STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. g 



an account, chiefly derived from Champlain, in which he says, — 

 " Four leagues south of the Kennebec, following the direction of 

 the coast, there is a bay containing in its bosom a large number of 

 islands, from which are seen the lofty summits of mountains on 

 the main land. Eight leagues beyond, the river Chouacoet opens 

 in lat 43 deg. 45 min., having several islands near its entrance, 

 one of which was called by the French navigators the island of 

 Bacchus, and by our countrymen, Wiingaerden Eylandt, (Vineyard 

 Island,) from the great abundance of vines found growing there. 

 * * * Walnut trees grow here, but inferior to ours; 

 vines are abundant, and it is said by the French, that the grapes, 

 gathered in July, make good wine." (Folsom's History of Saco 

 and Biddeford, 1830, pp. H, 18.) 



"The 'Island of Bacchus,' with which the French navigators 

 were so much charmed, is doubtless Wood Island. At the present 

 time, however, the vine is not found there, nor the walnut." [Ibid 

 Appendix, A.) 



Jenness (Isles of Shoals, p. 15,) quotes the narrative of Cham- 

 plain, as trustworthy, and calls the island in question " Richman's 

 Island." 



Capt. Smith (1616) also speaks of "those rocky isles," as 

 "furnished with good woods, springs, fruits," &c., but I am in- 

 clined to think he refers to the Isles of Shoals. 



So great is the facility with which many European plants have 

 adapted themselves to this country, that without the aid of earlier 

 observers, it would be impossible, at this day to say as to many 

 trees and plants now found growing here, whether they are exotic, 

 or common to both hemispheres. And so, while the apple and 

 pear have become "nearly naturalized in the United States," and 

 trees of both may be found growing wild in thickets and in the 

 margins of woods in many places in New England, it is generally 

 admitted that no variety of either is indigenous to this section ; — 

 the choke berry [Pyrus arbutifolia,) and the several species of 

 thorns (Gratcegea,) probably furnishing the nearest approach to 

 them. But the spontaneous growth of other fruit-bearing trees, 

 shrubs and vines, together with the fertility of the soil and the 

 favorableness of the climate, as well as the high expectations * 



• *' The vines afiford great store of grapes, which are very big, both for the grape and 

 cluster; sweet and good. These be of two sorts, — red and white. There is likewise a 

 smaller kind of grape which groweth in the islands fot Massachusetts Bay,] which is 

 sooner ripe and more delectable; so that there is no known reason why as good wine may 



