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Tlie Hmiiculiurisl and Journal 



gathering will be more troublesome than a 

 cow-milking machine. Cordial and brandy 

 may be made from Scuppernong grapes, but a 

 good wine only at high costs. 



Fourth month, 30th. This morning ther- 

 mometer marks 47 in the shelter of the green- 

 house, before sun-up. Mulberries have been 

 ripening two weeks past. I counted 176 

 specimens on one twig that measured one-third 

 of an inch through the stem. Please ask Al 

 Fresco if his fertile brain can contrive some 

 crop to grow in the garden, so as to enable the 

 good people of Florida to have an abundance 

 of healthy, juicy fruits or vegetables (such as 

 they have North), say from the middle of July 

 till the middle of October. I have worked 

 hard for five summers in four different places, 

 and very sorry do I say it, I find it far more 

 difficult to supply a family with an abundance 

 of fruit and vegetables anywhere in the State, 

 where one can live clear of malaria. I was 

 led to believe, e'er I entered the State, that 

 the extreme frost line was at or near Enter- 

 prise, but I find it sometimes reaches to the 

 extreme south end of the State. 



Does AI Fresco presume to imply that the 

 good people of Florida are more careless in 

 packing fruit than people in other lands ? If 

 so, I think he had better inform them how 

 others pack them ; and if 45 per cent, are lost 

 in shipping from Cuba, what per cent, does he 

 suppose waste in going from Florida ? CoflFee 

 and quinine I hope may never be the product 

 of Florida, and I don't fear they will ; and I 

 consider such poisonous things like the too 

 vivid productions of the imaginative brains 

 they often pervert. 



One who has Florida on his hands. 

 Apalachicola, March 29, 1874. 



The G-rape Market in New 

 York. 



BY C. AV. IDELL. 



LONG before grapes are ripe in our section, 

 large quantities are received from some 

 of the Southern States. Virginia sends the 

 most and the best, although Delaware sends a 

 large amount of Concords. 



In the vicinity of Charlottesville, Va., they 



are grown very extensively. The principal 

 varieties are Hartford Prolific, Concord, Ives 

 Seedling, and Delaware. 



Ives Seedling. — The Ives Seedling is 

 very popular in that locality because it is 

 hardy, sticks tight to the stem, and bears 

 handling better than the Hartford or Concord. 

 There is a growing demand for it in our city 

 for shipping purposes, on account of its bear- 

 ing the heat so well. Their Delawares are 

 very fine, and if the weather is not too hot, 

 carry and keep well. The principal difficulty 

 that we have to contend with in disposing of 

 them is, that our market is so full of perish- 

 able fruits when they arrive, that it weakens 

 the demand for them. There are some 

 varieties of fruits that can not be placed on 

 the market too soon, but that is not the case 

 with the grape. The fault is, that they come 

 too soon, for they cannot compete favorably 

 with peaches, pears, or plums, and as these 

 are the prevailing fruits when these Southern 

 grapes arrive, consumers buy them and neglect 

 grapes, knowing they will last long after those 

 other fruits are gone. 



Concord. — Among all the varieties that 

 come to our market the Concord is the most 

 popular. Although some speak of it lightly, 

 others with contempt, and some say they pity 

 the taste of those who prefer it to others, yet 

 it is an undeniable fact that it is the grape 

 for the million, and the great mass of con- 

 sumers buy it in preference to any other. 



There are some influences brought to bear 

 on this variety that are worth noting. One 

 is, that it is among the first arrivals, and 

 compares favorably with any of them for 

 quality, and it is received in such quantities 

 that it sells so low that all can buy them. It 

 is a very tender grape and soon spoils, con- 

 sequently it is often forced on the buyers by 

 accepting low offers in order to dispose of 

 them before they spoil. 



There is another point to which I will call 

 your attention : — Being hardy, it can be 

 grown in almost any section of the country, 

 and by most any one — consequently every 

 year new vineyards are brought into bearing, 

 and inexperienced cultivators put their crops 



