108 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUiaST. 



surromidini^s are most desii'able for 

 particular kinds, as well as particular 

 varieties, of fruits. 



In grapes, I have the Delaware, 

 Concord, Clinton, several of Rogers' 

 Hybrids, Burnet, Brant, Martha, Re- 

 becca, Prentiss, Yergennes and Worden. 

 The three latter have only been one 

 year planted, so can say nothing about 

 them from personal knowledge. Martha 

 and Rebecca have fruited, but the two 

 last seasons were so unfavourable for 

 ripening that no judgment can be 

 formed. Burnet fruited for the first 

 time, and set more fruit and better 

 bunches than 1 have seen it do else- 

 where, but did not ripen ; I class it 

 along with Rogers' Hybrids, as not 

 being worth cultivating for profit ; they 

 set such poor loose bunches that the 

 berries are not near enough together to 

 keep each other warm, and so few of 

 them that they will not pay for the 

 ground they occupy ; and if any leaf 

 blight, or disease of any kind, makes 

 its api^earance in my vineyard, it is 

 sure to be these half-bred foreigners 

 that ai'e affected. I have seen the 

 Burnet set one, two or three perfect 

 berries on a bunch, and the rest nub- 

 bins ; and this is the case every year 

 on the grounds of a gentleman in this 

 town ; it arises, I believe, from imper- 

 fect fertilization, and vt'here it has set 

 more perfect bunches, as it did with 

 me, it may have arisen from the prox- 

 imity of other vines flowering at the 

 same time that supplied the necessary 

 pollen. The fruit of Rogers' 9 and 15 

 and Burnet is so good that I should 

 be sorry to destroy the vines, but I 

 must see better results than I ha\e 

 done before planting in quantity. The 

 earliest vine I have is the Brant — I 

 have none of the Champion — T was 

 induced to plant them by the emphatic 

 recommendation it received from a Mr. 

 L. C. Whiting, of Michigan (see Report 

 of Ontario F. G. A. for 1878, page 44), 



comparing it with the Delaware. He 

 says : " The Brant is a better grape ; 

 it is two weeks earlier, less subject to 

 rot, will keep well three to four 

 months, has more healthy foliage, 

 stronger roots, and will succeed with 

 half the care of the Delaware." If he 

 had omitted what he said about its 

 being a better grape, the rest might all 

 be true ; it is with me the most 

 I'ampant grower I have ever seen. But 

 to complete the picture he should have 

 added : " It is not fit to eat till it has 

 been frozen, and would not be eaten then 

 by those who could get anything else, 

 always providing that the " anything 

 else " is neither the Champion or the 

 Clinton. It might make good wine ; I 

 see nothing to prevent its being better 

 than the Clinton for that pur[jose — 

 though the Clinton is considered a 

 wine grape — for with me it is more 

 {•alatable for eating, more productive, 

 has larsjer berries and larger bunches. 



I have more Delaware and Concord 

 vines than all the rest [)ut together, 

 and my experience is that for profit 

 the Delaware is head and shoulders 

 above them all. T had been led to 

 expect that nothing would beat the 

 Concord for productiveness, and that 

 if it brought two or three cents per 

 pound less in the market it would still 

 pay the best ; but this is not my 

 ex|ierience. My vines have none of 

 them l)een ))lanted more than four 

 years, but the Delaware shows more 

 foliage, fill up their trellises better, and 

 have [)roduced double the amount of 

 fruit, vine for vine, as compared with 

 the Concords, planted at the same 

 time, and the fruit brings a better 

 price. They are nearly or quite equal 

 in flavour to the best of Rogers', and 

 though they do not colour any earlier 

 than the (Joncord, they are certainly 

 the first that are fit to eat ; at the 

 same time for hardiness and healthiness 

 there is nothinor to beat them ; and for 



