1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



429 



of our worthy flour inspe.cter. By this it will be 

 seen, that compared with the. correspondinn; quar- 

 ter oflast vear, there lias been a liiliing oil' iu the 

 Rie-hniniul inspection, of iiventtj-six thousand nine 

 hundred and firty-foitr barrels .' 



From July" 1st. to Oct 1st, 183.5 43,067 



do do 1833 16,123 



Deficiency, 



23,944 

 IRichwynd Compiler. 



From tlie Farmer and Gardener. 

 ABIERICAIV SYSTK3I OF \VI^'E CULTURl::. 



It is not with a little diffi.lence I essay to write 

 a piece, headed as above, tijr the American pub- 

 lic : a diffidence arising Ihim a fear of being ac- 

 counted presumptuous in attempting to strike out 

 a plan, in a measure iiew, in one branch of Amer- 

 ican agriculture ; and, what would be still worse, 

 of finding out, perhaps, after publishing, that I had 

 been too bold, and consequently erroneous, in some 

 positions. A diffidence too arising from a sense 

 of ii:sufficiency to recommend in an able and pro- 

 per manner, what, I trust, I feel impelled to at- 

 tempt out ofa glow of patriotism in niy breast, or 

 an ardent desire to benefit my country in a very 

 important item of her rural economy. This diffi- 

 dence is heightened by a consciousness of being 

 an obscure indiviilual, known as a writer only by 

 the imperteciion, perhaps, ofa lcw(ui?itive pieces, 

 occasionally appearing in the '• American Farm- 

 er," and its successor. 



But seeins that scarcely any writings appear 

 faultless under a strict criticism ; or, as in morals, 

 the best men are they who have the fewest faults; 

 so in pieces for tiie press they are to be esteemed 

 the most v^aluable only which have the smallest 

 number of errors, I am emboldened to adventure 

 Kiy little production ; hoping the moiivc for pub- 

 lication, and the subject matter, and not its delects, 

 will be chiefly regarded by all candid readers. 



If the same a[iaihy prevailed in the American 

 public as did some years since as to the import- 

 ance of the vine culture, the writer would des[;air 

 of making any impression through bis feeble ef- 

 forts : but he is encoura<red by the fact that atten- 

 tion is considerably awakened up among l!ie most 

 intelligent and enterprising American agricultu- 

 ralists to the culture of the vine ; and to its kin- 

 dred branch the silk business; to the latter es[;e- 

 cially since the introduciion into this country of 

 the iMorus ISIidiicaidis, or new Chinese JVlulherrv; 

 — a tree making this biisiness doubly profitable in 

 enitable latitudes. Yet it may be fi^arlessly assert- 

 ed that should these kindred branches of Atneri- 

 can enterprise continue to advance as rapidly as 

 the fondest anticipations of enlightened pa'riois 

 predict, it will be a course of _vcars before millinns 

 of money will cease to be drawn annually from the 

 country for the articles of silk and wine. 



Legislative premiums, and public associations 

 have latelj' ofiven an additional impulse to the silk 

 business. But little of such encouragement has 

 been <rivcn to the rearino; of vineyards and wine 

 makiniT. Indeed less is needed. Thelatler busi- 

 ness is more susceptible of being promoted by in- 

 dividiiu! enterprise. The silk business has been 

 advanced too by inventions in America rendering 

 its raanuf;ctory more simple and expeditious. 



That is America has taken the lead of eastern 

 countries in this particular. 



And it may be here usked, may not America 

 make discoveries in the grape culture, and in mak- 

 ing of wine, tliat may carry her in advance of Eu- 

 rope in these particulars ? In reply it may be asked 

 has any imporied wine been found superior to 

 some made by Mr. Adlum, Mr. Herbeniont, and 

 others in our country ? 



.And if I mistake not, more wine has been made 

 from an acre in this country than in Europe. If 

 ever informed, I do not now recollect what is con- 

 sidered a large product of wine fi'om an acre in 

 other countries. But my impression is that a 

 thousand gallons is a yield of rare occurrence. 

 Now not to name the large products of Mr. Ad- 

 lum, and those of others, authenticated in the co- 

 lumns of the "American Farmer," I will mention 

 in particular, Capt. Burlinglianf s case of Scupper- 

 nong vines yielding at the rate of 2000 gallons per 

 acre ; and that of Mr. Herbemont, with his Ma- 

 deira, stiil more. And Mr. Longworth of Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio, made, as he informed me, more than 

 1300 gallons to the acre from the Isabella grape. 

 And the case of a sinsjle vine (the Scuppernong) 

 in the lower part of North Carolina yielding more 

 than five barrels of wine every year, cannot we 

 think find a parallel in any foreign land. Now in 

 view of these fiicis, we ask by what system or plan 

 of culture were these vines made to yield so sur- 

 prising a product? By the Europ.ean, or one lor 

 the most part peculiar to our country 7 By the 

 latter, is the answer. The fJjrmer would not only 

 have prevented this yield, but as, in case ol"expe- 

 riments often made in our land, have probably de- 

 strojed the vines. And again, by the culture of 

 what kinds of vines were these products attained ? 

 A'attve or exotic? The answer is, iiative in all the 

 cases named. Mr. Aidium, Mr. JNIcCall, Mr. 

 Herbemont, Mr. Longworth, and in short, I may 

 venture to say, all who have pr fitably tried the 

 wine culture to any extent in our country, concur 

 in the opinion that f^)reign kinds of vines and fbr- 

 eiirn manner of culture will not do in America. 

 But I may say on the other hand that all these 

 join in the declaration that native kinds of grapes, 

 cultivated in the praper manner, will invariably 

 produce a satisfictory result, both as to table use 

 and wine. The unlorced intJ'rence from the fia-e- 

 iroiniT is, ihat the grape culture, to prove successlul 

 in our country, must be American throughout: 

 American in the selection of kinds, and American 

 in the st/s/e??i of cul'ivation. Asa system of cw/- 

 tiire is my professed object now, I shall wave lor 

 the present, or only mention incidentally a choice 

 selection of kinds of grapes lor American use. 



By American system of grape culture, I mean 

 one peculiar to our country, as contrasted with the 

 one generally adopted in Europe. 



I'he Kurojiean system is briefly that of keeping 

 the vines /i(y?n6/e, or that of planting them close, 

 and by trimminii, not permitting them to attain but 

 a few, say three or four, feet in height. Hence in 

 ali treatises on the vine cuhure, founded on the 

 European plan, rules tire given about trimming 

 rigidly, or as might be said when applied to this 

 country, rnvrderoiisly. And we do not use this 

 last term unadvisedly: for theconcurrent teslimo- 

 n)' of those who have tried if in America, is. that 

 it not only proves injurious, but often destroys the 

 vine. Let an}' one who may doubt consult the 



