I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



647 



west unknown in their original locality, even 

 rivalling the Catawbas and Isabellas of those 

 sections. 



It seems to be a general law of nature, 

 illustrated in our forests and fields, that 

 some trees and grains will flourish in nearly 

 all localities and latitudes, while others are 

 particularly restricted to certain districts. 

 By this arrangement an all-wise Providence 

 diffuses blessings over our country and clime. 

 Each has its appropriate share in the gene- 

 ral munificence of the Creator, together 

 with luxuries peculiarly its own. The grape 

 is common, and almost universal; but the 

 varieties of this fruit are mutable and local, 

 capable of endless adaptation by human 

 skill. Hence this field for the culture of 

 the grape, upon the borders of which we 

 have scarcely entered, is, to the intelligent 

 cultivator, full of promise and reward. 



While it was formerly supposed that the 

 peculiar, and, to many, the disagreeable aro- 

 ma of our common grapes disqualified them 

 for the production of choice fruits and 

 wines, it has been proved, we think, beyond 

 a reasonable doubt, that the characteristic 

 designated, by way of contempt, as the fox 

 or pole-cat flavor, will hereafter constitute 

 one of the chief excellencies of our new 

 varieties, when, by the art of hybridization 

 and civilization, this flavor shall have been 

 modified and changed, by alliance with other 

 grapes of excellence that are destitute of 

 this quality. This flavor, thus improved, 

 seems destined to form a distinctive charac- 

 teristic of an important class of American 

 grapes, even to give them a marked superi- 

 ority over such varieties as the Black Ham- 

 burg, Sweet-water, and such other foreign 

 sorts as are destitute of any especial aroma, 

 and consist mainly of sugar and water. It 

 may yet make our seedlings rivals of the 

 Muscats, the Frontignacs, and other highly 

 flavored foreign grapes of the Old World. 

 Multitudes of seedlings, deriving their origin 

 from our native vines in various stages of 

 civilization, and with a special view to this 

 result, are now on probation in various parts 

 of our country. From these must necessa- 

 rily arise, in coming time, many sorts of 

 superior quality. 



What if the desire for new varieties has 

 become a mania ? What if it produce, here 

 and there, personal sacrifices and disappoint- 

 ments? What if, from want of skill, or 

 from adverse causes, many inferior or even 

 worthless varieties are produced ? The re- 



sult is certain. The time fast approaches 

 when the ultimate good will be realized, and 

 when America will become the great grape- 

 growing and wine-producing country of the 

 world. 



I admit, in respect to all our fruits, that, 

 as the number of varieties increases, more 

 judicious and severe discrimination in the 

 selection of very valuable, and in the rejec- 

 tion of comparatively inferior varieties, will 

 be demanded. This is the lesson which 

 past progress teaches us. What would the 

 gardener of fifty years ago have said, if he 

 had been told that his favorite Bon Chre- 

 tiens, Muscats and Blanquets, were soon to 

 be thrown into the shade forever ? Pie 

 would have shown as much incredulity as 

 some of our modern amateurs do when we 

 talk of future progress. The Duchess d'An- 

 gouleme, the Beurre . d' Anjou, Doyenne 

 Boussock, Beurre Superfin, Bartlett and 

 Seckel, had not revealed to him the vast 

 extent of improvement in fruits which was 

 to be made. What was true, in this re- 

 spect, fifty years ago, is equally applicable 

 to present varieties. The impossible has no 

 place in the history of progressive science, 

 whether relating to natural arts, or to me- 

 chanical industry. 



CONCLUSION. 



But, gentlemen, I have occupied my 

 share of your time and attention, yet I must 

 beg your indulgence in a few concluding 

 remarks. 



We have spoken here, and on former oc- 

 casions, of the advancement which has been 

 made in promology in our age and country. 

 This is to be ascribed in part to the great 

 scheme of Providence which has developed 

 such stupendous results in the march of 

 civilization and all the arts of life. Human 

 pursuits are allied by affinities so intimate, 

 that a remarkable discovery or improvement 

 in one advances them all. Never before has- 

 the public mind been so profoundly moved, 

 nor the energies of mankind so concentra- 

 ted upon efforts to relieve toil, to perfect 

 skill, to rew r ard labor, and to multiply the 

 comforts and blessings of life. 



Truly we live in an age of transition and 

 wonder ! The invention of to-day super- 

 sedes that of yesterday, and in its turn is 

 to be supplanted by that of to-morrow. No 

 enterprise, however bold, adventurous, or 

 vast, whether the construction of a railroad 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific; the lay- 



