IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 IttlZS m m 1.1 140 J5 2.2 2.0 biiii^ii^ II^B^ HIR^HB n^^B #.^/^. ^ .^ « <^ ^ Tranaparanca Quality of prin Qualiti in'igala da Mmpraaaion Includaa aupplamantary matarii Comprand du material auppMmantaira Oniy adMor availaMa/ Saula Mhion dtaponlMa □ Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa I — I Pagaa raatorad and/or laminatad/ Q Pagaa diacolourad, atainad or foxad/ Pagaa □ Pagaa datachad/ Pagaa rjl Showthrough/ I I Quality of print variaa/ r~~| Includaa aupplamantary matarlal/ I — I Oniy aditlor availaMa/ P o fi O b tl ai o fi ai 01 ; M dl ar b« rif Pagaa wholly or partially obaeurad by arrata allpa. tiaauaa, ate., hava baan rafHmad to anaura tha baat poaalbia imaga/ Laa pagaa tetalamant ou partMlamant obacurolaa par un fauWat d'arrata, una palura, ate., ont 4tA fllm4aa A nouvaau da fa^on A obtanir la maiNaura image poaaiMa. TMa Itam la fllmad at tha raductlon ratio ehaekad balow/ Ca documant dot fllmA au taux da rAduetlon kidlquA 10X 14X lax ] s 12X 1BX MK Th« copy filmed hcra hat bMn raproducad thank» to thtt ipanarotity of: Library of tlia Public Archives of Canada Tha imagaa appearing here w the beat quality pusalbie eoiiaidarlno the condition and legibility of the original copy and in iceaping with the filming contract tpecif ications. Original copies in printed paper covera are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or lllustFated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or lllLiatrated imprea- sion, and ending on the leat page with a printed or iilustrsted impression. The lest recorded frame on eech microfiche shell contein die symlMl — »- (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the aymbol ▼ (meening "END"), whichever appllee. Maps, pletes, charts, etc., may be filmed et differem reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely Included In one expoeure are filmed beginning In the upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, aa many frames ee required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'cxemplaire filmA fut reproduit grice A la g«n«roalt4 de: La bibllothAque des Archives r*ubliques du Canada Las images suh^antes ont *t« reprodultes avec le plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet* de I'exempleire film*, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est ImprimAe sent fiimte en commen^ant par le premier plot et en termiriant soit par la dernHke page qui comporte une empreinte d'Impreesion ou d'illustrotion; soit per le second plot, sslon le cas. Tous las autres exempleires originaux sent fllmfo en commen9ent per la pramlAre pege qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la dfvnMre pege qui comporte une telie empreinte. Un des symbolee suivsnts epparaltra sur la damlAre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le ces: le symbde -^> signlfie "A SUIVRE", ie symbols ▼ signlfie "FIN". Les cartee, plenches, tableeux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A dss taux de rMuction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grsnd pour Atre reproduit en un eeui clichA, 11 est film* A pertir de i'angle supArleur geuche, de geuche A droite, et de haut en has, en prenam le nombre d'Imegee nAceeeaire. Lee diagrammes suivents lllustrent le mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 9 6 ^ ^-' ^^. ■^^^ THE CANADA VINE GROWER: HOW ^VEBY FAKMER IN CANADA . MAY PLANT A VINEYARD AND MAKE HIS OWN WINE. BT J. M. I>E COURTENAY Py. t)i» fruit of tliolr corn, their wine and oil Hipy are multiplied.— ft. iv. 8 *k TORONTO : JAMES CAMPBELL & SON, 186G. THE CANADA VINE GROWEE: HOW EVERY FAEMER IN CANADA MAY PLANT A VINEYAED AND MAKE HIS OWN WINE. BY J. M. DE COURTENAY. By the fruit of their corn, their wine and oil they are multiplied.— rt. I». 8. TORONTO : JAMES CAMPBELL *& SON, 1866. PRINTED AT THE GLOBE STEAM PRESS, 26 AND 28 KINO STREET EAST, TORONTO. PREFACE. The success of my efforts in producing a vigorous, healthy and fruitful vineyard of over thirty acres in extent — induces me to comply with the numerous requests continually received from every part of North America, desiring a compact state- ment of my views upon the relative capabilities of our own climate and those of " The Vine Hegions" of Europe — and a Frajtical Course of Instructions upon the Cultivation of the Vine and the Manufacture of Wine, with directions for the for- mation of vineyards so as to enable every Farmer and House- holder to enter into such cultivation with a certainty of sue- ^3ess. In the Vine Regions of Europe, lands suitable for such pur- poses in the vicinity of cities are laid out in small vineyards, for the use of citizens, who, by this means, are enabled to obtain at a very trifling expense, a healthy and nutritious beverage — which is considered as indispensable as the bread and meat they consume, or as the coffee, tea and sugar that inadequately replace this beverage amongst more northern and less favoured communities. Indeed, any ten householders who will purch'^se each of them one acre of land, and employ in common one labourer to cultivate the ten acres and manufacture the produce may, by following my instructions botli recover their outlay, supply their wants, and obtain a genial and healthy recreation ; and I am encouraged by the hope that these instructions may succeed in rendering practically possible the realization of theories for which I hive so long struggled, and which after many years of. scornful incredulity are finally accepted as probable, and ex- amined with attention and respect. J. M. DE COURTENAY. Clair Hoi'sk, November, 18tf8. cc tl ai d( I] fc •w B I t] n g ? I c c ( I c CULTURE OF THE VINE AND MANUFACTURE OF WIJ\E. In tho sessional papers of 1860, No. 22, may be found a correspondence of mine, laid before Parliament, and printed by their order, soliciting assistance for the introduction of Wine and Silk culture into Canada. The Bureau of Agriculture then promised that every assistance should be given, when I could demonstrate, in a practical manner, the cprrectness of my views. In soliciting assistance from Government, I never stipulated for personal advantages; yet, since then, I have been taxed with " exorbitant pertensions" and " chimerical views," by men who were unable to confute my theories, to deny the facts I had practically established, or to comprehend the motives that actuated, or the sentiments that animated, me. I based my application upon the principle that the first production of good wine in a country must be obtained by Agricultural Ex- perience alone — and that private enterprise could not be ex- pected to undertake the expenses of an undertaking which could not, by any means, remain a privilege. In corroboration of which, I quoted the Count de Gasparin, Vol. 4, pp. 616 to 618, as an authority. — " If the variety of wine to be produced already exists in the country, we can accept it, and it will be suflBicient to consult the best producers and conform to their practice ; but chemical analysis has not been able to indicate qualities in advance, and it is therefore to Agricultural Experi- ence alone that we must address ourselves, for the knowledge required." A parliamentary committee has since then recommended Assistance, but no action of any kind has yet been taken, and 6 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. in tlie meantime, myself and my friends liavo solved tho prob- lem, unassisted. AVine is tlie antidote of Dyspepsia and Delirium Tremens — has even at the same time lanishcd the use of spiriluom liquors, and '' made the heart of man glad." It seems to be a necessity of the human organization. It awakens the forces of the stomach, and exercises an action of radiation upon the entire nervous system, and the complicated vital functions, and appears to be a beverage indispensable to man — being that which is the most easily obtained, the most agreeable, and the most generally appreciated, which is proved by the fact of the exclusion of all others -within the climates where it can be pro- duced. But in order that wine should be within the reach of all classes it must be produced of every quality and of every price. Good, ordinary wines are the only real basis upon which such cultivation can be .established : for it must be remembered that, as for every other description of merchandise, poor con- sumers are the most numerous. Unlike most other produc- tions, it is by no means a defined substance, presenting every- where tho same composition. For some, it is a delicate beve..-ge, the merit of which con- sists in the odour or " Eouquet," in the unctuous and agree- able savour to the palate, much more than in the greater or less quantity of alcohol it contains. For others, it is only a spiiit, more or less diluted ; and between these extremes, all tastes and necessities may bo discovered. But, in the wine-growing countries, the mass of consumers are poor ; so are the ordinary wines the most numerous, and their value more easily appreciated. With regard to fine wines, you can discover no other criterion than the palate of the con- noisseur, whose opinion will only be guided by an acquired taste, or by the fashions of the day. A great number of questions present themselves to the wine-grower, in a new country, where no agricultural experi- ence r n guide him, and the problems he must solve are so complicated and so numerous, that I cannot at present discuss THE CANADA VINE GROWER. the Agricultural, Economical, and Commercial considerations necessary for — relating to, or dependant upon — the success of so arduous an undertaking. CONDITIONS OF SUCCESSFUL CULTURE. The great art of vine culture consists in plantimj andpyuning — which can\)nlybe acquired by considerable practical experience. Pruning of any description, and there are five hundred different methods, is by no means arbitrary. Both that, and the distance to be preserved in the rows (and the former is always regulated by the latter) must depend altogether upon the nature of your climate, the inclination of your land, and the vigour of the vine you propose to cultivate. As you approach the southern por- tion of the region, you must allow your vines to rise, and also extend the distance between the plants, which practice is based upon the vigour of the vine, which diminishes as you approach the North ; for although in the South, it furnished the stair- case of Diana's temple of Ephesus, in the North it would not produce the wand of a centurion'.* Independent also, of latitude, altitude, or the inclination of the land, the nature of the vine itself must be taken under the most careful consideration. Certain varieties have a propensity to rise before bearing abundant fruit, and are generally to be found amongst the wild grapes of all countries, as the " Vignes de Treilles," of France, and the " Pergulanes," of Italy ; and it is only from their horizontal branches, " Guirlandes," that you can hope to obtain an abundant fructification. The vigour of their vegetation, if allowed to run wild, will expend itself in wood, branches and leaves, . id if kept low and short, the same effect will be produced. Monsieur De Gasparin, in his " Cours d' Agriculture," vol. 4, page 667, exemplifies this doctrine in an interesting manner : " "We made an experiment upon a vine from Corinth, brought home from the expedition of Morea, in 1828. Kept loiu for fourteen years, it produced a very small quantity of fruit, used only as samples. Having then been allowed to climb upon a neighbouring tree, it covered itself with fruit, and gave that •Pliny, Book 14, chap. 5. 8 THE CANADA VINE GROWEK. year a quantity sufficient to furnish a ' hectolitre' (25 gallon^) of wine." I presume many persons in this country have remarked • amongst the wild vines, that some prefer to climb to the summits Oi the highest trees, whilst others content themselves with spreading over brushwood. The same thing exists in Europe, and in a greater degree with the cultivated vines {vitis vine/era), whose natural propensities have become fixed habits, from many centuries of judicious pruning ; and those varieties that have long been preserved loiv, would wear themselves out im- mediately if allowed to rise, or if the mode of pruning was materially altered. At the same time all varieties, if abandoned to themselves, produce an innumerable quantity of branches, and either perish or become wild within three years. As the vigour of the vine varies according to the climate* and increases as it approaches the south, so (in the same pro- portion) does the distance "between the plants extend itself — and the increasing evaporation of the vine makes it absolutely ecessary to allow a greater cube of earth, so that the roots may extend themselves, and absorb the degree of moisture requisite for vegetation. In our climate (including that of Lower Canada) I have planted in squares of four yards distance, and pruned accord- ingly, and I find I have by no means over estimated the nature of the climate, or the vigour of the plants. Tn Cincinnati they have estimated their climate and their vines according to the feeble vigour of an extreme northern limit (Germany), and plant at distances of two or three feet, pruning of course accoi Jingly. By my estimate of their climate,^ should judge at least eight yards as the distance to be preserved Had they obtained the assistance of able '^and scientific wino growers from Europe, they would not have been groping for thirty-five years after (in my opinion) unsatisfactory results. But the ordinary labourers they have employed, and by whoso advice they have been guided, however useful they might have been in their oivn climate, are hardly to be depended upon cheivhere, unless under a reasoned direction, and pn experience newly acquired. THE CANADA VINE GROWER. After deciding upon the distance to be preserved between the plants, and consequently upon the manner of pruning them, the next and the most important consideration for the vine- grower, in a new country, where he cannot be guided by agii- cultural experience, is undoubtedly the choice of plants. Bafore entering into mary necessary details upon this very difl&cult question, I must first endeavour to explain the principles upon which are carried on the manufacture of pure ivines, — which, as a general rule, are difficult (if not impossible), to be ob- tained outside the limit of the region of the vine. It is an undoubted fact that the best French wines are sold in France, and bring there the highest prices. The value of those exported are more easily calculated, by the amount of alcohol they con- tain. I believe that Chateau Laffitte, or Chateau Margeaux have never fetched less than ten francs a bottle ($2,) and there- fore all may judge how much of such wine may be obtained in this country. The following analysis of some of these valuable wines, by one of the most able French chemists. Monsieur Faur^, will show that such value cannot be attributed to the amount of alcohol they contain : BORDEAUX WINES. Alcohol 9.488 Tannin 0.112 Bitartrate of Potass 0.160 do of Iron 0.089 Inorganic Salts 0.025 Colouring Matter Blue 0.019 do Yellow 0.022 Water 90.085 loa.ooo I find that Chateau Laffitte, the most celebrated of those wines, contains only 8.70 of alcohol, and Chateau Martillac only 8.75. Their value, therefore, evidently consists in the organic salts of potassi, and of iron, and above all in the quan- 1;ity of cannin they contain. It is necessary to endeavour to obtain an association of phints in a vineyard, that united^ will furnish the kind of wine you desire to produce. 10 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. De Gasparin says : " If your wines are too sweet, and want fermeni, correct them by planting vines that possess contrary qualities. If abundant in sediment, or likely to tu.rn into vine- gar, supply the deficit by planting vines possessing a great deal of tannin ; and it is not only necessary to calculate the taste required, but also the degree of colour preferable to consumers." But I must, before going any further, say that in this coun- try, the question of the f/reatest importance must be to use vo vines whatever having (what has become almost a slang expres- sion) a ./b.17/ flavour. That very disagreeable flavour belongs to almost oil the grapes hitherto used in America, for the manu- facture of wme. The Catawba, Isabella, and Hartford Prolific are examples. The Clinton, the Delaware, and most of the wild vines of Canada, are altogether exempt from it, and with the Golden Chasselas, and other varieties which I shall after- wards examine, will ultimately, I doubt not, form the great basis of the future vineyards, of this country, — I might say of North America. However, before entering further into details or minute calculations on this matter, I must endeavour to explain the great principles upon which the amalgamation of diiJ'erent varieties of grapes, and their metamorphosis into wine, consist. 1st. Almost all out-door grapes contain within themselves the material necessary for the production of wine, which are sugar, water, and free acids. 2nd. Onli/ perfectly sound and ripe grapes, in the centre of the vine region, can furnish them in proper proportions ; and even then only by a judicious mixture of several varieties. 3rd. The extreme southern portion of the wine region, fur- nishes an crccss of sugar, with a de/icicnq/ of water and of acids. 4th. The extreme northern limit (being the portion where Indian corn ceases to ripen), holds an excess of acids, being at the same time deficient in both water and sugar. In the northern portion of the wine region, more than thirty per cent, of sugar is rarely produced, by the most sugar pro- ducing varieties of the grape, inferior varieties iu the same THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 11 region often producing only eleven per cent. In the southern portions of the region, fifty per cent, is no uncommon produc- tion, and the Island of Cyprus furnishes grapes producing eighty-four per cent. Indeed, it is this propensity of the southern grape to produce sugar at the expense of its acids and organic salts, that prevents wine of any value being made to the south of the forty-fifth (45th) degree of north latitude. And very often it can not be made at all from these grapes, for the reason that they do not contain sufficient ferment to effect any change in their juices, preserved from fermentation by the saccharine matter with which they are over-charged. 5th. Water and sugar alone may be supplied artificially, but the other and more important ingredients can never be fur- nished in any other manner than by the grape itself. These ingredients contained in the grape, and of so much value, are, in part, free acids, and partly acids combined with earths and alkalies, forming bitter as well as neutral salts. Only free acids and bitter salts can be detected by the taste, and proved in their total quantity in the wine. The acid parts, present in proper proportions, besides deciding the value and palatable taste of the wine, deterir>ine the existence of many different combinations, and by these the formation of the " aroma" or " bouquet" of the wine, and, for this reason, Southern wines deficient in acids are without bouquet, and therefore compara- tively of little value except for the production of spirits ; and it should be understood that all wines of value must contain at least four per thousand of free acids, and not more than six, r,nd lU musts containing more tnan six per thousand of free acids are considered as not having sufficient water in proportion to their acids ; and those containing less than four per thousand as incapable of making wine — that is of producing wine ether, for which alcohol is indeed but a poor substitute. Some centuries ago, an excess of acids was removed by the addition of potash, pr some other alkali, which was really an adulteration of the wine. However, the reduction of acids, by the addition of water, and afterwards supplying the addi- tional saccharine matter required, by a proper proportion of 12 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. honey, was largely practiced by the Eomans, whose celebrated " Ealernian " was in that manner produced ; and in France, it has been shown by long experience that an addition of water and saccharine matter has been the means of producing, in favourable seasons, as good wine as can be obtained in the same situation under the most favourable circumstances. Whilst upon the question of acids, I must remark that acetic acid is never contained in the grape, and therefore not in the must. Tt is, in substance, only oxidized alcohol, and therefore can only be formed after this spirit has been previously produced by fermentation. All combinations of acids with a " basis" are called salts, which really do not at all belong to wine, of which they are by no means a necessary ingredient. On the contrary, salts of grapes produced from soils abounding in nitrates of potash, lime, magnesia, and ammoniacal salts, are injurious to the wines, imless the larger part of such salts are excluded by in- creasing the alcoholic contents of such wines by the addition, if required, of a sugar per centage, rendering it equal at least to thirty per cent. The gummy or slimy parts, and the gelatine acid, are fortunately removed, partly by fermentation and partly by indissoluable combinations with alkaline earths and superfluous potassi, and although found in the grape, do not belong to the wine. The colours of red wines are altogether influenced and eflfected by the quantity and quality of free acids that have the e£fect (well known to chemists) of changing blue or reddish blue into red. 6th. Next to the free soils and organic salts, saccharine mat- ter and water are the most important constituent parts of the grape ; and two pounds of saccharine matter will transform itself into one pound of alcohol, which at the same time, and during the period of wild fermentation, mingling with the acids^ creates " wine ether," that most penetrating substance in which also the boquct is contained. Where (as in the South), little acid is produced, no " Bou- quet " can be found, and only " Liqueur Wines " are produced — strong or sweet in proportion to the quantity of water con- THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 13 tained in the must. The more ivater (of course within the pro- portion), the stronger, for sugar ceases to generate alcohol when the liquid, saturated with both ingredients, ceases to fer- ment. In the extreme North, where the must contains lesr than 17 per cent, of sugar, it cannot furnish 7 per cent, of alcohol, which is requisite (even with the addition of tannin) for the preservation of wine. Less than that amount will " oxide " with facilty, and the wine will sour, not from an excess of original acids, but from the transformation of the alcohol, by oxidation, into acetic acid, which, as I said before, did not exist in the must. It must also be remarked that very excellent wines, verging on the alcoholic limit (from 7 to 8 per cent., or even more), often oxide from want of care — from sea voyages — rapid changes of temperature and other causes — and will generate acetic acid at the expense of their alcohol. In order to explain more distinctly the diflference that may exist between the musts obtained from the same vintage and vineyard, I copy a report of a Burgundy must of the best qual- ity, and one of inferior, with the formula, amelioration, &c., by the addition of sugar and water — given, amongst other official documents, by the Imperial Government of France to a very able United States Commissioner, who was officially despatched to Europe, in order to obtain reliable information upon these important, and I may say (for an agricultural country), vital questions : — A good must 2G2 lbs. sugar, 5—9 acids, and 733 lbs. water. The inferiormust 110 " '^ 9-0 " 881 " '' And required the addition of.290 " " 0—0 " 236 '' " To make it 400 lbs. sugar, 9—0 acids, and 11171bs. water. Being the exact proportions of the good must, with an increase of five hundred and twenty pounds, or more than fifty-two per cent. In France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, sugar for the manufacture of wine is now produced at wonderfully low prices from potato starch, and although unfit for ordinary domestic purposes, is superior to the best refined cane sugar for 14 THE CANADA VINE GROWEll. the improvement and production of wine. Indeed, in every respect, cliemicallj and otherwise, this * ' glucose " is identic with that produced from the grape itself, and is termed grape sugar in the numerous manufactories established in Europe for its production. The artificial as well as the natural grape sugar, is in its dry state a combination of six atoms of oxygen, six of carbon, and five of hydrogen, whilst the common sugar contains five atoms of oxygen, six of carbon, and five of hydro- gen. From the cane sugar it difTers by chrystallizing (as upon dry raisins), in an irregular shape. Its taste is less sweet than the common sugar, and two and a half oun- ces of grape sugar will in sweetening, be only equivalent to one of cane sugar. In water the grape sugar dissolves less freely, as one ounce of water will only receive two- thirds of an ounce, although it will readily dissolve three ounces of cane sugar. Both kinds, however, furnish the same quantity of alcohol. Many other plants and fruits contain the same kind of sugar, which was formerly designated " fruit sugar." I have obtained it '.^ith facility from the apple, — but it can be always obtained at a cheaper rate from the potato, and I yet hope to see large manufactories upon the borders of the St. Lawrence, many miles below Quebec — where potatoes can be grown at six cents a bushel, and in any quantity, for we have there an energetic and intelligent population, ever seeking in rain for occupation — and there is to be found a never failing supply of the best manure, in the sea weed, driven at regular intervals on shore, by a patient and ever bountiful Providence, in order that it may rot there, perhaps for ages, so that people may discover its value. In our day, certainly the hardy " habi- tant " recogTiizes this value, and would make liberal use of it :.f a market was assured for the potato crop, even at less than six cents a bushel. I hope the " agricultural limit" will there also in time ba removed, and that Lower Canada will furnish "glucose" or grape sugar to Europe and America. The lands, hands, climate and manure are there ; the machine is there, but the machinist has not yet been granted. In the meantime, we have people THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 16 deploring as a public misfortune, the impossibility of reaching the Lower Canadian population by indirect taxation, and the hopelessness of being ever able to establish there a direct tax. Had they anything of value to sell, they would soon become consumers — and if taxed before they are placed in a different position, they may use their own old jiroverb, and exclaim — '• QuanJ iln'y a ik-n " Lo Roy pcrd ses droits." A Royal commission at Coblcntz, in 1844, declared that Cane sugar addedj to the must changes into grape sugar, during the fermentation, and leaves no difference whatever, and that a genuine improvement of wine can by no means be termed adulteration, so long as the ingredients employed remain con- fined to those which are homogeneous to the constituent parts of the grape, and the natural production of which in larger quan- tities, only depends upon the accidental state of the tempera- ture, — but as in wine, a certain relation of ingredients must necessarily prevail. It becomes the duty of the wine-maker to regulate the addition of sugar and water, according to the pro- portion of other parts." Doctor Hubeck, in his very remarkable essay upon "Grape Culture," remarks : " We have three ways in Germany of im- proving the sugar contents of the grape. 1st. By keeping them on layers to mature. 2nd. By boiling must to syrup. 3rd. By the addition of sugar. And wo have three kin is of sugar — cane sugar, grape or potato sugar, and slime sugar, (Saccharum Muscosam.) According to the results of the French, who have obtained such a high degree of perfection in the art of wine- making, the potato sugar is the best adapted for the purpose, and we have the conviction that potatoes are one of the princi- pal means of improving the wines of a country, and procaring for them an extended market. Numerous grape sugar manu- factories are established in France, Prussia, Rhenish Hesse, Baden, Wurtemburg, Bohemia,'[and Styria, and are monuments of advancing science in its onward march through the vine re- gions of Europe." The writings of such men in Germany, and the incessant .:) 16 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. labour in France of Messrs. Dubinfault and Doctor Gall has tended in a very extraordinary manner to the improvement of the manufacture of wine ; but the greatest honour is attributed to Mr. Abel Peliot, of Chamirey, one of the largest wine growers of Burgundy, whose essay, published by the French Imperial Bureau of Agriculture, has popularii?;ed this improvement in the manufacture of wine throughout Europe. It has always been known to the principal wine-growers, and for fear of creating their enmity, the French Government, pre- vious to the Empire, feared to instruct the populations, which accounts for the careless manufacture of ordinary wines. . The water, it is true, has always been furnished, and with a liberal hand, but it was used in diluting instead of manufacturing, and was an adulteration instead of an improvement. The wines of Canada, however, will, in my opinion, never be of that class that in Europe have become celebrated for their weakness. I have been always of opinion that Canada would one day be called to supply a great gap in the wine markets of Europe. I mean *he want of Essence of Wine, which can only be pro- duced by congelation. Small quantities of wine, indeed, are frozen in Europe, for although the winters in the wine regions are more severe a good deal than in England, yet the African winds cause so many violent thaws during winter, that the congelation of wine has been found altogether too uncertain. In this climate, on the contrary, where the thaws are only partial, large quantities can be congealed without any risk of loss, and I have succeeded in congealing this winter considerable quantities of both red and white wines without any difficulty whatsoever. I consider, and my friends know, I have always considered the exportation of congealed wines to Europe as the great future of both Upper and Lower Canada. The demand in Great Bri- tain alone will, I have no doubt, for centuries, be greater than can be possibly supplied. It is a well known fact that the moist climate of Great Britain and Ireland require wines of more body than can be produced without the addition of distilled spirits ; and the evil effects alcohol has on the fibres of the THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 17 brain, has within the last few years become generally under- stood. Whilst a necessity has long been felt for the production of an essence of wine that may be either used alone or applied to the purpose of strengthening other wines, and obviating the the necessity of adulteration by spirits, this essence of wine can be produced in the Canadas without difficulty, and, I have no doubt, will, before many years, become a source of great national prosperity and individual wealth. Little is known of congealed wines in Europe, except the difficulty of producing them, for the addition of brandy neces- sary to preserve wines when exported ^ ., colder regions, would also prevent the process of congelation from being carried out — at least so far as the production of Essence of ^V ine is con- cerned. I give, however, an extract from the very careful work of Messrs. Joigneaux & Mort-au on that subject, and must previous- ly remark, that in order to test the capability of our climate in that matter in the most positive manner, I commenced con- gealing wine in December, and continued the operation until the 15th of February, without (as I have previously stated) en- countering any difficulty whatever. " It is very difficult to discover a wine-grower (in France) who has succeeded in obtaining congealed wines. Commerce alone has succeeded in obtaining this preparation, and with the object of improving valuable wines by the mixture. Wines ex- posed to cold at first become troubled, and then force a sedi- ment ; afterwards, when the temperature falls to six below zero (centigrade), ice is formed on the staves, at nine below ::ero, it extends itself to the liquid, and if this low temperature con- tinues for five or six nights, the operation is terminated. At fifteen below zero, one or two nights will be sufficient. The wine obtained by this operation is very rich in alcohol. It is deprived of a great part of its salts (inorganic), and of matter subject to ferment or corrupt. It will scarcely deposit (sedi- ment) again, and ought to keep for an eternity." Properly made wine is an ether, — and frozen wine divides itself into two parts, one part (about half) being a concentrated 2 18 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. wine ether, and the other solid ice, composed of water of value- less acids, and inorganic salts, injurious to wine. When wine is jyt'operly made, it is a compound, and not a mixture. Water* saccharine matter, acids, and salts combine and form " wine ether," each element having ceased to retain its own distinct character — in the same manner as common salt is no longer either chlorine^ or sodium, or plaster Paris, sulphur or lime. Every compound is a combination of fixed proportions, in obedience to the laiu of definite proportions, and it is this very distinction that constitutes the difi'erence between pure wine, which is a compound ; and impure wine, which is a mixture, and which might as well be termed punch, or coblers, or any other term selected from the beautiful nomenclature of our waggish neighbours. Pure wine is often adulterated with sugar, water, spirits, log-wood, essences of all kinds, and alka- lies of every description. A thing is called pure wine, being a mixture of all the above mentioned materials, with the juice of some grape. Another thing is called pure wine, or pure juice of the grape, made honestly, but ignorantly, by pressing some imperfect grape and mixing a little brandy with the juice, with- out allowing it the time to make its own combinations with either skin or pulp, and which could never, therefore, become wine ether. In short, we receive from abroad all sorts of spu- riom mixtures, re-mixed here, and everybody pretends on this continent to make wine with grapes or gooseberries, or cur- rants, and call their mixtures wine. Yet, strange to say, no man establishing a brewery will think of making his own beer, but will immediately obtain a practical brewer. Can it be possible that people think it less difficult to make wine ? I see continually letters in the agricultural and other papers, speak- ing of the wines of one grape being superior to that of another ^ yet there is no wine made in Europe from the produce of one variety of grape, and no one variety can furnish the proper proportions absolutely necessary to the combination requisite for the production of the wine ether. The great difficulty in a new country is to succeed in obtaining in a vineyard the proper combination of different varieties suitable to the climate, and THE CANADA VINE OnOWER. 19 capable of furnishing that combination required for the manu- facture of wine ether, and at the same time obtaining an aroma and tlavour so judiciously mingled as not to permit that of any particular grape to be distinguishable. In my opinion a combination may be formed of the follow- ing varieties : — 1st. Clinton, which will furnish saccharine matter, tannin, and tartaric acid, and organic salts, with abundance of colour- ing matter ; indeed all in excess except water, of which it is deficient. It furnishes a very fine " bouquet," but not equal to the. 2nd. Delaware, which is also deficient in water and in tannin and colour. 3rd. The Golden Chasselas and Musk Chasselas will furnish saccharine matter and aroma, with organic salts, and ferment ; and lastly — 4th. The Ontario, which, without any foxy or disagreeable flavour, will furnish some saccharine matter, and the luater oi which others^are deficient, and which it holds in excess ; and although it may be supposed that water may be easily supplied artificially, I would advise in preference, and for economy as well as for the security of supplies, obtaining it from a harm- less watery grape. Mr. Frederic Schouro, the Danish botanist, has published a very remarkable essay upon the plants of Pompeii, which has been translated into German, French and English. I have gathered the substance of it from Blackwood, and think it most applicable to this country, where the metamorphosis of vegeta- tion must already have become apparant to every one. "We seem naturally to expect that the same class of trees and plants will grow for age after age on the same spot, but an inspection of the pictures preserved in Pompeii, and an examination of Virgil and other classics of that day, show that the character of plants and trees has been changed in Italy within the last 1800 years, and that they bore a far more northern aspect than at present. The early settlers in Italy found a forest region of common 20 THE CANADA VINE GBOWEB. deciduous trees. The beach forest, which Schouro calls the symbol of Danish character, and the maple, which is that of Canadian, flourished formerly throughout Italy, although now driven back to the Alps and Appenines. Some trees of which Virgil celebrates the grandeur, are now impossible to discover, and the region he celebrated was not the land of the Cypress and the Myrtle, but of the Oak, the Ash, the Linden, Elm, and Beech. Trees h'ke our own formed the forests of which he sang, and if the malpe is yet discovered on the plains of Italy, it is because its affinity for the vine allows it to be used with advantage as a live prop for that plant. In the course of cen- turies southern vegetation seems to have crept upwards, and the characteristic plants of Italy have therefore now a far more southern appearance than they had when Virgil sang and Cicero declaimed ; whilst in Greece, also, the Linden, the Yew, the Beech, the Alder, the Cornel, and the Ash have almost entirely disappeared. The productions for which Italy has since become famous, were known only to Pliny as " foreign plants." The citron was only cultivated the third year after Christ. Lemons came with the Saracens, and Oranges were brought by the Portuguese from the east ; while the Aloe and Inrlian Fig came from America. The white or silk worm Mul- berry was unknown to the Pompeiians, and only commenced to be cultivated iu the sixth century, and silks were imported by the Romans from the East. Barley was cultivated for the common people, and now Rice and Indian Corn (then unknown) are the staple commodities. The same change going on there has everywhere been developed by civilized man. At first by great care and pains, southern plants have, by protection, been raised ; they have by degrees become hardy, then indigenous and thus the fruits of the South are everywhere creeping towards the North. The acclimatization of plants is becoming a science of itself, and its progress may well be illustrated by the introduction of the Olive into the Crimea. Before, how- ever, endeavouring to introduce the more valuable southern plants, let us succeed in developing our indigenous ones, such as the Vine, the Mulberry, the Walnut, and the Chesnut ; and THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 21 we require only to understand the manner of cultivating each in order to abound in the production of wine, oil, and silks, and obtain the " ready-made bread" of the Chesnut. The difl&culties to be overcome are, above all, our own pre- judices, and of obtaining skilled labour, in order to set the machine in motion. Prejudice is the child of ignorance, but no government of civilized men is permitted in this century of advancement to plead ignorance ; and the responsibility of a poor system of agriculture, far beneath the qualities of our climate attach itself to them ; for private enterprize dare not calculate beyond that which will give immediate returas ; and as I have previously mentioned on more than one occasion, we have " an agricultural limit" to overcome. 22 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. PART II. THE PRACTICAL WINE GROWER. GLASS HOUSES. I have always considered that glass-houses, and the many able works in the English language adapted to the artificial cultivation of the grape, in what is termed vineries, has been one of Jie principal causes why the natural cultivation of the vine, in vineyards, has hitherto been so neglected, and so unsuccessful in this province. Yet, it is but natural to expect that persons desirous of cultivating the vine shall seek instruction in works f their own language and will by this means unwillingly become imbued with the plans of artificial growers — plans that are no doubt very ingenious and very well adapted to the unfruitful climate of Great Britain (where excessive moisture and want of heat renders the production of vineyards impossible) but that are here not only useless but are as unnatural as if employed against nature in any other portion of the vine regions of thi world. Pinching, pearing, cutting and hacking, pruning in summer and in autumn, burying in straw and mould, soaping, sulphur- ing, washing, picking and scissoring — will certainly destroy any of our native luxuriant wild vines that might have the misfor- tune to fall under such treatment, and can only be applicable to the pioduction of that artificial composition of manure and steam, called hot house grapes — that from the bud have been subjected to such treatment and accustomed to such torture. In the vine region of Europe hot-houses are rarely employed in the production of grapes, but are usied for the cultivation of rare flowers and tropical fruits and plants. The exception to this rule has been a vivery upon the Eng- lish principle, imported to Franco by M. Do Rothschild, and to THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 23 which is attributed the introduction of the " Odium," that most destructive disease of the vine, which has within the last twenty years desolated the vineyards of Europe. In an agricultural or horticultural point of view, I am there- fore at a loss to discover the reason why premiums are given at Agricultural Exhibitions for " best three varieties of hot- house grapes, three bunches each," and think it extraordinary that encouragement should bo given to a system of juiture which, when applied to grapes, has proved itself in different ways, both in E^^rope and America, injurious to public welfare, and obstructive to agricultural progress ; and whilst upon that subject I must say that the multiplicity of small worthless pre- miums granted at the Agricultural Exhibitions, are in them- selves impediments to real progress — and are in my opinion upon a par with our entire system of agricultural management which has not produced satisfactory results. A striking instance of the absurdity of the present system has lately been pointed out to me by a worthy Divine, Rector of an important parish west of Hamilton, who had done me the honour to examine our vineyards and establishment, and was attracted particularly by the large quantity of flourishing white mulberry trees grown upon this estate. It appears that seven years since, some ladies in the neigh- bourhood of St. Catharines, not only cultivated the mulberry with success but produced samples of very superior silk, which they forwarded to the " Agricultural Show" and were laughed at, a*^d no more silk exhibitors have very naturally presented themselves. If an earnest, honest and 'practical minister of agriculture had been the judge upon nuch an occasion, he would have granted a premium of so much value to these ladies, that the question of making this Province a urallhy silk-jjrodiicing country, would already have become an accomplished fact, and one hundred pounds would not, at the time I write, have been sufficient payment for the poorest acre of land in that district, where these intelligent and patriotic ladies were laughed at and where the best lands can noiv not always fetch one-tenth of tho aiLount mentioned. 24 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. I. NURSERY-MEN are unfortunately for themselves and for this country opponents hj education to a healthy system of vino culture ; I mean to the only system admissible for a climate such as ours which is essentially that of the " region of the vine." I do not attempt to attribute improper motives or inten- tions to men of so high a character as Mr. Beadle of St. Catharines, Mr. Arnold of Paris, or Mr. Leslie of Toronto, or to so respectable and intelligent a class of citizens as the nur- sery-men of this continent are admitted to be ; but they are perhaps unwittingly the propagators of a system that is ohstrud'ive in so much as their horticulture is not that of the " region of the vine" to icJiich ive belong, but on the contrary is purely artificial or English, and is the fruit of a colder light and of a more northern sun. , It is undoubtedly true that we must owe the future agricul- tural progress of this continent to the intelligent and patriotic efforts of our wealthy nursery proprietors, who in the more favoured agricultural regions are the means of intelligent pro- gress, and of national and individual wealth ; but on their part they are bound to examine without prejudice the climatic influences by which they are governed, and must cultivate the vine in our " vine region" with a view to vineyards and not vine7'ies, with regard to nature and 7iot according to the pinch- ing; pettyfogging principle of a forced and unnatural vegeta- tion. ' The vines they produce would be classed amongst the wine producing vines — natives of the country they are to bo culti- vated in, or of a more northern part of that country. They must be hardy and free from certain diseases from which even our own wild vines are not always exempt, for I have discovered from experience that the majority of the wild vines in both Upper and Lower Canada are subject to what the French call " coule" or " blast" and are subject to be fruit- loss, or nearly so, when the flowering season happens to be unpropitious. They must be accustomed from the bud to bear the rigours THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 25 of our winters (as necessary for their excellence as the heat of our summers), and they must be habituated to '^'iveep in the spring — under the vigorous action of the pruner's steel. They must finally be propagated in vinej-ards from cuttings obtained from vigorous and productive vines, which as in Europe should be furnished to the vine-growers at the maximum price of ten dollars a thousand. I propose to furnish Clintons at that price, and there is not a vino-grower in America that should either expect or receive more. Of course, exception should be made for choice plants of vave and hardy qualities, and I am persuaded our nurserj'-men under the encouragement they are likely to receive, will succeed in supplying the wants of the country in this respect ; but I must repeat my conviction that they should study thf vine for the purposes of the vineyard and leave vineries to those climates less favoured than our own. There is another large field of progress and improvement open before them. In the first instance, the propagation of the white mulberry (which will endow the Province with the production of silk and with the incalculable luealth attendant upon such industry) is in their power and within their reach. T can show them five hundred mulberry trees that, without a7iy care, have withstood successfully the supposed rigour of this climate, and I can point them out trees of the same description upon the property of my neighbour Mr. Silverthorn, which, for more than tliirtg years have flourished under the same disadvantages that ignorant " savans" pronounce us to possess. The Count de Gasparin, in his " Cours d' Agriculture," page 697 and 98, declares that "The mulberry accompanies the vine to its last limit — and it is in my opinion one of the most important privileges of the region of the vine." In the same able work of Monsieur De Gasparin, pages 753 and 754 we find that the same region obtains its bread all prepared from the chesnut, and receives its oil from another • I translate weep literally, bo'.h from French and Italian --instead of the ordin- ary term " Bleed." 26 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. tree the walnut, which furnishes nearly half the oil that is consumed in France. There can certainly be little difficulty in grafting French common walnuts upon our own magnificent trees, or in obtaining large chesnuts by means of the same operation from the splendid wild chesnut of this country. The Fig flourishes in northern Italy upon the slopes of the Alps, and in more rigorous climates than our own, and the olive itself flourishes in the Crimea, and from thence it is more than possible might be transplanted to Upper Canada. The wealth of such productions which constitutes the riches of the finest agricultural regions of Europe, may, through the enlightened exertions of our horticulturists, at no distant period belong to ourselves, and certainly it must be admitted that the prize is worthy of the exertion required for its acquisition. No doubt it is unreasonable to expect that private enter- prize shall cope with the difliculties to be encountered upon the rough and thorny path of progress ; but the time may not be far distant when the immense sums squandered upon agri- cultural politics may be turned towards another direction and to a more profitable account. Since the above has been written I had the pleasure of attending the Grimsby meeting of the Horticultural Society held on the 8rd of October, under the intelligent direction of their President, Judge Logic — and I am persuaded that the efforts of Mr. Beadle of St. Catharines, aad Mr. Arnold of Paris, tend already towards a proper direction. Mr. Arnold produced several remarkable varieties of hybri- dized Clintons, all of which may be considered as valuable additions to our wine producing grapes, and have the great advantage over the Rogers' hybrids that the original stock has been obtained from the Clinton, the St. Peters, the Black Hamburg, and Golden Chasselas, — in short from excellent foreign and native varieties instead of from the foxy-fluvoured family that give origin to other hybrids claiming advantages as table grapes but altogether unfit for the manufacture of wine. THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 27 lis h in Mr. Kilburn's "Creveling," which appears to be a new variety under that name, is certainly one of the most promising vine- yard grapes I have seen in America ; and amongst the liogers' hybrids, No. 15 is the least foxy and may furnish the muscated flavour we require. I cannot conclude without mentioning the French walnuts produced in the neighbourhood of Grimsby, where grafts may be obtained to metamorphise the unproductive varieties, so common throughout the province, — a hundred and fifty bushels from one tree is not an extraordinary crop, and may soc n be- obtained by graft. HOW TO PLANT A VINEYARD. In the preceding chapters I have endeavoured to demon- strate that glass-houses, improper instruction, ignorance, preju- dice and the exorbitant price of plants combine to prevent the farmer or house-holder fi*om enjoying the advantages of his climate, and extending the cultivation of the vine throughout the Province. In the United States they are (jro}mig after a better system .than the German one, which, unfortunately, they adopted, having been imported by German labourers from the Khine, who planted and pruned as they were accustomed to practice in their own northern climate, where the total amount of heat during the season of vegetation never surpasses two thousand seven hundred degrees centigrade, whilst that of Quebec according to Lieut. Ash, amounts to 4200, and that of Cincin- nati must arrive at 7000 degrees. The Count De Gasparin who, in all matters pertaining to agriculture is the best authority Europe can afford, declares in his " Cours d' Agriculture," vol. 4, page ()GG, " the distance to be preserved between the plants must depend altogether upon the nature of your climate, the inclination of your land, and the vigour of the vino you propose to cultivate," and as a gen- eral rule you must keep your vines loiu in the north, and plant at about two feet apart ; as you approach the south you must allow your vines to rise and extend the distance to about eight yards. 28 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. This practice is based upon the increasing vigour of the plant as you proceed south, at least to the extent of the southern limit of the vine region, which, by the best authorities has been traced upon the 351 h paralell. In our climate, which I have proved to belong to the centre of the vine region', I allow sixteen square yards to each plant and prune, of course, accordingly. In Cincinnati they plant and prune, as in Germany (which belongs to the extreme northern part of the vine region)* although they form themselves the southern limit. Independant of latitude, altitude, or the inclination of tho land, the nature of the vine itself must be taken into considera- tion, and the native vines of North America must be treated as the "Pergulanes" of Italy or the "Vignes de Treilles" of France, as they all have a propensity to rise he/ore bearing abundant fruit — and it is only from their horizontal branches or " guir- landes" that you can hope to obtain an abundant fructification. The vigour of their vegetation, if allowed to run wild, will expend itself in branches and leaves, and if kept low and short the same effect will be produced. Three hundred and fifty plants to the acre, will, therefore, be found sufiicient for the climate of this portion of the Ameri- can continent, as far north and east as Quebec, and south and west as Ohio ; but the manner of the plantation must be left to the planter himself, and it may be varied according to the for- mation of the soil. Sometimes, for instance, in square fields, the plants may be placed at four yards apart, in every direction* whilst through the centre or along the borders, avenues of eight yards wide may be formed, and the plants in this case should be about two yards distance along the lines. After numerous experiments, I consider seven feet should be the height preserved, which will allow the vines to be culti- vated and weeded by horse-power, and a hop cultivator ; that also is the height best adapted to provide against the injury of winter and spring frosts, and excess of moisture which causes the Uast at the flowering period. Monsieur Guyot, who is a good authority says : — " It is upon the high branch that tho th. THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 29 finest vines produce the best bud, and far from the soil and above the moisture and snoiv they are preserved throughout the ivinter. At Clair House, I have formed a meadow along the ave- nues, allowing only three feet of cultivated space for the vines, and I find the produce of hay per acre superior to that of any other meadow upon the estate ; but the best soil for the vines being rocky or barren clear gravel, it would be useless to cal- culate upon the hay to be obtained in such positions. The season for plantation is in May, after the fermentation of the soil has commenced, and the cuttings should have been previously bound up in bundles with willow twigs and left for at least eight days half covered with moist earths or stagnant water. The planting may then commence by making holes with a short iron crow bar, such as is used for making the hole for hop poles, only leaving two or three eyes over ground. Some small crushed bones may with advantage be placed into each hole, and a handful of old manure, rich mould or old plaster added ; some cow and pig manura mixed with plaster of Paris (sulphate of lime) is very eifective, and has a tendency to retain the moisture and prevent the plant from drying up; however, it would be well to plant two cuttings so as to be insured against failure, and if both succeed they will ultimately form one root with two branches or stems. The land may be cultivated with potatoes, carrots, or a green crop, but about a foot around each cutting must be kept free from roots and weeds. Many cuttings will put forth leaves and thdn appear to fail, but ma}*^ afterwards send forth underground shoots ; five or six hundred cuttings to the acre will ultimately insure the posses- sion of the 350 plants required. On the following year the ground should be hoed around each plant in spring, and early in August, and each should in spring (April), be pruned so as to leave only two or three eyes ; after the second pruning of this kind they should be staked, and allowed to rise, and the third year will commence the production, and at the same time the difficulties of 30 THE CANADA VINE GROWEE. TRAINING AND PRUNING. I have heard it said that during the Eegency or shortly before it, a Eoyal Duke endeavoured to obtain at a ball some gratuitous advice from blunt Doctor Abernethy, and having button-holed him in a corner, stated a case, and asked what he could advise under the circumstances. The Doctor replied abruptly, at the same time starting off at the risk of his button, " Call a Doctor, call a Doctor" — Sir. When I am often asked " How shall I prune my vines ?" I am always obliged to say " obtain a vigneron" — for the art of pru- ning can not be taught hj theory. There is no vigneron from the Old Countries that has not pruned his own, or his father's vine in Trellise, either around the rustic j^orch, or over the window of his cottage, and with the example of Clair House vineyards before his eyes he cannot fail to understand that our vines require to be treated, not like the feeble and crowded plants of Germany, or some parts of France, but according to the principles of Italy, and of cli- mates of hot summers, and hard winters like our own. I have explained the way to do without a vigneron until the vineyard shall commence bearing when, of course, it will (even the first year) largely bear its own expenses, which, under any circumstances, will be less than is requisite under other sys- tems of Agriculture. I can supply vignerons to all that require them at the ordi- nary price of farm labour ; and one good vigneron should culti- vate, at least, ten acres of vineyards, and be able to turn the produce of the same into wine ; of course, he must have help at the vintage, and when forming the skeletons of Trellises — but he can also render other important services in attending to the mulberry and walnut trees, which should (as M. De Gasparin declares) always accompany the vine to the last limit. The Canada Vine Growers' Association will also receive apprentices, and I am in hopes that County Councils will enable some inteUigent and well-conducted young men from each tQwnship, to attend to our instructions and assist our opera- tions without salary for three years ; after which, they should THE CANADA VINE GROWER. 31 be capable of undertaking the production of silk and wine in their own neighbourhood. I must not conclude without warning vine-growers to be careful from the commencement, to accustom their vines to spring pruning, which should not be carried on in Upper Canada later than the 15th of April, or earlier than March. I attribute the failures on this continent as much to autumn and summer pruning as to close planting ; summer pruning not only prevents the wood from ripening, but in'^removing the leaves distroys the lungs of the plant. CHOICE OF PLANTS. The choice of plants is, in a new country where agricultu- ral experience is not yet acquired, one of the most important considerations for the vine-grower, and one of the most diflScult problems for the country to solve. The Count De Gasparin, vol. 4, page 616, remarks that : " The nature £vnd the quality of the wine that is desired to be " produced, must above aL be arranged by a choice of plants. •' Chemical analysis failing to indicate qualities, we must " depend upon agricultural experience alome in order to obtain " the knowledge required. "If the variety of wine required exists near us, we can " accept it, and it will be sufficient in that case to consult the " best producers, and conform to their practice, in proportion- *• ing the different varieties of vines that, united in one vineyard, " produce the commercial article in question, and if you plant " a vineyard with the intention of producing table wines, you " must associate an abundant vine to others of a higher quality, " and in the association of plants, it is not only necessary to " calculate the tast^ required, but also the degree of colour "preferable to consumers." The great object, therefore, in the choice of plants is to produce, 1st. A must that may become a wine without any artificial mixture whatsoever. 2nd. To produce a wine that will be Avhat is called a round 82 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. wine, without any angular predominance of any peculiar flavour. This can, I fancy, be obtained by the mixture or the combina- tion in a vineyard of several varieties of different qualities and flavour, and of those that require the same heat to arrive at maturity. The French have classed all their varieties into seven divi- sions of heat. CLASSIFICATION OF FRENCH VINES. HEAT. U1PK.N8 DIVISION. RIPENS AT PARIS. DEGREES. SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1st Total Heat.... 2264 15th July 20th August. 2nd *' " .... 3400 25th August 7th October. 3rd " " .... 3565 1st Scptcmher 20th October. 4th " " .... 4133 27th September . . . Does not ripen. 5ih " " .... 4238 2nd October. (1 « 6th " « .... 4392 10th October iC (( 7th " *' .... 5000 31st October a « The First Division are eating grapes alone, and unlit for the manufacture of wine. De Gasparin, vol. 4th, page 606, of the celebrated pinot, of Burgundy, belongs to the Second Divi- sion ; the plant Pascal, of the Rhone, to the Third, and the Aramon to the Fifth. The total heat of the climute of Quebec, as furnished to me by Lieut. Ash, R. N., F.R.S., and published on a former occa- sion, amount to 4392 degrees, so that if the Sixth Division of French Vines could be in other respects adapted to our climate they might be cultivated at Quebec. When our own varieties shall have been classed, according to the heat required by each, there will be little difficulty in adapting them to their proper positions. In the meantime, I would suggest the adoption of the Clinton as the standard, and only accept in a vineyard those grapes that may ripen at about Ihe same period. Equal proportions of Clinton and Delaware may be united to Arnold's Hybrids — one of which is a large watery grape that with the Ontario might occupy at least one-half of the THE CANADA VINE OBOWER. 33 entire vineyard. To this last Division, Mr. Kilburn's Grovel- ling, which is a most promising grape, might also belong. Mr. Kitchen's Oporto Grape appears to me to be likely to improve the colour and furnish Tannin, and Mr. Beadle of St. Cathar- ines, can furnish some excellent varieties of native grapes. For white wines, I would recommend an association of Delaware, Golden Chasselas, Arnold's white Hybrid, and some hardy wild vines, and sweet-waters. The first run of red grapes also produces white wines. The No 15 Koger's Hybrid, may furnish a muscatel flavour, but it must be used very cautiously, and all other foxy grapes excluded altogether — each variety to be planted separately ; the Delaware in the warmest situation of the vineyard. However, it cannot be expected that during the first few years of our apprenticeship in vine growing, we can arrive at the perfection in the choice of plants that M De Gasparin declares with reason can be alone expected from agricultural experience ; many new varieties have yet to be chosen from our wild vines as num'jrous here a-i Virgil formerly proclaimed them in Europe. Queme qui scire velit lihyce velit a:quoris idem — Geo. II. comrosition of the vine and its nutriment. ' Chasso, in his " Anndler der chimie mid Pharmacie — S. L. V. P. 67, gives the following analysis of branches of the vine after the fall of the leaf. Water and Gas OTIHI Carbonic Acid 241 Sulphuric Acid 248 Phosphoric Acid 660 Chlore 67 Lime 300 Magnesia 72 Potash 257 Soda 17 Oxyde of Iron 45 Sihce 50 Manganese, Traces 00 Loss 892 3 100,000 34 THE CANADA VINE GBOWEB. The best combined succession of moisture and heat cannot, however, produce wine, if the earth and atmosphere are unable to furnish the plant with organic and inorganic matters requisite for its composition, and which must be furnished to old vineyards (at least) artificially, by means of farm manure or other substances, such as bones for its supply of phosphate, salt for its chlore and soda, gypsum for the sulphur, and lime and ashes and iron filing for its potash and oxide of iron. For new vineyards, I may say, that, with a fair start of man- ure to enable their roots to penetrate deeply in the soil, they may for a long time subsist upon the accumulated wealth of a favourable sub-soil ; for lands possessing Argile, oxyed of iron and carbon, absorb every year ammonical vapours capable of supplying 18 pounds of azote to the acre ; and this may be even only a small portion of substances which the earth receives and deposits beneath the reach of annual plants, but which will be easily utilized by the penetrating roots of the vine by whose absorbing power the very rocks themselves are pulver- ized and metamorphosed. In the Count De Gasparin's " Cours d' Agriculture," page 638, we may find "that it is impossible to discover a description " of soil that has not furnished an example of a celebrated vine " growing upon its surface. The remarkable vineyards of the Cote-d'or are produced from calcareous solUiques, calcareous magnesian inarh, and tertiary alluvia (similar to our own), the vines of Champagne, grow upon chalk, the Tokay on basaltic formations, those of Malaga, Granada, Arragon and AnjoTi upon argillaceous schists those of Tamalgue, upon mica-sc]iists, and Bordeaux upon sand and gravel of quartz. The celebrated Hermitage upon granite, San Lucar upon limon, and lacrima-christi from vol- canic formations are alone produced. The essential constituents of must being — sugar, tannin, tartaric and malid acids, allbumen and mucilage, it will happen, that if you plant the same variety of vines in a dry gravelly or stony soil, you will have a great deal of sugar and little acids — in a moist rich soil, you will produce a larger THE CANADA VINE OROWEB. 35 quantity of acids ; and in a wet soil, little sugar and a great deal of acids, allbumen and mucilage. The albumens and mucilage may, however, by the slow saccharine fermentation be transformed into sugar. These experiments have, however, demonstrated that the physical properties of the soil may explain the difference existing between the productions of the same vine — upon different soils. In some countries they hasten the maturity of the grapes by covering the soil with coal, black slates, or the refuse of forges and rolling mills ; that absorbs the solar heat and retains it better than soils of a lighter colour. In stony grounds also, the heat insinuates itself deeper and radiates more gradu- ally ; but the evaporation is also more considerable, and the vines may suffer from drought if moisture cannot be furnished to the roots by cappillary attraction. A remarkable fact relating to this theory may be found in Pliny (Lib, xvii, cap. 4th), where he shows that the vineyards of the city of Emos, in Thrace, became withered and dried up in consequence of the river Ebre having changed its course and abandoned that city. The neighbourhood of rivers and great sheets of water have evv^r been considered favourable to the vine, both by modifying the temperature and by preserving them from spring frosts by means of the morning fogs that arise from their surface. Monsieur Verguette Lamotte remarks in his " Congres des Vignerons," page 342, that the best vines on the Cote D'or are found half way up the hills, at an altitude varying from 15 to 78 yards above the plains, and this undoubtedly is caused by the filtrations from above that leave the summits without sufficient moisture, and supply the plain with a superabundance. The Vine is cultivated on the slopes of the Liban, without being able to succeed on the plains of Sennaar. WINE. I have previously explained the principles of this simple manufacture, and can only say that although extremely easy of acquisition, it must be seen and practiced in order to be 36 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. understood. Tliere is an old Italian proverb that declares it impossible to learn how to make wine without making it ; but if the manufacture of wine require practical experience, even amidst the old vineyards of Europe, where the qualities and defects of every individual vine, and I may say, of every vine- yard or association of vines, is well known from centuries of experience, it must be easily understood that, in a new country where no perfect association of grapes yet exists, and where but a very imperfect knowledge of the vines themselves can be obtained, the greatest care and discernment is requi- site in order to replace, in some degree, that knowledge which, the best authority in Europe declares, must be derived fi'om agricuUurcd experience alone. I propose to propagate the experience we may obtain, and the knowledge we already possess by accepting a limited num- ber of apprentices, who will be instructed for three years in return for their labor without any entrance fee whatsoever. And I am in hopes that Agricultural Societies will enable some capable and intelligent young men to proiit by this opportunity of obtaining a knowledge, that by this means may rapidly extend itself over the entire Province. I am also in hopes that the Minister of Agriculture may assist our Association in developiiin tier's fields were ravaged, and his potatoes transported, ai; i f^stributed among tlio suburban populations. Ills he expected, and was rejoiced. The children of Eve were then about to eat forbidden fruit. The gardens in the neighbourhood of Paris were soon crowded with potatoes, which advanced from thence into the more extensive culture of the nearest farms. Parmentier was delighted with his success, and redoubled his endeavours. But there, as in all countries, were found, the envious, malicious, and ignorant, who, by instinct, are the obstacles to every public good. 40 THE CANADA VINE QROWER. As the Almighty has created nothing without an object, we must presume that this disgusting class • of bilious, venomous humanity, have, like' toads, serpents, scorpions, some ignoble destiny to fulfil ; perhaps ordained as contrasts, perhaps as punishment for us or them. None can, however, deny that they exist, and poor Parmentier found so to his cost, for soon a murmur spread around, that these much vaunted plants, were poisonous. The people took alarm, and scenes occurred, like those when Cholera first came to Europe, and villains spread abroad that fountains, bread, and vegetables, were poisoned to destroy. Parmentier fled, to ^ave his life, but the two famines, that followed so soon upon 1 ^"loody revolution of that "Age of Eage" taught people the i ortance of Parmentier's favourite plants, and then in gratitude they tried in vain to rebaptise it with his name, and term it " Parmentiere." A F P E N D I X REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE VINE IN CANADA. Legislative Assembly, Thursday, Olli June, 1864. Resolved, — That a Select CommitU'e, composed of Mr. Huot, Hon. Mr. McGee, Hon. Mr. Alleyn, Hon. Mr. McDougall, Mr. Perrault Mr. Joly, and Mr. Pope, be appointed to enquire as to the possibility of cultivating the Vine in this country ; with power to. send for persons, papers and recorfls. Attest, \Vm. ]}. Lindsay, Clerk, L. A. Legislative Assembly, 17lh June, 1864. The Select Committee appointed to enquire as to the possibility of culti- vating the Vine in this country, bog leave to report : That the Committee, alter careful consideration of the evidence laid before them, are of opinion that the cultivation of the Vine may become an impor- tant branch of industry both in Upper and Lower Canada ; and respectfully recommend that the Government give such encourgement as would be an inducement to practical men to develop, if possible, that important branch of industry in this Province. That the evidence adduced as to the practica- bility of successfully cultivating the Vine, be printed for the information of the House. The whole, nevertheless, respectfully submitted. P. J. HuoT, Chairman. Legislative Asbkmbly, Quebec, 13th June, 1864. (Circular.) Sir,— The Select Committee appointed to enquire as to the possibility of cultivating the Vine in this country, has directed me to transmit to you the following questions, and to request you to reply to thenr at the earliest pos- sible period. You will please direct your answcra to J. P. Leprohon, Esquire, Ist Assis- tant Clerk of Committees, Legislative Assembly, Quebec. The Committee expect that the importance of the subject (which they are considering) to the country, will be a powerful inducement to you to grant your assistance on this occasion. I have the honor to be. Sir, Your obedient servant, Mr. DeCourt nay. J. P- Leprouon, Clerk of Corn's. kf^WHH 42 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. Question 1. In your correspondence with the Government in 1859, to be found in the Sessional Papers of 1860, No. 22, you solicit assistance for the introduction of Vine culture into Canada, expressing your conviction that the climate of this Province has been hitherto misunderstood, and ihat it should be classed not only as belonging to the wine region, but even to. the most favored portion of that region ; and having been, at that penod invited to demonstrate in a practical manner the correctness of your views, will you be so good as to render to this Committee such information as you may be able on this important subject, and inform them of tlw jiraclical resK//.* already obtained ? Question 2. To what reasons do you attribute the fact, that althongh this climate, as you assert, belongs to the I'avored region of the Vine, no such culture has hiiherto been carried out? Question 3. Will you explain the meteorological conditions of the most favored portion of the Vine region ? Question 4. Will you submit to this Committee what means you recommend for establishing successfully the above-mentioned valuable productions ia this Province ? li Qi'EBEC, 14th June, 1864. To J. P. Lepkohox, Esq., Clerk of Committees, Legislative Assembly. Sir, — In answer to your communication of the 13th inst., I beg leave to return, for the information of the Select Committee upon Vine culture, the following answers to ques-ti )ns which they have done me the honor to pro- pose, — and have the honor to remain, Sir, Yotir obedient humble servant, J. M. DeCouktenay. AXSWER3. Ist Question. In March, 1863, 1 published a pamphlet upon " The culture of the Vine and Emigration,'' which I forward for the information of the Honorable Committee, hoping it may prove that, since the publication of the Sessional Papers alluded to of IHIJO, No. 22, I have demonstrated, in a prac- tical manner, the correctness of my view.s. In the first instiiuce : — l?y cultivating successfully, not only the wild vine of the country (now so fully appreciated in Europe) but, moreover, several delicate varieties of European vines ; uun'e been struck with the very satislactory results obtained by Mr. de Courtenay. from the out-door culture of the Wid Grape, at St. Albans, on the fct. Louis road, near Qtiebec. Vines, barren, or next thing to it, in two yeare' culture were loadt d with immense clusters ot splendid fruit. Mr. de Courtenay submitted to me. during the last winter, delicious wine, from some grapes which, he staled, had been grown in this district. I saw the grapes during several periods ot fermen- tation, and 1 firmly believe that t-uch wine, produced in large quantities, would be an inestimable biion to Canada. 1 think that Government would be found wanting in its duty towards the people, if it should refuse to encourage the development of such an impor- tant element of commerciiil prosperity. I see no reason why the Wild Vine of the country should not improve under proper culture, and other varieties of Vines introduced in Canada, sympathetic with tbe climate and soil. It is useless for me to dwell on the bearing of the Vine question in Canada — I do not believe that it has been fairly tried yet. There are secrets in the manufactuie of wine as there are in all other industries, and failures can be explained by the fact, that few (.if any) real Vine growers have attempted to make wine in Canada with the wild grape of the country, cultivated in the open air. I think I echo public opinion in urging the necessity of having tbe Wine qui'stion thoroughly veniiiated. Qtiebec, 14th June, 18(i4. J. M. LeMoine. Qrv:BKC, 13th June, 1864. fc'iR,— I have the honor to acknowledge your communication, propounding certain questions in relation to Mr. de Courtenay's success in the cultivation of the Vine, and in producing v\ ine from the fruit. 1 subjoin my reply. In the (all ot the year of 18(il, I went to examine some wild Vines, then about to be taken intu cultivation by Mr. de Cotirtenay. The plants were of considerable age, and had been grown for several years where they then stood. '1 hey had several bunches ot fruit, scarcely any of the grapes being larger than the head of a common pin. Late in the sprint^ of 18()2, I again visted the same Vines, still standing on the same exaci spot. They had been pruned with a very unsparing hand, and showed a very handsome promise of truit for that year. The cause of this last visit was a very severe and unseasonable fiost. and I went to see the effect produced on the Vines. Ihey were in very lull blossom ; but, though ic cies were still hanging on some parts of the Vines they had suffered nothing. I again visited the .same Vines in Sep »Mnber, I8(i2, when they were loaded wiih bunches of grapes, highly colored, and the grapes— indi- vidually as large as I have seen them in the vine growing parts of France. I had the curio.sity to watch the gathering and the making oi' those gv»pea into wine— which wine w I shall on many occasions make use of this authority. I may here explain that it is looked upon as the best Europe can afford, although the Count was, for many years Minister of Agriculture. Thus, in the 4th vol. of his "Cours d'Agriculture," pages 697 and 698, 1 find : '• The Mulberry accompanies the vine to its last limit in altitude, and we do not doubt that also in laiitu le this will be found the limit of its useful cul- tivation. It would be difficult to exaggerate the advantages Europe obtained by the adoption of this industry. Three hundred and twelve millions of francs is what the Mulberry produces to France, which is one-third of the production of its vineyards." APPENDIX. 47 I find that tbesc productions amount to Win« 934 millions. Silk 312 do. Making a total of 1,246 million of francs, or 250 millions of dollars. As to the produciion of oil, I can only speak here ot that which is fumii-hed by the Walnut, and which is at least equal in quality to that of the Olive. The French have divided their Walnuts into seven varieties : Ist. Ndyir "a coque tendre. 2nd. Noyer tardif. brd. Nuyer de jauge ou a gros fruits. 4th. Noyer "a bijoux. 6th. N(,jer a fruit dur ou Noyer noir. 61 h. Koyer ii grappes, ou du Canada. 7th. Noyer la Cerise. And, in short, tbe " iNoyer conimun."' The fitth and t-ixth are origiuarit-s of North America, and known in this country as the black walnut and the l)Utterniit. 'Die second only flowers in June, and would be the species suitable lor this climate, and to graft upon the Canadian ^ aritties. Before the Enpire of Napoleon I. many wallnuts, incapable of producing oil, were grown in France, liut that great reformer — that regenerator wards lue south, wine was produced, but maize could not riper. .->?.. i The ..n 1 I > ■ I w.is composed of both wine and maize. The t.iiir. I n' tlic olive. De Gasperin, vol. ii, page ol8. declares : " "^'iii- ..• Vrlimr Young has never been surpassed ; beinj; founded n;^ >;i ui" .... a. of facts, it is generally true. • .1(1. . places, altitudes, and many other circumstances, transform I.! -tr .. : . , 1 >s IV iced by this author, into very siauous ouesj." x'X 111, .. .ime vol.. page 'A22, he says : — in thi - 1 ithern division of the wine ngion. the vine ripens on the plains, ..ul witiioui, shelter. In the northern portion, the slope-- of hills, more or less iclined to the south, are chosen, which in point of fact, transport these posi- tions to a more southern climate often equal to many degrees. "In such cases the vine is not the general culture of the CMintry. It becomes the speciality ot certain expositions, that are uoi of the same climate as the surrounding country " In our opinion, therefore, the region of the vine should he traced on that line where this shrub can ripen without shelter, which would bring it to that limit where it is cultivated in common wi h maize. We shall, tiieiefore de- fine the sub-region of maize, believing that the northern portion, where it ■ does not arrive at maturity, is only a climate of transition forthe vine, and might well be classed in the cereal region. " Having made ihis reserve, we shall confine ourselves altogether to indi- cating the sub-region of maize." I consider it perfectly impossible for the delicate descriptions of either European or native vine to succeed upon the clay soils of Cincinna'i. Messrs. Joigneau and Moreau declare in their valuable work, vol. ii., page 6il, that " If you take choice vines from light soils and plant them in clay, you will obtain a something very much approaching to a mixture of ArrE:>Dix. 49 bait' waler, luvlf vinegar." Tho samo iuithors, in the siime page, declare tbat "'J'he vino phiaUnl in clay will only product! a proat deal of acid and very little sngar :'" and thifl will account Ibr tlio quantities of sugar mixed with tho wines of Ohio, and wbich. in my opinion, is no remedy lo ilie evil. Had Ohio obtained the as-sistance of able and scientific wine-growers from Europe, they would nol. have been groping for tliirty-ilve yoars^fter (in my opinion) unsatisfactory results. As to tlie value of ihe Ohio climate in coinparison with the length of our winters, 1 assert that the best authorities in Europe consider that no remark- able wine is grown south ot the 4()th parallel. Bordeaux which lies in the 45th degree, produces the most southern aro- matic wines, and all other valuable wines are yet further north. As for sherry and port, they are not aromatic wines, but are manufactured with brandy and othttr ingredients, and for the English marlcet ahme. Monsieur do Gasperin's estimate of a wine climate must naturally carry with it more conviction than any arguments I can offer. In considering many pages of statistics, taken from the delegates of wiae associations, we remark m his " Cours d"Agriculture," vol. iv.. page 635 : " This same operation, made on a sciies of years, from 1828 to our day, give* us the same result. " Thus we can conclude, that the climates most favorable to the vine are those where the duration of the season of vegetation is tho shortest, and where, during such season, the total heat is tho most elevated ; " Where the diflferenco between the solar heat and the minimum heat ig the greatest, and where, consequently, vegetation proceeds by shocks, and not by a uniform march." This description of our own climate, by so undoubted an authority as Monsieur de Gasperin, will convince many that it h;io been often sadly calum- niated by " the learned of the land." PRONINO AND PLANTING. Pruning of any description, and there are five hundred diff'erent methods, is by no means arbitrary. Both that and the distance to be preserved between the plan'^ (and the former is always regulated by the latter) " must depend altogether upon the nature of your climate, the inclination of your land, and the vigour of the vine you propose to cultivate."* As a general rule, you must keep your vines low, in the north, and plant them at about two feet apart. As you approach the south you must allow your vines to rise, and extend your distances aa far as about eight yards. This practice is based upon the more or less vigour of the plant, which inva- riably increases as you proceed south, at least as far as extends the southern limit of the vine region, which hiS been by the best authorities traced upon the 35tb parallel. In our climate I plant in squares of four yards distance, and prune accord- ingly, and find 1 have by no means over-estimated the vigour of my plants. In Cincinnati, they imitate the feeble vigour of the extreme northern limit, and plant at two or three feet distances, pruning, of course, accordingly. By my estimate of their climate, I should judge eight yards at least as the distance to be preserved. However, both here and in Europe the greatest care must be taken in planting vines, transported from another district, to preserve to them as much OS possible not only tho fall degree of heat requisite for the raiturity of each variety, but also the soil and .ispect ti which they have been accus- tomed. Even then, and under every possible precaution, you will neuar obtain exactly the same flivor, which ala^ya diffars miterially in the same parish, with the same assortment of vines, in the same climate, aspect and soil. * Do Gasporin, vol. iv., page 668. ■■ 50 THE CANADA VINE GROWEK. II As 1 previously rt markcci, the great art of vine culture conaists in plarUing aad prunuKj, which can only be acquired by considerable praclical experi- ence. Independent of latitude, altitude, or the inclination of the land, the nature of the vine itself nuist be taken into the most careful consii'eration. Certain varieties hive a propensity to rise before bearinpt abundant fruit, and are getKrally to be found amongst the wild grapes oft)" countries, — tha " Vig.ies de treiiles," of Trance, and the •• Pergulanes," o'. ,aly. It is only from their horizontal brnuches, or " guirlandes," that you c;in hope to obtain an abundant fructilication. The vigour of their vegetation, if allowed to run wild, will expend itself in wood branches and leaves. If kept low and short the same effects will be produced. Monsieur De Gasperin. vol. iv. page (JGv, exemplifies this doctrine in an interesting manner. " Wo made un experiment upon a vine of Corinth, brought home frcm the expedition of Morea in 1828. •' Kept low during fourteen yeara, it produced only a very small quantity of fruit, used only as samples. Having then been allowed to climb upon a neighbouring tree, it covered itself with fruit, and gave that year a quantity suflicient to make a hectolitre (25 gallons) of wine." I presume many persons in this country haTe remarked, even amongst the wild vines, that some prefer to climb to ihe s\immitH of the highest trees, whilst oth<'rs content themselves with spnading over brush wood. The s.ime thing exists in Europe, and in a greater degree with the cultiva- ted vines [vitis vinifera), whose natural propensities have become fixed habits from many centuries of judicioiis pruning. Those varietic-s. therefore, th;>t have long been preserved low, would wear themselves out immediately, and toon cease to be productive if allowed to rise, or if the mode of pruning was materially altered. All varieties, if abandoned to themselves, produce an innumerable quantity of branches, and become wild within three years. As the vigour of the vine varies according to the climate, and increases as it approaches the south, so (in the same proportion) does the distance be- tween plants extend itself. The increasing evaporation of the vine as it proceeds south, makes it also absolutely necessary to allow a greater cube of earth, so that its roots may ext< nd themselves and absorb the degree of moisture required for its vege- tation. Another reason may bo discovered, from the recognized fact " that the closer the plants the sooner the fruit arrives at maturity." The action so produced is, because the stronger the vines the later they blossom, and therefore they have time to develop moie branches and leaves than are necessary. An isolated plant blossoms and ripens long after those that are crowded together, and have therelore less vigo". The llrst ripe grapes are never to be found on the borders of a vineyard, and old vines planted on poor soil are considerably in advance of those yoiuiger and better manured. These become very important considerntionsin 'he extreme northern limit of the vine region, where the maturity is uncertain ; and some davs gained may be of groat advantage in obtaining drinkable wines ; for although you can obiain an equal quantity of wine by increasing the distanc ■ between the plants yet the contrary practice in such climates is found more advan- tageous, in order to Improve the (|nallty. It need not either be necessary to ;)roeeed to the extreme northern limit of the vine region, in order to appreciate the advantages a few day» of earlier maturity may produce— to obtain which, they have hwn obliged, even io Burgundy, to decrease the distance between the plants, notwithsanding their climate lies in the centre of the vine region — " th** sub-reghn of maize." Ab to the production in Canada— except in some moat exceptional situa- Al'l'ENOTX. 61 tiou -of the Calawba or iBabella grape, it only jirovi';^ iis^ain huw dungorous the futile cflbrts ol isiioraueo seeking- inipos,sibilitiop, have t-ver been to real pio to laO (lays, c ilciilated (as in Ibirgmidy for the grape,) when the temperature rises to 12 centigrade and returns below that degree. Our amount of heat during a sea.soii nf vegetation ol J :',:> d-.iys is fcr supe- rior to that of FJurgundy with its 174 days ; notwithstanding that our con- trasts between the temperature of day and night are much greater. Purity of atmosphere, the ne.vt greatest lulvantage lor a wine climate, we possess m a nuich greater degree than IJurgundy, or indeed than tiny part of France. The very varittlions in oui l< niperatiiie demonstrate this purity ol * Tho li'.'--t division aro'cUinj- (:i Oartbrin, vol. iT., page 009. 1 e' nlont', and until for the maimroi'lnie of wiue.— Dk 62 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. atmosphere, as the former is produced hy radiatw7i rf heat, which is the conse- quence of the latter. We have always been in the habit of praising our long winters, and apologising for our short and burning summers, whereas the real advantage of our climate consists in the heat and brevity of those very summers, which can, by the wonderful liches \boy \noihic(i, ichen properly managed, compensate for even the unpleasant and unprofitable length of our winters. As to the ofTects of vine culture upon emigralion. it can be well understood that the moment v:e ronwunce such operations upon any important scale, we renwve from the K\iiopean imagination that chill and shudder ever associated with Canada, supposed to be only productive of snow, wood and ice. The jihysical. moral and social cflVct of vine upon our population can neither be over-rated nor exaggerated. A Krencli political economist declares that tci)ic is to the French and Latin race in general what hcef is to the An- glo-Saxons. 1 am persuaded that wine is "meat and drink" lo every divi- eion of the human race. It is the antidote to dysp^iit^ia and delirium tremens — lias ever, at the same lime, banished the v.sv of .'spirituous liquors, and "made the heart of man glad." It seems lo be a )(ecf,v.>,)7(/ of the human organiza- tion. Ii awakes the forces of the stomach, excites the libres of the brain, and exercises an action of radiation upon the eiitire nervous system and the com- plicated vital hinctioiis, and appears to be a lu'verage indispensable to tnan, being that which is most easily obtained and the most agreeable and most generally appreciated, which is proved by the /ikc< of the exclusion of all others wiOiin th'^ dlmatfs whore it can tic produced, lint in order that wine should become the universal beverage of the country, it must be produced of every (puility and at every price. The attempt to produce o)dy sparkling t'atuwbii reminds one of the un- lortiinate Queeji whu jirojiosed to substitute " sweet, cakes"' for that bread, the want of which (asloreseen by Arthur Young) caused the French Revolu- tion. Good sound ordinary wines are the only real basis upon which such culti- vation can be established : for it must be remembered that, as for every other description of nu'rclnuulize. poor coiisiuiievs ,ir<' the niMst numerous. Unlike most other productions, it is by no means a defined substance, pre- s«'nting everywhere the s;ime coiui)osition. For some it is a delicate bever.age. the merit of which consists in the odor, or " b<»u«iuet."-~ in the unctions and aiiieeable siiviiar to tlie palate, much more than in the more or less (pianlity of alooliol it e.^ulains. For others it is only a spiiii more or less diluted ; lietween these extremoi- all tastes and necessities may be discoven'd. Ii>il as the muss ol consumers are poor, so are the ordinary wines t!i(' most numerous, and their value (which consists in the >ipirit they contain) more eiisiiy a])preciaied. With rega'"d to tine wines, on the contrary, yon can discuver no other guage titan tlie palate of the connois'^eur, whose opinion will only be g\iided by either an arquired taste or the fashion of the day. These (pialities of so much value may be obtained by any one within the wine regions, but never in an infallible nuinner. ami to a degree foreseen in advance. With the plants, soil, und aspect of Clos-vo.igeot. wine is made in the same district in no way resembling that of Clos-vougeol. A great n\unber of (pu'stions present themselves to the wine-grower in a new cotmlry, where no agricultural experience can guide him ; and the problems he must solve are so complicated and so nnnierous, that I find it impossible within the limited space of a small pamphlet lo give even an out- line of the agrictjltural, economical and comnioreial considerations necess^ary for, relating to. or dependant upon, the su-'cess of so arduous an undertak- ing. The ./(/(',' that a good soiuul wine can be produced in this country, I con- Hider, has been by me practically denionstrated. it may, moreover, bf APPENDIX. 58 proved by a matliematicul calculation that wo belong to a wine district. The Count do GaspvTin, vol. ii., page 3.'')4. declares a simple rule, without an ex- ception : •■ The climate of the vine is characterized by the possibility of at- taining a, total heat (solar and atmosplieric) of 2,€80 degrees" (centigrade.) 1 assert that we possess much more than 3,000 degrees (centigrade,) and 1 have based my theories — Ist. On the fad that all countries in Europe capable of producing Indian eorn are considered to be in the centre of the wine region, which extends more than 200 miles north ot whore Indian corn ceases to ripen. 2ud. On the other f(tct that the only aromatic wines in Europe are grown north of the 45th degree of latitude, and on the principle recognized by the Count de Gasperin, vol. iv.. page (537, that the best wines are produced where the season of vegetation is the shorie.tt, and where there exists the ijreatest variations of temporiitiire, so that vegetation may proceed by starts ftud not by a aniforui inarch. As to the quality of wine, allow me to declare it to be a question of agri- cultural experience, and such is, indeed, the reason why private enterprise cannot be expected to undertake the expenses of experience, which cannot by any means remain a privilege ; and I quote the Count de Gasperin, vol. iv., pages tJlG, G17 and (!18, as authority for such assertion. In conclusion, it must be evident that my object was not to make a siiperioi- wine, but to produce a wine from the native fjrape alone, in doing so, I only made use of two varieties ol the native grape ; and 1 am persuaded that the varieties of our native vines are as numerous as Virgil once declared those of Europe to be :-- ' Quern (pii scire velit Libyci velil aMpioris Idem Discer(! ; quam mulUe zephiro turbentur aremv. Aut, iibi, navigiis violentior incidit Eurus, Nog.se quof Toni veniant ad littora fluctus." Geo. n. AtilUCULTURAI, RK0I0N8. Agriculfuial region? upon the surface of the globe are governed by certain laws. Some, inherent to tlie ruture of the soil and climate, Others, on the contrary, depend upon the progress i)1 bution of population, and other variable causes. Tney may all be classed within four limits- : Ist —Meteorological ; 2nd — Economical : 3rd— Statistical ; 4tli— .Agricultural. The Meteorological limit may lie establislied - Ist. By the temperature of th(! atmosphere and the soil, under the ence of solar heat, during the season of vegetation of each plant ; 2nd. By tlie hygrometric .state of the atmosphere, the frequency and direc- tion of the windy, and the moisture of the earth during each season : . .,,.,8^ 3rd. The temperature of the atmosphere and soil during the winter. -. , KOO.VOMICAL. Economical limits depend upon extremely complicated calculations, the basis of which may be considenul as : iBt. The quantity and quality of possible production in the situation under consideration ; 2nd. The prices to be expected in tbe home market for such productions ; 3rd. The expense of such cultures. ^.liawMia The results ot a comparison between the above considerations have a tend- ency to extend or contract the limits of the cultiTatlon of such plants, either beyond or within the bouadarieB of their natural limits. Kxcellent wine woe formerly produced in abundance in tbe neighborhood are civil 'II variable. I uiou. fhedistii- inftii- ii:: I 64 THE CANADA VINE GROWER. of Paris ; economical considerations have caused its culture there to become extremely limited. In Belgium, on the contrary, the custom house duties have caused the oxteusion of wine and silk culture beyond their rational limits. In Lower Canada, the facilities of water communication with the West are an economical limit to the extensive production of grain or maize, and, in self defence, we are bo;ind to meet such changes, by providing other agricul- tural productions, and by obtaining a substitute for the grain culture that was formerly the wealth of our flat lands. Hemp should be the great staple commodity of such lands, not only from its peculiar adaptation and great value, but also from its tendency to hap'ovt the general system ot agriculture in those countriiw where it has been culti- vated with success. The great secret of jiopularity with the l/onaparte family in Italy is, that the rich plains of Central Italy owe their inciileulable wealth to the introduc- tion of hemp culture by the First Consul, who never did things by halves. Had wo taken the trouble to examine the means employed by the Great Emperor, we should long since have endowed the Province! with this source of immense prosperity ; but, notwithstanding some more talk about it, thi? ' introduction appears nowiis far off tjs evei-. I have, ill the J«.iriml de iladnc, treats i iu detail the importance of hemp, and the itbsurdily of tine tiax culture in Lower Canada, and sliall. on a future occasion, return to tlii'- Importnnt question more (uUy. ami in English. STATIC! ICAL. Statistical limits are dependant upo.i fhe distriinition of population. [t has, by M. de GnHp(!riu. being ci, ulated that it requin'S the labor of two persons to produce 250 lbs. of raw >i'k. The real labour of such production does not extend over the space of a week, being the last of the live comprising tlie ephemeral existence; of the fllk worm. The '• Department of Card." France. ■ producing mor<' than five million pounds of raw silk"* (2.7()(t,flO() kilogrammes), must employ more than half of its population above tlie age of twelv yeais during tlie last week of such production. The statistical limit ut silk culture may therefore be lixed by the amount of population capable ot being employed in such production during one week of the year. The extreme brevity of this season of labour would facilitate its introduc- tion into Lower Canada, where it would interfere with no important agricul- tural occupation. As to Vine culture, a vigneron wo\dd -upply the want*; id an entire parish, as far as local consumption may be ctuicerneil, and the French popidation would return by instinct and with avidity to their ancient beverage. AiIUrCULTt'KK. Agricultural limits are marked principally by the tenur" of la. d. Were you to propose tlie cultivation ot the vine, the mulberry or the v.a!- nut, to farmers holding short leases (the greatest curse of a coiu.iry, whether to land or water), you would only be answered by ridicule. Even small proprietors, who miLst exist upon the anuvial pro'Iuoe of their land, will not dare to make experiments, except upon mature reflection, and having the example of success before their eyes. Agricultural reforms, therefore, miiBt depend altogether upon the tenure of the soil, which, alter all, is the otiLy regulator of its wealth. It will be difficult to develop the agricultural resources of a co. atry with- out the a.S8tRtance of wealthy landed proprietors who can only be created by iueane of fntail. mamm APPENDIX. 55 Nothing is more tru^ than the old French proverb : '• Telle dtable, telle bete." " Tant vaut I'homme, tant vaut la terre."' No doubt many acquirements and groat energy are necess-ary in order to carry out large projects of agricultural reform. I presume the time may not be far distant wlien it will become generally admitted, that upon the intelligent and zealous exertions of the Bureau of Agriculture must depend our best prospects of immediate prosperity and future greatness. Under such circumstances a complete reorganization of the Bureau would become indispensable, so that the position of Minister of AgriciiUure should be sought after by our most able men of both sections of the Province. A short Act of Parliament, authorizing the CommissiontM- of Crown I^ands to dispone of any amount of land (for ciish payments, to be applied to roads upon said land) under guarantee of entail, would introduce millions of foreign capital into the country. An appeal to foreign capitalists by such mm and under s^'jih circumstances, would undoubtedly create a sensation in Europe, and be attended (for the Province) with most advantageous results. The liberty, equality and mendicity system has been tried imifound ica/iibuj. If the one I propose effects so many nervous susct'ptibilitio,-:, let a brtler om be laid before the public and the country. T II K W I N K II K (J i <) .\ . Meleor<)lo(jical Lbulls, The limits imposed upon all cultures must natui'ixlly uiloct, in a very loniark- able manner, the important and higlily vdhiable ones I have endeuvovod lo bring before public attention. J have shown, I hope, tiiat we arc within all the larutble limits previously described. And I presume 1 have pioved, as far as can be reasonably expected from the limited space I have occupied, that we are/ar within the circle of the most important of all limits, because the natural, and invarial)Ie one, that which has been ordained by our Creator. In order to explain, with any deffree ol' lucidity, the limits assi,<];ned to that region termed " of the vine." but which includes so many others of great value and Importance, I must compare two distinct climates — The one decidedly in. l!)o other absoluteiy without, the limits in (juestion. i shall, therefore, esta'olibh Ihe comparison between Paris and Brussels. In the first of these situations, wine culimv has been t-U'.'cessful : in the last, it hiis never been able to succeed. I'AUIS. Atmospheric heat during the season of vegetation 102.'). o7 Solar iieat •' " " 751.00 Total heat 'iG76.f>7 Tliis appears Ihe lowest degree ot iioat required for tlie cuilivaliun of wine. At Brussels tlie tlun-momeler descends below 12 ° centigrade, as in Paris, by the 1st of Uctob-'.) (F ~ 32°) Total Atmospheric Heat fv.r l.^til— liOTi)"— 3 Ceiitiarade. 1S()2— 32<)4°— ;! w^ 58 THE CANADA VINE OBOWEB. These calculations, therefore, demonstrate that we have enjoyed during the season of vegetation in the year 1861 : Atmospheric heat 3079.3 Solar heat 1026.4 Total 4106.7 And for the year 1862 : Atmospheric heat 3294.3 Solar heat 1098 1 Total 4392.4 And Mr. Aehe authorized me to Btate, that the atmospheric beat at the Citadel was some hundred degrees beneath the ordinary temperature of the climate. Such facts require no comment. They prove our climate to be in the centre of 1 wine region. \. >g p*