STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 43 



but that there are varieties of grapes that bear good fruit that are so 

 liable to become diseased that they should be discarded. My notes are 

 made up from personal examination of the growing vines in difterent 

 portions of the State, and from reliable data, gleaned from the horticul- 

 tural press. 



Hartford Prolific. — This variety heads the list fbr health and pro- 

 ductiveness, wherever seen or heard from. We need something at the 

 same season, with all of its good qualities, but very much better in 

 quality; but it is not yet, I think, superseded. 



Ives" Seedling. — This variety equaled the last in health and vigor, 

 and nearly equaled it in productiveness. A very valuable grape, ripens 

 early, hangs long on the vine, and is very productive of a good, rich, red 

 wine; succeds almost everywhere in our State; rather poor in quality for 

 table or market. 



Concord. — The only fault I have to find with this noble grape is its 

 reported parcntship of the Martha, which, I hope, is a slander. This is 

 the people's gi'ape, emphatically. They can raise it everywhere. (Some 

 raise it as Mark Twain raised chickens.) They like the fruit, and it is 

 yet considered the nearest approach to perfection we ha\e among grapes. 

 Give us two more Concords, one three weeks earlier and one three later, 

 and we would be pretty well " fixed." There has been a great howl 

 raised this f\ill about its cracking a little when over-ripe. I have not 

 known such a thing to happen before, and it was simply occasioned by 

 the intense heat and drouth hardening the skin of the fruit; and then 

 when the rains did come, the Concord thought it had a destiny to fulfill, 

 or burst. It bursted. As I have before remarked, when good Concord 

 vines can be bought for $25 per thousand, there is no excuse for any one 

 owning a rod of ground not having plenty of Concord grapes in their 

 season. About its only fault is that it will not keep. When just red, it 

 is most excellent for cooking. Stewed with plenty of sugar, what fruit 

 is better.'' Canned, we can have it the year around. As a fruit for 

 jellies, it is unsurpassed. It makes an excellent white or red, light wine, 

 without any admixture, which should be on our tables every summei-'s 

 day. This wine can be made as cheaply, or cheaper than cider, gallon 

 for gallon and acre for acre; and makes a vinegar by far surpassing any 

 other I have seen, by adding water to the refuse of the press and allow- 

 ing it to ferment, re-pressing and setting it in a warm place. The Con- 

 cord grape has its diseases already, and we may look for more; but its 

 sturdy vigor, hardihood, and adaptability to nearly all soils and climates, 

 will cause it to hold its present high niche in public estimation for years 

 to come, 



Clinton. — The market gardeners do not want it. The wine grower, 

 especially in the north part of our State, should plant largely of it on 

 proper soil. Every family should grow plenty for family supply. To 

 the great mass of our Western grown people, the Clinton, when fully 

 ripe, is one of the very best to eat from the vine. If we would only let 

 it get ripe, we would all prize it highly. It keeps well into the winter; 

 the fruit will hang on the vine, improving every day, until severe freezing 



