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S PREFATORY REMAEKS. 



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The present Descriptive Catalogue, although very full and complete in many departments, is 

 simply a business publication ; it being the intention of the writer to publish a " General Treatise 

 on the Vine" hereafter. 



It is divided into two sections — 



First, A Priced Catalogue of all the Foreign and American Varieties. 

 Second — Descriptions of Foreign and American Varieties. 



The prominent object to which public attention is now called, is Vineyard culture, for which 

 purpose none but the Indigenous species and varieties, of a perfectly rustic character, are appro- 

 priate — they alone possessin^r the hardihood and the freedom from mildew and from other 

 objections which apply invariably to every Foreign variety, and, so far as yet proven, to every 

 American variety grown from the seed of the tender and feeble Vitis vinifera. 



No greater blight could be inflicted on our prospective Vineyard Culture, than the recom- 

 mendation for that object of such feeble and unthrifty Vines as the Delaware, Rebecca, Clara, 

 Emily, Brinckle, &c. The failures which would inevitably result from such injudicious selections 

 would occasion such discouragement to Cultivators, that American "Wine-Culture would be thrown 

 back ten years at least. These varieties, though possessed of nearly all the desirable qualities 

 that have been ascribed to them, are only adapted to special Garden culture, where they can be 

 trained on walls or protected trellises, but they will never succeed in open uuproteeted field 

 culture. 



In the Selections to be made of Varieties for the Table, and for the Vineyard, it Avould be 

 unreasonable to expect that the qualities most desirable for each of these purposes could be found 

 combined in the same fruit, when they are so very dissimilar. The largest, most tender, sweet, 

 and melting varieties are desired for the dessert, whereas it is those least sweet, but most brisk, 

 sprightly and aromatic, and often those quite austere and astringent, that yield the choicest wines. 

 Furthermore, there is no celebrated Wine grape of large size, they all being quite small or medium, 

 a fact that can be rationally explained. 



Acclimation. — In this regard there exist very erroneous views. 'So Plant or Animal has 

 ever been acclimated in the existing race by any change of location, such amelioration attaches 

 only to their progeny. Seminal reproduction can alone effect any such change, and then only 

 gradually through succeeding generations. This results from a great natural Law, by which every 

 Animal, Tree, or Plant, partakes in a degree of the character of the climate and soil where it is 

 generated. 



The acclimation and improvement of the Persian Grape (Vrns vinifera) to its present condition 

 in France, has been a labor of 2000 years, and to render it hardy and vigorous enough to sustain 

 our climate (if such a result were possible), would require at least another 1000 years. 



AVhat folly, then, would it be for us to look to the feeble productions of incougenial climes, as 

 the hopeful parents of a hardy and vigorous progeny suitable to withstand the rigors of an Amer- 

 ican winter and the peculiarities of our summer climate. 



Should we not rather look to the robust and vigorous species of the Vine which God himself 

 has planted everywhere in the American forest, and which spring up Avildly throughout every 

 region of our country, mounting the loftiest trees, and spreading their tendrils far and wide. When 

 the Deity in his wisdom placed only one species of the Vine in the Eastern Hemisphere and planted 

 eight species in N^orth America, shall we question His intelligence, as thus manifested, by a disregard 

 to the rich treasure he has thus imparted to us! Or shall we not rather seek, by the seminal pro- 

 ductions which must result from our superior advantages, to obtain new and exquisite varieties 

 of the grape, which shall surpass in size, beauty and flavor, and especially in hardihood and robust 

 character, all which Europe has yet been able to present either in the shape of fruit for the dessert, 

 or in that of the most delicious and exhilarating Wines ? 



It is now about forty y ears since Wm. Prince named and introduced the Isabella Grape to public 

 notice. That Vine was then supposed to be of Southern origin, but our investigations have since 

 satisfied us that it is a Northern Vine and a native of this State. In the year 1830, Wm. R. Prince, 

 aided by Wm. Prince, published "A Treatise on the Vine," a volume of 355 pages octavo, in which 

 he demonstrated the fact that "God has pre-eminently stamped our country as the land of the Vine." 

 He urged most ardently upon his countrymen the immediate formation of extensive Vineyards, 



