The Claret Rebellion in 1870s Seattle

The King County Farmers Club meeting on Saturday last was of more than ordinary interest. In the absence of the President, Col. Larrabee, the Vice President, took the chair. The Chairman stated that he had received from the Commissioner of Agriculture a quantity of 'Cooley-Corn,' a variety which ripens in the unprecedented time of thirteen weeks. It was his opinion that the Statute of Limitations did not apply to this corn. He had, he was sorry to say, distributed all he had among a lot of outside farmers, so there was none left for those present.

Col. Larrabee stated he had also received seed of the tea plant and well-rooted grape vines of high-quality varieties, including Concord and Clinton. It was his opinion, as the result of experiment, that the grape known as 'Ives's Seedling' makes a first-class claret and has a tendency to drive out whiskeys—and the variety known as 'bald-face.' The Chairman expressed his gratification at this introduction of hardy grapes, noting they should be planted with a southwestern exposure to gather ground warmth. If this were done, he had no doubt bald-face would become extinct.

A farmer present doubted the policy of driving out bald-face. He had seen this country from the sun up, and was quite sure the early inhabitants could not have existed on such thin drinks as claret. 'No claret for whiskers. No, sir.' The Chairman regretted such objections, in view of the independent stand taken by the Grand Jury at Olympia. He thought that even the hostile forces of that metropolitan city of vacant lots would compromise on claret. As for him, give him claret every time. The Chairman deprecated all politics, and the meeting adjourned.