The North-Carolinian., 1853-10-01
From The Charleston .Hercua-a.
The Scu;spG.E:9nr GraEe.


''Thc great aphorisn of Bacon that man dis
covers truth so far only he make himself The
patient interpreter of nature, receives "A new OF
Il vastcr application than he himself probably
designed, when he uttered that wise and pre.-
nant sentence. DE Boac's ReU;c,c.
To illustrate the above aphor;sm based on
wisdom, let me relate comparatively humble
but lately discovered fact, and now practically
settled, by close observation.
| shall simply preface my statement OF facts
by saying that the people of the Southern State S
are more or less acquainted with the Scupper-
nong vine. Its native and most congenia! place
Is granted to be the eastern portion of North
Carolina. 1t is there also, where its fruit was
first converted rather manufactured, 4 y
lrugg!ng it with sugar and alcohol) into Il soi-
disant wine. which is msnomer; since The
never fcrment the Must into a vinoous beverage
Still, this wine must be considered great bIes
70 to this country. 1t is unique in its phys:ole :
gical structure aud functions. It is cxtraordill-
Y in its great proeluctiyeness. Its fruit is lu>-
cOuS and sweet, and abOunds in tanning prime
pies, or selfpreserving clements; though tho
skin is thick, the seed large and numerous the
pulp mucagnous; STILL nature has placed this
vine and its fruit very high platform of ra-
t ,ra Improvement, and has impaired to it an
aromatic bouquet peculiar to it. This nat raj
condition is greater than that of any fruit o.
grain that man has gradually civilized and i'm
proved by continual and careful cultivation ant
which now is his daily food. la conclusiol
have always looked upon the Scuppernong til,
grape that to DC the most profitable of al
those American varieties that came to my notice
and the American champagne grape par excel
ence; its aromatic bouquet making it Superior t,
thc Pinot, or Pineau OF Campagne.
Full of this idea, ], four years ago, began t.
study its habits, and especially its circulation
much complained of. The universal impre>
sion and experience of all seemed to establ!sl'a;
IN undeniable fact, that the Scuppernong con
not be pruned or touched with the knife, at an,
season. without causing it to bleed to DEATH o.
nearly so; and therefore it allowed to spreat
out in luxuriant wldness a large extent il
a few years, and III a few years more it became
an un,nanageahe mass of dead wood in the mid
die portion; its Vi Sorous wood on the cxtrenlitie.
Of the arbor only bearing amy fruit This fcatur,
of this vine, was, i'll my mind, insuperabl,
objection to its being adapted to yield a stapI,
produce, easily and cheaply managed. Tbs
wild condition caused its bloom to be not a unit
but it continues to bloom for a long time a Sill
gle flower after another the natural consc-
quence of which is, that you see on the same vine
0: even in the same small cluster, berries il
every stage of progress, from entirely green t.
completely ripe fruit This is very Objectionable
condition. since you cannot have one vintage:
since such discordant elements can never yield
unit of fermentation which is Indispensable
accessory, in order to make Wine and not vinegar
This wild condition causes this vine to produce
also scattered small clusters having only few
berries on each, which renders the gathering { f
the vintage laborous and expensive. AL or
nearly all, these difficulties could be surliaount
in the course Of time by cultivation, if the VII
could be pruned: therefore, the principal thing
necessary to be found, was the comparatively
quescent state Of the circulation or the period
when the vine could be pruned with perfect inl-
punty; from which would follow natural
consequence the easier management OF the vine,
the concentration of the sap into fewer truif
buds, and consequently greater nuIiloer o.
berries on the same cluster and iii course OF time
by careful cultivation and appropriate naiiurng
would cause the fruit to have even thinner Skin
fewer seeds. less nuciiage more sugar, and
milder tanning principles a.:
The safest and only period tor prhi';. this
vine is lust at the time when 1t has been dishur-
dened Of its ripe fruit | have come 70 TINS
positive result. not only by logical reasoning
that the sap must be least abundant when 1t had
gone through the most exhansting process that
the vine is capable of, that OF repfouctioi', oo'
by actual experiment upon them every month IN
the year. have come to the demonstration OF
this discovery; and it is equally certain, as gen
eral experience had established before, that 10
attempt to prune it at any other tme' the vine
dresser is to kill the stock and rum the vine
Very respectfully, D. IOUNO.
Diccotcaux, Sept. 8, 1858.