262 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 11, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1U25. 



MAKING WINE IN AMERICA. 



A lon» article on this subject was published in the 

 American Farmer of the 1 1th ult. page 369, It i? dated 

 " Retreat, near Dublin, Geo. and signed Th. M'Call." 

 The writer appears to be a man of science ; but we 

 should apprehend from the tenor of the production al- 

 luded to, that his judgment is somewhat biassed by the 

 ardour of a theorist, intent on establishing certain te- 

 nets, and carrying into effect a favourite object. The 

 obstacles which exist in Georgia to the successful cul- 

 ture of the rine in vineyards, for the purpose of making 

 wine, must be much less formidable than those which 

 are opposed to the same pursuit in New England. It 

 should seem, however, from Mr M'Call's experiments, 

 that grapes which were raised more than 600 miies 

 south of the southern boundary of New England, were 

 not sufficiently matured by the warmth of the seasons 

 to afford wiue of a good quality, without much greater 

 additions of sugar or of brandy, or of both, I'lan are 

 found necessary in those parts of the globe wijich are 

 properly denominated wine coimlries. Mr M'CalPs 

 disclosures in the article above referred to, abundantly 

 confirm the opinion of the Hon'. Mr Lowem., publish, 

 ed in the A'eif England Farmer, vol. iii. pag'- 130, and 

 justify his declaration, that " the culture ol the vine, 

 extensively, in any of the New England States 1 con- 

 sider as imprudent, and in the present stale of our 

 knowledge and experience, as unwise." 



Mr M'Call says, " I have been at much trouble and 

 expense in collecting and cultivating the vines of for- 

 eign countries, to the extent of fifteen or more varieties, 

 on half an acre of ground, and have entirely cut up 

 more than one half ; their fruit uniformly rotting for 

 three years, regardless of the seasons. I have retained 

 but three kinds for the table, and two (hat make wine." 



Mr M'Call likewise states that fie was induced to 

 take into culture two of our native grapes. "Such of 

 these as were grafted partly grew, but the slips placed 

 in the ground in the usual manner all died.'''' 



Air M'Call's first experiment in making wine was in 

 IGIG, from a grape of furcign origin. He " made no 

 additions of sugar or brandy : the vine uas vapid and 

 tart, like old Rhenish wine ; and now it tastes like vapid 

 hock.'' 



In 1820 the season was wet, and Mr .M'Call's grapes 

 No. 1 did not ripen well — all his others rotted. He added 

 9 lbs. of brown sugar to 12 gallons of juice— racked — 

 fumigated with sulphur — added 10 per cent brandy — 

 racked again, and added to a five gallon demijohn, one 

 gallon and a half of unstoned raisins ; and the wine 

 without the raisins " compared with a good wine from 

 Sicily. The wiue bottled with raisins " was pleasant, 

 but with a slight taste of Rhenioh." 



" 1821. Grapes much injured by hail i.nd thrips.* 

 Season very dry — collected 7 bushel-basUets of No. 1, 

 and half a gallon of berries No. 2— my other grapes all 

 r.itled,''' Sic. 



It appears that in a number of experiments, for sev- 

 eral years, Mr M'Call succeeded in but two or three ; 

 and when he did succeed, it should seem that sugar 

 and brandy were the princiiial and most elTicient agents 

 in the concern. The greater part of his long commu- 



* THRIPS, of which there are eleven species, belong 

 to the order Hemiptera. The insect is, in general, so 

 small as to be scarcely discerned by the naked ere. It 

 is hiwever very pernicious to fruit trees Forsyth. 



nJcation is interspersed with complaints of mildew, 

 thrips, wet seasons, sour, green, and rotten grapes. In 

 short, it is very evident that the climate, even in Geor- 

 gia, is too cold, too wet, and too mutable, to promise 

 great and immediate success to those who would culti- 

 vate the vine for the purpose of making wine. If so, 

 the prospect, as it relates to New England vine 

 dressers, is not very flattering ; for we believe it true, 

 as a general rule, the warmer the climate in which the 

 vine will grow, the sweeter and the more suitable for 

 the vintage will be its product. 



I\Ir M'Call says, " I am surprised at the quantity of 

 brandy which is put into the foreign wines, but feel sat- 

 isfied that it is correct." According to M. Chaptal, six 

 gallons of good old wine and two gallons of brandy are 

 added in France to a hogshead ol new wine containing 

 from 60 to C3 gallons. But we do not recollect, either 

 in M. Chaptal's writings or in those of any other for- 

 eign writer, any directicmsto add sugar to the must. — 

 In Mr M'Call's most successful experiments, 15 lbs. of 

 sugar were necessary to give strength to II gallons of 

 must in one instance, and 12 lbs. to 7 1-2 gallons in a- 

 nother Instance. 



Dr Cooper, editor of the last American edition of 

 Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia, has expressed some 

 opinions in that valuable work, which merit attention 

 from those who propose to establish vineyards in New 

 England. 



" The great enemy of vines in this country is the cold 

 of the American winter, north of North Carolina ; hence 

 the necessity of pruning and layiijg down the vines 

 under a covering of straw during the winter months. — 

 In the defended gardens of the city of Philadelphia, 

 vines grow wdl and bear well ; but in the country 

 a viile or two off, they vill nut succeed, ul least for a 

 vineyard intended for wine. II has beennpeatedly tried 

 by skilful men, but without success.''' 



J;' The raising of grapes for the table, and for making- 

 wine, are two diifeient occupations. For the fomir. 

 shelter, rich ground, and juicy grapes are to be prelt r- 

 red ; for making wine, poor ground and harsher grapfs 

 are better ; and a vineyard must be planted where ihe 

 winter will not kill the vines." 



We perfectly agree with our correspondent fron 

 Worcester County (see page 217 of our current volume) 

 that if any attempt is made to manufacture grnpr wir.e 

 in this part of the United States, it should be from our 

 native grapes. We are told, however, that some essays 

 have been made to civilize some of these aborigines, 

 but without success. They were soon known by their 

 fruit, or rather by their lack of fruit, — and it became 

 good economy to cut them down as cumberers of the 

 ground. 



There are, however, a great many kinds of grapes 

 which are indigenous to America. Mr Eartiam, a cel- 

 ebrated botanist of Pennsylvania, has given a descrip- 

 tion of four species, and says that besides the distinct 

 species or established races, there are innumerable va- 

 rieties or hybrids, a spurious offspring by intermixture 

 of species. Perhaps some of these numbers without 

 number might be cultivated in New England with a 

 chance for success, at least for the table. 



It appears by .Mr M'Call's experiments, that nearly 

 one pound and an half of sugar to a gallon of expressed 

 juice of the grape was found necessary for the produc 

 tion ofhis first rate wine. According to Ur Tiiacuki; 

 (see Amirican Orchardist, page 179) a pound of sugar 

 to each gallon of cider from the press together with the 

 addition of brandy to the amount of about 4 gallons to 

 a barrel, will make " wiae from cider." Other recipes. 



(for which see New England Farmer, vol. i. page 227, 

 254) direct the addition of 4 gallons of cider brandy to 

 a bairel of cider (the addition included) fresh from the 

 press, without sugar, to make cider royal, whicli is a- 

 nother name for " apple tcine." Indeed, we have reason 

 to conclude that there is more strength or saccharine 

 matter (the substance from which spirit of wine is pro- 

 cured by fermentation) in the juice of our best cider- 

 applts in this climate, than in the juice of the grape. 

 Though the flavour or bouquet of the liquor obtained 

 from the apple may not be quite so exquisite in the es- 

 timation of a connoisseur, as that of the grape, we think 

 that to an unsophisticated and patriotic palate, it will 

 furnish precisely the /an<f, which is most pleasing; and 

 will relish none the worse for being a native production. 



European writers state that the vine can be cultivat- 

 ed to advantage only between Eat. 25 and 51 degrees 

 of the northern hemisphere. The difference of tempe- 

 rature in the United States and Europe is stated by 

 some writers on the subject to be equal to 12; by oth- 

 ers to 14 or 15 degrees of Latitude. M. dc Paw, in his 

 Recherches Philoscphique sur les Americaines, cited by 

 Dr Robertson, (Hist, of America, vol. ii. p. 472) sup- 

 poses that the difference of heat between America and 

 the old continent is equal to 12 degrees ; and that a 

 place 30 degrees from the equator, in the latter is as 

 warm as one situated 18 degrees from it in the former. 

 Ur .Mitchill also, after observations carried on during 

 30 years, contends that the difference is equal to 14 or 

 15 degrees of latitude ; or that it is as hot in the coun- 

 tries of the old continent at 29 or 30 degrees, as in the 

 countries of the new continent, which are at 15 deg. 

 Now if this estimate of Dr Mitchill be correct, countries 

 in the latitude of 50 deg. in Europe will enjoy about 

 the same temperature with those of 36 or 37 degrees in 

 the United States. .\nd if you wish to plant vines or 

 other vegetables from the Eastern Gontinrnt in the V- 

 nited States, and give them a climate of ihe samo tem- 

 perature with that in which they were indigenous, you 

 must place them between 8 fc 900 miles farther to the 

 south than the latitude of the climate which in Che old 

 continent is most natural for them. But the climate of 

 the U. S. differs materially in the same parallels of lati- 

 tude ; and is much warmer on the western than on the 

 eastern side of the Alleghany and other mountains which 

 compose what are called ' heights of land' between the 

 sea-coast and large rivers, or between other large bodies 

 of water; and the rule above mentioned should be va- 

 ried accordingly. No doubt the vine would flourish 

 much better in the valley of the Mississippi, or on the 

 banks of the Ohio than on the Atlantic coast in the same 

 parallels of latitude. Indeed, we have been assured 

 that vineyards for making wine have been cultivated 

 in Vevay, in the state of Indiana, in latitude, about 37° 



We have no doubt that wine of the grape, of a tole- 

 rable quality, may be made In New England, if we use 

 the adequate skill, labour, sugar, and brandy. And we 

 may raise roses in December and manufacture ice in 

 July ; but when we attempt to elbow and jostle Dame 

 .Nature out of her course, we must expect to pay a 

 pretty high price for our interference. We are not sit- 

 uated in a vinous latitude ; and as Mr LowEi.i. has well 

 observed, " we ought to consider ourselves the favour^ 

 ites of Pomona rather than of Bacchus." 



.N'atural History. — We ai-e indebted (o ;\!r. Pradley 

 for a curious obscrxa'.ion. He discovere.I that two spar- 

 rows carriid into their nest forty caterpillars per hour. 

 The birds app(ared to him to reside in their nest only 

 twelve hours In thf day. This would iiroduce a daily 

 consumption of 480 caterpillars, whir h In one week 

 ajuounts to 3260, byasirisle pair of sparrows. 



