600 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



become temperate, in proportion, as it becomes 

 dry — beciuise fluids are capable of being liealed as 

 well as solids, and the air of Europe is more moist 

 than ours, and yet more mild. 



He mentions, that in elevation and figure, the 

 norlhera parts of Kurope, such as the countries 

 on the south borJer of the Baltic sea, resemble 

 the south-eastern |)arls of the United States — 

 while the countries to the south ol^ Europe, and 

 along the nortli border of the Mediterranean sea, 

 resem!)!e rather the mountainous (Jisiricis of Penn- 

 sylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas. 



"Havin,^ endeavored to prove that the severity of 

 our climate, and tliat of the eastern shores of Asia, is 

 owing to the prevalence of the westerly winds, and 

 that the same cause produces an opposite effect on the 

 western coasts of both continents ; and having at- 

 tempted to account for it by the currents of air which 

 constantly move across the Atlantic and Pacilic oceans, 

 froin east to west, witliin the tropics; I should here 

 conclude this essay, were I not desirous that these 

 speculations might be the means of inducing persons 

 of better inforiiTation and more leisure, to pursue the 

 inquiry, and were I not persuaded, that conclusions 

 might'be drawn from these positions which would lead 

 to useful results. 



" Whether the physical or intellectual powers of the 

 human race are aliected by climate, has frequently 

 been the subject of discussion among those who have 

 directed their attention to questions of this nature ; and 

 whether our climate, being liable to greater extremes of 

 heat and cold than that of Europe, operates favorably 

 or otherwise on our faculties, are questions with which 

 I do not pretend to be conversant, and which to any 

 practical purpose it seems unnecessary to discuss. 

 The United States, lying within the .temperate zone, 

 their climate, subject; as'it is to great variations, must 

 on the whole, be classed among the temperate ; and 

 men of great endowments, both mental and corporeal 

 have been born and reared in countries that are subject 

 to greater cold, and in others, where the heat is more 

 intense. 



" What effect our climate has on animals, as com- 

 pared with that of Europe, and how far our modes and 

 arts of life, especially the most generally practised and 

 most important of all arts, that of husbandr3^ are in- 

 fluenced by climate, how far by habit; which of these, 

 brought by our ancestors from Europe and still Ibliow- 

 ed by their posterity, ought to be abandoned as not 

 suited to the vicissitudes of our seasons ; and what 

 benefits would accrue from adopting others at present 

 unknown, or little practised among us ; are topics of no 

 little moment, and which hitherto have not been much 

 attended to. Practical men seldom apply their thoughts 

 to such subjects, and more seldom communicate them 

 to the public ; and it has happened, rather unfortunate- 

 ly, perhaps, that some eminent European writers, hav- 

 ing erroneously taken it for granted, that our climate 

 was not only colder, but more moist than that of Europe, 

 and having drawn conclusions from that supposed fact 

 unfavorable to this country, some of our most distin- 

 guished citizens, eager to detect error, and zealous for 

 the honor of their country, not content with refuting 

 these positions, have gone into the opposite extreme, 

 and have contended that our climate was equally tem- 

 perate with that of Europe, in the same latitudes; or 

 if not so now, that it would gradually approach the 

 same standard, as our forests should be cleared, and 

 cultivation extended over the face of the country. Had 

 it been admitted that our climate was less temperate, 

 and the ditference been traced to a permanent cause, 

 instead of controverting an unquestionable fact, or 

 looking for changes which are never to happen, I can- 

 not but believe that many new improvements would 

 have been struck out, and that various important 

 branches of agriculture would have been established 



alQong us, that are at present unknown ; of these, per- 

 haps, the most important, is the culture of the vine. 

 Could we substitute for our beverage the pure and 

 wholesome juice of the grape, instead of the liquid 

 poisons obtained by distillation, so fatal to the health 

 and morals of the laborious part of the community, 

 what a change would be etti?cted in the face of oiir 

 country ? How many industrious families would be 

 saved from ruin! The habit of drinking fermented 

 liquors has prevailed from the earliest ages among the 

 race of men from which we are descended ; and 

 though the abuse of them, like that of every other good, 

 no doubt has been productive of evil, it can hardly 

 be questioned that they have added more to the stock 

 of human enjoyment, than they have taken from it. 

 The use of ardent spirits, which was unknown among 

 the ancients, has produced fewer benefits, and incalcu- 

 lably greater mischiefs. Drunkenness is a much more 

 prevalent vice, and is much more fatal among those 

 who are addicted to the use of distilled liquors, than 

 those accustomed to the use of wine or beer. 



"No one, at all acquainted with human nature, will 

 ever expect that the people of this country, any more 

 than the present inhabitants of Europe, will ever aban- 

 don the use of intoxicating drinks; anu ardent spirits 

 will be in general use among the mass of the commu- 

 nity, until a substitute is found. That wine would in a 

 great measure supplant them, need not be doubted, if 

 it could be produced in our country (for it is idle to 

 expect'it from abroad) in, sufficient plenty for general 

 use."— pp. 26—29. 



That "drunkenness is a much more prevalent 

 vice, and is hiuch more fatal among those v/ho 

 are addicted to the use of distilled liquors, than 

 those accustomed to the use of wine^or beer," is 

 not a singular opinion, and to a certain degree, is 

 no doubt well-founded; but that it must betaken 

 with some restriction, will appear from the follow- 

 ing quotations. 



'*' On my return to Oran, the same day I was 

 struck, though not for the first time, with proofs of 

 the excessive inebriety of the French common 

 soldiers." — CampbeWs letters from j-Jlgiers, page 

 283. 



" By all I can learn, there never was a time 

 when drunkards did not abound in France. I do 

 Jissure you, that in the course of passing between 

 Paris and London, I have been more struck by 

 drunkenness in the streets of the former, than of 

 the latter." 



"Now I take it, this word gr('se, contains the 

 essence of the .superiority of wine (^over whiskey. 

 It means fuddled — a condition from which one re- 

 covers more readily, than from downright drunk- 

 enness, and of which the physical eflecfs are not 

 so injurious. 



I believe the consequences of even total inebriety 

 fi'om wine, are not as bad as those which follow 

 inebriety from whiskey and rum. But your real 

 amateur here, is no more content with wine, than 

 he is with us ; he drinks a while brandy, that is 

 pretty near the pure alcohol." 



"The odicial reports, show ten thousand cases 

 of females arrested for drunkenness in Paris, dur- 

 ing the last year." — Cooper^s Switzerland. 



The essay proceeds to consider the culture of 

 the vine — and the opinions expressed, though not 

 such as we can entirely concur in, yet on this, as 

 on all other points, well deserves the reader's atten- 

 tion. The main object of preparing these observa- 

 tions, was to present the passages of our author in 

 which agricultural matters are introduced. 



"It is much to be regretted, that the efforts made at 



