Peoceedixgs of the Faemers' Club. 501 



ing apple, Wilson strawberry and Bai'tlctt pear, wliieli have proved 

 b}^ their hardiness and productiveness to be worthy of general culti- 

 vation. The sudden and extreme changeableness of our climate, the 

 ra^'ages of insect and disease, renders this country, with a few local 

 exceptions, rather unfavorable for growing successfully the finer 

 varieties of the grape ; but the C-oncord, which originated among the 

 cold bleak hills of New Hampshire, has such a strong, healthy foliage 

 and is naturally so vigorous and productive, enabling it to withstand 

 all these nntavorable conditions, and produce regular crops of fruit, 

 althongli not of such high (juality as to suit the fastidious taste of the 

 " amateur,'' yet, by the multitude, it is highly prized and freely pur- 

 chased at prices nearly equal to the " Delaware," or those other 

 varieties of a higher .--laudard, and for this reason it has been so highly 

 and justly lionored with the greedy prize for being the best grape, all 

 things considered, for general cultivation. I will speak very briefly 

 of the exposure, the soil and its preparation, the general management, 

 and the pecuniary advantages of grape culture. It has been the 

 practice in every country and in ;dl ages of the world, and is 

 no'in general!}' admitted, that a southeastern exposure is the most 

 favorable condition for the full devehipment of the grape. For 

 the moist and uniform temperature of Europe, as well as the south- 

 western portion of our continent, this exposure might possibly be 

 the best one to adopt, but in the northern and middle States, accord- 

 ing to my observation and experience an exposure, rather inclining 

 to the northwest 8U})[»lies that unifurm tem])erature that is so essen- 

 tial to a healthy gr(»wth of the vine. A vine planted in a warm, 

 sheltered location, will |)ut out too early in the spring, and will also 

 be more exposed to the extreme heat of summer; but the must 

 nntavorable feature of such a Avarm situation is that it will not 

 mature and ripen its wood, but still continue to grow like a "green," 

 heedless thing, only to have its "beauty" marred and "fond hopes" 

 blasted l)y an early fr(jst. But if it is located in a ])osition where 

 its cheek will be finned by the first c(»ld blast from the north, this 

 will gi\e nature warning to clothe hei'self with sufiicieiit jirotection 

 to guard against that danger. If the buds jire n<jt matured and the 

 wood well ripened in the fall, we ai-e (juite sure of missing a crop 

 the followiug year. It is a well estalfiished fact both with plants and 

 animals, that in a higher latitude nature clothes them with a thicker 

 protection tlum she does in a wai-nuir climate, hence the advantage 

 of a northern expusui-e has soine claims and is worthy of further 



