454 



FARMERS' REGISTER— NATIVE AND FOREIGN GRAPES. 



wisdom consists not in words, but in t!ie disposi- 

 tion of things. 



I cannot conclude this article better than by 

 giving; a quotation from a work by De Witt Clin- 

 ton, Esquire, on New York. Speaking of the 

 encouragement of agriculture by the legislature; 

 he uses the following striking language. " Why 

 do we refer to t!ie reign of the Antonines, when they 

 guided the fortunes of the Roman Empire, and to 

 that of Plenry IV, and Louis XIV, of France, as 

 glorious periods in the annals of mankind.' Not 

 for the fields that were contested, or the triumphal 

 coKunns that were raised ; but for the cultivation 

 of those arts and sciences that produce refinement, 

 that multiply the blessings, the comforts, and the 

 charms of civilization, that reveal the powers and 

 faculties of a state, in every department of genius, 

 enterprise and industry. Liberal disbursements 

 on the part o/" government are requisite to produce 

 these results. Agricultukk is the grand 

 source of national wealth ; and there' is no science 

 that makes a greater return for patronage. Our 

 board of agriculture, holding a supervision over 

 more than Jifiy county associations, which combine 

 the talents, wealth and respectability of the state, 

 furnishes an evidence of what may be done." And 

 what is to give a great epoch to the history of Vir- 

 ginia.^ Is it that from her Iiosom some of our gi-eat- 

 est and best men have sprung.'' Baeotia can boast 

 as much. Is it that she first agitates the presiden- 

 tial question ; and rants early about politics. Pre- 

 sident making and putting down.'' Is it that, 

 Henry or Randolph or JeiTerson or Washington 

 are the sons of Virginia? Is it that her sons have 

 genius.' The boast of glorious ancestry is an 

 empty boast, and [ may add disreputalile, where 

 we have not inherited their wisdom. The history 

 of Henry, Randolph, JeiTerson, &c. will not be 

 the history of Virginia. But the light which 

 their lives will shed forth in time to come, will but 

 make the darkness of our history, as a state, more 

 visible to posterity, and point out the radical de- 

 fects ill our system of legislation and the empty 

 qualific^ions of our legisiators. The laurels 

 gathered by the display of eloquence, and mere 

 acuteness of mind, where no eifects are produced, 

 are constantly lading ; while talents applied to use- 

 ful purposes, calling forth the energy of a i)eople 

 to the accomplishment of great plans of internal im- 

 provement, tell to the latest posterity, and engrave 

 the names of such men, not merely on the tablets 

 of fame; but on every mountain and plain in their 

 country. V/ho is there wlio v.ould not be proud of 

 the fame of De Witt Clinton.'' The farmer as he 

 turns over the productive sod, and gives bread to 

 his prattling infants, thanks heaven that he ever 

 lived. Tlie boatman as he hastens on to market 

 ladened with wealth, recalls his name. The dis- 

 tant forests by the magic of his powers, brought 

 as it were to the immediate neighborhood of mar- 

 ket, resounds with his praise. The sailor, tar out 

 on the ocean, with sv.eliing sails, and a rich cargo, 

 destined for a foreign maiket, thinks of Clinton. 

 From one corner of this i'epu1)lic to the other, and 

 from one kingdom to another, he is called great. 

 For what he said.' No. But for what he did. 



Improvement in agriculture, is to give an epoch 

 to the charactei'^f our state — to its history. But 

 until strict attention is paid to this subject, and the 

 people in their legislative capacity take it up, we 

 cannot do much. Are we inferior to New York, 



in local and moral advantages? In the first, we 

 are superior; in the last, equal. Our climate is 

 delightful. Our products, various and rich, con- 

 Inning the productions of the north and south. 

 Our soil so fertile, that, like a strongman in self 

 defence, it has risen up against the knives of its 

 murderers, and in spite of a sj)irit of impoverish- 

 ing devastation, presents its native energies as the 

 means of restoration. And if the same hand, 

 which was raised to strike the blow, will now come 

 up to its aid, what may v*e not expect? 



There is evideiitly a great change effected in 

 Virginia, on the subject of agriculture and gene- 

 ral internal improvement. Many causes are com- 

 bining to hasten results. There is in many places 

 increased attention to agricultural societies. New 

 societies have been formed, and old ones which 

 v.ere long neglected have been revived, and pro- 

 fessional young men, of first rate abilities, have in 

 many parts of our state, come out the friends of 

 internal improvements; and become practical and 

 experimental agriculturists. And may I add, your 

 excellent publication, is evidently deepening the 

 impression and arousing the sleeping energies. 

 And if our legislature will take up this subject, we 

 may expect great results. What may we not ex- 

 pect with our present advantages. "Human 

 strength is never known until tested. The com- 

 pass of national power is proved, when the hour 

 of trial arrives." When Virginia awakes, it will 

 be with the strength of a giant, and when her 

 powers are brought fully into play, and a spirit of 

 improvement is fully diffused amongst her people, 

 then, and not till then, v/ill she take her stand, the 

 first in this confederacy — the key stone of the arch 

 binding all together — the rock upon which shall 

 be reared the strong hold for liberty, happiness 

 and independence. 



The coming legislature in Virginia, will be ever 

 remembered in the annals of this state, for I pre- 

 sume it will give the finishing stroke towards the 

 completion of the scheme of the James and Kena- 

 wha improvement. And shall we find no one 

 there, who will breathe the name of agriculture ? 

 Will there be no practical farmers in the next le- 

 gislature of Virginia, feeling the importance of 

 this subject, and ready to aid it, by legislative en- 

 actments. If nothing else can be done, let the 

 subject be introduced and discussed; and the light 

 tiius shed on it, must have the most favorable re- 

 sults. Discussion must call out facts, and facts 

 constitute truth ; and truth fully known, must have 

 its legitimate effects. " Truth is powerful and 

 must ])revail." 



T. B. McR. 



November 29, 1833. 



NATIVE AXD FOREIGN GR.\PES. 



To the Etlkor of the Fanners' Register. 



Essex County, Nov. IGih, 1833. 

 The culture of the grape has excited considera- 

 ble interest in the United Slates within the last 

 ten or fifteen years ; importations of tiie vine have 

 been made from almost every vine-giowing coun- 

 try ; several hundred varieties have been offered 

 for sale, and not unfrequently we have been told, 

 that they are adapted to our country, climate and 

 soil. In 1823, from the flatterino- accounts I had 

 seen published of the success of the culture of the 

 grape in the United States, for wine, eating, &c., I 



