FRUIT-BEARING POWERS OF THE GRAPE-VINE. 543 



It would be worse than idle to say that we are not deeply interested in the 

 legislative measures of a country to which we exported 



In 1847. Flour.. 3,150,689 barrels. Iul847. Wheat 4,015,134 busheis. 



Corn-meal 847,280 .. .. Indian corn 17,2^8,714 



besides rye, oats, and barley. 



Would it not be well for the steady prosperity oi' the American farmer, if he could 

 establish some permanent policy, that would invite and bring over the manufac- 

 turing capital, skill, Vnd machinery, that gives employment abroad to the men 

 that consume all these provisions ? Were they settled down, with their lap-stones, 

 and their looms, close alongside of him, they would bring the cotton on the spot, 

 where it is made, and the corn and wheat where they are grown, and the mil- 

 lions of waste lands in our old States would be yielding their millions of bushels 

 of apples and potatoes, and turnips, and tons of hay and cheese, and the lime, 

 and manure, and money, that are now wasted on the road, and in the work of ex- 

 change, would be saved to be applied to the improvement of the waste lands: 

 at least it seems so, and is so in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, whose pop- 

 ulation is increasing, lands rising, and education extending more and more. 



THE FRUIT-BEARING POWERS OF THE GRAPE-VINE. 



Increasing consumption and improved culture of fruits may be considered 

 sure signs of improving morals and civilization. The cultivation of the Vine 

 and the melioration of the Grape have made much progress within the last 

 twenty years, in and around some of our large cities, but the wonder, if not the 

 disgrace, is that they still command so little attention, and are so little under- 

 stood and enjoyed in what we denominate the country. The mass of the coun- 

 try people have no conception of the size and perfection of grapes to be seen in 

 the shops of Boston, New-York, and Philadelphia. 



The most extensive and perfect vineries that we have ever seen are those of 

 Col. Perkins, of Boston, Mr. Colt, of Paterson, N. J., and those of that late most 

 accomplished gentleman, N. Biddle, at Andalusia. But theirs are not estab- 

 lishments to be imitated by the masses. The Catawba and the Isabella, native 

 grapes, adapted to open culture, are as good as anybody need desire, and these 

 might easily be had by every man who has a few feet of ground and the gable- 

 end of a house or a trellis for them to run on.. To any farmer who has not, after 

 being four or five years in the management of a " place," it ought to be as much a 

 matter of reproach and scandal as it should be to his wife to be seen with holes 

 in the heels of her stockings. 



Even the country grapes, if properly cultivated, might, many of them, doubt- 

 less, be improved to be very good table grapes. But so utterly unread and unin- 

 formed are the young people in the country in things that particularly relate to 

 the occupations and resources of their condition, that they grow up in utter ig- 

 norance of useful and even elegant branches of knowledge, that might be ac- 

 quired by a few hours of attention, and that would greatly add to their comforts 

 all the days of their life. Take this very case of vine culture : the vulgar no- 

 tion is that the cultivation of a native grape would consist in manuring and 

 hoeing around it and leaving it, for all the rest, under the influence of its natural 

 growth and instincts ; and this would be very well if, instead of an enlarged and 

 meliorated berry filled with delicious juice, and void of seed and pulp, the ob- 



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