AMERICAN GRAPES 343 



sibilities than Vitis rotundifolia. This is Vitis aestivalis, the summer 

 grape, or, to distinguish it from the rotundifolias, the bunch grape of 

 southern forests. The cestivalis grapes are preeminent in wine-making 

 in eastern America. The wines from this species make the best red 

 wines, usually of the claret and Burgundy types, to be had from Amer- 

 ican vines. A defect of these grapes is that they contain an excess of 

 some of the necessary elements which make good wines ; as color, tannin, 

 acidity and bouquet, but these faults are easily remedied by blending. 

 There are now a score or more well-known varieties of Vitis cestivalis, 

 of which the best known is Norton, which probably originated with 

 Dr. D. 1ST. Norton, of Eichmond, Virginia, in the early part of the nine- 

 teenth century. The berries of the true aestivalis grapes are too small, 

 too destitute of pulp and too tart to make good dessert fruits. Domesti- 

 cation of this species has been greatly retarded by a peculiarity of the 

 species which hinders in its propagation. Grapes are best propagated 

 from cuttings, but this species is not easily reproduced from cuttings 

 and the difficulty of securing good young vines has been a serious 

 handicap in its culture. 



There are two sub-species of Vitis aestivalis which promise much 

 for American viticulture. Vitis aestivalis bourquiniana, known only 

 under cultivation and of very doubtful botanical standing, furnishes 

 American viticulture several valuable varieties. Chief of these is the 

 Delaware, the introduction of which sixty years ago from the town of 

 Delaware, Ohio, raised the standard in quality of our grapes to that 

 of the Old World. No European grape has a richer or more delicate 

 flavor or a more pleasing aroma than the Delaware. While a northern 

 grape it can be grown in the south and thrives under so many different 

 climatic and soil conditions and under all is so fruitful that, next to 

 the Concord, it is the most popular American grape for garden, vine- 

 yard and wine-press. Without question, however, the Delaware contains 

 a trace of European blood. 



Another offshoot of this sub-species is the Herbemont, which in the 

 south holds the same rank that the Concord has in the north. The 

 variety is grown only south of the Ohio, where it is esteemed by all 

 for a dessert grape and for its light red wine. It is one of the few 

 American varieties which finds favor in France, being cultivated in 

 southwest France as a wine grape. Its history goes back to a colony 

 of French Huguenots in Georgia before the Eevolutionary War. Very 

 similar to the Herbemont is the Lenoir, also with a history tracing back 

 to the French in the Carolinas or Georgia in the eighteenth century. 



The other sub-species of Vitis aestivalis is Vitis aestivalis lincecumii, 

 the post-oak grape of Texas and of the southern part of the Mississippi 

 Valley. Eecently this wild grape has been brought under domestica- 

 tion and from it have been bred a number of most promising varieties 

 for hot and dry regions. 



