The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1875-10-27
THE QUEEN OF VINES.
The Great Santa Barbara Vine
Boxed for the Centennial.


The great eneen OF vince arrived
in this city per steamer Ancon on
Wednesday evening. en- route for the
Centennial Exhibition at. Philadel-
phia. It is contained in seven large
boxes, weighing fifteen tons. Tie
box containing The body is ten feet
long and over I've feet in the clear
inside, being ofoctagon form. This
box is SO Constructed that it can be
taken apart, the large roots of the
vine being strongly holted to the
base of the box SO that it stands on
the base after the box is taken
apart. The enormous size of the
box Is O fair indication Of the man.
moth proportions of the body of the
great Santa Barbara monster. 1t is
to be set up with limbs attached in
their natural positions. The limbs
are cut in sections Of eight and a
half feet. are fastened by means of
bowels and other irons, having been
numbered. Many of the limbs were
so interlocked on the vine that it
was impossible to separate them land
take them down /; or, if separated,
it would have been impossible to. put
them up again, so they were bolted
together wherever the crossing each
other before emitting them down.
The sections thus bolted together
are also eight and a half feet long
by five and half feet in width, and
will be attached to the limbs in
bolted sections. It branches out in
twenty large limbs eight feet from
the ground. One of these twenty.
limbs measures twenty-seVen inches
in circumference. At a meeting of
the citizens of Santa Barbara, held
at Tibbit' Hail. sept. 8, 1875, on
the removal of the big grape vine,
there was adopted the following
statement
This famous vine Is without doubt
largest in the world. The celebrat-
ed vine at Hampton Court. England
grown under glass, is nine inches in
diameter three feet from the ground.
This vine is fourteen inches in diane
ter three feet from the ground, aud
nearer to the ground has a measure
meut Of eighteen inches in diane
ter or fiftysix inches in circumfer-
enee while its foliage has long COW
cred space equal to 10000 square
feet. The Hampton Court vine pro-
duces annually from 1,5O0 to 1000
pounds of grapes, The product of
this vine, as estimated by Dr. Ord,
now one of the State Commissioners
to the Ceutenniab Judge House and
others, has often annually reached
the immense number of 1900 clas-
ters Of an average weight ofon and
one half pounds each. or nearly 49,
900 pounds. It is of the variety
known as the Mission grape, and
was planted by Dona Maria Marco
ina de Dominguez at the birth of
/ child. according to the custom of
,he country. It's age. is between
fifty and sixty years. For several
ears it has shown evident signs of
lecayihg vigor. and has now been |
lug up sectionized, and boxed latter
weeks of labor for removal to the
East -s,-.-.-z---r--
A daughter vine growing on the
ground of the old vine is now sixteen
Iears old and sixteen inches in di-
ymeter three feet from the ground /
nd making growth at the rate of an
nch in diameter annually having the
asst year furnished 5000 to 10000
'ounds of grapes, which were pluck I
d and eaten by visitors from Aug.
5 to Jan. 26. "a