296 NOTICE OF A NEW GEAPE. 



as soon as I had recovered sufficient strength I descended to 

 Penedo, where I received the greatest attention from one of the 

 principal families there, to whom I had brought letters of re- 

 commendation from Maceio. I then returned to Pernambuco. 



XLIV. — Notice of a New Grape called Josling's St. Alban^s. 

 By Mr. Robert Thompson, Superintendent of the Orchard 

 and Kitchen Garden Department in the Society's Garden. 



It is but seldom that a Seedling Grape is obtained which can be 

 recommended in preference to those varieties that have been 

 long in cultivation ; and still more rarely do seedlings possess 

 any of that peculiarly rich flavour which characterizes the 

 Muscats of Alexandria and the Frontignans. A grape having 

 the high qualities of those just mentioned, and not liable to 

 shank and shrivel, as every gardener is aware the Frontignans 

 are too apt to do, must be a great acquisition ; and such the 

 seedling which forms the subject of this notice will undoubtedly 

 prove. 



It was raised by Mr. Robert Josling, Seedsman, &,c., St. 

 Albans, from seed sown about six years ago ; and a notice of its 

 fruit appeared in the ' Gardener's Chronicle,' 1845, page 660, 

 as being excellent, rich and sugary, with a Frontignan flavour ; 

 and that the variety was deserving of extensive cultivation. 

 This year fruit of it was exhibited at the Meeting of the Society 

 in Regent -street, September 1st, for which a Certificate of Merit 

 was awarded. The bunch, supported by a strong footstalk, is 

 very long and tapering, with strong diverging shoulders. The 

 berries are about the size of those of the White Frontignan, 

 round, greenish-white, acquiring a tinge of golden-yellow when 

 well ripened. Flesh rather firmer than that of the Frontignan 

 Grapes, but not so firm as that of the Muscat of Alexandria, 

 very rich and sugary, with a Frontignan flavour. The leaves, in 

 their general outline, are tolerably round, their lobes not deep, 

 but the serratures are tolerably sharp ; both the upper and under 

 surfaces are remarkably glabrous. The footstalks are long, 

 glabrous, and slightly tinged with red. On the whole the leaves 

 bear considerable resemblance to those of the White Muscat of 

 Alexandria; the berries, however, differ in being decidedly 

 round, like those of the Frontignans ; but the leaves of the latter 

 are not glabrous, being furnished with bristly hairs at and near 

 the axils of the veins beneath. It is perfectly distinct from any 

 other variety known. 



The following has been received from Mr. Josling in reply to 

 inquiries respecting this excellent grape: — "About six years 



