the Lawler wheat has the ad- 

 mitted quality of being less liable to injurj'bythe 

 fly than any other known variety, it is cultivated 

 reluctantly, from a belief that it is less produc- 

 tive in grain, than some other varieties. Now 

 reasoning from analogy, and not doubting the 

 llict, that by means of judicious crosses alone, the 

 English breeders of Ctattle have been able to cre- 

 ate new species of that stock, combining the best 

 ciualities of several varieties — why not expect like 

 results from like means, if made to operate on 

 wheat or Indian corn? For instance, we desire a 

 kind of wheat that shall unite the qualities, say of 

 the blue stem and Lawler — is it not very reasonable 

 to suppose, that from the seed of these varieties 

 promiscuously grown in the same field, a stalk 

 would be found, here and there, exhibiting the 

 loose boot of the Lawler, and the many grained 

 head of the blue stem? If yea, my theory for 

 creating a vew variety of wheat is established — 

 and the world is welcome to it, without a charge 

 of patent fees. But that which, in my own opin- 

 ion, is only probable as to wheat, I have no doubt 

 is true in relation to Indian corn, for every hody 

 knows (or may know by a single experiment) that 

 any two or more varieties of Indian corn, when 

 promiscuously grown in the same field, mix freely 

 and extensively, combining in the product the 

 qualities of the parent seed, more or less equally 

 as it may happen: thus affording the planter of 

 this invaluable grain, by the easiest means ima- 

 ginable, an opportunity of fashioning his corn to 

 his own fancy. And yet hov/ lew for that con- 

 sideration, or the still greater of adding to the 

 contents of their crib or their purse, have ever 

 nmde an efibrt to improve their com? As excep- 

 tions to a n^g'iirence so general, I consider it my 



