In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Acculturation of French Vines. December 6, 1822 In autumn 1822 Nicholas Herbemont sent John S. Skinner, editor of the American Farmer, a copy of his tract Observations on the Late Occurrences in Charleston by a Member of the Board of Public Works, which Skinner reprinted in American Farmer 4, no. 35 (November 22, 1822), 274–76. A portion of the tract recommended silk production as a means of developing the Carolina midlands. Skinner replied on November 19, 1822, by shipping a sample of New England silk and a request for information about Herbemont’s trip to France collecting vines for transplantation to South Carolina. This venture proved to be one of the great disappointments of Herbemont’s life. The resolve to go to France formed before January 1819 and can be detected in the notice Herbemont penned of the formation of the Agricultural Society of South Carolina, published in the pages of American Farmer 1 (1820), 354–56. The second of the four guiding purposes of the society was “to introduce from foreign countries such articles, the cultivation of which is likely to be advantageous to the state.” At his own expense, Herbemont sailed to the country of his birth in autumn 1821, intent on securing cuttings of the most highly regarded grape varieties. This letter narrates the results of that expedition. Characteristically, Herbemont did not let disappointment monopolize his reflections and included an encouraging report on a strain of millet he had put into cultivation. The letter was published in American Farmer 4, no. 41 (January 3, 1823): 326–27. Silk—Millet—Peas—Culture of Grapes—and Fabrication of Wine. Columbia, S.C. Dec. 6th 1822 john s. skinner, esq. Dear Sir,—I have received your obliging letter of the 19th ult. containing a sample of Silk made in New England, and exhibited at the Brighton Show.1 The silk is very 1. Brighton, Massachusetts, agricultural fair. For the cultural influence of these exhibitions, see Catherine E. Kelly, “‘The Consummation of Rural Prosperity and Happiness’: New England Agricul- 114 fine, even strong, and of a beautiful colour. If such can be made so far North, what greater success have we not a right to expect in the Southern states. I have also received the Chili Peas and Beans, you were so obliging as to send me, for which I am much obliged. ฀ ฀ You request “that I inform you of the fate of the Grape vines I brought from France.” That you may know, more fully, the reasons of my bad success with them, I shall state all the facts connected with their importation. Thinking it desirable to have a great variety of vines for experiment, that I might select those that seemed best suited to our soil and climate, I, while in Paris, procured a letter of recommendation to the Minister of the Interior,2 for the purpose of begging the favour of a supply of vine cuttings from the Royal nurseries. The Minister very obligingly gave me a letter for Mr. Bosc Intendant of the Royal Nurseries,3 requesting him to furnish me with all the vines I might wish to have, that were in the extensive collection under his superintendance. In this latter gentleman, I also found a person much disposed to do every thing in his power that might be advantageous to the United States, and particularly to the State of South Carolina, where he had formerly resided some time, and had been very hospitably treated. The time of departure from France being near at hand, I called upon him and requested that the vines might be got ready for me in a few days, to which he objected, as the season (October,) was not sufficiently advanced to allow the cutting of the vines with safety; and promised to send them to Havre by the 10th of November, which he did very punctually. Owing, however, to the heavy tonnage duties laid reciprocally on the ships of the Americas and French nations, I found it difficult to procure a passage to any of the Southern ports, and, lest I should be detained in France much longer than it was convenient to me, I sailed a few days before the arrival of the grape vines. They were, therefore, left at Havre until the opportunity offered; and by the time I received them in Columbia, which was the last of April, they had been cut nearly six months, and they appeared so dry that I scarcely expected one of...

Share