A^JNUAL MEETING—1868. 
531 
With these preliminary remarks—for it seems to me only proper that he who 
undertakes to teach others should show (modestly it may be), his qualifica¬ 
tions—I will at once address myself to my task. 
Climate .—up any treatise you like on grape growing, and you find 
where spoken of at all, that the climate of this North-west is written 
down as unfit. And the opinion would no doubt be perfectly correct, if the 
controverting facts were less stubborn things. The isothermal character of 
our State, as written, is bad for us grape men, but as proven, is not bad at 
all. Grapes, at least the best varieties, ought not to grow here according to 
those who write of our climate in connection with grape-growing. But grow 
they do, and that too of the best kinds, and to perfection in quality, quan¬ 
tity and size, as you have all seen, particularly at the State Fair of 1867 and 
1868. 
Our summers, though short, are fierce, and what they lack in length is 
amply made up in intensity and the warm character of our soil. With the 
soil of Massachusetts, our grape-growing would be s(tmething like theirs— 
almost a failure. Hence it is that Eastern, and Southern, and Middle State 
men, judging by our latitude, are fully impressed with the belief that we can¬ 
not grow grapes in Wisconsin. Two years ago a party of gentle:::en, amateur 
grape-growers, from St. Louis, visited my garden in the grape season. They 
came, believing that our grape-growing was a pretension, an absurdity, and 
after trying with considerable diligence to find out in what way I had tied 
my bunches to the vine, they went away wondering how the thing was done 
in such a climate as ours. Even eating of the fruit did not seem to. quite 
convince them that it was genuine and grown in a legitimate manner. See¬ 
ing with their eyes, they saw not; yet the grapes were true grapes. 
We might, gentlemen, have a better climate, i. <?., one that would give us 
less trouble in protecting our vines in the winter, but we might also have one 
that would give us—what we know very little of—about as large an amount 
of disease as our neighbors in the East, in the Middle and Southwestern 
States complain of. Our State', in respect to grape-growing, is only another 
illustration of the wonderful and beautiful law of compensation, which we 
seldom fail to find in nature. What we lack in season is made up to us in 
soil. Our soil is suited to the character of our climate. I can say, with 
truth, and without fear of contradiction, that our climate inflicts less injury 
upon ouj* grape vines than upon anything else that we grow in our gardens or 
orchards. 
Soil .—According to almost every practical grape-grower, who writes upon 
grape-growing, a stiff clay, with sand enough for disintegration and plenty of 
lime washings, is the very best soil of any other for the vine ; and this is the 
soil that we have so much of in this State. My own experience is confirma¬ 
tory of this opinion, which seems to be generally admitted as true. I know 
that our old friend, Isaac Atwood, (as good authority as any we have in Wis¬ 
consin,) says that the vine will grow anywhere and everywhere in the State, 
