THE 



Horticulturist 



7i\ 



/IN 



SGfE^gll 



/i\ /i\ 



JESSICA. 



An excellent dessert grape for the amateur's 

 garden. 



Origin; Canada, a seedling raised by W. H. 

 Read, of Port Dalhousie, introduced by Mr. D. W. 

 Beadle, of St. Catharines, and first described in 

 the Canadian Horticulturist for February, 1884. 



Vine : fairly vigorous, hardy and healthy. 



Bunch ; 5 inches long by 3^ broad, shouldered, 

 comp.ict. 



Berry : medium, i to ^ of an inch in diameter ; 

 color, yellowish green to white ; skin thin ; pulp 

 tender, juicy ; flavor sprightly, sweet and very 

 agreeable, free from foxiness. 



Quality : very good for dessert. 



Value : market, too small ; home uses, finst-class. 



Season : last of August. 



Adaptation : general. 



IT; HEN well grrown and well ripened 

 ^i^3."nMts jj^g Jessica is a variety of which we 

 are not ashamed to say that it is 

 of Canadian origin. Our photograph, by 

 Miss Brodie, well represents its appearance, 

 and is almost a fac-simile of a colored plate 

 prepared for Mr. Beadle by Rolph Smith & 

 Co., of Toronto, in 1884. 



Mr. Alfred Hoskins, of Deer Park, Tor- 

 onto, ripened this grape in 1883, and claimed 

 for it productiveness and earliness, and the 

 merit of being the only one out of twenty 

 varieties which fully ripened its fruit. Mr. 

 Jas. Vick writes in his monthly in 1885 that 



the Jessica ripened with him, on Canandaigua 

 lake on August 22, ten days earlier than 

 Champion, and in 1887 Mr. S. Powers wrote 

 of it as follows : — 



The Jessica outdoes in flavor any garden 

 grape known, and it is a wonder that no 

 more is said about it. The little white 

 grape, with its small clusters, is not over- 

 attractive, but once between your lips, you 

 will avow it has all the good qualities a 

 grape can have in one. Sweet, with honeyed 

 touch at first taste, succeeded by a fresh- 

 ness of mild acid, and a bouquet that lingers 

 on the sense, it is a grape for connoisseurs 

 to linger over and praise. 



All these good words are fully borne out 

 this season by its conduct in our experi- 

 mental plot. Near it we had the Green 

 Mountain, and on selecting samples of both 

 for photographing we were much struck 

 with their close resemblance in bunch and 

 berry. The flavor of our Canadian was 

 superior to Green Mountain, but otherwise 

 one could declare them identical. 



We in Canada have been much disap- 

 pointed in the latter, which was introduced 

 with so much eclat by Stephen Hoyt & 



