PROF. BREWER'S LECTURE. 9 



there are cases somewhat analagous, where the best kinds of 

 certain other products are grown on old. rather than new 

 lands. Lot me cite some examples. 



The most noted wines come from old vineyards, on lands 

 long tilled. New vineyards often produce larger crops, but 

 wine? of the richest flavor, those which bring the highest price 

 in the market, come from old vineyards where the soil and the 

 vine it supports seem to be so especially adapted to each other 

 that the best wine is the result. Take the same variety of 

 grapes and plant it somewhere else, and it takes years before 

 the best results are produced, and when produced it is unlike 

 that of the original vineyard. It may be as good, but it is 

 not the same thing. A part of this change is due to the dif- 

 ferent soil, but it is equally certain that a part is due to the 

 change in the vine itself, it adapts itself to the new conditions, 

 and is more or less changed by the process. Go to any wine 

 cellar, look at the various brands and enquire the prices, and 

 you will see how striking is the proof of the fact stated. It is 

 the same with Tobacco. A few years ago, I made a long in- 

 vestigation of some matters relating to tobacco-growing, 

 and was surprised to find how universal was this same rule. 

 This crop is notoriously exhausting to the soil, and hence 

 flourishes with peculiar vigor on new and virgin soils, and has 

 been largely grown on such new soils, which often produce 

 very large crops, but rarely or never of the best quality. The 

 regions most noted for the excellence of the tobacco grown 

 almost universally, are regions long cultivated, and where the 

 varieties grown have originated on or become adapted to those 

 soils. The Connecticut valley, in our own State, the old soils 

 of Virginia and Cuba, settled and cultivated for one to four 

 centuries, are well known examples. And the same facts 

 may be seen in the choice brands of the old world, of Alsace, 

 of Turkey, Greece, Persia, and even China. In fact, I know 

 of no brands of tobacco celebrated for their excellence which 

 do not grow upon old lands, where special varieties have by 

 long cultivation become peculiarly adapted to the soil, climate 

 and other local conditions of their regions. 



We find similar facts with pastures. It is true that large 

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