GRAPES. 61 



four inches long, wifhout shoulders; berries, medium size, round, closely set, 

 forming a compact cluster, of a delicate pale red color, with a high delicious 

 flavor. Seeds, generally two, rather small. Ripe from a week to ten days 

 before the Isabella. 



" It is a most abundant bearer, and has less of the taste peculiar to our native- 

 grape than any other variety. It also possesses a peculiarity which we have- 

 not noticed in other sorts ; as early as the 1st of September, when the berries 

 first change to a grayish tinge, they are quite sweet, and agreeable to the taste, 

 but they do not acquire the high flavor which constitutes its great excellence, 

 until they assume their full color, when it is one of the handsomest grapes we 

 have seen.". 



At the Second Congress of Fruit Growers (now Am. Pom. So.), held in 

 October, 1849, this grape was placed on the trial list. 



So unfavorable, however, is the climate of New England to the growth of 

 the finer varieties of the grape, that this new candidate seems to have developed 

 too little merit to attract general attention ; and it was not till plants had 

 fruited in the grounds of H. W. Sargeant, Esq., of Wodenethe, in the valley of 

 the Hudson, and there attracted the attention of the late A. J. Downing, the 

 founder, and at that time the editor of the Horticulturist, that its real impor- 

 tance, ?.s the herald of a coming improvement in our native grape, came to be 

 better and more generally appreciated. 



Although to-day the Diana ranks quite low in the list of desirable varieties 

 of grapes, we can hardly be at a loss to understand why it should have been so 

 warmly welcomed, when we reflect that it was the first, and a very broad step 

 toward adapting the better class of American grapes to our more northern 

 climate; and we may b^ warranted in characterizing it as the very first 

 American grape capable of being grown with a ccrtaintv, to eatable condition, 

 in the open ground, in the climate of Boston, if not of New England. 



The first actual engraving and description of this grape appears in the Hor- 

 ticulturist for November, 1849, as follows: 



" The Diana is a seedling from the Catawba, and in general appearance and 

 character resembles its parent. It is, however, an entirely distinct variety, of 

 a more delicate, pale, red color, with less pulp and more juice than the 

 Catawba. The bunches are also distinct, being qttite compact, while those of 

 the Catawba, are always loose. It is an abundant bearer, and in its growth is 

 equally vigorous with its parent. The Diana, when fully ripe, is a finer 

 flavored grape than either the Isabella or Catawba. It more nearly resembles 

 the latter in flavor, but is more delicate, and has less of the peculiar wild taste 

 of the native grape." 



These commendations sound strangely in the ears of the Pomologists of 

 to-day ; and the more so when we institute a comparison of this with many of 

 our more recent acquisitions, but it should be remembered that at this time 

 we could only institute a comparison of this with Isabella, and Catawba; the 

 latter of which was at that time seldom known to ripen perfectly north of 

 Cincinnatti, and never with free exposure, at Boston. Besides, wc then had 

 not known that, for a time, peerless variety, which has since come to be the 

 standard by which the qualities of all others must be m"«surpd — the Delaware. 



Diana is only recommended by this Society as a keeper,— a purpose for 

 which its thick skin especially fits it. One of its prominent failings is a habit, 

 on .moist, rich, strong soil, of growing late, and failing to mature its wood; 

 while, under these circumstances it is also usually unproductive, ana liable to 



