there--some six or seven--seemed perfectly at home in the rich, sandy mould, where it needs no trenching to loosen the soil. _Then_, grape-growing, with the varieties then in cultivation, was a problem to be solved; _now_, with the varieties we have proved, it is a certainty that it is one of the most profitable branches of horticulture, paying thousands of dollars to the acre every year. _Then_, wine went begging at a dollar a gallon; _now_ it sells as fast as made at from two dollars to six dollars a gallon. Instead of the only wine then considered fit to drink, we number our wine-producing varieties by the dozen, all better than the Catawba; among the most prominent of which I will name--of varieties producing white wine, the Herbemont, Delaware, Cassidy, Taylor, Rulander, Cunningham, and Louisiana; of light-red wines, the Concord; of dark-red wines, the Norton's Virginia, Cynthiana, Arkansas and Clinton; so that every palate can be suited. And California bids fair to outdo us all; for there, I am told, several kinds of wine are made from the same grape, in the same vineyard, and in fabulous quantities. To cite an example of the increase in planting: in 1854 the whole number of vines grown and sold in Hermann did not exceed two thousand. This season two millions of plants have been grown and sold, and not half enough to meet the demand. It is said that the tone of the press is a fair indication of public sentiment. If this is true what does it prove? Take one of our horticultural periodicals, and nine-tenths of the advertisements will be "Grape-vines for sale," in any quantity and at any price, from five dollars to one hundred dollars per 100, raised North, East, South, and West. Turn to the reading matter, and you can hardly turn over a leaf but the subject of grapes stares you in the face, with a quiet impunity, which plainly says, "The nation is affected with grape fever; and while our readers have grape on the brain there is no fear of overdosing." Why, the best proof I can give my readers that grape fever does exist to an alarming degree, is this very book itself. Were not I and they affected with the disease, I should never have presumed to try their patience. But, fortunately, the remedy is within easy reach. Plant grapes, every one of you who is thus afflicted, until our hillsides are covered with them, and we have made our barren spots blossom as the rose.