Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-10-16
From the Richmond Dispatch.
The Object OF Grape Culture lin Profit

My attention having been called to a
short article which appeared in your pa
per headed "Native Grapes" shall. with
your permission, make few remarks there
on, which hope may not be out of place
take it for granted that the object OF
any business followed by men is living
that is, profit is to be made out of it and
the larger the profit the more satisfactory
the business. On reading the short article
in question, this question arose in my mind {:
"What object had Mr.. Joplin in sending
those grapes of his to Richmond to an ex-
hibition of the Horticultural and Pomolo-
gical Society of the State % It must have
been to induce some of us to embark in the
cultivation of the article. Ii this was
his object, until they know more about
his grapes than has yet been vouchsafed
them to know, I hope no one will be
guilty of the folly of acting on
his suggestion. I do not know what
others thought of the grapes in ques-
ton, but, for my part, will say that 1t is
my deliberate judgment If Mr.. Joplin has
been cultivating his ''Peaks OF Otter I"
grapes th.rty-tive years he has been en-
Gagged in the business just thirty-four years
too long If they are any better than the
spure and unadnlterated Fox grapes of
Dry River, Rockingham county, or of the
west slope of the Blue Ridge, in the same
county or if they are any better than
many wild Or Fox grapes found in the
woods the present season around Rich
mcnd. [ have been unable to discover it,
And they are not true Foxes, either. They
have less pulp and are less acid; but they
have the same roughness to the taste, and
are very much smaller i'll bunch and berry.
It is barely possible that excellent wine -
could be made from such grapes "with-
out the addition of anything" and to
have done himself justice Mr. Joplin
should have accompanied his grapes with
a bottle or two of the excellent wine %
so that the Society might have judged
of its value for themselves. If the wine
made from this grape is really good, and
the vine is as healthy and productive as
Mr.. Joplin says it is land no one denies it,
then it will prove really..valuable acquisi-
ton, though it may not be fit to eat. But
"proof of the pudding is the chewing of
it." And SO the proof of good wine is the
tasting of it. Next time let Mr.. Joplin
send some of lis wine along with his
grapes.
Understand me, Messrs. Editors and I
do not want Mr.. Joplin, whom [ know not,
to misunderstood me. l am too much in
earnest in this business Of grape growing
and wine-making to undertake to cast ridi-
cule on the attempts of any one to intro
duce new variety Tor an almost unknown
old one) to public notice It is the un-
doubted right of any one to do so, and I
shall be the last man to question this right
but our greatest misfortune at present is
that we already have too many varieties or
sorts of grapes. '' fine for the table and fine
for wine," and we should not add to the
list anything not believed to be superior in
more than one respect to anything we now
have. In fact, if we of Virginia were to
limit ourselves to the cultivation of but
some half dozen kinds of grapes, and de-
vote all of cur energies to the production
of fruit from them, [ think grape culture
would soon become one of the most popu-
lar because most proftable) pursuits among
our people. There is the Concord, noble
grape, early, hardy, and productive suit.
ing almost all soils and locations, and
grown with the greatest ease. There is
the Norton, not SO early, not SO prOduc-
tive, nor SO fine for the table as the Con,
cord, but g good grower, O. hardy vine,
pretty fair to the taste mot rough nol
harsh), and an excellent winemaker OF
forty years trial There is the Hartford
Prolific, earlier than the Concord, and
in every other respect nearly its equal
There is the Clinton, a very good,
productive, hardy wine grape. There is
the beautiful, delightful, productive, har-
dy, healthful, but ow-growing, hard-to-
grow Delaware. There is the Herbemot-
perfect bags of wine, fine for the table,
rampant grower, a most prolific bearer,
and yet Sc tender plant that is very hard
to propagate, and equally as hard 20 take
care of after it grows. Let us plant these,
and care for them as they should be cared
for, and grape growing in Virginia will nc
longer be problem to be solved, but GER
tainty that will soon infuse new life into
the wasting energies of a glorious old
mother, whose fame we all revere. The
'Peaks of Otter" grape may do +; but lei
us not waste time in trying it, but go to
work at once and plant extensively of the
kinds known to be God and known to be
profitable, because thousands have tried
them and pronounced them so. This is
ray advice. G..