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PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, F STREET, . |. 60
1827.

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, to wit :

BE it remembered, ‘That, on the 22nd day of November in the
year cf our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-
six, and of the Independence of the United States of Amer-
ica, the Fifticth, ISAAC G. HUT'LON, of the said District,
has deposited in this Office the title ofa Book, the right whereof
he claims as Author, in the words following, to wét :

_ Tbe Vigneron ; an Essay on the Culture of the Grape, and
the Sag age of Wine. By I. G. HUTTON, Honorary Member
of the N. York State Society for the Promotion of Agriculture
and the Arts.

“6 Deus nobis felicia vini

Dona dedit, tristes hominum quo munere fovit,

Reliquias; mundi solatus vite rujnam.”
PREDIUM RUSTICUM.

{n conformity to an®act of the Congress of the United States,
entitied “ An act for the encouragement of learning, by seeur-

ing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and

proprietors ofsuch copies during the times therein mentioned”
—and, also, to the act, entitled “ An act, supplementary to an
act, entitled ‘An act for the encouragement of learning, by
securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the au-
thors and proprietors of such copics during the times therein
mentioned,’ and ,extending the benefits thereof to the arts of
designing, engraving, and etching historical and other Prints.”

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my

Leet: hand, and affixed the public seal of my
L.S. +. office, the day and year aforesaid.
A EDM: I. LEE,

Clerk of the Dist. Columbite

Advertisement.

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"The Vigneron’” contains the result of
- several year’s inquiry and experience relative
2 to the culture of the vine. The form in
) , which it is now presented to the public is
s thought to be more suitable than prose to
> the desultory nature of the subject. Instruc-
~ tion cannot be gained so well from books as
from practice.

The object of this work is, therefore, not
only to elucidate the science of this branch of
Agriculture, and in part to harmonize the
conflicting opinions which have been ex-
pressed relative thereto; but, if possible, to
induce the reader to consider the impor-
tance of the subject, with a view to the re-
form of those evils which the culture of the
grape, and the substitution of wine for other
spirits, are well fitted to remedy. Critics
and literary cuthroats out of the question,
this production is submitted to the judg-
ment of those who are more particularly
concerned with its recommendations.

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ELS VIGNE LOM.

COLUMBIA’S wealth I sing, as yet unknown,
Tho’ doubtless since the earth last chose her poles,
Binding them fast in dreary circling ice,

And the sun shed on thee a genial ray,

And thy Almighty planter bade arise,
The first tall growth ; doubtless on it the vine
Hung her blue clusters in the autumnal sky,
Food for the passing bird, or the sparse race
Of man or beast inhabiting beneath.

But history shuts her eye on all the past,
And seals from keenest search the nariative
Of ages, numberless, forever gone.

In this what saith the Providence of Ileaven °
‘Look to the present and the coming days,
Let useless speculations be restrained,

*‘ And take the real blessings of my hand.’

Our fathers thought not of the purple stream
That asked their leave to flow, and was denied,
While the tall forest tree murmuring bore
The pendant pirate load of blushing grapes.

Then the vine roamed aloft from tree to tree,
Enamoured of the sweet refreshing breeze,

And all beneath was dreary, dank, and wild.
There crawled the deadly snake; and the wild beast
Rushed from his covert, when thro’ matted gloom
‘The red man’s arrow found his sly retreat.
Perched on the lofty branch, peering with caution,
The squirrel, skilled to store his winter’s food,

At man’s approach, screams loud his shrill alarm.

6 THE VIGNERON.

Our fathers came not from a land of wine;
Hence was extermination soon decreed
On the tall forest, and the’spiral vine.
The clanking ax, and all consuming fire
Aliowed the glebe to drink the sun’s full rays;
The plough, the hoe, disturbed the long repose
Of our old mother, she who feeds us still,

And frequent ears of corn their toil repaid.
Soon as the desert took the name of home
The apple tree was planted: patience was then

Coeval withits long minority.

Year after year blushed but a virgin bloom:

Year after year in vain the search for fruit,

Yet, let me not be thought Pomona’s foe,

While helf her gifts I spurn as meagre trash,

Unworthy of the palate, orthe mill,

Or the rich pastry shrine fair fingers form.

Should now the orchard feel the feller’s stroke,

Commissioned only to lay low the vile,

What havoc would ensue! yet wish I not

Yo pluck up apple trees to plant the vine,

Por this is needless. ‘There is room for both.
Even thou, Columbia, forty measured miles

Reach round thy quadrilateral domain,

Yet bound thy reason’s wishes; though around

The borders of her giant sisters spread,

From chill St. Croix to the far western Lakes,

Or inland Gceans, (such they may be called,)

To where Geography ’s in childhood still,—

Fabulous land, and rivers still unknown,

Save te the adventurer, whose narrative

Makes us, admiring, wish we had been there ;——-

Vast copper rocks, shewn but by Angel guides,

And islands where the sand is sparkling gold,,

Of which the sordid hand that dares essay

To touch a grain, falis palsied by his side,

And drops the tempting dust. The ghostly guard

PRACTICABILITY AND o7

Advancing, makes the hapless man his prey,
Unless with speed he hastes to his canoe,
*(His fragile vessel now: his only hope,)

If, haply, in th’ unfathomable deep,

The giant spirit, striding at his heels,

May get beyond his depth, and cease pursuit.
Let him return and guard the baneful coast;

Our little District boasts a better soil.

Seek ye, who wish, Missouri’s distant source,

Or the broad Mississippi’s bayou’d shores ;

Or the Columbia, where Pacific waves

Receive her tribute, brought from unknown lands.
Search out the land, and may you there find rest :
I envy not, nor offer hinderance,

Since thou, Columbia, from thy stony hills,

Canst shed a purple rill of rich Tokay,

And fill the ample vat, at labour’s call.

Yes, I have tasted it. What is’t to me,

If others choose the wine of France or Spain;
The taste, untutored at the vinter’s school,
Prefers it to the most “ particular’? brand.

And wo is he who swallows liquid fire,
Rejecting unsophisticated wine ;

Wo tothe bubbling witchcraft cauldron,

The styx where wholesome food to poison turns !.
What taste could relish it ? what infant lip

But turns in agony from such a draught ?

Mix it with sugar and the lemon’s juice,

Warm it, or cool it, and dilute it well,

And let the nutmeg hide its odious stench,

Then it goes down—and thus go fetid drugs.

See ye the yellow ague shake the land

From Dan to Beer-sheba? freezing in summer,
Or, maugre winter’s wind, drying the bones

With fire, I ween, that dropped from whiskey still.
As the corporeal, so the mental man

Feels the dire influence ofthe maddening draught,

8 ’ “ ADVANTAGES OF -

And latent rage lays wait for slight affray

Yo kindle into deadly raging fire. ~

Who has not grieved for Martin? who has checked |

The glow of indignation ’gainst the wretch, |

By whiskey heated up to murderous wrath,

Who pierced his bosom with the jagged slug.

The innocence of childhood is not safe,

Nor woman’s delicate endearing form.

When the drunkard rages, worst of ravenous beasts,

Father and husband are unmeaning names.

The tie he severs by th’ exploding spark.

Vengeance cries loudly ; but th’ unpleasing sound |

Suits not my present strain :—yet take one glance

One transient glance. Nay start not back ! approach

And with determined hand remove thie cause.
View, in one mingled mass thastill’s product, —

For but this age of ours, a spacious sea !

In it the ghosts ofall the slain behold,

Writhing in all their various agonies,

Like the deep groaning Kirauean lake.

There, midst a squalid group on yon black knoll,

The widow sighs. There flows a rill of tears.

There orphans sit, whose fathers are not dead.

Their cries for bread are lost in the wild roar

Of bitterest torment; for beyond you see

The brothel’s turmoil. In:the noisome flood,

Sinks, momently, the sad deluded wretch,

And momently the lifted head eructs

In nauseous accent, the dank poisonous fumes;

And notes of mirth and strife together rise,

With vomitings and groans of deadly sick,

And unrepenting desperate remorse

Yell hideous discord.
What to the healthful stomach can a flood

Of sheer erosion do but sap its powers?

Nature, offended, throws up her commission,

And art’s crude fire urges the nice machine,

CULTIVATING THE VINE. 9

Fora brief time, with more than natural speed..
Complain ye of Dyspepsia? endure
Your real sufferings, sprung of fictious wants,
Alike unknown to temperate toil and fare.
Need your craz’?d wheels of life essential oil f
Are ye so spiritless ye must drink spirits ?
Eschew such tinkering! learn to prize heaven’s gift.
Reject not “ wine, which cheereth God and man.”
Unlearn, depose your fictious nomenclature,
And learn to relish the true native juice,
Nor ask th’ adulterous tincture from the still.
Then undulating hills, in prospect wide,
Shall hold sojourner’s eyes in rapturous gaze
On vines entrusting to the chesnut pole,
The wine-grape’s cluster.and the desert’s pride.
He who is merry with excess of wine,
Is merry.—Crackling thorns under the pot,
‘And the fool’s laughter, leave no glowing coals;
No pleasing recollection, none of the warmth
Of virtuous energy, exalted thought,
Or generous purprose. Mirth is hungry fare.
‘And let him who has been deceived with wine
Hence forth repudiate its mockery.
Wine would not answer half of his intent,
Who wills to be a drunkard: for he dies
‘By his own hand, by more than dev’lish spite
Against his own existence: all agoge
To peep into the bottomless abyss ;
The which, by chymical affinity,
As wellas moral, seems a menstruum
Un which he may be blended with his kind.
‘Hell was prepared in mercy for the sot !
‘Where else could he retire? for from this earth,
‘With ever quickening speed he hastes away.
Spirits and water suit his taste. at first,
_ Then stronger and still stronger as he wheel
Along the spiral track of the vortex

10 INEFEMPERANCE DEPRECATED.

That-soon shall drink him up, unless, i in mercy,
Not often asked in hatred of the crime, ’
Not oft vouchsafed, he stands a miracle.

Let the imagination for a while
View the volcano’s lurid precipice.
Who can describe th’ affright that nature feels
When forth the lava issues fromthe cave
Where rage resistless unextinguished fires?
At times the heavens, portentous, spread a veil
Of darkness, and the distant thunder rolls, » _
-And lightning shews the horrid face of things.
‘The beasts, betake themselves to doubtful flight,
And oft their feet the trembling earth betrays. —
The sea no Jess partakes the general dread:
ler mighty bosomswells, her trembling waves,
Frightful and devious, dash the mountain rocks.
Then soar aloft on awful wings of fire,
As sails the thistle-down in autumn’s gale,
The massive vitreous rocks, to other lands ;
Leaving a flaming track that follows far behind.
‘Vhen from: her opening jaws, the molten earth
Prepares destruction for the: fated plain;
Horror stalks forth, andall is petrified :-—
‘Th’ engulphing torrent follows.—lIt is done:!
The city, that in pride and beauty shone,
Incindered and entombed, oblivion’s prey;
Sinks! unless accidental picks descend, |
By need, or antiquarian inquest urged.
When, in the lapse of years, the awful wave
Is cooled, congealed, and clothed in living greeny
Inducing. ‘him whom penury impels
To seek another home, there to retire;
Build him.a covering for his houseless ‘train.
And break the scorious earth, while providence
Befriends his labour, and the elements;
And changing year, attemper the dry glebe,
And verdure and abundance clothe the waste:

AN ERUPTION OF LAVA ll

Then the luxuriant vine yields her increase,

And humble labour drinks, and.lifts to God

An eye of gratitude, an honest heart. «>

Nature’s delightful works, spread. wide gcbnsiely

Shew nothing of the charnel house beneath,

Found when unsought, and sought for long in vain.

Let not the modest maiden’s eye explore

The subterranean streets and private rooms,

The temples; palaces and splendid baths.

There stare the lasting monuments of crime,

Sculptur’d obscenity, and luxury’s arts ;

The gorgeous banquet and the guest’s attired,

Readily inferred :—there, of the coquette’s form

Regardless, time has spared her jewelry.

The lordling’s haughty look is blotted out ;

Unknown his mouldering fragments from the

slave’s, 1

Save where th’ incarcerating chains are on.

He who endured the blight of poverty,

And he who made himself a fool with wine,

Met here a common death a common grave ;

Such Herculaneum, such Pompeii.
Sleeps, then, the vengeance of all ruling powers

Which not the prayer of Abraham could restrain ?

The cities of the plain were overthrown.

And Tyre and Sidon—where is all their pride

What tears were shed at Sion’s coming fall!

And yet Jerusalem fell!—What has not fallen,

Where is the prosperous city built with blood,

Or man, who, impious, hardeneth himself?
Shriek not, if, all around, the burning wave

Shew thy affrighted eye-balls the last ray,

‘Then seal thee up in deep oblivion.

Thence may the soul, to realms of peace and light,

Find easy egress. Fear Intemperance

That sweeps to hopeless shades his hecatombs:

Fear not the lurid sky, the molten earth,

12 AND ARDENT SPIRITS

The ocean straying from its usual bed,
The tremor, noise, and darkness that is felt.
Lava is an innoxious stream to that — OS Mm
Which dribbles from the alembic’s crooked neck..,
That deluges the land, insidiously,, | |
Under false labels—Medicine, Friendship, Wit.
_ See the lycanthropist in grisly rage, »
Or vacant body awfully reel along!
Better had it in lava been encased.— |
Speak to it—not a beast’s instinct/ remains !
An earthly spectre! there the man isnot!
A living dead! an open sepulchre toy 9
Whereinto youth and thoughtlessness oft fall! .
But not in vain, surely not all in vain
“ To advertise in verse a public pest,”
For him who, labouring with a good intent, —
Brings out a substitute delectable—
The honored, the acknowledged gift of heaven ! '
But wine can mock: and what of heaven’s best gifts
Has not been oft abused? Let the abuse
And not the blessing, be objected to.
What use hath brandy? Frenchmen once propos’d
The driving Cornish mills, where streams are not.
Or, when the Apothecary’s trembling scales,
Per recipe of Esculapian skill,
Deal cautiously, as rats-bane may be dealt.
Then and thus only give it tolerance.
Disdain, ye rulers, tho’ ye ruled in rags,
The filthy lucre drawn from taverns’ toll.
Where native wine abounds, intemperance
Alien becomes—expatriate it hence,
But nurse the vine with all your influence.
What do ye with the drunkard ? what is done
To maniacs, whether from fam’ly taint,
Or disappointed love, or care, or fright,
Or cause obscure, their malady took rise?
The mad house for the mad. Now, if you can,

ti

COMPARED, 15

Define the word inapposite to the druzk.

I’d wrench the murderous weapon from his hand,

And let the @rphan’s Court his substance guard’:

Should the asylum’s, discipline dislodge

The demon legion, let. himreassume 9.0

His trust,;and hold it during competence. -

But if this generation must be damned

To fire on earth, to fire—horror bars utterance !

Plant ye the grape before ye hence depart.

Another age will drink with temperate joy :

And thou O. sacred Wine, emblem of love,

Deeper and. higher far than thought can reach,

Thou shalt éfface the stain of drunkenness

From our else glorious land, and substitute |

Bland habits, ‘mental and domestic peace ;

As the black load of sin which bids him groan,

Whose conscience slumbers. not, falls off at. sight

Of blood and water on Mount Calvary’s brow.
Blood of the Son of God ! strange-virtues thine !

He who was dead shall live if-once ‘he taste’

The sacred stream, and know from whence it flows.

Blood of the.Son of God! when, (of thy flow,

Predictive,) the memorial of th’ escape

From Egypt’s bondage, as observed )by him

By whom all things. were finishedj.all fulfilled,

Thou wast appointed, when that feast was 0’er, |

Emblem of love unknown on earth before.

It was a heavenly strain that filled the air,

When the angelic escort hailed the birth

Of him whose life was all an act of love.

First when a guest at the connubial feast,

Water obeyed his half expressed desire,

And glowed and sparkled a delicious wine.

And last, what could he give? or what withhold ?

He gave, in wine, his very blood to drink.

“Do this in memoryof me: ’tis my blood,

B

14 YHE SACRAMENT Kc.

The pascal sacrifice for many slain. =

1 shall not drink thus of the vine’s product, |

Until I drink it in the reign of God.” —*
Beverage of heaven ! who shall presume to drink
‘1’ inebriation of thy’ holy stream?

Theme sacred! If a spark of heavenly fire
Be kindled, shall I quench it?) ye who war ©
With heaven, andthe best extacies that thrill
In human yeins, and bid men recognize —

Their heavenly origin; who deprecate —
The dawning day of long millennial rest
From evil’s domination—mirthless joy ;
Turn these few tedious pages, or go join
‘The drunkard’s‘song, and share his joyless mirth.

O thou art doubly dear, Heaven’s favourite gift,
When saints commemorate undying love, ~~
And feel its glow reflected each on each ;

While many a sweet remembrance fills the soul,
And silence best bespeaks the extacy ; ~

And circling all around, that sacred wing,

As erst upon the Head of the church, so now,
Seems to alight on all its humble parts,

And bind them in one common tie of love.

What pity that contention long has rent
Faith’s household! as if different hopes were theirs,
And different ends pursued: unmindful sure
Of the chaste emblem of commingling love—
The many berries, that make but one wine.

O, is it not at hand, the promised day

When he, the sire or falshdoe and deceit,

Shall be imprisoned ; and truth’s noon-day beams
Shed unobstructed, all-pervading® rays,

And every eye receive the heavenly light,

When the first favoured sons of liberty

Shall deem the tawny aboriginal .

Of kindred flesh, a brother anda friend, -

And at one table hold the sacred feast :

‘ON NATIVE GRAPES: 15

When Niger’s stream shall bear the notes of joys

Swelling, in'simple melody ; the song ¥

Of sable crowds, rejoicing in the light

Of gospel truth, and perfect liberty 1

When Niger’s streams shall hear no more the sigh

_ Of slaves, whom hope, kind hope forbears to mock

With the most distant view of happiness ;

When Greek and Mussulman shall join their hands

In mutual fraternity and peace »:

And Europe thirst no more for.power and. blood,

And Chinese leave their Pagods to the owls;

And hear, submissively, pure gospel truth :

While India’s, ample plains and fragrant woods, "

Rivgrs and mountains—all/ her populous clans

Joy at deliverance from their bloody rites,

And substitute the easy yoke of Christ.

Ah, the scene! opensias we farther go—

Let holy thought pursue ‘it. T return:

And to the vigneron’stoil, the homely Muse,

Unskilled in graceful cirelings, drops at once; ~
Ask not of transatlantic realms the Plants

That shall unfailingly reward thy care:

Here, sterner winters bite th’ sinshiclded: earth

With fructifying frost, at times too sharp

For frail exotics. Trust the native vine ;—

The Fox, the Bland, Schuylkill, and Gatagiba. : ;

These have writhietoekh the chill northwestern blast,

The-burhing sun-beams, and the summer’s drought,

The shade of trees, and most untimely rains. »

While naught of tillage at the root appears,

No pruning knife has lopped the useless growth

Of vagrant tendrils, yielding: only leaves.

What fromthe matted canopy that spreads,’

Untutored and at will, its tender shoots

Oc'r tall tap-rooted trees, can you expect ©

But grapes, (if grapes at all,). diminutive, ©

And branded witha yulpinary name,

Lé EXPERIMENTS RECOMMENDED.

Yet take the fox or-racoon and their kinds, ~~
Into thy fertile soil, and tend them well
And but a year or two:shall pass away;
Till a fair promise shall inspire thy: hope, ~~

Strange mysteries are in nature: It is-said’
The ivy and the vine grow not together.
And, note ye, do the pine’s unceasing shade,
The “walnui?s: odorous leaf, and fetid hatte
Offend the delicacy of the vine?
Some say the:quince tree blasts contifradas fruits :
Then catechise experiment. Offence
By some are given, others may give delight, —
And to thy cup transfer it, thrice endeared,
The product of thy soil, thy hand, thy mind.
Voes not the bean in. flower: receive a dye A hythe
From neighbouring plants of simultaneous bloom?
See how the. progeny confess the theft.
The leek and: rose, *tis said, when side by side,
Respectively a stronger odour: emieldaiy *
And let experience ponder and explore —
The varying forms and flavor and perfume,
That busy nature gives her curious workg, —
As if in playful mood, or else disposed
To recompence man’s curious research)

But let-us first by obvious means reclaim
The long neglected grape of native growth.»
Let the rich man, for whom adventurous ships
So long: have brought the wine of —— sami
And carried off our silver:and our gold, :
Revolve my exhortations in his mind;
Bid his attendants to! the weods repairj :
And bring him wherewith to experiment.:
Tis done.. The well stenneye si (bruise) nots

the seeds,): > -

Look like’ fallen warriours in a sea af bloods © |
Let the mass stand, fearless of the result < «*
Measure not success by the first-essay.. |

;

“ON NATIVE WINE.) . 17

Six hours :may be too short ; extend the time;

Note your, experiments on various fruits,

And soon, as in the oldest vineyard-lands :

Each shall account his plan-the paragon.

The mere gout of pale wine stands a short time.

By longer mashing, will the purple rind

Yield up, its. colouring and encysted sweets,

Others account itall unneedful toil

To bruise the grapes atall, Archimedes

Can press the pumice dry, bruised;or not bruised.

The serewerelaxed, economy supplies,

With limpid. water, the shrunk vesicles.

The mass well stirred about, again is pressed :

-And,a small table’ wine, abundant flows...

Happy the day when labour’s. urgent thirst

Shall,at the fatal pump or-tippling house, (I

No moré be’ quenchéd.in death or worse than death,

Tis done—the well, girthed tun can hold no more.

The weltering flood casts forth uliginous scum,

And watchful hands supply a purer juice. ,

But-of the pure blood of the grape beware.

A sextary may all’thy secrets tell;

it-may unseal thy lips,and blab that, out

Which cost the many a nice experiment, »

Ere half seven years, or half of that has, passed, »

For Galen’s law is abrogated now.

Nor make we wine. for men of future days,

Boiled or evapoured to tenacious gum ;

Nor do'we prize it for extraneous drugs,

As pungent herbs, or piteh, or turpentine ;

Nor yet: because,two hundred. leaves have drepped.

From the deciduous: grape since it was made,

Nor yet because.’tis weight for weight of gold.

We have a’ generous wine at twelve month’s old,

Maugre the squibs of Bacchanalian fools.

Let temperance taste and prejudice shall die.
Long may. | toil for you, ye pledding throng,

18 NATIVE GRAPES NEGLECTED.

Whose daily jabour checks but daily want, »:
(Of custom, you the soil, but not the seed,
E’er on your thirsty lips the rummer rest,
Decanting cheerfulness and rosy health.

What! hath the Muse already votaries gained?
See where the thrifty poor, now sally forth —
With baskets, to the humid slashes bound,

Where Tiber ’s tributary rills supply bl
The fox grape’s thirsty root, much fruit is there ;
But long may not remain. Geometry «>| '
Has spread its magic measurements; ‘and ‘soon >
‘he hum of commerce and the boatman’s voice
Will chase the mocking-bird and change the scene,
And these meandering streams be found no more :
For the far fetched canal will sweep along this vale.
Doth the Muse falsely prophesy? Will men choose
Sheer phantoms, and the good at hand reject?
Fen ‘as the youthful band that caught my eye,
Not to the grape, but to the bramble bush,’
Obsequious bend the knee. He deigns to shéd: ’
imperial purple on their outstretched hands.- aaah
“Twas thus to reyal dignity he rose; 9) 1 92> 4
The trees went forth to choose themselves a king,
And to the olive said reign overusjH-60 9 i
The peaceful plant refused the ofered: crown, ya
Pleased with its lot, to honour God and'man:
Nor would the fig treecast away herisweets) (0
‘lo go and ‘be promoted over them,
Then said the trees unto the vine, | ‘come thou
Reign over us; and thus the vine’replied #1) ©
MW hat! leave my wine that! cheereth God and ane
And go to be promoted over you?)9.) >!
Not thus the brambte.—Vile obreptiots weed’ '
Haste to thy doom, the flames; or if thou live,
O’er thriftless hedge-rows spread thy royal arms,
But-wake me not again from’my sweet dreams.
As if to suit the most fastidious taste, 9 uo

—— Oe

©LIMATE &C/ ADAPTED TO GRAPES. 19

Wine varies in the flavour.’ There ’s'no end»
In the variety: nor is there found »
A full solution for the subtile change.
Each climate has an influence of its own;
The season’s change the aspect, and the soil,
Each brings a tribute to the general whole. :
Ours is the latitude: and north and south,
For ten degrees each way the zone may stretch.
Along West Florida and Orleans’ coast,’
Through to the great Pacific, grapes will grow :
And northward, part of Canada may hope,
With native wine to cheer her winter’s gloom,
For seasons when the vine yields her increase,
Invoke not Bacchus, but the Living God
To smile upon the labours of thy hand,
And shield from blight its promised rich reward. '
Hath Heaven a favorite plant, it is the vine.
The aspect too, whether septentrial slope, ~~
The summit, or the slope'to the southeast,
Is matter for experience to decide. © -)—
Theory prefers the last or airy height,
But nature, in our District, plants the vine
Promiscuous o’er the hills, near running streams,
In deep alluvial, though not marshy lands.
And why? This is her climate: she asks not
Tor the sunny side of hills, but rather seeks
Congemul moisture, and congenial soil.
In every clime let nature be the guide.

On rich:alluvial Soils ‘a hope may rest
Securer then when built upon the rock.
The roots of plants by nice experiment +
Have oft been found descending to a depth:
Almost as great as the ascending growth.
Yet rocks are better than tough humid clay:
Midst these, by rains brought down from age to age
From neighbouring’ tite nos debris thick is

found. oy ead

ee al ae _-> i a a ss

20 MADEIRA.

“The vineyards of the far famed Hermitage,
Amongst the debris of its granite rocks,

Boast of the wine produced,.and well they may.
And where volcanic fires have spent their force,
The lava, once a fiery flaming sword,

Becomes, by time and. culture, fertile soil.

And there the grape its richest nectar yields :
The Mediterranean shores give proof of this ;
Madeira’s blackened rocks and scorious soil
Evince the same; yet the vine freely grows

On ared earth; clay, sand, and marle combined,
Unmixed with pumice stone. .'Such-soil have we,
And such a soil does-Adlum recommend,

The father of Columbia’s vineyards.

Madeira’s subterranean fires were quenched,
Long ere fond lovers found enchantment there,
Or raging flames had laid the forests low.
There cedars grew, and lignum klodium,
Pines, walnut, chesnut of superior growth,

Now flourish ; and who fells a tree is bound
Forthwith to plant another in its place. .
There, first in all the new-found heniisphere,
Grew the rich sugar cane, W whose fine purdiinty
Of vi'let fragrance, sank to disregard,

As bowed the forests to the princely vine.

The plains and scorious hills one livery wear,
All striped and girdled with the trellis rows, .
That pour their streams into.one reservoir,
The never failing fountain of her wealth.

Our verse, regardless oft of flowing sounds,
Will name Madeira’s chief varieties : |
Bual Barterdo Preta, Negro Mole,

Verdelha, and Boalerdo Branca,
Malvazia Rocho, Sercial Groca,
Alicant, Malvazia, Sercial,

Babosa Tarantey, Neprinha, Ferral,
Marotta, Lestrong Galija, Bringo,

ON SOILS: 21

Dodo de Dama, Alicante Branca,

Gasuda Neprinha de Agoa de Mel,

Muscatel, Malvaziam, Castelnaw, —

Uva de Lisboa, Preto, ‘The three first

(The rest rejected): would make better wine.
The Tinto grape gives wine like Burgundy,
But generally is blended. with the rest.
Reserving Malmsey, sweetest of the sweet,
Sercial, that of dry: wines is the best,

And a large desert fruit of massive bunch,

But lo! what toils of late, await the swain :

At ‘six feet depth his labouring pick must search
For humid soil, and there immerse the plant ;
Or where factitious streams may chear the root :
For the parched land pines for its desolate groves,
And: has not aught to shield it from the sun,

Or catch,the vagrant moisture of the clouds,

Or shed! abroad exhilerating: air.

Here, may the forest still retain due bounds,
And no such arduous culture, ask the grape.

From every land with care let us collect,

The costly lessons of Experience.

As yet no prejudice has shut:the eye

Upon the lightiof reason and: of truth.

And Ushall glory when: far inthe shade

These humble'lines dre cast, by: juster thought,
Were t required. ina, brief word tosay

What most requiresthe vigneron’s ceaseless searcR,
‘SO[L—its best:use and: culture were the theme.
_ ‘The earth is covered, like a gilded ball,

With a rich coating, yet aré. evident

Marks of attrition and commotion found.

In many«placeés, lay: uncovered! beds

Of solid clay.and rock and batren sands ;

In other places:an unmeasured depth

Of soil is found mingled with the aboves
Hence clayey, loamy, sandy, gravelly sot

22 LOCAL NAMES BY) WHIGH
Scorious, stony, chalky and thelike..)) ”

Thus far the muse, if muse that should be called)
Which strings prose matters up ins arene eye
Sheer Typographical convenience’, ..oc7 1 ©):
Reckless of collocation, rich and sweet): 254
Tho’ by the measuring rod of Milton scanived, ©:' 1
(Vhus school boys, striding ina giant’s track
With effort quaint, presume to keep his step. ep
And thou, O Mantuan bard; temerity
Itself must shrink from poaching on thy ground
I enter as a labourer—let me pass...’

Philips! when sweet facetious strains are named
*Tis almost sacrilege to name thee not: 5)

If e’er example could direct the foot iy
That knows no beaten path *twere thine. alotie:
Thus far the muse has culled from means’at hand,’
Experience, converse with observing men, 9 9 1)
And men who have long dwelt:in vineyard lands.’

From England, land of science and research,
Come my remarks’on soils. Invention there; —
Nursed by her mother, has supplied the lack
Of nature’s bounty, and transformed the waste -
Into productive fields: nor feared “to plant: >)
Somewhat, that may to human use radound.”’”

Soil in good heart will bear some stately: tree, ;
Congenial to its nature ; thus the oak,. ri
At Brampton, not at Cramford, ‘richly thrives, /)
At Cramford the witch-elm’shoots’ beautifully; ;
And beach in Sussex, elm ‘in Buckinghamshire.

To soils these local names Lave been: 1. ahem “

In Lincolnshire they talk of moory land, © * 4 7"
A dark and erumély soil, similar to that) y
In Leicestershire and Warwick called hehmauld,
Better for pasturage than for the plough. >)»
What they call hen-mould in Northamptonshire ©
And Huntingdonshire, isa rich firm earth, «0°
The best ef which is streaked with mouldy white.

SOILS ARE “DISTINGUISHED. 95

That in Northamptonshire called woodland soil

is damp and tough ; avegetable -earth,

Mixed with black clay that lays unmixed benéath.

Sand is in miniature the native rock; __

No soil is free from it, where it abounds:

Its colour as with clay, supplies the name.

A kealy soil, so called in Warwickshire,

(Bespread with slates and stones, hke mason’s
chips, ) | |

Freed from large stones, good crops of barley bears.

Lastly a loamy soil that from the plough |

Falls off in little flakes, called chisley land,

For wheat, or rye, or barley suitable ;

Thus, then, we judge of land by its product :

The plough discloses its particular kind,

The moory mellow earth turns freely up ;

The hen-mould when«firesh ploughed shews its
white streaks.

Sandy and pure loam soils turn easily

And make an even furrow. Chalky land

Is ever dry and hard. The stony soil

Falls as you may suppose, rough from the plough.

How to improve each soil be now our task. ©
Clay soils require most care in breaking up. .
The more of clay they have the more they need;
The plough, the sun, the air; and these at length
Will break the toughness. Let it be oft ploughed,
And to the depth the coat of earth admits.

Stiff is the clay of Thrapston, yet the care
In dressing, and the labours of the plough
Make it the richest in Northamptonshire.

Red clay requires most Jabour to subdue :
Deep and repeated ploughings break the clody.
And then manure of any kind does good. ;
The best is chalk, next ashes, lime, andsoot; | +
And dung, if well ploughed in, is of great use,

A field of red clay soil,” throughly dressed,

24 . RED CLAY SOIL. ..

Will keep in heart fifteen.or sixteen years. .

Indeed all clayey soils are much. the same: .

Neglected they are barren; but thus, sirsaned

No soil has greater, better qualities. ia

Till thus prepared, let nota clayey, sth

Be chosen for a vineyard :—thus PRSPAE

An ample vintage: will the cost repay. |

‘But let me reprehend the use of ‘dung ;

Tis said it sensible affects the wine, Yas

Italso drawstogether insecttribes: __

‘Yet, mixed with lime, no danger need be eet

The city’s nameless filth, on some wine lands,

Brings in abundance an ‘ill flavoured wine. j
From red clay. soils the. harvest comes in late,

And later in proportionto thedepth _,

Of the pure clay, that lies beneath the soil.

The soil when well prepared is good for wheat ;

And in dry seasons barley answers well.

Its long retained humidity. well suits

The English bean. Here clover nevets fails =

For turnips there’s no better soil than this.

In wood-lands or in pastures, this becomes

A darker coloured soil. With care and thought

Convert such pastures into arable.

Such pastures, if they catch the. wash of hill,

if dressed with river mud, yield, Plenteoueh:

Tho’ a few years of tilth, without manure _

W ould rob it of that rich luxuriance,

Which, but with cost and pains, can be restored,

Here the tap rooted tree has healthy growth,

And mounts aloft by steady slow advance.

A light and superficial soil yields food

To spreading roots—nzy for a while may. seem

To nurse the oak, but soon the exploring root

Finds there is naught beneath to feed upon.

‘The stunted horizontal limbs above,

Reprove the planter for his want of skill.

iP

YELLOW CLAY SOIL.

The trees that spread their roots in quest of food
Rob the contiguous growth. Notso with those
‘That deeply penetrate the pervious earth :

And such they are that suit the red clay soil.

Of yellow clay, as next of kin, we next ;
Shall take brief notice. Much that we have sais
Respecting red clay, will apply to this.

For yellow clay a sandy marle is best ;

But here with closest scrutiny observe

The difference between yellow clay and loam ;

The last is mixed with sand, the first is pure

Except alittle vegetable earth:

The more of this the richer; hence, to add

Black vegetable earth, will make the soil

A hazel mould, excellent for wheat or rye.

A yellow clay is poor, yet with good heart ;

Turn 4 the long tough flakes: plough deep an&
ort:

Lay up the land in ridges east and west,

And the sun’s rays will mellow down the clody,

‘Then see what is at hand—ifclayey marle

Avoid it, it is best for sandy land.

if no attention to these things be paid

Thy labour and thy confidence are lost.

VW here proper marle is not, dress first with sand,

Spare not in quantity ; loam thus is formed.

And hast thou sandy land, returning carts

May carry back stiff clay and spread it there :
This labour once well done, is done forever.
Next you may add well rotted stalks of plants ;
What pity corn stalks are so often lost

To every useful end ; excellent are they

When decomposed, for land of which we speak;
Saw dust isalso excellent; ashes, too,

Break the tenacity and nurse the soil

| With genial warmth. The soil when thus subdued.

May with great profit be manured with seot.
€

4, .
26 WHITE GLAY SOLES.

Lastly, by burning this or red clay soil
Fertility ensues. The calcined heaps
Become manure for that or other lands. :
Tho’ red clay bottom lands are good for grass;
Tis not so with the yellow. Upland grounds
Free from o’erflowing and excess of wet,
Suit the more plastic texture of this soil;
There cowslips flourish and few weeds are found,
Save thistles, which all hearty lands produce.
Pastures on yellow clay soil guard from wet
By trenching deep. Uplands may thus be made
To yield their utmost gain; let them be dressed
With hay stack bottoms, (both manure and seed, }
With dung and mud from river, ditch, or pond,
Well mixed and spread when signs of rain appear,
So that the sun dry not its virtues up,
But these be drunk by the retentive soil.
In timber trees no postdiluvian need,
In hope of personal gain, plant such a soil,
Unless long shaggy moss be all he asks.
And he who loves not rotten hearted fruit,
Must plant his orchard on some other soil.
And thou, O favourite vine, shun yellow clay.
Men often talk and write about clay soil,
What say they? ‘something nothing’ right and
wrong
They lead their proselytes. Houghton has said
‘That ‘clay contains a fourth part of fine sand?’ :
-True of the red, not always of the yellow,
And white without a particle is found.
White clay requires another mode of tilth
‘From the aborts Now his care must be
‘Yo guard lest it be too much pulverized.
This land with soot baulks not the reaper’s hope :
kight bushels for the acre well sufiice—
ight loads of good manure the substitute ;
Aid tusf well mingled, metlowed a long wliile

BLACK GLAY SOLES ae

With the manure, answers extremely well.
Let industry thus multiply thy means,
And these applied with judgment : then aghast?
Lank laziness shall stand, with wondering stare,
To see thy heavy sheaves at harvest home,
Brought from the white faced plaines he litflé
prized.
For pasturage or trees or pleasant fruit ;
This soil with profit cannot be employed.
Black clay, the richest in its native state,
Ry skilful culture, doubles its product.
This soil contains more sand than the two first,
More vegetable mould; yet not so short ;
And delicate to manage as the white.
A little rich manure, and lightly ploughed,
This land will render back a rich return.
That which when somewhat wet sticks to the
plough,
Is purer clay. Here modify thy mood ;
Marle and more manure is here required,
But sandy composts here are not required.
As this is usually a low land ground,
Lay it as high as may be with the plough ;
Abounding moisture is its common foe.
If thou wouldst see the magic of manure,
The pigeon house will furnish thee the means. _
Manure from hence sprinkled when barley ’s sown,
At harvest will convince thee of its power. | ©
In pasture, black clay asks but little care :
If you will dress it, spread well rotted dung,
When rgins descend, that they may wash it in.
If it be intermixed with stones beneath,
Here trees will prosper; but if solid clay
That long detains the wet, oft mortal chills
Bring swift destruction. Here plant not the yjoe.
Loam soil is the most common, hence oft called,
Tire mother earth; all plants will grow ‘in it

Qs LOAM: SOEL.

But ’tis the part of art to make them thrive.
Its composition is of clay and sand,
With more or less of vegetable earth.
Let patient inquiry be still alert
And see what most preponderates; then with skill
Unfailling of success, suit the manure.
Burned turf, and lime and hog’s manure have beew.
With great sucess applied to clayey loam ;
And strange as it may seem, as good manure
From farriers’ shops and tanyards may be had.
Worn shavings, hoofs, scrapings and scraps of skit
On clayey loam a sandy compost spread,
On sandy loam the opposite observe ;
Spread clay and river mud and rotten. turf,
When vegetable mould preponderates,
Soot, yielding genial warmth, is requisite.
A stony gravelly loam of little worth
To indolence, by industrious is-made
A very fruitful soil. Bring out your store,
From stable, cow and hog and poultry yard,
Mix it with mud from river, ditch or pond;
And the large heaps, already in the field,
Cover with fresh cut turf and let it rest.
When mellow spread it, rains will wash it in..
Consult your leisure and your judgment too :
Let not this work be done in summer’s heat ;
He who regards not this may toil in vain,
Compare with him whose mind directs his hand.
‘The moisture of manure is its best part.—
On loam soil, trees and grass will kindly grow.
On sandy soil our inquest next we hold. |
Pure sand is different from a sandy soil,
Yet sardy soil is crumbly loose and light.
A soil that holds together, yet consists
In greatest part of sand, is sandy loam.
Of sandy soil, the definition is
Neither prue sand, nor yet much else than sand,

SANDY SOIL. 29

And named red, yellow, white, and black; the last
From mixture of black vegetable earth.
A sandy soil is generally but poor,
Yet with judicous dressing yields good crops.
These soils are dry and Warm ; the danger is
Lest its quick products immaturely die:
No soil so illy bears continued drought.
Yet this great evil, will good dressing cure,
While the advantage of quick growth remains.
Good management two or three crops may reap
¥n each revolving year, from such a soil.
Soil that is very sandy should be dressed
With clay—this gives it a consistency ;
Then spread manure well mixed with mud or turf
As heretofore described.—Undressed with clay,
Unmixed with mud or turf, the pure manure
Would be engulphed and lost in the deep sand.
For generally beneath the soil, there lays
A. strata of loose gravel that absorbs,
By every rain that wherewith thoughless hands
Might think to fertilize the barren plain.
The poorest of these soils are often deep.
This process gives a steril sandy land
A warmth at heart. To plough it very deep,
Burying old rags, skins, hoofs and the like things,
Then spreading on the compost just prescribed.
My reputation for veracity
I would not risk, to tell the ignorant
What wonderous virtues are in filthy rags,
And those that ere have seen need not be told.
A land called chisley some account a joam,
Yet as a touch dissolves the brittle flakes,
Or slightest frost, it may be called a sand.
This dressed with dung alone, will give good
crops.
In a wet season, barley, wheat or oats
Do well on sandy soil. But great’s the risk

30 KOR WHAT ADAPTED.

In case of drought. ’Tis dressing saves the crep,
For turnips and all other esculent roots
This is a favourite soil. Here they are free
From worms that cannot burrow in dry soil,
Potatoes, not to name would be a slight
Unmerited by that much valued root;
And carrots also and liguminous tribes
All grow delightfully in sandy soil.
A little but rich wine this soil will yield.
Some think no pastures in the world excell,
‘The yellow sandy soil in Oxfordshire,
With a large share of vegetable earth
By nature mingled : while continued care
Gives frequent dressings with the compost namet.
For kitchen gardens, this or sandy loam
Would 1 select, if fortune left me free
Conveniently to make what choice I would.

Such sandy soil as cannot give support,
Nor a firm hold, nor moisture to the root,
Suits not the forest tree. Except, indeed,
‘Yo nurse the seedlings to convenient size.
With shrubs, small fruit trees, and perhaps the vine
‘his soil agrees; but, as of Marcley-hill,
“T nor advise, nor reprehend the choice”
Of sandy soils for vineyatds. They perhaps
Were better thus than otherwise employed.
1 judge no soil would bring a better wine,
And none from mildew better guard the crop.
Not the mere surface, but the depth below,
if vou would be assured of success,
Must be explored; and once in two or three years
An ample dressing must sustain the growth.
Judgment must guide, for not a close research
Respecting soils, in vineyard lands we find;
Yet by naling we safely judge:
And here the apology, if such be asked,
For allthis inguiry regarding soils.

soi, &c. ADAPTED TO GRAPES. $i

In Spain they deem both sandy and wheat land
Unsuited for the grape. Their favourite soil
Is what the English would call chisley land :
Their next best is red clayey. Hence we see
That stiff sequacious clay no where will suit
‘The vine, that lives not in cold plastic earth.
Spain has not often a cloud-blotted sky :
Phere, note ye, how around the thirsty root,
The wide expanded concave spreads its brim,
That stragling drops may meet in confluence there.
Elsewhere the vine may thrive in sandy soil.
The northern limits of the grape’s broad zone,
Where rain most frequent falls, grapes may do best
In sandy soil. Where parching drought prevails,
’,Twere vain in sandy soil to plant the vine,
Unless factitious streams may shed at will,
O’er all the land, their fertilizing store.
In valleys where there is a proper soil,
The grape in southern climates will do well.
From winter’s rain the Spaniards thus protect
‘Their valley vineyards. They are deeply dug,
And thrown in ridges up towards the stem ;
The mid-way furrow draines superfluous wet.
Then in the spring, when the young shoots can
bear
The vigneron’s careful contact, he again
Digs all the superfice and leaves it smooth;
But not as deep as when he dug it last.
And when the grape has nearly got its growth,
Before it ripens, he again bestows
A shallow diging ; then the spade must rest,
Where ’er the vineyard be, ’tis nature’s law.
With us ’tis much the same. With tassled corn,
The time arrives when hoes must cease to stir
The fruit-sustaining soil. ’Tis thus with mind:
The pedant, ever pondering o’er his books,
May be a fool, though learned, not less than he

$2 GRAVEL & STONY SOILS.

Who never learned toread. Lay the broad base

in early culture: let the vigorous growth

On it, not on thy tutoring rely.

Nature is uniform in all her works:

The philosophic tiller of the soil, |

iHer happiest favorite, shall her secretslearn.
From this digression, which is meant to show

‘How much the climaée has to do with soils,

We will return to our remarks on soils.

That which is a mere gravel least deserves

The care and labour of the husbandman.

Yet stony soils, forbiding at first sight,

Have often a productive earth beneath.

Manure, adapted to that hidden soil,

And so laid on that rains may wash it in,

Is hid, indeed, from view, and from the sun,

But roots can find it, and a moisture dwells

Beneath the stones and feed the stalk and ear.

Here trees, if trees are found, find far beneath

Their sustenance, and injure not the grain.

Here beech trees grow; see then if vines are found

To flourish near the beech, and judge and act.
On chalky soils, as on bare gravelly soils,

Folding of sheep is found of great account.

But we will pass.—The last that claims our thought

Is mellow earth or vegetable mould ;

In marshes, fens and praries often found

Beneath the sward, unmixed with other soil.

Oft in deep beds this fine black mould is found;

Spongy when wet, when dry it crumbles down

Toa fine powder. Peat ground some suppose

Nearly allied to this: it differs thus :

The soil, where peat is found, will often shake

Beneath the heavy tread ; the peat itself

fs a tough spongy substance, black or brown;

Of parts of plants composed; flag leaves, stems,

roots,

YEGETABLE MOWLb. 35

Gemented by a pitchy bitumen:

When wet it cuts with ease: it breaks when dry,
And shows a shining fracture. Plough with cafe
‘The soil that lies upon a bed of peat,

For peat is steril as the naked rock,

The ashes only may be used on land.

is said that in our District peat is found.

This mellow earth is oft called moory land.
There is a kind called fen land, mixed with clay
Of a dark colour: when this soil is wet
*Tis somewhat plastic ; and more firm when dry.
The bed of clay that lies beneath this soil

Often subjects it to injurious wet.—

This evil shuned, clay renders such a soil

Fit for the growth of grain, which, else, ’tis not :
Unless, as usual with moory land,

Sand give it the required solidity.

When portions of both sand and clay are found
“In this rich mould, then hath it not a peer,
But little dressing does this land require;

The compound being right, stable manure

Is all it asks, at times to renovate

its powers, exhausted by repeated crops.

In grass it answers best. Trees seldom thrive :
The willow tree “ rejoices in rich mould,”
The willow tree alone adorns the fen.

A sable ground may yield “ most ample fruit
Of beauteous form and pleasing to the sight,
But to the tongue inelegant and flat.”

As mellow earth partakes of other soils

So doth its products vary, Where there’s loam
In small proportion, there white poplars thrive.
This earth when still less pure, gives common trees
A rapid growth; but rapid the decay

Of timber thus produced. Hence let us learn
When nature is our guide, she’ll be our friend.
Each soil has its own product, and ’tis that

a4 PURE CLAYS:

Which under our improvement best succeeds.
Of various earths combined, we have said much}

And more have left unsaid, yet briefer still

Shall be our view of these in their pure state.
Red clay is found at a small depth below

The soil of which it forms the greatest part.

€anals or ponds may be secured by this

From leakage: let it be well beaten down,

‘Then spread with stones, and these well beaten ii

*Twill be as firm and durable as lead.

‘This and choped hay is used for pice work,

For wall a substitute not to be scorned.

This clay calcined and sprinkled o’er the grounds

For pastures or for grain is excellent ;

And may be used in potteries and for bricks:
Yellow clay oft is found as pure as red,

But wants its firmness, and more readily

Dissolves in water to a sobby mess.

This, duely mixed with loam or sand, excells

For earthen ware or bricks; a bed of this

By nature well prepared, is a rich boon.

Of this the ware of Staffordshire is made.

The best is firm and tough and streaked with white.
Pure black clay is not common, there’s a kind

Of which pipes may be made, that, burnt, are white.

‘The common kind is blueish—used for tiles.

‘Shere is a black clay which when burned is red ;

Another of a dusky leaden hue,

Makes a good ware, and burns a yellow white.
White clay is valuable though various,

For instance, that from Pool in Dorsestshire

is very tough, that from the Isle of Wight

ts somewhat brittle—they are both combined

And make the pipe clay of most common use.

Now this would I advise, when e’er you find

A specimen of clay, try it by fire ;

Tf it have faults, these other clays may mend ;

-

LOAMS, O€HBE, &c. 35

if well it promise, search at greater depth.
Loam when unfit for culture, serves for bricks.
_ Try a small piece; if to a briliant red
It quickly burn, deem it well worth thy thought,
There is a brown loam, worthy to be named,
Of which blue bricks are made, and Roman urng,
Found at this day in Kent. Some loams are used
In figuring and in staining earthen ware.
But what is most deserving of regard,
Js a harsh feeling loam, a yellow brown ;
“Composed of a large grained micacious sand,
And yellow clay. He who shall find these mixed,
Or mix them, and therewith make good fire bri¢k,
May deem himself a rich and usefui man.
On the Potomac’s margin, as yuu go
From Georgetown to the Falls, this sand is found,
(if not the loam well mixed,) else I misjudge,

Sand, Gravel, Chalk we shall not now discuss.

An olive coloured marl, called Fudlers Earth.
Is used in manufactories and on land;

And found at no great depth beneath the soil.
A skillful search for this will not be yain.

Ochres, when found in lumps in beds of clay,
May, with good prospect of success, be sought
Beneath the bed of clay—Well worth the search.

Marle might be mentioned, not as simple earth,
‘But as the king and chief of all manures. tire
Nature has done her part with bounteous hand,
Man’s ignorance or indolence forbids
Our drooping fields to riot on the food
She has prepared, and left within his reach. .
Has not the least inquiring eye observed __
Somewhat that is not rock, nor clay, nor sand~
A soapy ora laminated mass,

Yellow, blue, red, white, or of leaden hue,
That crackles in the fire, in water melts,
©r on the land crumbles in open 4ir,

56 MARLEE. ¢

And spreads arround a fertilising cream ?

© try it, pure, or mixed with clay or sand ;

Only, adapt it to the proper soil ;

And, persevereing, you will soon discern

Your. labour well repaid ; and bless the hand

That, ever bounteous, forms not aught in vain:
A sandy soil is much improved by marle,

But use the clayey kind: this oft is found

Ata small depth beneath a clayey soil.

Some to the acre use but twenty loads,

And foolishly complain no good is done ;

Others profusely bury up the soil—

Fifteen to eighteen hundred loads they ’Il use.

One to four hundred loads is deemed enough.

When well adapted, smaller quantum serves.

An acre that could scarcely bring a weed,

Four hundred loads of good fat marle restored,

Which, for four years, equaled the best of land.

Some lands, for twenty or for thirty years,

Retain their richness when well dressed with marie,

Such richness as the farm-yard can’t impart.

In using it, observe, the stony kind

In the young year is spread, or left in heaps

To crumble by the influence of the air.

The clayey marle in summer is applied,

Whe loamy spread in autumn, after which,

Sandy and pure marle (these for clay ground fit)

Should be well spread and mingled with the soit:

And thus no day throughout the circling year,

‘Need pass unoccupied to good account,

Whether to corn or wine thy wishes tend.
River mud, generally, is mellow earth,

And, as manure, gives brief fertility.

With this, in planting cuttings of the vine,

Sure work is made: first, in an oblong hole

The cutting horisontally is laid along,

With the top upwards bent, this batter then

RIVER MUD. ae

Is dashed upon it ; then the ambient earth
Detains the moisture till the far spread root,
Secures the youthful plant its sustenance.
Clay isan excellent manure for sand,
But if so tough as to remain in cakes
In spite of plough or harrow, then apply
Loam which will oft ameliorate a soil
In which clay will not mix and dung is lost.
Both sandand gravel will return to clay
An equal benefit to that received :
The coarsest sand best breaks the jejune clay ;
The finest sea sand fertilizes most.
Ten tons per acre make a good wheat land,
And thickest, sweetest grass is thus produced.
For cold lands horse manure is suitable,
And cow manure is better for hot soils.
These when well rotted must be soon ploughed in,
Or their best properties are lost in air.
When high in ferment, mix them well with earth,
Such as will mend the soil; thus you may check
Annoying weeds and worms and the tall growth
Of stems productive more of leaves than fruit,
Soils that produce much straw and little ears,
May be improved by burning; and I judge
All scorious substances will urge the vine
To yield rich bunches and restrain the growth
Of far spread fruitless limbs and foliage :
Hence ashes are approved for this intent,
And smoking horse manure as much condemned,
This last and all its kind have been compared
To yeast—a little leavens the whole lump,
But more effectually when first combined
With a small portion of th’ intended mass.
Yeast has itself been used with great effect.
These hints may well suffice observant minds,
And they whv follow books best not go far.
Books may propose and counsel, thou must judge.

D

38 MANURES JN/ GENERAL.

The foodeof plants, thusrskilfullyoapplied,*

Willmakethy wine press burst forth with new wine,

And ample:granaries bend beneath their load, ~

Strewing, thy:-pathowith the best joys:of life.

To him who entered thy confiding»breast, |

(Thy service rendered;.and thy-cash ail gone,).

Thy visits oft-are made when ‘‘he’siengaged:”

Thy parent earth, thy ever faithful friend, |

Greets thee with:new discoveries of her love, —

Delights thy senses and'‘adgmentsithy store,

And alb thy labour withinew. strength repays.
Salt when profusely sc.ttered o’er the ground,

Produces barrenness; yet accident

Has proved its virtues to observant man.

Wheat, from a stranded vessel, has been found

To grow luxuriantly and free from smut, »

And by unusual tides, the poorest/lands

Have been madefruitful; and have been kept so)

_ By following nature’s hint, and) sowing salt..

Two bushels to the acre was prescribed

By England’s ancient agriculturalists ;

The moderns deem three bushels not too much

* ‘the foliowing beautiful paragraph from Sir H. Davy’s Ag-:
ricultural Chemistry, contains a wor!d of instruction on .this;
snbject. oy

* The doctrine of the proper application of manures from or-+
ganized substances, offers an iliustvation of an important part of)
the economy of nature, and of the happy order in which it is ar-)
ranged. » The death and decay of animal substances tend to re-'
svive organized forms into chemical constituents ; and the per-'
nicious effluvia disengaged in the process, scem to point out they
propriety of burying them in the soil, where they are fitt. d to be=)
come the food of vegetables. “he fermentation and putrefaction)
of organized substances in the free atmosphere, are noxious pro-)
cesses ; beneath the surface of the ground they are saiutary ope-
rations. - In this case the food of plants is prepared where it can)
be used;_and that which wouid offend the senses and injure the:
health, if exposed, is converted by gradual processes into forms:
of beauty and of usefullness ; the fetid gas is rendered a constitus:
ent of the aroma of the flower, and what might be poison, be-
comes hourishment to animals and to man,

STUDY OF SOILS RECOMMENDED. 39

For the first dressing of the poorest soil;

Afterwards, one per acre is enough.

This species of manure suits every soil:

And with the seed in sowing lay it on.

Sea weed, collected and at once ploughed in,

Gives the soil energy for two or three years.

And sea shells half calcined and their young spawn,

And parts of trees and plants, wood, leaves and

bark,

As that from tanyards,—all is good manure ;

And better yet, perhaps, for hasty growth,

All animal substance, offal of beast or fish ;

But a bland compost throughly decayed

The vine’s luxuriancy alone should prompt.

The farm yard’s obvious manures ask not

A special notice; we have saught to bring

‘tore jlatent treasure to the Vigneron’s view,

That he may know all soils and all manures

And find resource of fertility

Where ignorance would think all effort vain.
Geology has formed her alphabet,

Let the observing farmer therewith spell

The nature, use and tilth of every soil,

With accuracy science only knows.

*T will guide him when he seeks himself a home,

And if he have one keep him there content:

While ignorance forsakes his worn out land,

Seeks others, these depraves, and thence removes-¢

The rudest waste perhaps may bring a wine,

In guantum small, in quality the best ;

Hast thou such fruitless lands in thy domain,

There plant the vine, and make th’ experiment ;
ut look not there for bunches that the fox

Might leape at, while his dernier resort

W ould be to call that sour he could not reach.

Keep the vine closely pruned and near the earth,

And thus a vintage, not to be despised, '

40 CITE FOR A VINEYARD.

Bedecks the barren soil: what other crop
Could ever bring a better revenue?

What ever land thy judgement shall decree,
Convenience or economy prescribe
For the vine’s precincts; there let fire consume
The tangling brush wood and disgraceful weeds.
Should it, for instance, be a southern steep,
Cross ways from east to westthe busy plough
On the descent should form alternate plains,
A vista where the planter works at ease ;
Then copious showers will feed the thrifty plants,
But let not stagnant water mar the ground:
The senllion’s wash, and vermiparous filth,
And noisome offal shun with pious care.
Yet spare not rich compost: the faithful soil
Will recompence thee double for thy cost,
Phe pigeon house, and hen roost yield manure
That none niihigis ae batall, when mixed with lime,
Or ashes or what e’cr the soil requires,
(¥or thou hast learned its nature,) do much good.
Be the soil what it may, | most commend
To let calcareous energy provoke
Nature’s mysterious reproductive powers ;
A wonder that remains when wonderers
Drops into the vast laboratory.

Is there nodeath in death? does death prorogue
But congregated life, and bid the parts
Go search for new associates, some to earth
Grossly assembled. some too pure for sight,
To roam the air, and feed respiring lungs,
Or leaves, the pnlmonaries of the plant;
Others to feed the stomach or the root,
With water, sugar, mucilage, and oil,
Carbon, phosphorous, and calcareous earth,
(As sayeth the assayer,) though ten thousand

shapes

And palpable appearance, taste and smelt,

REFLECTIONS ON VEGETATION &c. 4}

Mock our minutest search of natures change.
First how the vagrant molucles can find

Their kindred in the germinating seed

Or swelling bud. For instance what was grass
A year ago, can it presume to mix

With the nectarious sap that feeds the vine ?
Again: who would abide the humbling thought
That the rich draught that nerved Ulysses arm,
Flashed from his eye, and gave his arrows flight,
WV hen all but Phemius felt his jealous rage,

TIas since, a thousand times in foul embrace,
Become rank weeds that flourish round his grave.
The cup perhapsthat gave the deathless glow
To song that lives when. pyramids decay ;

Yea, for a hundred ages, has it been

Exhaled to heaven and merge into the sea,
And in its changes taken forms of life.

The mighty power that bids these changes roll,
Knows that the wisdom of the wise is vain,

As microscopic tenants of a drop,

Lording it each o’er each, to us would seem.
What if man’s vigorous orb take in its view

A Quito’s plain? Or his gigantic thought

To Chimborasean heights undazzied rise ?

lf there anuther “himborazo towered,

Another Quito’s plain as wide were stretched ;
(Arduous research, and demonstration clear ;)
These and an hundred more if thou ascend,
Vain wisdom of a worm! canst thou from thence
Subtend an angle to infinity ?

* hat hast thou seen and known? thy paralax
Is a lean cipher at its utmost stretch.

The humble heart, the lamp of sacred o1',

By grace supplied, sends upward to its source
A purer flame ; sheds clearer light around
Then awful avalanchs’ cold fitful glare.

Proud science, will thy tangent ever mieet

42 PAUCITY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

The secant of the good man’s thought of love,
Ascending uncontroled by finitude ?
Thou know’st (and at the tho’t let thy crest cower)
That the remotest star’s unmeasured bound
Brings thee no nearer than the startling point.
Him who inhabiteth eternity
To fear and love in truth, is Wisdom’s wing
That palls not in its flight, but gains the goal.
‘This wisdom may be his who tills the soil ;
His who enchains the soul with silver tongue ;.
His who a nation’s destinies conirouls ;
And his whom knowledge lifts above his kind.
Be mine the humblest lot-—yea, let me now
In the wine garden unobtrusive toil,
Repress erratick thought, nor turn aside
To where a doubtful light directs the way.

Let us observe what food experience finds
Best suited to afford a generous wine ;
For ’tis the soil, the culture, and the skill
Rather than the variety of grapes,
That shall affix the seal to native wine:
O let no care be spared, e’er fate has fixed
The destiny. ‘Try all varieties
Of grapes, of tilth, of aspect, and of soil,
And moods of preparation—if *twere rocked
In cradles in thy cellar, by device
‘hat art would hit on with far less expence
Than equaterial voyages that are famed
And justly, for the richness they impart
And hale maturity, unknown before.
“ But the trite proverbe !” ah, there’s truth in it :
And wine from the same cask, the price enhanced,
Ifas pleased the palate which contemned before.

Of planting vineyards—burthen of my song,
Need I with studious care directions give?
For now Experience lends me his best aid,
Apprised of, and approving this my theme ;

WORK TO BE DONE—JAN. & FEB. 45

But, with the rolling year, the annual round
Of labours to be done, attempt.a sketch.
Our year begins in nature’s midnight sleep.
Nor much the vineyard needs labourious hands ;,
Yet preparations for more active scenes
May now be made; the stakes may be prepared,
And, frosts permitting, in their places set.

The vines are most endangered, when a frost
Succeeds a rain while the young wood is wet.
In Germany they cover o’er the vine
With earth to shield it from this dire attack.—
This, then our remedy, if need require.

The day when sons of Liberty rejoice,
The birth day of her champion, on that day,
Or soon thereafter plant well hoarded seeds
Of choicest grapes, and in the richest soil.
A cutting might be planted with the seed,
If one shonld perish the alternative
Is where it aught to be, and will remain.
If both should grow, let them have each two limbs,
And keep them pruned and see what fruit results,
The worse may be pulled up—grafted, and placed
¥ hen ere ’tis needed: (but if an old vine
Should perish, let it not be planted there ;
For thus such vacancies must be supplied:
A neighbouring limb, unsevered from the stock,
Must be bent down into the oblong hole
There fastened, and the hole filled with good earth
In other words a layer must supply
he casual vacancies that decussate
The vetran phalanx, long to blood enured:)
And thou mayest bless the day when hoarded seeds
Of choicest fruit, to faithful soil was given,
And men of future days, if foliy live,
May feel the thrall of juice that bears thy name
And leering, lisp it in apology.
With cuttings, is the least adventurous mode

44 QN PRUNING.

‘Of planting out a vineyard: than you know ,
What you may hope for—and what would you wish
Better than Catawba, for wine or fruit.

Seeds, layers, cuttings, all afford thee plants ;
And if the last thou plant, select round shoots
Thickly beset with eyes, and one or two
May be of last year’s growth; then cut away
‘rhe top that it bleed not upon the eye.

Cuttings and seedlings of a former year

Should now be pruned down to three eyes at most.

Judge not the seedling’s cluster by its taste

Nor ask of infancy the strength of age,

But when in mixture or alone it yields

A pleasant flavoured wine; the plant by age

Yields juice more saccharine—a stronger wine. ,

The early sweet and acqueous grapes should
crown

Thy hospitable board, and please the child:

While oft the austere grape, like truest friend,

Conceals till saught, its latent generous worth :

Nor scan the grape by its diameter;

}fit have drunk the sun’s maturing rays

And filled with saccharine its viscous cells,

W hat ere its name thence may flow generous wine..
With the fallen leaf the planting time begins,
And ends when Aries meets the sky’s bridegroom.

?or then the sap, warmed in the vernal rays
Begins its flow, gushing from every wound. —

Yet some experienced vignerons prefer

‘Yo prune when the vine bleeds ; these vignerons
Appropriate, without grudging, their best soils,
Rich gravelly debris, to the grateful vine.

By other mood of pruning might the vine

Run up too much in wood.—superfluous sap,

Of the most acqueous kind, thus runs to waste:
And useless growth restrained, and fruit improved.
A thin dry soil may no such surplus yield ;

MARCH. 45

Hence autumn is prefered, or early spring

By other vignerons, each experience taught,
Tho’ few are able to assign a cause

Of their wide difference, each possessing truth.
May it be yours, Columbia’s favoured sons,
Quick to acquire, segacious to discern

Truths that to human happiness conduce,

To teach the world the mystery of the tice

Of decomposing and reforming power ;

As ye have taught that which binds man to man,
And the shy fluid linking earth and heaven.

In early spring let the plough, spade, and hoe
Perform their various functions ; to firm stakes
Tie up in airy festoons the prone shoots
Designed for fruit; those for supply of wood
Fix closer to the stake and let them mount
Yet nottco bh'gh—indee what the soil can bear.

Rub from old wood the shoots that now appear
Unless required to fill a vacancy :

And when an eye produces double shoots,

Or evident superfluity appears,

Rub off the worst, so shall the rest have room

1’ inhale the sun beams and expand their fruit.
But caution on all hands will be required :
Pruning too closely is a grievous fault,

And an affront to nature. 1 once striped

A thrifty saplin of its ample leaves,

And now it stands a black and withered stake.
The vigour of the root, indeed, sent up

A new supply of shoots—thus mortal wounds,.
(As they might seem,’ youth’s energies surmount.
While somewhat from the track, let me relate
What bootless care I lavished on the vines

That I first planted. From the liberal hand

Of Carberry the hopeful cuttings came ;

I planted them upright, and many died :

Of those that lived, vain were the guard of stakes;

46 APRILy MAY, JUNE,

The laundry made them all a lawful priae ;

And careless feet broke down my choisest plant;

And with it fell, and with it rese again

My eagerest hope : for, from beneath the ground,

Up sprang luxuriant runners, round and thick,

Which far outstriped the choicest limb that grew

©n th’ hide-bound parent cuttings that escaped.
In 4pril let thy planting all be done :

And now with thumb and finger rub away

‘The useless buds old branches may put forth,

With all redundant shoots, as has been taught ;

And bear with me if Fagain enforce

Merciless slaughter of intrusive weeds.

Pursley may be attacked in time of rain,

For water soon dissolves the humid stems

Which, if exposed to drougth, and seeming dead,

Congenial moisture will recusitate. /

Let other weeds be left to the sun’s ray

E’re they have formed their seeds for future toils.
In May with thumb and finger still break off

Small shoots that would entangle and impede

The limbs that now shew fruit; but act with care.

In Europe’s colder climes the sunny hill

Reflects the scanty warmth through foliage thin.

That climate may forbid th’ aspiring vine,

In umbrage deep arrayed, to mount aloft ;

Ours may—particularly in fertile soil.

Experiment, and hice not the result.

From this time till the vintage is brought in,

Thy walks of pleasure may in gain result :

Ever be heedful of the flexile vine,

And with tough bark secure it to the stakes.

The blossom-scented breath of summer breathe

A lesson, which, let me again repeate ;

Suffer no quick reviving weeds to rest : —

The shuffle hoe makes hasty and clean work

And as the flavour of the grape is prized,

JULY TO NOVEMBER. 47

- From fetid weeds and filth keep the ground elear.
The grateful promise ofthe vintage now
- Will prompt the kind attention requisite.
And here again conflicting practices
Ask sage experience to decide what’s best.
Some clear out the young wood-below the fruit;
Others above the fruit the runners stop,
And others say *f by all means let these run.”
No further speculations shall 1 urge.
In queries or solutions ; nor to books,
Save nature’s book refer the disputant.
If he have but one talent and that be
To turn the leaves of books, best wrap it up
And hide it in the ground—a hopeless case.
If he have mother wit, use it/L say ;
And ‘ Tweedledums’ and ¢ Tweedledees’ decide.
Such champions does the vine’s good cause
require.

October is the time for making layers. ,;
Some vignerons the parent vine extend
Like the Banian tree, from root to root,
The long curvated limb is planted deep,
The top ascends and spread again its shoots,
Whichin like manner may be stretched along,
And an indifinite space be planted thus.
Of certain growth and meanwhile bearing fruit ;
But generally cuttings are prefered.

Pruning may in JVovember be performed. ;
Cut out old useless wood, and needless shoots
As judgment and experience may decide |,
The shoots of last year’s growth bear fruit the next
From these and these alone the vernal sun
¥ ill draw forth little shoots that bear the fruit:
Of these be careful of a good supply.
Here notious differ widely and, of course
Truth may be looked for in the middle .ground
Let reason and refiection guide the hand--~

48 WINE.

Shall the vine’s healthful growth be lopped and
marred

When in a rich deep soil that fears no drought

When down to depth unknown tap-roots descend?

Or on a dry and hunger-bitten soil

Should not th’ attenuated shoots be pruned ?

Surely ; and thus the loose and gravelly soils

Such as produce Madeira’s richest wines

A dark red earth ; ‘clay, sand, and marl combined,

Unmixed with scoriated substances.

A general rule is to leave but six joints

On strongest shoots of the last summer’s growth

Some may have twice that number others half ;

But be not covetous of present gain ;

The wine deteriorates and the plant droops

When more than fair proportion is allowed

‘Yo oppress the vine, espécially when young.

In open weather vines may yet be pruned

And now unfearful of vile grubs and worms,

Manure in ample heaps may be applied

‘Po the roots of vines, to guard them from the frost.
In making wine, if boastfully inclined,

America might boast preeminence.

But where is he whose habit is not formed

To deem “Imported” and “ the good” all one,

“Domestic” and “ the bad”? synonemous!

But time’s sure tread shall folly’s foot supplant,

And truth on falshood’s ruins firmer stand.

Are all French wines Burgundy, Hermitage,

Orfrom the Clos de Vougeot, made with care

8y Monks observant of peculiar spots ?

oes the five million acres of French vines

A thousand million gallons yearly give

Of wine that for six francs per bottle sells ?

No, and no emulous detractive thought

Dwells in my breast—attruth alone I aim.

Much wine of Europe sees no second year,

_. VARLOUSLY PREPARED, » 49

But the light beverage in the first.is drank.

Nay, the best vineyards yield unequal wines :
Some. fayoured spot alone, claims excellence; ,
Thence duly, ripened fruit well culled, is brought,
And sometimes partly dried, sometimes piled up
On concave tables, whence there percolates
Syrup-like must that makes the richest, wine.
Next, when the grape is bruised, . rich ,wine flows

forth; yy mae 7
And last, the screw’s reiterated power
Drains te the vilest dregs the noble fruit.

The wine that last flows from, the precious grape
Abounds in spirit; mixed with slender wines
It gives them body and a rosy, tint.

The sparkling Champagne, from de la, Marne
(Its two best Districts, Reims and Epernay)
Needs no eulogium. iInextreme oldage |
They froth and sparkle with the glee of youth ;
And delicately pleasant is their taste. |
Some of the sparkling wines take slight ferment, »
Through Cause obscure; and much this wine is

prized. Na ay My
But, oft unasked they burst their brittle bounds,
Lost in a startling sound, while far and wide
The splintered glass throws missiles sharp around.
Of black as well as white grapes it is made :
The grapes are shielded from the eye of day,
And hurried to the press; where several times
They feel its force ; till a tinged liquor flows
Which to the fourth class sparkling wines gives
strength “
Or, toaccount, with common red wines mixed.
The grapes for fabricating the vin-rose,
Are gathered carefully, as for the white;
First from the branches striped, then sligtly pressed
In the appropriate vat, and there remain
Till fermentation has at last commenced.

E

§0 METHOD PRACTISED IN THE VU. STATES.

Also when the fruit ripens, it ferments, ~

Elaborating its component parts, 9)

Which when complete, and the proportions just,

And feculence removed, it fears no change ‘cn

Of seasons, nor regards the lapse of time.”
What is proportion just ? ‘may we not ask

All Europe, and in answer only hear %

The echo’ vain,‘ what is proportion just ?”

We for ourselves will answer.. We have’ found ,

The saccharine deficient in our grapes

A common fault, by guess work remedied, .

Till the ingenious McCall applied .

The sacharometer and found at once, 4)

The failing and the certain remedy: ,

And the first Vigneron our District boasts,

Leaves the wayfaring man no room to err.

And this the sum: take unfermented } juice,

Fresh from the fruit, say, if you please, a pint;

if a fresh egg will to the surface rise,

No more is requisite ; but should it not,

From a known quantity of sugar add —

So much (allowing it full time to melt)

As till the egg shall to the surface rise.

1f only potent liquor please thy taste,

Add sugar till like a broad thumb the egg

Above the surface lifts its orbed end:

Weigh the remaining sugar, and you have

Within the school-boy’s reach the weight required

For the whole quantity, which must be known...

Then bung it tight; yet, lest the cask should burst,

Let some air from a gimlet hole escape,

Fora few weeks, then drive the peg in tight.

Nature will do the rest : thy task is now,

Into clean casks, from the subsided lees,

From time to time, and when the sky ‘is clear,

‘Yo rack or bottle up the clear, pure wine, |

When no extraneous sediment remains. ~~

CONCLUSION. 5k

But why prolong these strains? If I have made
To ardent spirits a determined foe,
If I have filled with cheerful hope a swain,
Determined now to bless his native land
With the chaste beverage that the vine affords,
And if the fair approve my good design,
To dash to earth the drunkard’s poisoned bowl,
And of the fire side arch increase the power,
Warm, with the temperate glass, the social glow ;
While industry, assured of its reward,
And on its means relying, throws around
An egis that defies th’ approach of care ;
Yea, and the legion issuing from the still,
Rags its broad banner, and the wretch its prey,
Shall beat upon this arch, and be subdued;
Then havel gained my end. Further detail,
If needed, may experience soon supply;
And soon our white winged ships, with their full

freight,

Shall dance upon the brine in haste to pay,
To foreign lands, th’ accumulated debt.
_ Not that a reputation or reward
Attends my toil, nor that these humble themes
Have music intheir sound. NorI well skilled
As Virgil was, to give the daily scene
Beauty unknown before ; maternal thought
That bringeth forth, and nature owns the fruit ;
Nor have I sought in verbal flowers to dress
Fruits of experience and research, designed
Yo aid Industry in his daily toil ;
Intent on-labour, and. in homely dress,
Unstudious now of dignity or grace.
Let the green arbour spread inviting shade,
Then may enraptured strains more sweetly. low,
The Muse, not always faithless, whispers thus.

: :

| Appendix. need

I can in no other way so well do justice to the

subject I have undertaken, and to my friends whose
practical skill has been highly serviceable in the
prosecution of it, as by annexing, by way of appen-
dix, a part at least, of their communications as re-
ceived, Every reader who feels at all interested
in the general subject, will’ esteem as a treasure,
the verry concise yet clear and comprehensive de-
tail of the most approved method of planting and
managing a vineyard, furnished by Major John Ad-
lum, comprising his latest improvments in this
growing branch of agriculture, to whiich he has
devoted the attention it deserves, and has ever en-
tertained the patriotic desire to’ diffuse as far as
possible the information he possesses on thé sub-
ject.
‘ The metliod of tying up bearing wood, as shewn
by a young man from York county, Pa. and which
we have here endeavoured to explain, has been
found, on the test of experience in this District,
to possess advantages worthy of consideration,—in
the tending of the soil, economy in comparison of
trellises or arbours, avoiding the bad effects of
bleading from pruning, and the observable improv-
ment of the fruit.

Of the valuable extracts from “ The Topography
of all the known Vineyards,” pointed out to me by
Mr. Adlum, I have deemed the insertion of a very
few sufficient to shew the diversity in the quality:

53

of wines,—that the first quality is the product of
peculiar crus (spots) only. The object of the work
is to aid the merchant in making his importations ;
not to enter imto a practical disquisition relative to
these or the like peculiarities, with a view to ben-
efit the cultivator.. No-one acquainted with the
advance, at present madc inthe U. States in the
fabrication of wines, can rise from a perusal of it
without a conviction that our wines will far surpass
the ordinary wines of Europe. And there can be
no resonable cause of doubt but that crus will be
found’in this country, capable of producing the
very beste)eivy » bl

- It is fair that lL acknowledge having in some few
instances, availed myself, in the body of the pre-
ceding essay, of information which this work, and
perhaps it alone contains.

. AUTHOR.

ON PROPAGATING GRAPE VINES IN A
VINEYARD.

Ist. After having made choice ofa situation which
1 would recommend. to be as near the top of a-hill
as posible, so as to have all the advantages of a
free circulation of air.

2nd, Prepare the ground by raising potatoes or
ether ameliorating crops, or by frequent and deep
ploughings.

3d. Mark out the rows, viz. two rows within four
feet of each other, and then leave an interval of
ten feet, and then again two rows within four or
five feet then again ten feet, by this mode of plan-
ting they will have a free circulation of air, and
they may be worked with the plough, taking care
not to go too near the vines where they must be
worked with a spade or hoe.

4th. Stretch in the course a line, and at every four
feet dig holes for planting the cuttings four feet
apart and about eighteen inches deep, and have
some good compost, or well rotted manure to mix
with the earth, and for want of these take the best
earth near the surface of the ground.

Sth. Provide your cuttings, for I would always
prefer these to rooted plants, when the cuttings are
well chosen, which should be of shoots that are
strong and well ripened of last year’s growth: the
bottom part should be cut off smooth near the
joint, and the upper part should be cut about half
an inch above the upper bud or eye, sloping from
the opposite side of the bud, so that if it should
chance to bleed, the sap will not run on the bud.
The cuttings should be from sixteen inches to two
feet long, and have five or six eyes.

6th. Having your holes dug, and your cuttings
provided, plant one in each hole so deep that the

595

upper bud only is above the surface of the ground;
then fill in the earth, pressing it to the cutting, and
if it should be in the fall or winter that they are
planted, cover the upper bud with'a small hillock,
which must be: removed: im ‘the spring as; soon as
the buds begin to swell, and if from any cause, the
upper bud should perish, remove the earth to with-
in half an,inch of the nextbud below, when there
is but little danger of its not growing—when you
plant your cuttings seta stake by each, a commott
lath willanswer for two years::

7th.. Keep your vineyard tear: of weeds by wosks
ing it occasionally, ‘and suffer but one shoot to
grow this season, ‘by rubbing of all others with
your thumb and finger.»

8th. In the autumn raise a little eit about fii
young plant, which must be: removed the’ next
spring ; and at the same time, after rubbing off the
lower bud or eye, prune to three buds or eyes, and
after they shoot preserve the two strongest of them
rubbing off all the others; there will frequently be
two shoots from one'bud ; rub off the lower one of
the two, as it is always the weakest; and keap
the vineyardiclear of weeds as last year.

9th: In the autumn, say in the month of Novem-
ber, after rubbing off the Jower bud prune each of
the two shoots again to three eyes or buds; (ex-
cept where they may have grown very strong,
then there may be more left at the discretion of the
person’ pruning ;) and provide. good stakes this
year seven feet high, and.about an inch anda half

square, ahd tie two of the shoots one to each side of

the stake, and suffer them to grow at full length,
and rub off all side shoots; and if ‘there should
fruit appear suffer but. one cluster of grapes to
each shoot to ripen’so that the shoots may gather
strength to produce a fair crop the next year.

56

But there may be some of the vines \so strong -
on the third year, as to produce a fair’ crop of
grapes, and: as there is'no' mode’ of describing it, it
must be left to the discretion of the Vigneron ; for
more can be shewnin ia vineyard:i un: five: minutes,
than could: be eer eomaigy mien on a sheet
of paper. fait

10th. This season.the vines dinidet: be weeny hey fea
bearing fruit—which is) done by cutting of the two
shoots:(that are to bear fruit): from twlve torsix-
teen buds or eyes, and tying them tothe stake on
eich side, crossing’each otheran manner of a ring ;
and as the stake is square,;train two shoots for
next year’s bearing on the two other sides’off the
stakes at full Sra te bear: ~~“ on the folio wing
year.) Ta
14th. When the grapes: ane ‘Aha size: of peas cut
off the end of the vine at least two joints beyond
the last cluster of grapes, that the grapes may come
to the greater perfection: :

12th. When you again pruin yeu vines, cut off
those that have born fruit.;close to the vine, and
the bearing shoots must:be-pruned.as last directed;
those that are to bear-fruit to be tiedup in acircus |
lar mannér, and those that are:to bear fruitithe next
year, to be tied up as above diteckenl and suffered
to grow at full length.

By planting the vines in rows is tet feet and eo
feet apart, and the plants at four feet. distance in
the rows, there will be about 1400 plants to an.acre;
and each ‘plant, according to the number of bear-
ing shoots left, will have from 30 to 60 clusters, of
grapes.

By having the rows at ten fect bind fmibfeet me
and the plants four feet distant in the rows, there
will be about 1500 plants on an fe ach which jah
also produce as above. | of digaswe

Extracts from “ The Topography of all known
Vineyards.” London—1824.

Before the appearance of this work, the French
were unacquainted with their own vineyards, and
the comparative state of their products; and with
the exception of Bordeaux wines, the Englishi, at
this time, have only a superficial knowledge of the
names of certain vineyards. To this ignorance
may, in a great measur, be attributed the continual
disappointments experienced by the importer of
French wines. It is notorious, that a bottle of good
Burgundy or Hermetage, is seldom to be met with,
however dearly purchased: the fault is immediate-
ly latd upon the change of temperature and carri-
age; but these are not the only causes. Page 6.

Few persons *re aware, that the most famous
vineyards do not produce a liquor of equal quality
throughout, but owe their celebrity to certain fa-
voured crus or spots; such is the case with the Clos
de Vougeot, which gained its fame from a particular
mode of collecting the grapes and from certan parts
by the Monks; whereas Mr. Tortoni Ravel, their
successor, followed a direct contrary practice, ga-
thering the whole produce indiscriminately, and
selling it all at the’ same price, six francs per bottle,
each sealed with his name; thus, as the people of
the country accuse him, sacrificing the quality te
the quantity. Again, the best grapes produce juice
of different qualities aecording to the different
pressings, from the best to the very lowest; al
which are kept separate, and used according to
the will and discretion of the wine-maker. In both
the above cases the wine may be the real product
of the vineyard quoted, and yet bad. |

si Pages 6,7 & 8, preface?

58

*

France, situated about the centre of Europe, is,
by its position and the nature of its soil, the coun-
try richest in vines, According to the documents
collected by the minister of the interior, it contain-
ed, in 1815, about. 1,734,000 hectares of vines,
[the hectare is 2.346 acres,] which produced, upon
an average crop 31,000,000 hectolitres—[each 264
gallons.] Since that time considerable plantations
have been made,; 1,900,000 hectares, now, appro-
‘priated to this purpose, producc about 34,000,000
hectolitres of wine. In the provinces unfayourable
to the vine about 7,000,000 hectolitres of beer, and
10,000,000 hectolitres of cider are annually fabri-
cated. : py pea ok ge
; 7 a Page 1 & 2.
Loan is situated upon a hill, and surounded wi
‘yines.. The vines onthe south side are,.the best.
Chateau. Thierry produces, upon the sides of the
Marne, wines tollerable delicate, but without body
or spirit. . page 5,
Beauvais, Clermont, Senlis, Compierne.
3500 hectares of vines produce annually 124,000
hectolitres; bad wine, which does not bear carriage,
The wines of Champagne are too well known to
require any eulogy. ‘The vineyards of the depart,
ment de /a Marne are those only which furnish the
famous wine. Some crus of the department de ?
Aube produce red wines justly esteemed: those of
Haute Marne are less exported. The wines of the
department des Ardennes are of inferior quality,
and do not leave the country, .. ._.Page 13.
The environs of Saint Dizier produce a great
quantity of small wines; the proprietors are accu-
sed of increasing their colour by black wines and
elder-berries and archil, called brinbelles, _ Pa, 30
Uhan near Befort,a wine, called rangen ; it at-
tacks the nerves violently, and causes paralysis.

59

The wines, called gentils, come froma fine grape
called riesling, which is called gentil raisin, to dis-
tinguish in from the common, called burger. The
proprietors have of late years mixed brandy with
this wine, and added common wines, have much in-
jured its reputation. _ i ee ae. ie

Cote @ Or. In good seasons these wines unite
all the qualities of. perfect wine. They want no
mixture or preparation to reach the highest degree
of perfection. ‘The operations, which in other
counteries,are called soins, gaz aident la Qualite’,
are hurtful to these wines. They have their pecu-
liar boguet, which is not brought out under three
or four years. The introduction of Aromatics, or
other wines, changes them. Even the mixture of
two wines of the first class destroys the daquet, and
reduces them to the second class, and even to the
third. The red wines join to a beautiful colour
much perfume and a delicious taste, and are at the
same time, corse’s, [bodied,] fine, delicate, and
spirituous, without being too heady, The white
possess the same qualities, they are moelleux, {sub-
stantial,] and grown old of an amber colour.

In the department of the Cote d’ Or, and district
of Chalons sur Saone, about 21,200,000 gallons of
wine are made, of which the inhabitants consume
8,480,000, the rest is exported. Page 66.

The crus forming the first class of red wines of
Burgundy are, excepting le Chambertin, situated
in the canton of Nuits, three leagues north-west
fiom Beaune; the real wine is seldom procurable,
as the vineyard consists of only one hundred and
seventy-two ares of ground, {about 4 acres,] pro-
ducing on an average, not more than ten or twelve
‘pieces, or demi queues [abont 56 gal. each.] _P. 67.
The wines of Jorins are finer and riper than
those of Chenas, which have mare body. The mix-

WA WUT
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69

ture of the two, which spoils the. wines. of other
vineyards, forms with these a perfect wine. They
will keep ten years. ' CO Pape ele.
Pouilly, two leagues from Macon. ‘These. wines
appear with credit in the third class of wines: they
are moelleux, fins, corses, agreables, and have du
bouquet. ‘They are accused, wih reason, of being
too fumex. [heady.] Page 85.
La Rochelle, bad, with a disagreeable ‘taste of soil.
T’Isle d’ Oleran, and Lisle de Re, wines similar. or
inferior. Page 97°
Marseillan et de Pommerols, wines dalled de Pic-
ardan, the name of the grape ; liguoreux without
being muscat; a very good flavour and boguet.—
They keep long and bear carriage ; they are used
to give flavour to wines which fail in this ; they. be-
come dry by age. The must of this grape is used
to make the wine Muet, .or wine whose fermenta-
tion is stopped by sulphur. A vin de liqueur, call-
ed Vin de Colabre, is made by pouring in brandy.
Montbasin muscat wines, Called Muscatelles ;
unless drunk within three or four vears, they lobe
their flavour and sweetness, ; Page. 134.
St.. Estephe, Villeneuve de la Riviere, a great
quantity of common wine; they are used for mix-
ture with other wines. The best are more drank
as tonics than used as table wines. Page 144.
Sparn. In all the provinces of this country a
considerable quantity of wine of different kinds is
made, which forms the base of a great commerce.
These wines differ from the French in the quality
of the plants, the heat of the climate, and manner
of preparation ; the grapes are suffered to become
quite ripe, and part of the must is moreover con-
centrated by boiling for forty-four hours. It re-
-quires a length of time to acquire the flayour and
‘perfume ; and the price varies accordingly. P. 174

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