164 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



APPENDIX 



TO DR. IIOSACk's address TO THE HOnTICULTURiL 

 SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



Letter from Samuel L. Mitchet.l to David Hosack, 

 M. D. oil the improvement of Orchards, Apples, and 

 Cider. 



Xew York, Sept. 3, 1 824. 

 My Dfar Sir— Since tlie ;i;i|)lc,as iin nrticle for 

 furnishin.^ a vinous liquor, Ik\3 been referred to 

 me for consideration, I give yon willi pleasure 

 my opinion as lecturer on liolany and vegelaLle 

 physiology to the Horticultural Society. The 

 tree affording this fruit, and the agreealde drink 

 the latter yields by fermentation, have long ex- 

 ercised the industry and skill of man. ."Vnd in the 

 convenient soils of the middle latitudes, many 

 proprietors have considered their culture as 

 matter of high moment. 



Nor is this an object of surprise. The apple 

 tree, in my judgment, produces some of the best 

 fruit in the world. i\Iany varieties gratify the 

 sight by their diversity of figure, size, and Col- 

 our ; others satisfy the smell, by their fragrance, 

 of a delicious quality ; while yet others again 

 recreate the palate with their exqtiisite tlavor. 

 The expressed juice is well known in one of its 

 fermenting stages as cider, and in another as 

 'jinegar. 



If there is any room for wonder in the case, 

 it is that more stress has not been laid upon the 

 cnlture of the apple, especially in our part of 

 .North America. It seems to me, that the re- 

 gion between James River and the Kaalskill 

 Blountains, including New Jersey and all the 

 southern district of New York, is peculiarly 

 favourable to orchards of this kind. The trees 

 thrive well ; are long-lived ; bear the heat, 

 cold, and vicissitudes of the weather; run into 

 endless varieties, which varieties are perpetu- 

 ally on the increase ; and they bear grafting 

 and inoculation to admiration. 



And still, ivith so many good qualifies, the 

 apple has not risen so high in public estimation 

 as it deserves. There are two obvious reasons 

 for the neglect it has experienced. 



One cause, at least among those who speak 

 the English language, is connected with the j 

 name it bears. The word cider does not convey 

 to the mind, the idea of a -wine or vinous liquor. 

 However excellent it may be, it is consumed 

 merely as cider ; and is not exalted to the rank 

 and dignity of wine. The German tongue is 

 more happy in this respect ; for it denominates 

 cider by the name of .ipfel ti'cin, or apple wine. 

 And if we could establish from "• mains" — the 

 Latin name for the apple tree — or "malum," 

 an apple, such a title as malic wine, instead of 

 cider, I am conlident its character and credit 

 would be increased. 



The other cause is the preference given to 

 the grape and its produce. The vine, which 

 jjrnduces this fruit, has, like the apple, branch- 

 ed into numberless varieties, and proved itself 

 capable of cultivation aver most countries of 

 Southern, and some of Middle Europe. The 

 vine has steadily (here kejil pace with improve- 

 ment and civilization. The more common forms 

 of the fermented drink procured from its fruit 

 have been deemed necessary to life ; while the 

 more exquisite modifications are classed among 

 the most precious luxuries. It has also gained, 

 and deservedly, the consideration due to a val- 

 nable and important medicine. In addition to 



the intrinsic worth of this product, which may 

 be called "grape wine," — or — " wine of the 

 gra|)e," — our manners, habits, and customs so 

 much resemble those of the people from whom 

 we have descended, that we can hardly be 

 friendly or sociable without it. 



Attempts were, soon after the settlement of 

 certain colonies, made to render this country 

 independent of all others, by rearing and dres- 

 sing the vine. Yet the project, though urged 

 by its advocates early in the seventeenth centu- 

 ry, at least two hundred years ago, has hitherto 

 been carried but partially into execution. This 

 has probably arisen fiom the great ease with 

 which wine has been imported from foreign 

 ports and places; and from the rcadmess with 

 which our bread-stuff*, fisii, and other kinds of 

 food, are exchanged lor this sort of drink. 



I am satisfied, from long and extensive ob- 

 servation, that our country, south of the latitude 

 of 41°, or perhaps a little more, will sustain 

 the grape-vine. The fruit produced in the 

 county uf Now York is abundant and delicious. 

 The liquor prepared by Mr LegauiC, from his 

 vineyard near Philadelphia, proves the vine to 

 afford good fruit. The hke favourable report 

 has been made of the Swiss settlement nt Vevay, 

 under John James Dufpur and his associates. — 

 .\nd more recently, Thomas Worlhingfon, Esq. 

 has produced for our tasting an elesfant wine, 

 partaking of the qualities uniting claret to bur- 

 gundy, from his own plantation in Ohio. The 

 publication promised by William Lee, Esq. a 

 gentleman well acquainted with the cultivation 

 of the vine, and especiall}' in the tracts watered 

 by the liver Garonne in France, may be expect- 

 ed to contain the reost correct and recent in- 

 formation on the subject. 



But it is not to exotic vines only that we may 

 look. Our indigenous species and varieties 

 jiromise something valuable by culture. The 

 sruppervong of North Carolina, from the place 

 where the river Roanoke em])ties into the Sotmd, 

 is already known and approved. The luxuriance 

 of the plants in Alabama may be understood bj 

 Mr N. BicknelTs letter, of a late dale, from 

 Clarkesville. "The grape vines grow to an 

 enormous size, and rise to the tops of the tallest j season, 

 pines. I have seen them as large as my thigh, i 4. The separation of the select apples from 



all unripe ones, and from all acerb varieties. 

 5. The removal of ail dirt and heterogeDOus 



matters. 



greatest amount of enjoyment to those who do 

 the work. The beast and his master are mt)ie 

 plenlifully fed. The abundance which passes 

 from the field into the barn or granary, shows 

 itself in the number and fatness of the animals, 

 in the excellent condition of buildings & fences, 

 in the comforts and even elegancies of the man- 

 sion, and in the income and credit of the own- 

 er. This association of a grazing and l>read- 

 stutV culture with the maximum of enjoyment 

 for a free and republican people, is almost in- 

 delible in my mind. Every additional acre thus 

 improved is an additional evidence of prosperi- 

 ty, in my sense of the word ; and every acre 

 taken rrom this culture, and turned to some- 

 thing else, even to the culture of the vine, 

 mav be considered as withdrawn from the more 

 interesting business of yielding food and its ac- 

 companiments. 



The planting of the apple-tree is not liable 

 to this remark. It is consistent with the full 

 exercise of the plough and the hoe, the scythe 

 and the flail, the mill and the tannery. The 

 manifold uses of this fruit are universally 

 kninvn. How, nevertheless, can I forbear to 

 mention the Swaar apple, of Poughkeepsie, (lie 

 S|)ilZL'nbergh, of Kingston, and the Pippins, of 

 Neivtown? New Jersey has become famous 

 for the cider of A'crcarh. \'irginia is proud of 

 her Hushes'' crab. New York dwells with sat- 

 isf.iction upon the praises of Paincs'' red streak : 

 and our fclloiv citizen, William Cumberland, 

 has been specially occupied for a considerable 

 time in practical trials to bring cider to that de- 

 gree of purity ;'nd excellence, entitling it to 

 the appellation of apple tt'i'iie. 



1 really wish, that farmers would (urn their 

 tlinughls more seriously to the apple, and its 

 vinous products. 



The points more immediately worthy of ob- 

 iservalion, are, among others, the following: 



1. The selection of the best fruit for making 

 the particular ciders. 



2. The rearing of a suflicient number of 

 trees, to proimce a good vintage. 



3. The securing thereby the ripening of the 

 apples, at the same tinu, and at the proper 



ten ("ect from (he ground. In the account I read 

 a few days since of the progress of the vine- 

 cultivation in Pennsylvania, it is staled that cut- 

 tings are planted, which bear a few grapes the 

 third year. I was conversing with a gentleman 

 here on the subject, who informed ine, that 

 learning a graft would t.-»ke on the vine, hedu; 



G. Attention to the clean and inodorous condi- 

 tion of the casks and vessels. 



7. Proper attention to (he process of fermen- 

 tation, that it be checked by sulfihureous fumes, 



uj) some vines in the woods, set them out, and ■ or by cool vaults before it goes too far. 

 grafted them ; and that one of them produced j 8. The construction of cellars or recesses 

 two bunches (he first year, and bore abundantly I along side hills or slopes, for- keeping and ri- 

 the second. There is a native kind here, of'pening the liquor. 



delicious flavour, having a tartness sufficient to 9. Due attention to fining, racking, decanting, 

 prevent cloying the appetite. The bunches arc and precaution requisite for rendering it as 

 very long, and 3G f grapes were counled on one [complete as i(s na(ure will admit, 

 of tbem.''l wish it conid be ascertained whether I Whenever the state of society shall arrive, 

 grapes take the graft," k.c. "nd 1 h<~,pe it is not very remote, when (he ap- 



1 consider it perfectly [iracticable for rcine ofiV^e sUaU receive that cnlture and management 

 the !(ni/>f,— both of the foreign and domesdck I of which it is suscepdble, (here will be pro 

 slocks — (o be produced in the proper soils ami 



clirna(e of the United States, whenever our ag- 

 ricultural citizens shall turn their attention that 

 way. If I should hesita'.e or object (olhis mode 

 of improving land, it would be upon odier 

 ground. 1 have ever considered a counlry a- 

 1 bounding in grass and grain, as affording the 



luced among ourselves liquors or drinks far su- 

 periour to (he grea(et part of' the impor(ed 

 wines, and approaching, with care and ar(, the 

 virtues of (he most liiglily esteemed and fash- 

 ionable of them all. 



1 avail myself of this opportunity to congrat- 

 islute you on the good already done hy the amm- 



