NEW ENGL.AND FARMER. 



PUBLI SHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 52 NOR TH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehoi;se.)-T. G. FESSENDEn7edIT0R~ 



VOL. IX. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBERS 6, 183 O. 



a;3^aia^yy» 



From the American Farmer. 



The following Review of Mr Prince's Treatise on the 

 Viae, by a distinguished gentleman of Virginia, 

 las saved us the ttouble of a detailed notice of it ; 

 lOd the many extracts heretdfore made from the sheets, 

 vitli which we were politely favored by the author, 

 fhile in the course of publication, will have enabled our 

 eaders to judge of its merits from the text ; but still we 

 eem it proper to urge upon cultivators and amateurs the 

 reat advantage to be derived from the possessing the 



ork. It should be in the liands of all Vignerons and 



ardeners. 



TREATISE ON THE VINE. 



Tith de: 



history from the earliest ngesto the present day, 

 oils of above two hundred foreign, and eistity Anieri 

 An varieties ; together wiih a comptele dissertation on the 

 slablishment of Vineyards, by WiuLtAM Robeut Prince, nid 

 dby William Pbince, Proprietor of tlio Linna;an limanic'Gar- 

 len, Vice President uf the New York Horticultural Society, ic. 

 tc. &c. New York, 1830, pp. 355. 



'The public has been for sunie time in expecta- 



»D of the appearance of Mr Prince's Treatise on 



B Vine, which has recently issued from the New 



irk press. The Inng experience of the elder 



Prince, who has devoted so much of his atten- 



a to the subject of the vine, and who has been 



twenty years engaj;ed in importing and culti- 



ung the finest varieties of Europe, as well as 



iging into notice many of onr native kinds, has 



e sed the lovers of this interesting plant to loqk 



fi varil witli great anxiety to the publication of 



•ik. No American perhaps was so well 



1 as llr Prince to render such an accepta- 



.ice to the public. He was, moreover, one 



first persons who strenuously contended 



• vine must succeed in the United States. 



-; the diversity of soil and climate which 



iitry presents, from the Gulf of Mexico to 



!i degree of N. latitude, and from the At- 



• cean to the western wilds, in the same 



itii the celebrated wine countries of Europe, 



III see no just reason why we niiglit not in 



lome equally successful in the cultivation 



- plant; and, with sufficient e,xperience, 



is prnduciions in the other hemisphere. 



V, as then a matter of speculation, is now in 



I tide of successful experiment. M:iny of 



St intelligent citizens are engaged in rear- 



-r .u vine; fruit of the most delicious quality 



oeen raised ; extensive vineyards have been 



ed in some iiarts of the country; and excel- 



ivine has been made from them. Even socie- 



ave been formed to promote an e.xtension of 



ulture. 



at there may have been some disappointment 

 •ienced by individuals in the degree of success 

 1 they have attained, is very probable and 

 be wondered at. Our native vines are 

 everywhere in rich luxuriance, extending 

 branches over an ample space, and yielding 

 ens of fruit without any care from the hand 

 in. Hence it was not unnatural to suppose 

 veil the foreiirn vine would prosper in our 

 ns,and hear abundantly. Expectations found- 

 such conclusions could never be realized, 

 ence some failures have been the result. 

 [re correct practices, obtained in time, i.nd a 

 llerable increase of knowledg-e was difTused ; 



NO. 19. 



but as the vine has been extended in a much great- 

 er degree than just principles of culture have 

 been adopted, there became consequently a propor- 

 tionate demand for correct rules applicable to this 

 branch of industry. It was to supply this want, 

 and at the same Ume to stimulate to still greater 

 exertion, that the Treatise of Mr Prince has been 

 published. No efTort has been spared to render 

 it in the highest degree useful and acceptable, 

 since not only has the particular adaptation of our 

 own country to the vine been fully considered, to- 

 getlier with such departures from the foreign 

 mode of culture as our experience has suggested 

 to be prolitable, but all the information which 

 could be derived from the best European authors 

 has been collected in relation to the whole duties 

 of the vine dresser. It was one great object of 

 tlie author to present in his work the concentra- 

 ted intelligence of every clime, derived from all 

 tlie experience of the past, for the benefit of the 

 American horticulturist. The most careful obser- 

 vttion ami the greatest research have evidently 

 b;en made to render the offering as acceptable as 

 [ijssible. 



As many, persons seek with avidity everythin<' 

 connected Tvilh the vine, it may not he uninterest- 

 ing to give a brief sketch of the contents of this 

 Treatise ; suggesting at the same time to every 

 person who has half a dozen vines that he could 

 not expend a dollar and a half more appropriately, 

 than in purchasing the work. It may be taken 

 fiir^iauled that no one who has ever fenstnl once 

 upon this delicious fruit, but would be well pleas- 

 ed to raise enough for his own use; and whoever 

 has succeeded in raisingcnough to sup]ily his own 

 wants, has no d(5ubt felt that passion common to 

 all who are fond of the vine, namely, a desire to 

 extend his stock and introduce into his collection 

 still finer varieties. It is certainly one of the 

 most delightful and ennobling pursuits that can 

 engage the attention ; a fact, which may enable 

 us to iccount for the enthusiasm which invaria- 

 bly seizes the minds of those who become in the 

 least enamored of the suljject. 



Among the many strong considerations which 

 should recommend Mr Prince to our favor, not 

 the least is the one, that he is an American 

 in feeling as well as by birth. He takes a dee|) 

 interest in the pros]ierity of onr country, and he 

 has employed bis pen, not so much with a view 

 to his own profit, as from the laudable desire to 

 insiruct his fellow citizens on the important sub- 

 ject of which be treats. Wishing to see every 

 branch of industry thrive, and to extend the sphere 

 of usefulness as much as possible, he has devoted 

 all his energies to prove the adaptation of his 

 country to the extensive introduction of the vine. 

 In a most admirable and beautiful argmnent, 

 founded upon known facts relative to other fruits, 

 he demonstrates this to the satisfaction of every 

 one who may read it. Under these pairiolic feel- 

 ings, he has not inappropriately inscribed his Trea- 

 tise to a distinguished statesman, whose life has 

 been closely connected with the prosperity and in- 

 dependence of our Union. The detlication is re- 

 markable for its neatness and siin|)licity, written in 

 the spirit of one freeman addressing himself to 

 another. 



MrPriiK'e commences his work with a brief 

 historical account of the vine from the earliest 

 times, which contains a good deal of curious in- 

 formation. He traces the origin of this plant to 

 Asia ; indeed he goes so far as to fix upon Persia 

 as its native land, though the evidence which he 

 adduces in favor of this opinion is not altogether 

 striking. From Asia its culture was extended to 

 the southern parts of Europe. Its progress was 

 at first slow, bul as its advantages came to be better 

 known, it waa communicated with an inconceiva- 

 ble rapidity when contrasted with the difficulty 

 which exists in the present day in causing the 

 best precepts and best modes of culture "o be 

 adopted. The vine was very eariy transmitted to 

 the Narbonese province of Gaul, but the cold was 

 so intense beyond the Cevennes that it was deem- 

 ed impossible to mature the grapes so far to the 

 north. The climate had not become ameliorated 

 to the degree it afterwards attained by cultivation ; 

 and the vine being a native of amuch more south- 

 ern region, needed that acclimation by culture 

 which it subsequently attained. As these difficul- 

 ties were surmounted, vineyards were gradually 

 established in the interior [larts of the country. 

 Kings and princes did all in their power to jaomote 

 its extension by planting vineyards on their own ac- 

 count. Through a long course of time, the vine 

 has become so completely naturalized in that gen- 

 erous climate, and has attained such full develop- 

 ment, that it might now be supposed it was its na- 

 tive region. These facts with many interestiu<^ 

 particulars are very appropriately narrated; and 

 may very justly lead to the conclusion that our 

 own climate, without waiting for the softenin" and 

 ameliorating hand of titne to work a change in 

 its temperature, is already sufficiently genial t°o in- 

 vite an extensive cultivation of the vine, even if 

 we had no varieties of our own capable of with- 

 standing every vicissitude of season. 



The aulho- next devotes some chapters to a con- 

 sideration of the eflect of climate, soil, ex|)osition 

 &c, upon the flavor of the grape, and in a series 

 of very sensiile and forcible remarks, examines the 

 subject in dead. There is a fund of valuable in- 

 formation onall these points, which should be re- 

 ferred to bT every person who wishes to ac- 

 quaint himself with the proper manner o.'' loca- 

 ting his vines. 



We were next treated with descriptions of a 

 vast numberof the most estimable grapes, both 

 for wine and for the table, amounting to upwards 

 of two hmided foreign, and eighty native varie- 

 ties. Thesedescriptions are frequentlv very mi- 

 nute, being ii most instances made from" a particu- 

 lar personal examination of the fruit. The ex- 

 tensive nnrstries of the author, in which he has 

 planted two standard vines of every variety, for 

 the purpose <f testing their merits and submitting 

 them to the nspection of visiters, have enabled 

 him to enjoy an advantage in perfecting this part 

 of his work,which very few persons have had an 

 opportunity o possess. So faithful and ample 

 are the desciptions in many instances, that per- 

 sons having the vines in their possession and 

 being ignora t of their names, will find no difficulty 

 in identifyin' them. 



This part of Mr Prince's Treatiso contains a 



