fi02 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 10 



*'It may be supposed that the improvement of our 

 native g-rape would be a shorter and more certain pro- 

 cess ; but all the kinds I have met with, have such 

 harsh and crude juices, that I apprehend they cannot 

 be improved, so as to b;!come equal >to the cultivated 

 grape, for a^es. The wild crab-apple is understood to 

 be the original stock of all the fine varieties of that 

 fruit of whicli we are now in possession. Cultivation, 

 no doubt, has done much in the course of tiiousr.nds of 

 years; but most probably the greatest improvement has 

 been elfected by repeated selectictis of the best acci- 

 dental varieties from seed, until they have been brought 

 to their present improved state. In as long a course of 

 time, possibly sooner, the native grape might be 

 brought to the same state of perfection ; but as all our 

 cultivated apples are from European stocks, and no 

 improvement from the native crab has hitherto been 

 elfected, it seems reasonable to expect, that if we look 

 for equal success with the vine, we must pursue the 

 same course." — pp. 29—33. 



Though twenty-seven years have elapsed since 

 the first publication of the foregoing passage, 

 during which many persons have attempted vine 

 culture and wine making, but little success, in 

 general, has yet been met with, and we are but 

 little better informed as to the causes of failure. 

 While allowing much weight to the opinion of our 

 author, as to the agency of climate in causing 

 these (liflierent results in Europe and the United 

 States, we also think there is much more in the 

 differences of soils, than he supposes. It is true 

 that vines are cultivated, and wine made jirofita- 

 bly, on soils of various kinds in Europe. But it 

 is believed that the best vineyards of Europe are 

 generally, if not universally, more or less calca- 

 reous — while the soils of the eastern slope of the 

 United States, have been recently found to be almost 

 entirely destitute of calcareous earth — and proba- 

 bly, not an acre, or a rood, of vineyard, has been 

 made artificially calcareous. 



The cultivation of rice is next remarked upon — 

 a crop which has been since abandoned in Virginia. 



" Among other objects of cultivation that might be 

 introduced or extended among us, we may, perhaps, 

 reckon rice. This most valuable grain, which yields 

 a greater supply of food from a given extent of ground 

 than any other, is found, like Indian corn, to require a 

 greater degree and longer duration of heat, than is 

 afforded by the climate of the more northern parts of 

 Europe ; and, unlike that plant, it does not run freely 

 into varieties, or readily accommodate itself to short 

 summers. On the sunken grounds of the Chesapeake 

 and its tributary streams, and perhaps the Delaware, 

 are large tracts, that in soil and situation are well fitted 

 to the cultivation of this plant. That the heat of sum- 

 mer is sufficiently great, there can be no question ; the 

 only doubt is, whether its duration is long enough. 

 The kind that is cultivated in Carolina, is ibund not lo 

 ripen sufficiently early ; it is, however, far from impro- 

 bable, that in other parts of the globe, varieties of this 

 grain might be found that would attain maturity sooner. 

 Rice is said to be cultivated extensively on the banks 

 of the Po, at no great distance from its source ; a cli- 

 mate, the medium temperature of which I should think 

 not materially ditferent from that of the lower country 

 of Virginia and Maryland. It is also said to have 

 been lately introduced into Hungary,* the climate of 

 which probably approaches still nearer to that of those 

 parts of the United States. Whether it is cultivated 

 so far to the north in China, I have not learned; if it 

 be, it can hardly be doubted, that it would succeed 



* Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, Martyn's edit. art. 

 Oryza. 



equally well in the same ^parallels of latitude in the 

 maritime parts of the United States. 



"The similarity of climate between the United 

 States and those parts of China that are in the same 

 lajjitudes, has long since been remarked; and there is 

 certainly no part of Europe, whose climate so nearly 

 resembles our own. Unfortunately, our intercourse 

 with that country is limited to a single port, and that 

 further soutl) tha'n any part of the United States. If 

 a free communication is ever established between our 

 country and the more northern districts of China, it 

 may probablj- be the means of introducing among us 

 many plants of great utility, and which, being trans- 

 planted from a climate so like our own, would at once 

 become naturalized to it." — pp. 33, 34. 



However similar the geographical situation of 

 China to the United States — there is, in respect to 

 the grain spoken of above, a striking difference — 

 for we are informed by JMalte-Brun, that rice is 

 the principal object of tultivation in China, except 

 places in the north-vrest, which are too cold and 

 dry for this crop — which is, therefore, replaced by 

 wheat — (see Malte-Brun's Geography — book 42, 

 page 560, Article, China — ) whereas, we know 

 that the production of rice in the United States, is 

 confined to very narrow limits, being hardly heard 

 of out of South Carolina, and there restricted to 

 certain peculiar locaUties. 



Malte-Brun, on the page preceding the one 

 just referred to, says, " the northern and western 

 parts of (Jhina have a far colder climate than the 

 countries of Europe, which are situated in the 

 same parallel of latitude. The elevation of the 

 land, and the snows with which, for the greater 

 part of the year, ^he central mountains of Asia 

 are covered, contribute to produce this difference 

 of temperature." 



"The extremes of heat and of cold are much 

 greater at Pekin, than at Madrid, though the lati- 

 tude is much the same ; it freezes daily in Decem- 

 ber, January and February, and very often in 

 March and November — the cold is often followed 

 by excessive heat. At Pekin, there are, properly 

 speaking, only two seasons, winter and summer. 

 Calculating according to the observations of Father 

 Amyot, the mean temperature of the greatest 

 heat, is 121°; that of the greatest cold, 63° below 

 zero ; the medium heat of the year, ^5°.'''' This 

 authority then, confirms the facts stated by the 

 essayist — but does not attribute this extreme mu- 

 tability of the climate, to the prevalence of the 

 westerly winds. It is stated by Dr. Drake of 

 Cincinnati, that the mean temperature of Phila- 

 delphia, is 53*^ 20', which corresponds very nearly 

 with that of Pckin. China produces, besides rice, 

 which is the principal food of its vast population, 

 wheat, cotton, sugar, indigo and tea, which last, 

 however, prospiers only, between the jiarallels of 

 30° and 23°. Silk is also made in China— the 

 silk- worms seeming to be indigenous in that coun- 

 try. China boasts also, the camphor tree — the 

 paper mulberry — the tallow tree — croton sebiferum 

 — the aloe, the heart of which sells for its weight in 

 gold — and the useful bamboo — the lemon — three 

 varieties of the orange — one of which, is of the 

 size of a cherry — the Chinese chestnut — the ba- 

 nana — tamarind and guava. The Chinese pay 

 little attention to making wine, though several 

 provinces abound in grapes. Not liir from Nank- 

 ing, grows the red cotton, of which nankeen is 

 made. The fibre is of a delicate pinkish orange, 

 which it preserves, aller it is spun and woven. 



