370 THE FLORIST. 



NOTES ON GRAPES FOR THE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I see a discussion has taken place among members of this society, as to 

 an original St. Peter's Grape, the Black Prince being considered the 

 old St. Peter's by many. I beg to say I fully remember the old St. 

 Peter's Grape ; it had round, or nearly round, berries, a very thin skin, 

 and was of an intense blue black colour. The bunches set badly, and 

 the berries were very liable to crack, which may have led to its being 

 given up by growers ; indeed, the present St. Peter's is a much more 

 valuable Grape, and was very probably obtained from it. The Black 

 Morocco is a coarse Grape, with immense berries, and requires artificial 

 setting. Its synonyms are Wortley Hall Seedling and Le Coeur. 

 Has anyone seen the true Black Tripoli, as described by Speedily ? 

 This was grown in Leicestershire thirty years back : berries of a dull 

 black, very firm and sweet, and used to be the latest Grape to hang, 

 keeping till March ; the leaves were deeply cut, and the wood peculiar. 

 The present Black Tripoli is a mere variety of the Black Hamburgh, 

 with coarser flesh. Where, too, is the Flame-coloured Lombardy, with 

 bunches of immense size ; the Black Aleppo, with curiously striped 

 berries, and the Poonah, and several other old kinds not generally 

 known ? The Society should look these up, if they are going to re-classify 

 Grapes. The Damascus and Mogul are occasionally seen, but I have 

 not seen the others for years. Where are Mr. Duncan's late Black 

 Grapes, of which much was expected ? 



B. 



AMERICAN STRAWBERRIES. 



Are American Strawberries worth growing ? is a question often asked 

 of us, and doubtless it is a question likely to interest many of our 

 readers, more especially now that the Strawberry is a fruit of especial 

 notice, which is manifest by the number of seedlings continually coming 

 before the public. 



There are now a great many varieties of American origin, and we 

 may suppose that nine-tenths are worthless, judging from those we 

 have grown, such as Hovey's Seedling, Ross's Phoenix, &c, which are 

 considered by all American pomologists to be among the best in their 

 collections. Now, those varieties are quite inferior to our class of Pine 

 Strawberries, and Mr. Rivers, who is a good authority on the subject, 

 having imported and proved a great many varieties of American fruit, 

 says of the Strawberries, that they "do not seem to be adapted to 

 our climate," and "the best of them is Hovey's Seedling, which grows 

 most vigorously, but is a shy bearer, and of a brisk agreeable flavour, 

 but not at all rich." And Downing, in a work on American fruit, says, 

 " that Hovey's Seedling fe undoubtedly the finest of all varieties for 

 this country, and is well known throughout all the States, and has 

 everywhere proved superior for all general purposes to any other large 

 fruited kind." Although we have not grown or heard of an extra- 

 ordinary American Strawberry finding its way across the Atlantic, it 



