During the session of the Society, Mr. Husman desired to hear from the President some account of his experience with our native wines during his recent visit abroad.

The President said that on his arrival at Paris from Washington he was elected one of the Commissioners. He found that the American wines had been passed by the committee. A single bottle of Catawba was taken as a sample of American wines. He endeavored to obtain a revision, but tailed. He then moved for the appointment of a committee of the Universal Exhibition to report upon the growth of the vine, horticulture, and pomology. The committee was appointed, consisting of Americans, of which he was a member. The committee found that samples of American wines had been seriously injured by being placed where they were too warm.

In examining some of the wines from Hesse Darmstadt, the committee found them inferior to ours. The owners on tasting ours said, If you can make such wine as this, you have no need of ours.

He said the best American wines would compare favorably with those of the Rhine. We were taken to the famous Johannis-burg, and were shown their best wine, and had never before tasted such excellent wines. These favorite wines are sold at one pound ten shillings per bottle to the Emperor of Russia, the Duke of Cambridge, and other nobles who could afford to pay for them. These wines would cost in this country about $15 per bottle. We can not raise such wines, but have some almost as good.

They examined the American wines, and the Europeans expressed their approbation of the Virginia Seedling and the Ives. A gentleman said these are the only wines that could have withstood the heat to which they were exposed. Persevere in raising your red wines - they can not be surpassed.

At Johannisburg we examined the soil, and found it apparently unfavorable tor grape-raising. The whole surface is like a cake of burnt clay, and had to be broken up by a large two-pronged hoe. Only 60,000 bottles were raised on this spot.

Mr. Barry, who accompanied the President to Europe, was called to state his experience. He said the Johannisburg grape was a Reissling. The fine grapes are all raised on elevated ground, the level ground always producing inferior wine. The vineyards are renewed once in ten, fifteen, or twenty years. We saw fields from which the vines had been removed and broken up preparatory to renewing the vines.