116 [Sen AT J. 



Her princeiy merchants have, under glass, by liberal and skilfu' 

 means, pioduced delicious grapes. I wish that we had more of this 

 fine taste displayed among ourselves ; much is doing, however. But 

 I had rather behold the hot-house palaces, than those of which we 

 have such numbers for dwellings, in which we have such costly fur- 

 niture. The sick and the convalescent, derive from this artificial cul- 

 ture, at high prices, however, often the only fruit which they can 

 eat. They are enabled to eat the rich black Hamburgh and Chas- 

 sclas, when they cannot touch any thing else. The Isabella grape 

 can undoubtedly be cultivated at Boston in open air, and perhaps 

 some others may be gradually made to acclimate themselves. 



Our country residences on this island — some of which have been 

 much troubled with fever and ague — will, by draining, be rendered de- 

 lightful, and grapes may be cultivated in them all. We shall see 

 before the lapse of many years, hundreds of thousands of pounds 

 of delicious grapes produced in our vicinity. We have a climate in 

 which we can produce as good grapes as any in the world. They 

 are improving in quality every year. They improve as animals 

 do, by cultivation. And we have a great advantage over the grapes 

 of the old world in our native grapes. Their vines have been pruned 

 for two thousand years. They have lost their vigor. Ours are new 

 and vigorous. Our hot days and cool nights are too strong for the 

 European grape. I have tried them in open culture, and they be- 

 come poorer every year. 



Our Catawba grape may fail once in three or four years, but it will 

 eventually be established in our latitude. I intend to visit the old 

 Catawba vine which was set in Brooklyn about forty years ago, from 

 which we are cultivating descendants. The old Isabella stock is 

 also there — brought there fifteen or twenty years before the Cataw- 

 ba. I want to see the old pippin tree of J^ewtown, on Long-Island, 

 father of an invaluable race. 



The grape is of great value to our country. Wine is indispensable 

 on many occasions for the sick — in its purity, to the church — and as 

 St. Paul says, " a little for old age.'''' All fine fruits, as well as 

 grapes, should be most carefully and abundantly produced in our 

 country. Many of us have been discouraged by failures in trying to 

 introduce European grapes. Parmentier, in 1829, thought he could 

 make them flourish here. I tried four acres of them. In 1832, I 

 gave up the Euiopeans, and commenced with the Isabella. I now 

 have seventeen acres of them, and three acres of Catawbas. In 25 

 years my vineyard will attain its best condition, and it will continue 

 good, with no heavy charges for its preservation, for 75 years beyond 

 that. The grape lives well for an hundred years. There are many 

 citizens who know more of the grape than I ilo. Some of them are 

 enthusiastic on that subject. I glory in being enthusiastic upon it. 

 Our people consume too large portions of animal food. It renders 

 our blood too thick. It causes diseases of the heart, liver, and lungs. 

 Pure wine and fruit dilute the blood, and cause it to pass with the 

 necessary ease through the infinitely minute vessels of the body. Not 

 one butcher in twenty dies a natural death. They suffer from violent 



