The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-08-27

1u0 ioltOWine ADDRESS, on irult grow
/. ing aud vine culture, was made BY Mr.
Chas. II. Noise, of Sumter, at the recent
Joint summer nesting" at Bennetts.
Vile: ~
True politeness has been defined as
folloSYs. 5'Si,Tof listen with Interest 70
things your know all about, when they
are told TO you by Q man who knows
nothing about then" This Was said by
the Duke de Morny, the right hand man
of Napoleon III. ] will not make such
o demand upon the politeness Of this
joint meeting, for would not presume
to address practical farmers upon the
management of agricultural maLters.
But ! propose 10 offer .fsv thoughts,
upon d hhe which rises above the actual
operations of the field, the orchard and
the vineyard, aud treats of the hygienic
and humanitarian aspect of the aubject.
In doing so l. will eonfine myself TO q
single branch Of agriculture, uiz: Fruit
growing in It's broadest sense.' har
This honorable and interesting avoca.
tton, aside, from its practical uses, in.
wolves vast and far.reaching interests
nothing leas than health, sobriety and
consequently, happiness here and here.
after.
You have oil, doubtless, experienced
the pleasures. which attend horticultural
oucnpationa. You know how much hap.
piness arises from the careful observation
Of the wonderful operations of nature !;
how sweet II is 10 watch the gradual
unfolding of fruit blossoms to notice
the slow growth of the fruit, and mark
the changes which succeed each other,
until, for example the ripe peach clothes
itself with, q down as delicate as that
upon maiden cheek, and with colors
which rival the hues of the rainbow.
You know how delightful it is to eat tue
frnit Of your own raising.
When the inspired writer wishes to
describs the acme of domestic happiness,
he speaks notof waving fields of golden
grain, nor of, Glowing. herds" which
"wend slowly o'ef thD lea," but he tells
us of that rural beatitude when every
man sits under his own vine and under
bis own fig tree" To such an extent
doee the love of nature. as shown in her
works, pervaae the Sacred Scriptures,
that even in the dire extremity of war
the chosen people were forbidden by law
to destroy. the enem ,'s fruit trees, for,
Gays the lawgiver, "I be tree of tho field
is mans Iife," meaning the meaus by
which man may live, and only of chose
trees which bore no fruit, It is asid
"shalt thou destroy and cut down."
Again, "what man is he that hath
planted vineyard, and hath not yet
eaten of It? Let him also go and return
unto his house, lest he dio in the battle
and another man eat Of it."
In the Old Testameps king James's
verHion), fruit and kindred subjects are
treated of in one hundred end forty pass.
ages, and the vine, viz: grapes, vines,
and wine in two hundred and forty.seven
passagesl
The vast strides made Id fruit growing
and vine culture in the past few years
must have struck you forcibly. Persons
like myself, who have passed tho merid.
iantof life, can easily remember the time
when; strawberries were cultivated in
small quantities aud of inferior quality.
Now they are grown in large, fields, and
are sent to distant markets by carloads.
The dainty epicure of New York has
paid as high as ak dollara quart for the
earliest, while thousands of baskets sell
annually at one dollar each. This little
plant can yield more profit to the acre
than the beat sea island cotton or Joshua
Wards rice in their palmiest daya.
Those who are engaged in its cultivation
may rightfully claim the strawberry leaf
from the coronet of tottering English
nobility of birth, where it has been long
recognized as al aristocratic emblem,
and wear it proudly as sign OF the only
true nobility, she nobility OF honorable
labor.
In like manner, did time permit, could
lspeak of the rapid progress Of the cul.
tiyation of oil the other berries; of the
extensive orchards which flourish all over
our State; Of the vineyards which adorn
the slopes of Barnwell, Aiken, Darling.
ton and the entire Piedmont section oi
South Carolina of the wines, which, are
made in nearly all the counties removed
| from the seacoast of the luscious mel.
ons which. are Gent TO market by special
trains; of the figs which weigh down
the wide.spreading trees in the old 'tCity
by the Seat;' Of the railroad depots
stacked up with crates of apples and
peaches All these bear upon material
and monetary interests. come now to
the higher theme. to the orchard and
the vineyard, as they affect the health,
the virtue aad the happiness Of our peo:
(ple. & =,
As our State enjoys The sauie climate
as middle and, southern France and
northern Italy, Il follows ,that every fruit
which fourishes In those favored regions
of the earth will thrive on South Carroll.
na soil. And 60 It's The ponegranite
the fg and the orange perfume the moaa
clad live oak region of the coast; while
the peach and its congensfs, the nectarine
and apricot, together with the plum and
the grape, cover tle middle section and
hor