52 



tainable, or to be had only at very high prices, but up to the present 

 time not much progress has been made in this direction. The natural 

 season with us for grapes appears to be between the beginning of the 

 month of May and the end of August. 



During these months excellent grapes, both white and black, are 

 sufficiently plentiful in and about Kingston to meet a good local de- 

 mand. Outside these months they are occasionally offered for sale in 

 Kingston ; but as a rule they are poor, having evidently received no 

 cultural care. This is specially the ose with black varieties, which are 

 seldom properly ripened. This, no doubt, is in part the reason why 

 black grapes are so little appreciated by us, and it is a pity, as some 

 of the very best of grapes are black. 



The Department of Public Gardens has introduced, and distributed 

 widely just about every table grape of recognized merit, and it is a 

 matter of regret that a better use has not been made of the opportunity 

 thus afforded to secure vines of established excellence. Most of these 

 under right treatment do exceedingly well and are in every way de- 

 sirable. A few however, and amongst them some of very high quality 

 do not do well at all. Muscat Hambro, one of the most delicious grapes, 

 is an utter failure ; it makes good canes, shows plenty of bloom, but 

 the clusters are skeletons. 



Gros Guillaume, commonly, but erroneously known asBarbarosa, is 

 most handsome both in bunch and berry but will not f'uit here at all, 

 and Lady Downe's Seedling, a black, vinous grape, is subject to black 

 spot which app^ ars on the berries as they begin to take colour, and 

 utterly ruins them. It is regarded in England as the very best late 

 keeping black grape. 



The native grape of North America does not succeed with us. Sir 

 Daniel Morris, when Director of the Department of Public Gardens, 

 Jamaica, imported quite a number for King's House Gardens, but none 

 of them did well. I have also tried to grow some twenty different 

 varietit s, but doubt it I got twenty grapes from the entire lot. I 

 understand that an attempt to introduce them is again being made. 

 I shall be pleased to hear that the venture has been successful We 

 have one native species, which is widely distributed over the Island. 

 It blooms profusely but I have seldom seen it in fruit. The fruit is 

 black and both bunch and berry are small. 



The grape vine succeeds well in low lying situations not much 

 above sea level, and best near the sea. A common opinion for which 

 there must he some ground is that the vines never does well on high 

 ground in the interior. I have, however, seen good grapes grown at 

 Ewarton in St. Catherine. 



I know of a vine that bore heavily near Drax Hall in the parish of 

 St. Ann, but I could get no fruit, not even bloom from some vines at 

 Stony Hill. Everything went to make canes which never matured. 



I do not, however, regard these facts as any reason why further at- 

 tempts should not be made in the direction of enlarging the area of 

 successful vine culture in this island. 



Anybody caa succeed where everybody is successful, but it is an 

 honourable ambition to achieve success where all else have failed. 



Yines are usually classified as earh , mid-season, and late, accord- 



