THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 205 



Chautauqua, Hudson and Ontario regions, the Catawba would rival the 

 Concord. Because of late ripening in New York this variety is at its best 

 only about the Central Lakes and on land extending back from the water 

 to an altitude of one hundred feet above the lake surface; here as fine 

 Catawbas are grown as anywhere in the world. As to soil, it thrives in 

 sand, gravel or clay provided there be an abundance of food and humus, 

 good drainage and plenty of bottom heat. 



Of all the commercial grapes grown in New York Catawba is the 

 best keeper, lasting until March or later. Because of its fine quality it 

 often brings a higher price than other varieties and its reputation as a 

 dessert grape would be still better were it not too often picked before fully 

 ripe and therefore sour and unpalatable. The Catawba is the standard 

 red grape in the markets, and other red varieties are often sold under its 

 name. It makes a good light-colored wine, which as has been said, is 

 largely used as a base for champagne. The vine is vigorous, hardy and 

 productive but the foliage and fruit are susceptible to fungi and this con- 

 stitutes the chief defect of the variety and accounts for the decline and 

 the passing out of Catawba in many of the grape regions of the past 

 in the United States and its unpopularity in some of the grape regions of 

 the present. In its botanical characters, in its adaptation, and in its sus- 

 ceptibilities it suggests Vitis vinifcra crossed with Vitis labrusca, a possi- 

 bility to be discussed in a later paragraph. 



The characters of Catawba seem readily transmissible to its off- 

 spring and, beside having a number of pure-bred descendants which more 

 or less resemble it, it is one of the parents of a still greater number of cross- 

 breeds which, as a rule, inherit many of its characters. As with Catawba, 

 most of its progeny show Vinifera characters; as intermittent tendrils, the 

 Vinifera color of foliage, a vinous flavor wholly or nearly free from foxi- 

 ness, and the susceptibilities of Labrusca- Vinifera hybrids to certain insects, 

 fungi, and environmental conditions. 



Catawba was introdticed by John Adlum of the District of Colum- 

 bia about 1823. Adlum secured cuttings of this variety from a Mrs. SchoU 

 of Clarksburgh, Montgomery County, Maryland, in the spring of i8ig. 

 This vine had been planted by Mrs. SchoU's husband, who had since died. 

 He had always called it Catawba, but the family did not know from what 



