PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMKR MEETING 11 



To sum up, aiuoug the l\)i-ei«^iiers and luitivx-s, on soil general ly simi- 

 lar, loam or loam and gravel, with similar cultivation, none except Con- 

 cord among twenty native varieties made greater yearly growth than 

 did Thom]>son's ir>eedl('ss; and several natives made less yearly growth, 

 with much less promise of future value, than the four other raisin varie- 

 ties, including Malaga. All this is in denial of the assertion that "No 

 European varietj^ will do well here except under glass," and the widely 

 circulated statement of the department of agriculture that ''All will 

 finally succumb to mildew of vine and rotting of fruit." 1 wish to state 

 enij)hatically that, in my experience, it is not mildew but cold that is 

 the greatest foe to the foreign vine in Michigan. 



The growing season of 1896, in southwestern Michigan, was marked by 

 a wide climatic change fi'om the two preceding years. We had no 

 late spring frosts, no long-continued rains nor parching drouths, but 

 usually a shower, heavy or light, about once each week. Here is a record 

 of many measurements made on the last day of May, of the growth of 

 the principal varieties during that spring: 



Muscat of Alexandria, set 1895, 1 to 2 feet; bearing vines, 2 feet 2 

 inches to 2 feet 8 inches; clusters generally about 3| inches long, but 

 on up to 5 1 inches from first side stems to tip of cluster. 



Muscat Gordo Blanco, set 1894, 15 to 34 inches in length; bearing, 

 vines from 1 foot to 2 feet 4 inches; clusters 2 to 4^ inches long. 



Largo Bloom, bearing vines 1 foot 7 inches to 2 feet 8 inches long; 

 clusters generally about ?>^f inches long, but up to 4^ inches. 



Malaga, bearing vines 2 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 6 inches long; clusters 

 few, from 2 to nearly four inches long. 



Thompson's Seedless, 2 feet 2^ inches to 4 feet long; clusters generally 

 about 4 inches long, but up to 6 inches, with width of 2 to 3 inches. 



These varieties were nearly a w^eek longer and later in blooming and 

 slower in ripening than natives. Thompson, Malaga, and Frontignan 

 set comparatively few clusters. The three Muscat varieties bore heavily, 

 a disposition they had manifested the two preceding years; even two- 

 year-olds bore a few bunches. Thompson's ripened the last of August, 

 were oblong in shape, of light golden color, thin but tough skin, meaty, 

 of rather neutral liavor; in diameter corresponding to Delaware, but 

 longer — from this size to very small — and entirely seedless. 



White Frontignan is in color green, with thin skin; firm, meaty; 

 shape and size, that of large Concords; of excellent jMuscat flavor; ripens 

 about 10th to 12th of September. 



Malaga: Berries large, oval; Hesh rather firm; color greenish or light- 

 amber; of very good though not high flavor; in size and shape much 

 resembles Goethe; ripens about the second week in September. 



Largo Bloom and Muscat of Alexandria: Scarcely distinguishable in 

 growth of vine, size, shape, color, texture, and flavor of fruit; but Largo 

 Bloom seems to ripen a week or ten days earlier, becoming eatable ^rom 

 the first to middle of September. Berries light-green in color; skin 

 thin but tough; form roundish; many berries conical or pyriform; firm, 

 fleshy; in size from medium 1o very large, many of them larger than 

 any grapes I have ever seen grown here, and equal to or larger than, 

 if my memory serves me correctly, any of the hundreds of varieties I 

 saw at the World's Fair in Chicago, iji October, grown from New Bruns- 

 wick to California, except Flame Tokay and Black Morocco; and they 

 were of excellent flavor, among the best vet tested here. 



