1856.] Cincinnati Eorticultural Society. 411 



round, a little larger than the Catawba. The skin is thick, pulp tough, j uice 

 sweet but sligbtlj astringent, and, as in the Fox grape, not ab^undant. 

 It will ripen a month before the Catawba, and on this account may 

 be valuable as an early market grape ; but as a wine grape, or for the 

 table, it can never compare with the Catawba. The committee con- 

 sider it to be the best seedling from the Catawba yet produced in this 

 vicinity, and hope that cultivators may be induced to grow seedling 

 grapes until a rival shall be found for that valuable variety. 



Ill a communication to your society some years ago, Mr. Longworth 

 remarked, that all seedlings from the Catawba appeared to be inclined 

 to go back to the parent of that variety— Fox grape ( Vius Lahrnsea). 

 So far as your Committee has been able to judge, they fully concur in 

 this opinion. It is a waste of time, therefore, to attempt to produce a 

 better or equal grape to Catawba from its own seed, unless impregnated 

 when in blossom, with some other variety. Union of different vaHeties 

 that blossom at th^ same time, planted near each other, may produce 

 seed to originate newand valuable hybrid sorts; but scarcely otherwise. 

 Numerous varieties of the Fox grape are found in many sections 

 of the United States, differing in color from a greenish-white to a dark 

 purple, and in size from a large pea to a musket ball, ripening from 

 the middle of August to the first week in October. To illustrate this, 

 a member of your Committee, with this report, presents six varieties 

 from his own vineyard. The vine having been sent to him from dif- 

 ferent friends in the West as something choice and highly esteemed 

 in their original localities. 



Only one of them, Venango, or Minor Seedling, is of any value as 

 a wine grape. Mr Longworth thinks it may be^ useful to mix with 

 and flavor other kinds in making wine, but the juice is not so abundant 

 as in the Catawba or Isabella. It is, however, hardier than either of 

 those, and not so liable to rot. This grape was noticed by Volney in 

 his travels through this country in 1796, and by Dufour, in 1779. It 

 was then thought to be of foreign origin, but was subsequently iden- 

 tified as a variety of the Red Fox grape, then found abundantly in. 

 many parts of the Western country. 



Wine was made from this grape and other native varieties, at those 

 early periods, by French emigrants, and pronounced by both Volney 

 and Dufour to be equal to some of the French and German wines. 

 In conclusion, the Committee recommend to the members, to give 

 Mr. Rintz's new Seedling a trial, and also to endeavor to excel it by 

 seedlings of their own raising. GABRIEL SLEATH. 



Cincinnati, August 16, 1856. R. BUCHANAN. 



