4 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



American table grapes are more refreshing; one does not tire of them so 

 quickly as they do not cloy the appetite as do the richer grapes; and the 

 unfermented juice makes a much more pleasant drink. The characteristic 

 flavor and aroma of the varieties of Vitis labrnsca, our most commonly 

 cultivated native species, are often described by the terms "foxy"' or 

 " musky." If not too pronounced this foxiness is often very agreeable 

 though, as with the flavor in many exotic fruits, the liking for it must 

 often be acquired, and of course may never be acquired; }-et the universal 

 condemnation of this taste by the French and some other Europeans is 

 sheer prejudice. The bunches and berries of the European grape are 

 larger, more attractive in appearance, and are borne in greater quantity, 

 vine for vine or acre for acre. The pulp and skin of the berries of Vitis 

 vinifera are less objectionable than those of any native species and the pulp 

 separates more easily from the seeds. The berries do not shell from the 

 stem nearly so quickly, hence the bunches ship better. 



In comparing the vines, those of the Old World grape are more compact 

 in habit, make a shorter and stouter annual growth, therefore require less 

 pruning and training. The roots are fleshier, and more fibrous. The 

 species, taken as a whole, is adapted to far more kinds of soil, and to much 

 greater differences in environment, and is more easily propagated from 

 cuttings, than most of the species of American grapes. The cultivated forms 

 of the wild vines of this country have few points of superiority over their 



^ Bailey gives the following interpretation of the word " fox " and its derivatives as applied 

 to grapes: " The term fox-grape was evidently applied to various kinds of native grapes in the early 

 days, although it is now restricted to the Vitis labrusca of the Atlantic slope. Several explanations 

 have been given of the origin of the name fox-grape, some supposing that it came from a belief that 

 foxes eat the grapes, others that the odor of the grape suggests that of the fox — ■ an opinion to which 

 Beverly subscribed nearly two centuries ago — and still others thinking that it was suggested by 

 some resemblance of the leaves to a fox's track. William Bartram, writing at the beginning of this 

 century, in the Medical Repository, is pronounced in his convictions: ' The strong, rancid smell of 

 its ripe fruit, very like the effluvia arising from the body of the fox, gave rise to the specific name 

 of this vine, and not, as many have imagined, from its being the favourite food of the animal; for 

 the fox (at least the American species) seldom eats grapes or other fruit if he can get animal food.' 

 I am inclined to suggest, however, that the name may have originated from the lively foxing or 

 intoxicating qualities of the poor wine which was made from the wild grapes. At the present day 

 we speak of ' foxiness ' when we wish to recall the musk-like flavor of the wild Vitis labrnsca; but 

 this use of the term is of later origin, and was suggested by the name of the grape." Bailey, L. H. 

 Evolution of Our Native Fruits: 5. 1S98. 



