New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-07
THE vNEYARDs OF EUROPE.

TURFF SEASONS IN EUROPEAN VINEYARDS:
TREATING OF VIEE-CULTURB; VINE DISEASE AND ITS
CURE; WINE-MAKIKG AND WINES, RED AND WHITE
E-DRnKING. AS AFFECTING HEALTH AND MORALS.
BY WILLIAM j. FLAGG. SYo PIP 3S2. Harper
Brothers.
A livelier racIer, more entertaining volume on a
practical subject has not yet been written Mr. Fagg
shows such a hearty delight in his subject that the
most indifferent reader cannot escape the infection
while all his wiIlful irrepressble play Of humor hls
flashes of personal tastes and prejUdices, his
sOna misconceptions Of character and customs, leave
untouched the sharp, clear perception and shrewd
sOmmOn-sense which form the staple of his book He
saws. at the outset: When began my explorations
Ihad barely enough knowledge of wine growing to
know what it was needed to learn, which was bet
ter perhaps than TO know so much as to feel above
the need of learning any more" 1t was decidedly
better Mr. Flaggi The description of the various
modes of yIne-culture in France and Germany are
not only thoroughly ineligible, but they are given
in the brefest possible space they are at once COM
plete and compact
Commencing with the claret district around Bor-
deaux Mr.. Flagg takes us through the SauteTne re-
Enon to LanguedOc, then ascends the RhOne and Sa-
One to Burgundy, thence through the Champagne
country rheims and Epernay to the Rhine, further
to the Palatnate, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and
concludes with return to the South Of France, where
he seems to linger most willingly. His account of
ing sketch-probaby for the reason that he was not
acquainted with the languages Of those countries and
could not have that familiar intercourse with the
wine manufacturers and rigaaORs which he seems to
have found so agreeable in France. Moreover, his
observations were made with view to apply their
lessons to the problem of winemaking in America
and bis attention, therefore, was mainly directed to
those regions wheH the conditions of soil and climate
were nearest to those of our continent.
Some of our native works upon the Vine seem to
have been constructed after the of Inter
nal Revenue laws-upOn the plan of ignoring the ex-
perience Of older lands, aud inventng SYSTEM TO
be called American. simply because it had never
been practiced before The directions for deep
trenching, heavy manuring, bow-pruning &c, which
have been so extensively disseminated among us
have done much by their results, to discourage vine
growers. The dainty individuality of the Vine has
been quite overlooked, and the inverse proportions
OF qaGliy and quantity in the product do not seem to
be yet fully comprehended, even by those who have
been most industrious in the culture. For a man
who has had some little experience Mr. Flagg's book
contains invaluable hints upon these points His re-
marks upon the adap bility to our climate and soil
OF the low sORche stock system of growing vines are
as timely as they are sensible. The whole tendency
OF ms observations IS to cheaper and simplify our
present methods OF culture. Another good service
- his inLelllgeut GXDOE6 If
the real Though seemingly nnocent) aduterator ~
wine, discovered by Dr. Gall and Endorsed by so spc
cessful wine-grow as bIr. Hussmann. We cannot
700 strongly commend the attention of tho reader 70
che chapter on this subject.
Mr.. Flagg's zeal and enthusasmYon the subject Of
wine would match that Of any teetotaler in tho ON
pOSite direction The divine Aquarius OF the latter
grove dim beside the transcendent eulgence Of bis
Baechns. Bnt one extreme always provokes tho
ether. When MIR. Flag entreats I" the Genius of
Civilization" TO take up bodily the whole Ameri-
can people, men, women, and children, youths and
misses and plunge us all pto the lips in sea OF the
proper liquid therein TO soak and thereof to swallow
until poiteness shall penetrate all our joints and
muscles and refinement enter into the texture Of our
bones" he had probably been reading some absurd
statement Of superficial observer like Dr. Holland,
that 1.-THE people In Europe inst as Incorporate
- in America. and that the only difference between