100 " Retrospective Criticism. 



at present extend my quotations farther, but, acknowledging tliat my zeal_ 

 for the improvement of West In(han agriculture, and the developeiiient of 

 all the rich and varied resources of those favoured regions, has led me, as 

 the lawyers say, to travel out of the record, conclude this part of the sub- 

 ject with a citation from a Ilaytian writer on the affairs of St. Domingo, in 

 support of my original position, that the grapevine is, when judiciously treated 

 at least, productive within tlie tropics in our West India islands, and that 

 there is no doubt of the manufacture of wine from its fruit admitting of being 

 added to the other objects of colonial industry and prosperity. 



The late Baron de Vastry, in his Reflexions poUtiques, siir qiielques Ouv- 

 rages etJournaux Frangais concernant Hayti, published in 1817,_s|)eaking of 

 the impohtic restrictions imposed upon the colonial industry of that island, 

 says, at p. 109., " Dans le Regime Colonial il etait pareillement defendu a 

 St. Domingue, de cultivcr le hie, et la vigne pour faire du vin,sou?. les peines 

 les plus severes " (Under the Colonial System, both the cultivation of 

 corn, and of the vine, for the purpose of manufacturing wine from its fruit, 

 were prohibited under the severest penalties) ; and he adds proof of this, in 

 a note, as follows : — " M. Soleil, habitant des Gonaives, ayant fait un vin 

 potable, en fitgoiiter a M. de Bellecombe, alorsGouverneur, qui, pourprix 

 de son zele et de son Industrie, le fit mettre en prison, et condamner a une 

 forte amende" (Monsieur Soleil, a planter of fionaiVes, having made a 

 drinkable wine, made Monsieur de Bellecombe, then governor, taste it, and 

 was, as a reward for his zeal and industry, imprisoned by this gentleman, 

 and condemned to pay a heavy fine). What the quality of the wine thus 

 made as a matter of experiment, and possibly with an imperfect knowledge 

 of the process, might have been, is immaterial to my purpose; the fact of its 

 being possible, and, I doubt not, advantageous also, to make wine from the 

 fruit of the grape vine in our West India islands, being the point I had at 

 heart to establish. Wine of an excellent quality may also be advantageously 

 manufactured from the succulent fruit of the Anacardium occidentale, or 

 Cashew apple, and many other West Indian fruits, on which subject, I be- 

 lieve, I troubled you with a letter some time since, which will, I hope, yet 

 appear in the Gardener's Magazine. 



I have not time at present to enter into the discussion of the important 

 fact of lunar influence on vegetation, within the tropics ; a fact perfectly 

 familiar to every West Indian planter. I shall merely observe that the 

 circulation of the sap is materially influenced by the lunar phases, rising 

 between the new and full, and falling between the full and new moons. An 

 attention to this fact is of the utmost importance, especially in cutting tim- 

 ber; since even the most valuable timbers of the tropics, if cut at an im- 

 proper time of the moon, will decay rapidly, while their duration, when cut 

 at the proper season, is almost eternal. I have myself made experiments 

 upon the growth of the Convolvulus dissectus, or Noyeau, which proved 

 the fact of this influence upon vegetation in the most clear and satisfactory 

 luanner. Hoping you will forgive the length of this letter, I remain. Sir, 

 yours, &c. — William Hamilton. 15. Oxford Place, Plymouth, Dec. 14. 1828. 

 Discussion relative to the Wages of Gardeners. — Sir, Having accidentallj^, 

 at the house of an acquaintance, met with your Magazine for Nov. 1828, 1 

 read with pleasure, under the head of Retrospective Criticism, the re- 

 marks of Z. and X. Y. Z. on the paper published in one of your early Num- 

 bers, on the subject of gardeners' wages, &c. I can only add, that I most 

 perfectly agree with them, and was so fully convinced of the mischief likely to 

 arise from placing such remarks in the hands of my gardener, that I imme- 

 diately discontinued the book, it being on this account comparatively useless. 

 I had afterwards an opportunity of knowing that I was not singular in my 

 decision. I regretted the necessity of giving it up, as from your Encyclo- 

 paedias, which I possess, I hoped to derive amusement and benefit from the 

 publication. A gentleman with an income of 2000/, would, according to 



