So sayeth an enthusiastic gentleman of Iuka, Miss., who quotes an Episcopal clergyman as having "recommended it to the Southern people," and the New York Watchman as having "delightful memories of sweet scents borne on the breeze near Southern homes, where the Scuppemong is cultivated".

He further informs us that this grape "produces thirty-five bushels to the vine in Georgia, at Mobile in Alabama, Somer-viile in Tennessee, and on Tar River in North Carolina; that it never fails to bear, never mildews, never rots, is never troubled with frost, (?) is long-lived, and may be called the poor man's friend".

He also alludes to the Scuppernong wine as "sweet, rich, luscious, fragrant, very pleasant, and everywhere the ladies' favorite;" and gives us the simple process of manufacturing by first "expressing the juice," and adding "a pint of whisky, or brandy, or two pounds of white sugar, or a part of brandy and sugar to each gallon".

This makes out the case for the Scuppernong, except that "it requires no pruning, training, nor placing on trellis; while all others require study to prune, train, trellis, to prevent mildew, rot, or failure".

All this goes to show that this grape is very well suited to the mild climate of the Southern States. But America (meaning the U. S. A.) is a big place, not including Alaska and St. Thomas, not yet paid for. The Scuppemong grape - sometimes called the Mustang, Muscadine, Bullet, and the Bull grape - is found native in Virginia, and the States farther south; it is a rampant growing wild fox grape, with a large smooth stem, in this differing from other species; the leaves are round, thin, smooth on both sides, shining, especially on the under-side, dentated, but without lobes; fruit like the "Summer Fox" of our Northern swamps, in small bunches, with but few berries; thick skinned, tough, of a delicious flavor, and very sweet to the taste.

It is eminently a Southern grape; in their long, hot, dry summers it ripens its enormous growth and perfects its fruit, which becomes "very sweet." North of the Potomac it loses all its valuable characteristics ; it neither produces ripe fruit or ripens its wood; it mildews, rots, is troubled with frost, and is short-lived.

The assertion that it is "the grape of America" is published in a Northern paper, coupled with the remark that " it has never been tested in the North and "West; and should it prove successful it would become a rich legacy in the hands of those who first propagate and introduce it." "With all due respect to Mr. Miller, the Northern mind has already grasped and solved this problem - the verdict is TEKEL - tried in the balance, and found wanting.

As a fox grape, it ranks with the Mammoth grape of Connecticut and the Charter Oak, producing fruit of similar character as to size, sweetness, and fragrance. This fragrance is to most persons very agreeable, while to others it is nauseating. The Scuppernong bears no comparison for excellence to the Early Northern Muscadine, which flourishes in our cold northern climate, always yielding a full crop, free from disease; but then the fragrance! says a friend at my elbow; yes, the fragrance. I reply : "When I run for Congress on the Grape question, I shall treat my constituents liberally to Early Northerns, sure of the votes of the million, while the fragrance scoffers will form but a small minority. This will account for the enthusiasm of the traveler when he inhales the sweet scents of the Scuppernong near Southern homes.

Our Southern friends like it, and should cherish it until they find something more worthy of cultivation; and while advising the Northmen not to cultivate it at all, I recommend Southern cultivators for every Scuppernong vine to plant one hundred Concords, and as many Crevelings; and, if they like high flavors, to try the Early Northerns and Hartfords. Our Northern grapes all do better at the South than theirs do with us. Mr. Rountree informs me that the Concord is his most estimable grape at New Orleans; besides growing finely and becoming of high quality, he readily gets one dollar per pound for his surplus, because of its earliness. In the Southwest the Concord is said to make a fine vine. It may therefore be assumed that it will grow equally well at the South; and if so, combined with the Scuppernong for its boquet, the long-cherished idea of the illustrious Longworth may be realized, to produce a pure, high-flavored American wine.

* Daniel v. 97.

The writer of this has lived in and traveled much in the Southern States, but has never had the pleasure to taste a glass of good Southern wine. That inevitable "pint of whisky * to each gallon" is worse than the rot or the mildew, and, as Mr. Miller states, " makes an exceeding strong drink, which readily induces intoxication." Surely this can not be the ladies' favorite? Then why not try to make pure wine from the juice of the Scuppernong? and if it has too little grape sugar, + or too much tartaric acid, combine and ferment it with the juice of the Concord or Clinton, which will supply the deficiency; but as for the whisky, better drink it with your tea than to spoil your wine with it.