608 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



indebted for several foreign varieties, we owe the introduction of 

 French to America. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches 

 numerous, with many fruit-spurs; leaves folded upward, long, oval; blooming season 

 intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-fourth 

 inches across, white, borne on lateral spurs, usually in pairs. Fruit late; large for a 

 Damson, ovate, halves equal, suture a line; color dull black, overspread with thick 

 bloom; stem slender, three-fourths inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, 

 tough, separating readily; flesh greenish, juicy, fibrous, tender, sweet, pleasant and 

 sprightly; good to very good; stone clinging, semi-clinging or free. 



GRAPE. 



Hicks. — In " The Grapes of New York " we took occasion to 

 call attention to the merit of the Hicks grape as a competitor of the 

 Concord. A few growers have since planted it but the variety 

 does not begin to receive the attention it merits in New York. The 

 fruit is almost identical with the Concord but ripens a little earlier — 

 a fact which in itself should give the grape a place in the viticulture 

 of this State. The chief merit of Hicks as compared with the 

 Concord is, on our grounds and wherever we have heard of it in the 

 State, that the vines are of stronger growth and are more productive. 

 It is not improbable that Hicks would uniformly give greater yields 

 in the Concord grape regions of this State than the Concord itself. 

 It must be remembered, however, that ours is a heavy soil and that 

 the Hicks might not surpass the Concord on lighter soils. Certain 

 it is that Hicks is the better grape on heavy soils and, moreover, 

 because of earlier ripening can be better grown where shortness of 

 season is a consideration. 



Hicks was introduced in 1898 by Henry Wallace, Wallston, 



Missouri, who states that it is a seedling sent from California, about 



1870, to a nurseryman of St. Louis county, Missouri, passing 



eventually into the hands of Wallace, who named it Hicks. Both 



fruit and vine characters lead to the supposition that it is an offspring 



of Concord. 



Vine vigorous to very vigorous, hardy, very productive; canes medium to long, 

 numerous, of average thickness, dark brown to reddish-brown, surface covered with 

 thin, blue bloom; leaves large, thin; upper surface dark green and glossy; lower surface 

 whitish, becoming bronze, strongly pubescent; flowers fertile or nearly so. Fruit 

 ripens a little earlier than Concord, ships and keeps as well as Concord; clusters large 

 to medium, broad, tapering, often single-shouldered, compact; berries large, roundish, 



