PREFACE. Vll 



Flora, in the Evolution of our Native Fruits, and in the Cyclopedia of 

 American Horticulture, was adopted. 



The Grapes of New York makes its chief contribution to the pomology 

 of the country in the description of varieties. The authors have tried to 

 study varieties from every point of view, not alone nor chiefly, it must be 

 said, with regard to their cultural value; for most of the varieties pass out 

 of cultivation and such information would be worthless within a few years 

 at most. But, rather, the effort has been to determine what elementary 

 or unit characters the grape possesses as shown in its botanical and horti- 

 cultural groups. The Twentieth Century begins with the unanimous judg- 

 ment of scientists that the characters of plants are independent entities 

 which are thrown into various relationships with each other in individuals 

 and groups of individuals. This conception of unit characters lies at the 

 foundation of plant improvement. We are Vjut beginning the breeding of 

 American grapes and it has seemed to the writer that the most important 

 part of this undertaking is to discover and record as far as possible these 

 tmit characters of grapes, thereby aiding to furnish a foundation for grape- 

 breeding. The great problem of plant-breeding in the future will be to 

 correlate the characters known to exist in the plant being improved : we 

 must know what these are before we begin to combine and rearrange them. 



The varieties are arranged alphabetically throughout, though, were 

 present knowledge exact enough, it would be far better to arrange them 

 in natural groups. Such a classification is probably possible, but it 

 remains for future workers to search out the relationships which the stnic- 

 tures and qualities of plant and fruit indicate and to group the varieties 

 naturally rather than alphabetically. Wherever possible in this work, 

 however, the relationships of varieties have been indicated as fully as 

 knowledge permits, thus making a start toward natural classification. 



In the lists of synonyms given, all known names for a variety used in 

 the American literature of the grape are brought together. These lists 

 ought to be useful in correcting and simplifying the nomenclature of the 

 grape which, like that of all of our fruits, is in more or less confusion. It is 

 hoped that the work may become a standard guide, for some time to come 

 at least, in the identification of varieties and in nomenclature, and that 

 it will aid originators of new grapes and nurserymen in avoiding the dupli- 



