14 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



give it well drained rich clay loam, and 

 keep it from over-bearing, and clusters 

 four or five inches long, with berries 

 over half an inch thick will delight the 

 grower in regions where the foliage is 

 free from mildew — as it is here. But 

 the principal drawback of the Delaware 

 appears to me to be its slow growth. 

 It is hard to get a good sized vine with- 

 out thinning the crop to only about 

 half of what a Concord or Niagara 

 might readily ripen with impunity. 



Agawam (better known as Roger's 

 No. 15). — Will some one please say why 

 this sort should not be kicked out of 

 at least all northern grape regions '? 

 But it is a very large grape ? Yes : a 

 little larger than any other that we 

 grow. And it's a great hearer ? It is. 

 And it has a rich flavour ? Decidedly 

 so. And it ripens rather early? It 

 does indeed, usually in advance of Con- 

 cord with us. 



But what is the use of size in a grape 

 when the only portion fit to swallow is 

 a circumference of juice which sur- 

 rounds a large tough pulp too sour to 

 give to the pigs 1 



Such are the reflections that come 

 to .a man after going systematically 

 through a pound of well-colored Aga- 

 wams with the result of just about a 

 quarter as much substance fit to 

 swallow as could have been got from a 

 pound of Del a wares, and that quarter 

 only about half as delicious as an equal 

 bulk of the Delaware. 



The Agawam is one of the very few 

 varieties that I have heard of mildew- 

 ing in this part of the country. It 

 mildews with me. Where it is free 

 from this it may be good to sell ; 

 but I prefer to grow varieties that 

 I would not be afraid to talk to my 

 customei-s about afterwards. I see 

 that Toronto market-reports gave two 

 quotations for Roger's Grapes : one 

 " Rogers Sour " being considerably less 

 than the other. Can it be that No. 15 



crawls into the cellar that way in 

 southern districts, as well as with us? 



Salem (Roger's No. 22).— Was 

 praised as among the best of the 

 Rogers' hybrids some years ago. ^It 

 does not seem to rank as high as some 

 of the others now. The foliage like 

 the Agawam, while large enough, does 

 not seem to me to have as much native 

 blood in it as we find in Lindley and 

 Massasoit, which may account for more 

 mildew in Salem also, and the irregular 

 or late ripening of the fruit when 

 there is a full crop. It seems to be a 

 good grower and bearer, and the fruit 

 is fine ; but we want something more 

 reliable. 



Massasoit (Rogers No. 3). — Is more 

 reliable with us, and I jud^e every- 

 where. It ripens soon after Champion 

 here, and probably will rank as the 

 earliest red grape in common cultiva- 

 tion in Canada. The berry is large, so 

 is the crop ; the vine is hardy and an 

 excellent grower, and the foliage un- 

 usually good for a hybrid, though not 

 as disease-resisting as Concord and other 

 pure natives. The cluster is not large, 

 and the berry is rather too dark a red, 

 and not just good enough in quality to 

 suit a connoisseur. Stiir many people 

 would buy it readily for Lindley, and 

 consider it better than Concord. It is 

 certainly much better than any Concord 

 we can raise here, and can be depended 

 upon as one of the surest and most pro- 

 fitable. 



Lindley (Roger's No. 9). — I consider 

 this the best red grape for all purposes, 

 of all that I have any certain know- 

 ledge of The vine is a fine grower ; 

 it bears well ; the foliage, for a hybrid, 

 is just next-door to the Concord family, 

 and will probably escape disease and 

 insects when everything else fails ex- 

 cept the Concord-Hartford tribe; the 

 cluster is large, though often loose ; the 

 berries rather large, of a rich brick -red 

 color, with bloom ; and the quality 



