American Grape-Growing. 8i 



Now, this is all wrong; and the sooner we see it, the better. The soon- 

 er the eyes of the nation are opened to the plain fact, that grape-growing, and 

 the success or failure of certain varieties, depend upon the locality chosen, 

 the more rapid will be our progress. Let us glance at the grape-growing 

 districts of Europe. The famous wine of Schloss Johannisberg, which 

 stands without a rival among the Rhenish wines, is grown on but a ver\- 

 small area, and the product of vineyards scarcely a hundred yards distant 

 is sold for less than one-third the price which the product of that celebrated 

 vineyard will bring. The favored locations on the Rhine have acquired a 

 world-wide fame, while those immediately adjoining are not heard of. And 

 yet some of our grape-growers insist, that, in this country, one variety of 

 grapes, which they have tried and are pleased with, should be the choice 

 of the whole nation. Instead of an area of hardly a hundred miles over 

 which grape-growing in Germany extends, and on which several hundred 

 varieties are cultivated, we have several thousand miles here ; and yet we 

 insist (or some of us do) that one grape should adapt itself to all these dif- 

 ferent locations, and succeed well everywhere. They ask impossibilities, 

 and their just reward is disappointment and failure. It is time that we 

 learned to discriminate ; that we began to see that the success or failure 

 of our vineyards depends upon a wise choice of varieties adapted to our 

 locality, soil, and climate. Eighteen years of close observation, devoted to 

 grape-growing, have but tended to make me more cautious every year in 

 recommending any grape for general cultivation, until I do not feel quite 

 sure in recommending any variety before the other, even to the nearest 

 neighbor. If the idea were more generally entertained and followed, that 

 each variety of grapes requires a peculiar soil and climate, we should also 

 have more charity for the opinion of others whose experience in different 

 localities may differ materially from our own. 



It is because too little attention has been paid to this that the premiums 

 offered by liberal-minded men for the encouragement of grape-culture have 

 given rise to so much dissatisfaction. Those gentlemen, laudable as their 

 object undoubtedly was, failed in it because they asked impossibilities. 

 Let us glance at a few of the most prominent, and see what they require. 

 Mr. Greely offered his prize of a hundred dollars, the award of which, 

 both times, has given rise to so much dissatisfaction and comment ; which 



