THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. I97 



quality when mature; freedom from foxiness and from acidity about the 

 seeds; small seeds which easily part from the flesh; earliness of matur- 

 ity, ripening nearly a fortnight before Concord; large size and attractive 

 appearance of bunch and berry (the color-plate does not do the Campbell 

 Early justice as to size of berry and bunch) ; comparative hardiness of 

 the vine; and good shipping and keeping qualities. Campbell Early falls 

 short chiefly in not being adapted to as many soils and conditions as 

 are some of the varieties with which it must compete and in all but localities 

 well adapted to it the variety lacks productiveness. In other words it 

 is somewhat lacking in that elasticity of constitution so characteristic of 

 Concord. Its reputation for quality has suffered, and to the detriment 

 of the variety, because it attains its full color before it is ripe and is there- 

 fore often marketed in an unripe condition. The fruit is Cjuite variable in 

 size as grown under different conditions and somewhat so as grown in the 

 same vineyard, ranging in size of bunch from very large to small, differing 

 somewhat in shape and with some compact and with some loose clusters. 

 The color of the berry is not as attractive as that of Concord as it has less 

 of the waxy bloom which makes the last named sort so handsome. 



But the weaknesses attributed to Campbell Early do not wholly explain 

 why so good a variety has seemingly failed to meet expectations. Can it 

 be that the fault is with the American grape-grower more than with the 

 grape? American growers are not yet willing to give varieties of grapes 

 the particular care that each may need for its best development, but seem- 

 ingly prefer to grow those sorts which are cosmopolitan as to environment 

 and which will thrive under a general treatment. It cannot be that the 

 consumers of this fruit care for less than a dozen of the several hundred 

 American grapes; or that under the varied conditions of half a continent 

 over which grow a score of species of wild grapes but a meager half dozen 

 varieties can be grown for commercial purposes. If our grape-growers 

 were willing to give the Campbell Early, and a score of other sorts of 

 superior merit, the special care that European vineyardists give the hun- 

 dreds of varieties they successfully grow, our viticulture would not long 

 remain confined to the culture of a few grapes of mediocre quality. 



The name commemorates the services to viticulture of the originator 



