454 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



it. The poetry of words may surround it with 

 certain charms, but it can make nothing more 

 of it. It is one of those productions of nature 

 which man can not reproduce by any of the 

 means at present at his command, however 

 closely he may seem to imitate it ; and it is 

 of these imitations, which are all more or less 

 hurtful, that we now propose to speak. 



It will have become very plain to the reader 

 that we have taken uncompromising ground 

 against adulterations in all their various and 

 specious forms. We did this many years ago, 

 after having witnessed their uniformly pernicious 

 effects, and we have neither read nor seen any 

 thing since to shake our faith in simple purity. 

 We do not mean to court popularity witli any 

 class of men at the sacrifice of our conscientious 

 convictions; neither shall we forget our self- 

 respect by applying opprobrious terms to those 

 who may differ from us. Our position is not 

 such a bad one that it needs bad arguments to 

 sustain it. Notwithstanding, we shall state our 

 convictions very plainly, but without mean- 

 ing to offend any one. 



There are certain kinds of adulterations, prac- 

 ticed especially in large cities, that are so gener- 

 ally recognized as being destructively poisonous 



